Stand By Me ~ Chapter 2
Jocelyn sat by the window of
the Windsor Castle, staring blankly out the window, her hands folded in
her white, heavily brocaded lap. She twisted the old diamond and ruby ring on
her finger nervously as she grimly watched
carriages leaving to make their way to St. George's chapel for her wedding . She didn't know what she was
searching for. A knight on a bay horse with a green shield of phoenixes to
perhaps coming riding up to rescue her ? She knew he
would not have gotten the letter in time to make a daring rescue,
Adhemar had made sure of that.
She flirted with the notion of for a brief
moment of escaping to Canterbury to be with Will, but she knew she could not and would
not do such a thing. For however large the independent streak was in her,
Jocelyn knew her duty was to obey the wishes of her father. In this case, it
would mean marrying the Count and then obeying him.
A knock on the door interrupted her reverie. Her new
handmaiden, Isabel, came in. She had replaced Christiana and Jocelyn didn't
trust him, as she was hired by Adhemar.
"Are you almost ready, mistress? Your father and the carriage are
waiting." the bride quickly wiped away the tars that had escaped from her
eyes on to her cheeks. She stood up and came to the door.
" I'm as ready as I'll ever be. " with that, she
headed down to meet her fate.
~*~ Early Spring ~*~
It was opening day of the jousting season.
Will had finished first over Adhemar, which left him
in quite a good mood. In the days since the wedding, his hatred of the count
had festered until he would do anything to hurt Adhemar. At the tourney, his eyes had been distracted searching
the seats for Jocelyn, to know avail. Thus he went to the ball with the hope of
seeing her again, even though she could not be his.
He took his seat as champion at the head
table and searched for years. It seemed like years to him as he watched the
couples enter. Kate, as his escort, noticed his tension. He had just given up
hope for their appearence when he saw her shining
face emerge from the crowd. He experienced a flurry of emotions at that very
moment, none stronger than the feeling of utmost love. And then, his eyes
traveled lower, and his heart crashed from its high in the clouds to his feet.
He watched,
seething silently, as the were escorted to the other
side of the king and queen. As they ate he had to use every once of willpower
(no pun intended) he possessed to keep his eyes averted from the
her and to not leap across the table to throttle the lord's throat. His
hands stayed clenched in his lap. Kate noticed him, and tensed, laying a hand
on his thigh, trying to quiet him.
As the
plates were swept away, and the orchestra struck up a waltz, the knight of the
phoenix made his way past the dancing couples to the count's table. He forced
himself to greet the Count civilly, who wore an extremly
smug and satisfied look in his eyes. It was all he could do to not slap the
pompous face. Finally, he allowed himself the pleasure of basking in the
beautiful light that was Jocelyn. He bowded down in
front of her and kissed her raised hand, which had her ring on it. He gritted
his teeth as he stood up, searching for the love that used to be in her eyes.
He was rewarded.
" Good evening Countess."
"Good evening Sir Thatcher," Jocelyn answered, smiling more in her
eyes than her face. William knew it was because of the count's presence.
" I see that you are expecting." Will commented dryly, a lump in his throat. Jocelyn opened her
speak as the Count jumped to answer.
"Yes,
my wife is with child. We are throughly blessed to be
so fortunate so soon after our marriage." Once again,
Ulrich had the urge to hit him as Adhemar
snaked an arm around her body. He bowed again that Countess.
"I must
visit others now. Congratulations Countess. Count," With that he turned
and briskly walked to the door, trying very hard not to shed the tears that
were building. Kate saw his departure and hurried after him.
Will was just
mounting his horse and whipping her into a gallop as she reached the Mews. SHe sighed and grabbed a spare horse and followed him. Will
lost all sense of the world as he urged the mare to go faster, the tears coming
freely. He heard the staccato of Kate's gelding struggling to keep up. Earlier,
that win over his rival had made him feel like the victor. But Adhemar had Jocelyn, and thats all that mattered. HE finally came to his sense
as the mare slowed down of her own accord outside the city limits She was old
and breathing hard, and Will dismounted to make his stupidity easier on her .
Kate arrived a few minutes later, in time to watch as Will attacked a tree
trunk with his sword. She led her horse over to drink and watched as he slashed
pieces from the tree.
"God, what did it do to you. Make an acorn drop on you head? Now I'm afraid what you
might do if I yelled at you for something," Kate commented, trying to
liven up the situation. WIll didn't answer but his
thrusts into the tree, slowed down. She stood beside him and laid a hand on his
arm. "Will..."
"I.
don't. want .to. talk .about
.it. Period," he answered briskly walking away. Kate shook her head and
turned to leave, but decided against it. She went in front of him, her hands on
her hips.
"Get over it Will. She's
with Adhemar now. You can't do anything about. She
may love you still, but she is with another man. If you don't stop looking
towards the past and examining whats in front of you then you will never be happy again.
You will love and be loved again. Maybe if you opened your eyes to see whats right in front of you, you'd see that." Kate
said, and the next moment regretted it completley. WIll looked up and regarded her closely, almost as if
seeing her for the first time. He didn't say anything but stood up, and walked
away. He got back on his mount and looked down at her. THere
was no evidence of his earlier outburst.
"Are you
coming?" he asked. Kate shook her head at the fickle ways of men and got
on her horse and together they made the long journey back to the city.
