The Dragon of Throxenby, Part 13
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By dinner time, Guy still hadn't managed to speak to the Earl away from the Sheriff. Now, he sat quietly and ate while the others talked, trying to patiently bide his time until he could try again to get the Earl alone. The conversation moved from the weather, which was still rainy, to how the roads would be for travelling the next day – inevitably muddy. Despite it all, however, the Earl was still adamant about leaving the next morning.
"Speaking of mud, we had a bit of a mishap while digging a hole for the dragon," Sir Edmund spoke up. "One of the sides of the hole collapsed and buried two of the peasants."
"Did they get out alive?" Quenilda gasped, horrified.
Sir Edmund gave her a sharp look and a short reply. "No."
Sadly, the Countess shook her head. "So many deaths, so much tragedy!"
"And all the deaths were the wrong people! If only Robin Hood and his gang had been caught in the mudslide instead," the Sheriff murmured. "Since the man who slew two dragons obviously wasn't able to kill them, we might as well hope for a natural disaster."
Quenilda opened her mouth to speak, but the Countess quickly laid a hand over her daughter's, stopping the outburst before Quenilda could get out more than a strangled sound. Guy stared at her freshly-washed face, saw the way that the candlelight glinted off her shiny brown hair, and remembered how she'd stood up for him against Hood and all the outlaws, or against Osbert and his men. She might have been afraid, but she'd voiced her opinion nonetheless, and if she didn't do so now, it was only because her mother had asked her not to. He could definitely live with a woman who spoke her mind when she could, but was also obedient, at least most of the time.
Thinking of Hood, Quenilda, the dragon, and the Earl, Guy felt something connect inside his mind. He'd already kept his end of the bargain that he'd made with Hood, about not hunting the outlaws until after sundown that day. For his part, Hood had also kept his word and had even returned the horse to the stables that morning with the help of a young girl just barely old enough to lead the animal and claim she didn't know the man who had given her the reins along with an entire loaf of bread.
But the sun had set, the deal was over, and Guy was free to start searching for the outlaws, which he'd planned to do as soon as it was light the next day. Now, however, he realized he could not have it all. If he wanted to return to Throxenby with the Earl, as a prospective member of the family, he'd have to be ready to leave the next morning and wouldn't have any chance of confronting Hood at all. He'd have to make one final choice about what he wanted most.
Glancing back down the table at Quenilda, Guy was reminded of the question she'd posed after Guy had killed the second dragon. Had it become a stupid beast because it wanted revenge, or had it wanted revenge because it was a stupid beast? It was obvious that Quenilda didn't think much of getting revenge, and Guy feared he'd become little better than a stupid beast in her eyes if he insisted on going after Hood.
As though hearing his thoughts, Quenilda looked up directly into his gaze, then gave him a smile. Guy smiled back, and heard the Sheriff groan in disgust.
"Are you well, my lord Sheriff?" the Earl asked solicitously. "Is the food not to your liking?"
"The food is fine," the Sheriff barked. "I simply lost my appetite for a moment because I was thinking of lepers!"
"I wish there were a cure for leprosy," Quenilda said, answering the Sheriff in all innocence. "It's a terrible disease."
"Why bother with a cure when the merciful thing would be to kill them all?" the Sheriff demanded. "Just run a sword right through them and put them out of everybody's misery!"
He glanced at Guy, looking for a reaction, and Guy stared back, doing his best to look unconcerned, even bored. Marian's death was the one thing that he was still sensitive about, but he refused to let the Sheriff know that.
"Would you say that, my lord Sheriff, if you were the one afflicted with leprosy?" Quenilda challenged.
"Ivo said once that he had a cousin who had leprosy," Isolda spoke up. "He said he took his boots off one evening and all his toes dropped off, just like that!"
"Isolda, we don't –" the Countess began, but Thurstan said suddenly, "Shh, did you hear that? I heard something drop!"
There was a silence as everybody strained to hear. Thurstan said, "It's rolling this way!" then reached out to the table top and closed his hand over something that Guy couldn't see. Letting the tip of his thumb peek out from between two fingers, he showed it in the direction of the Sheriff and exclaimed, "Look, I've got your nose!"
Guy almost choked on a bite of bread. Almost everybody else at the table was laughing, too, including Sir Edmund. Even the Sheriff forced a smile, but the Countess sighed with disapproval and said, "Oh, father, don't!"
"Oh, father, do!" the Sheriff mocked. "I absolutely love making fun of lepers."
"Well, I'm sorry that you'll have to do it without me, at least for a few minutes," Thurstan said. "Sir Guy, you know this castle well. Would you be so kind as to lead me to the nearest privy?"
