Chapter 39

Throughout the tower battle, Rhain's concentration was centered on Mordrid.  As the battle began to die down and the French lay strewn about the floor like so much discarded waste, the German and English men stepped back, allowing Rhain to face Mordrid alone.  The chamber grew unnaturally quiet and Rhain could hear every one of his breaths.

            Mordrid looked like a man possessed.  There was an inhuman gleam in his eyes and his nostrils twitched in a feral manner.  The all-consuming rage he felt for Rhain had rendered him little more than an animal.

            "You may have won the battle but you will not win the war," Mordrid shouted, the tone of his voice verging on hysteria.  "I shall spill the very life from you!"

            Rhain heard the sound of a sob and knew that it was Keelin but as much as it broke his heart he could not afford to be distracted by her now.

            "I will see to it that you return to hell, where you belong," Rhain replied, his voice a low growl.

            With a maniacal grin, Mordrid lunged toward him but Rhain was ready and the sound of steel blade against steel blade was nearly deafening.  For a second, Rhain felt a flash of fear.  Mordrid's strength seemed superhuman and Rhain could feel his muscles shaking as he used every ounce of strength he possessed to fight the other man off.

            Mordrid whirled around and slashed out with his sword, his blade meeting Rhain's with another bone-jarring impact.  Rhain slashed at Mordrid's legs but the other man leapt nimbly out of the way of Rhain's blade.  They continued to parry back and forth and Rhain's fears grew as he felt the telltale signs of exhaustion beginning to overcome him.  Mordrid ran him from one end of the chamber to the other, leaping, whirling, and dancing his way out of Rhain's reach.  This lasted for several long minutes until Rhain saw his advantage and seized it.  Mordrid had become overconfident in his attack and made the fatal mistake of taking his eyes off Rhain for a split second too long.  Thrusting forward with a deafening cry, Rhain felt his sword pierce Mordrid's abdomen and meet with a great deal of resistance as it pushed through layers of bone, muscle and internal organs until the tip of his blade emerged from Mordrid's back.  Mordrid's sword fell from his hand and he fell to his knees, bringing Rhain with him.

            Mordrid reached out and grabbed Rhain's surcoat, pulling the king toward him.  "A curse upon your house," Mordrid gasped before his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp.

            A piercing scream rent the air as Alinda cried out for the man she had loved.  The sound of it made Rhain wince and roused him from his daze.  He heard the sickening sound of steel slicing through flesh as he pulled his blood-drenched blade from Mordrid's body.  Once free of the sword that had pinioned it, Mordrid's body hit the stone floor with a hollow thud.  No one moved and not a single sound was heard for the space of a full minute and then Rhain and Ludwig's men surrounded the English king, cheering and chanting, "Long live the king!" 

Edwyn clasped Rhain in a powerful embrace.  "Your father is avenged," he whispered in Rhain's ear. 

Rhain nodded, tears streaming down his face.  An immense sense of relief poured through Rhain, leaving him limp.  He let his sword fall from his hand as he turned and strode through the door.

            On the other side, several men were struggling to restrain Alinda who was howling, scratching, and biting like a dog.  She snarled like a demon as they bound her hands and legs.  Rhain pointedly ignored her.  He had eyes only for Keelin.

            The woman he loved more than life itself stood in the midst of several of his guards.  Her gown was torn and stained and her hair was matted and tangled.  Tears coursed down her white face as she stared at him wordlessly.  Her eyes flickered down to his sword and the expression on her mouth twisted as she looked at the gory sight.

            "He is finally dead," she said, her voice sounding flat.  He knew from the look in her eyes that she had never before witnessed a battle, had never before seen violence at such a magnitude.

            Rhain walked over to Keelin, handing his sword to one of his knights, who took it and concealed it from view.  "He will never trouble you again," he told her, his voice gentle as he reached out and cupped her face in his hands.

            "Oh Rhain, I was so frightened!" she cried, throwing herself in his arms.

            "As was I," he told her.  The lump in his throat was so large that he was having trouble speaking.  He held Keelin as tightly as he could, enfolding her in his arms and kissing the top of her head.  "Oh my love, I was so frightened of what he might do to you."  He wanted to say so much more to her but they were not out of danger yet and so he gently held her at arms' lenth, wiping her tears away.  "Keelin, you have been very brave but I need you to remain strong.  There may yet be peril ahead of us."

            "I know," she said, stepping away from him, moving herself back into the midst of his men.

            With one last hungry look at his future bride, the king turned his attention back to the men who had accompanied him.  Quickly, the men divided up into groups, some of them leaving down the stairs to scout for reports on the status of the seige, some moving through the mass of bodies in the chamber to search for the wounded.  Rhain placed himself near the head of the stairs, shielding Keelin with his body.  If anyone were to come charging up, they would have to get through the king before they could reach his beloved.

            They were up in the tower for some time, no one saying much of anything.  Alinda continued to struggle, but the knights had bound and gagged her tightly so that, after a while, she fainted from sheer exhaustion.  Ludwig and Edwyn came to stand vigil with Rhain, all three of them poised for battle with swords at the ready.

            At long last, they received the word they had waited to hear for so long: the French king had surrendered.  The knights began to cheer loudly and Rhain sagged with relief as Edwyn and Ludwig congratulated him enthusiastically.

            It was hard to believe that it was over.  After months of months of battle and grievous losses on all sides, the French had been defeated and Mordrid was dead.  It seemed that Rhain was now to finally profit from the peace he had so long desired.  Wordlessly, he turned from his two friends and embraced Keelin tightly. 

            The German and the English began to descend from the tower.  Rhain walked directly before Keelin, her small, trembling hand clasped firmly in his as he led her from the dread tower in which she had spent two of what must have been the most harrowing months of her life.

            At the bottom of the stairs, they saw German and English soldiers rounding up the remains of the French soldiers and leading them down to the dungeons.  The French royal family was being held in separate chambers and Rhain ordered them taken to different chambers in the towers with a heavy guard to watch over them.  He knew he would need to deal with the French king soon but he had not the inclination to do it immediately.  The swine could drown in his own fearful sweat, for all Rhain cared.  Rhain would pay him a visit on the morrow, for once he had dispatched his duties this night, the rest of his time was to be devoted to Keelin.

            He kept her close by him as his men set up a makeshift war room for him in the castle's great hall.  Rhain led her to the chair to the right of his and nodded at Edwyn to seat himself next to her.  Ludwig was seated on Rhain's left and the kings and their counselors immediately went to work, organizing their armies, setting forth tasks, and dispatching men to their duties.  It was several hours before the castle began to grow calmer.

            "Edwyn and I may continue from here," Ludwig said kindly to Rhain.

            "Thank you, my friends," Rhain said, clasping the other king's shoulder as he rose from his seat and helped Keelin from hers.

            They were led through the unfamiliar corridors of the French castle by English guards.  Two adjoining chambers had been secured for the king and his lady.  Under the watchful eye of the English knights, the French castle's servants had prepared the chambers with everything that Keelin and Rhain could need.  Rhain would have preferred to ride off for his ship and sail for home immediately but it was necessary to attend to the establishment of rule in France and so he would be forced to stay there with Keelin for an indefinite amount of time, much to his intense displeasure.

            Surrounded by people as they were, Keelin and Rhain were not at leisure to speak to one another and it was with a sense of great relief when they were at last alone together in his chamber.

            They had parted for only a short time to bathe and change their garments, but it had felt like an eternity to Rhain.  There were so many things he wanted to say to her, so many questions he wanted to ask her.  But, most of all, he simply wanted to hold her in his arms again, to taste the sweetness of her kiss, and to know at last that she was well and whole.

            As soon as the door closed behind her, Rhain rushed over to Keelin and took her in his arms, holding her tightly to him as he allowed the tears he had held in check all day to flow down his face.  She was silent but he felt the warmth of her tears seeping through the tunic he wore and he knew that she was as overcome with emotion as he was.

            "Thank God you are well," he said, when he finally managed to regain his power of speech.

            "I was so afraid I would never see you again," she said, her voice muffled.

            "I hope you did not doubt that I would come for you," Rhain said, pulling back from her and looking down into her face anxiously.

            She smiled in spite of her tears.  "Nay, of course not.  But I was afraid that something dreadful might happen to you."

            "If anything had happened to you, I would have run mad," Rhain said, in a strangled voice.  "When I received word of your capture, I felt as though the world had ended.  I cannot tell you how I feared for you, how I wished to rush off in that instant and deliver you from the evil that had befallen you.  Mordrid did not lay a hand on you, did he?"  Rhain's voice was fierce as he looked into her eyes.

            "Nay, he did not," Keelin said, softly.  "He was preserving me for when he had you captured."  She shuddered as she spoke and Rhain felt a chill race up his spine.

            "I have never felt pleasure in killing another man and today was no exception.  Yet I am glad to know that the world is rid of one great evil," he told her.

            "As am I," she said.  "You have saved me from him once again and now I no longer have anything to fear.  How is it that I merit such a savior as you?"

            "And yet I failed you.  I promised you that you would be safe in my castle and you were plucked from there with such ease.  I shall never forgive myself for it."

            "Rhain, I will not allow you to speak such words.  You could not have known of the evil nature of Alinda's heart.  Much to my shame, I did not know of it myself though I thought myself her friend."

            "Then it was she who led you from the castle."

            Keelin moved a short distance from him and turned slightly, fixing her gaze somewhere upon the wall.  She shivered and began speaking, "Aye.  She told me that a message had been received that your mother and I were not safe at the castle and that we were to flee to the abbey at Nottingdale.  She said that your mother would travel separately from me and that I would be reunited with her at the abbey.  She frightened me, convinced me that the French would spring upon us at any moment and so I followed her into the forest, where she said your guard would meet us.

            "Once there, we concealed ourselves in the trees, watching and listening.  She received a signal from the French in the form of a bird's call.  She returned it and then led us out into a clearing, where I was beset by the French.  I tried to flee into the forest but they caught me and drugged me.  I remember nothing of the journey here.  When I finally awoke, I was in the tower and Mordrid was there."

            The king could see the pain in his love's eyes and he closed the small distance between them and took her into his arms once more.  "You have known much betrayal in your life," he murmured.  There was a painful lump in his throat but he tried to keep his voice as controlled as possible.  "I cannot pretend that it is not a possibility that something in this manner may yet occur in the future, just as it may for myself.  To be king or queen is to be surrounded by both enemies and friends.  The trick is learning which is which."

            "I know that," Keelin said, her voice muffled.  "And that is one of the hardest parts about knowing that I am to become queen."

            "I vow to you, my darling, that come what may, you will never know betrayal from me.  I will ever be your friend and will always do all that I can to protect you from the hurts of the world."

            "That means more to me than I could ever possibly tell you," Keelin told me.  "And you shall always have my loyalty.  There is nothing that could persuade me to rend myself from your side."

            Rhain bent his head and kissed her gently upon the lips.  "This is all the comfort in the world that I require," he told her.

            "The same is true for me," she said, with a sigh.

            Dinner was soon brought for them and as they sat and ate, they talked of France and Rhain was about to explain the need for his presence but Keelin arrived at the subject first and told him that she knew he would need to stay for some time, until things were more settled and he could find someone he trusted to see to France when he returned to England.  She made no complaint and said only that she would not be returning to England without him.

            Rhain smiled at these bold words.  "What?  Are you issuing commands to the king?" he teased her.

            She smiled mischeviously at him.  "You should accustom yourself to it.  I will be issuing many commands once we are married."

            He laughed and reached across the table to take her hand.  "That day will not come soon enough for me.  I wish it were to be the morrow."

            "As do I," Keelin replied, her face softening.  "But it may yet be a while for it must be done in England."

            "I would not wish to have it anywhere else in the world.  Would that we were in England now," Rhain sighed.

            "Do not be so impatient," she told him, with a twinkle in her eye.  "You shall soon enough become my husband and lord and master."

            "As to that, aye I will be your husband but never your lord or master.  And that is not why I am so anxious to marry.  I have… other matters on my mind," he said, looking at her intensely.

            She blushed furiously, making him smile.  "You are most improper," she told him.  He knew she tried to say it in a disapproving tone of voice but a smile played at the corners of her lips, betraying her words.

            "Only with you," he told her, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it.

            Their talk turned to their wedding and it was decided that the best course would be to entrust Her Majesty, Queen Anne with the planning of it, so that it could take place directly after their return to England.  Rhain also decided that he would write to his mother secretly to request that she have a new crown and some jewels fashioned as wedding gifts for his bride.

            After they finished eating, Rhain and Keelin sat before the fire in his chamber for some time, holding one another and occassionally talking quietly.  Relatively few words were sad, however, for Rhain was content to merely have Keelin in his arms and her sentiments seemed to be the same as his.  It grew late and Rhain watched Keelin's eyelids grow heavy.  Kissing her one final time, he rose from his seat and drew her up with him.

            "Come now, you must go take your rest," he told her.

            "I do not wish to go," she protested, her fatigue clearly sounding in her voice.

            "There will come a day when you will not have to leave my side to take your rest," he told her.  "Alas, today is not that day.  Come.  You have been through a great deal and it is important that you take your rest.  You will see me in the morning."

            "Very well," she said, reluctantly. 

            Rhain escorted her to her chamber and left her in the care of some of the maids.  He returned to his own chamber and undressed without calling for the assistance of his own servants.  Exhaustion suddenly weighed heavily upon him and he fell onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.  It had been some time since he had slept soundly.  Now that the worst was over, he could finally give in to his exhaustion.