"Certainly," Guy said, and they both stood up. Outside of the great hall, Thurstan asked, "What else does leper stand for?"
"What?"
"The Sheriff isn't only talking about people with leprosy, is he? He means something else."
"Oh. Women," Guy explained, remembering how the Sheriff used to refer to Marian as "your leper friend." It seemed more cruel now than it had at the time.
"Yes. That makes sense." Thurstan was quiet for a moment, then remarked, "He just can't stop it, can he, stabbing you with words?"
Guy shrugged, somewhat uncomfortable at having to admit, "He's always done that."
"Has he? I got the impression he's trying to punish you."
"Punish me?" Guy asked. "For what?"
"For leaving him," Thurstan said as they approached the privy. "Putting him to the inconvenience of finding somebody else to take your place, and then discovering that he can't necesssarily put Sir Edmund down to make himself feel bigger, or at least not as easily as you."
Guy had never considered that before, but quickly realized how true it was. He also knew with certainty that he was no longer prepared to suffer it any longer than he had to. No matter what happened, he wouldn't be staying here. In fact, there wasn't even any reason for him to go after Hood now, except perhaps personal satisfaction. When Guy had left Throxenby, killing the outlaw had been uppermost in his mind, but now, everything had changed, and things that had once seemed important had since become worthless in his eyes. Yes, defeating Hood would allow Guy to oust Sir Edmund and take his place again as the Sheriff's lieutenant, but why should he bother? And as for personal satisfaction, Guy knew that if he let the opportunity pass by to join himself to the Earl's household, he'd be left with nothing. The gratification of having killed his enemy wouldn't warm his bed at night, or give him anything to look forward to during the day.
Once he'd made his decision to forget out the outlaw and concentrate instead on Quenilda and her family, Guy was surprised at how easily Hood slid out of his thoughts. It was as though he'd laid down a weight he hadn't known he'd been carrying, and the loss of it made him stand taller and feel more cheerful than he'd felt for a long time.
At his side, Thurstan sighed and said, "That's a relief."
"Yes," Guy agreed, but he was certain that they weren't thinking about the same thing.
On their way back, they ran into the Earl, and after a quick check to make sure they were alone in the corridor, Guy quickly took advantage of the situation. "My lord, if I may ask a favour?"
"Certainly, Sir Guy," the Earl replied, not sounding astonished or inconvenienced at all.
"My lord, may I speak with you this evening, in private? I'd be grateful if you could spare me a few minutes."
"Come to my chamber after the meal," the Earl said. "We'll take care of Osbert and his men, and after that, I'll spare you all the time you need."
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After the dinner had finally ended, Guy went out to the courtyard with the Earl. Of course, Osbert and his men had been trying to get away, though they hadn't quite managed to untie all the knots yet. But when Guy pulled them out of the wagon and discovered their attempts, it was only Luke who struck out and tried to escape. Osbert and Hugh both seemed to have given up, remaining silent and sullen as Guy gave Luke the few required blows that would bring him back into submission. Remembering his own tactics of pretending to be weaker and more humiliated than he actually was, Guy kept a close eye on them all the same, but the only sign of life that he saw in them was when they gulped as much ale as they could get. Guy was tempted to let them have more, to let them get drunk and fall asleep so that they'd be less trouble, but he was also impatient to get away to talk to the Earl. At last, the men had been taken care of and were tied up again in the back of the wagon, the new guard had received instructions from the Earl to keep a closer watch during the night, and Guy and the Earl were free to go back inside.
"Will you join me for some wine?" the Earl asked, pouring some into a goblet and extending it towards Guy. Guy held it without drinking, and watched as the Earl sipped from his own goblet, looking questioningly at Guy over its rim.
"My lord," Guy said, trying to keep it simple and not let his tongue trip because of any overeager thoughts. "I would like to offer my services to you."
"Your services, Sir Guy?" the Earl asked.
"I am a knight, and I have recently been a master-at-arms," Guy said. "I regret that the only sword I have to offer you is borrowed, but I can offer my experience, my strength, and my loyalty. And –"
He hesitated, and the Earl prompted, "And?"
Guy blurted out, "I know you'd treat me well, my lord, and I would do anything and everything to deserve it."
"Did you offer this devotion to the Sheriff?" the Earl asked gently. Ashamed, Guy looked away and shook his head. "No, my lord."
"No, I didn't think so. I wouldn't have done so, either," the Earl mused.
"But I gave him my loyalty, my lord," Guy said, a little bitter when he remembered how the Sheriff had treated that loyalty.
"Yes, he told me. We spoke earlier to-day, among other things, about you. He went to great pains to point out how incompetent you were and how saintly he was for putting up with you for all those years. To tell the truth, Sir Guy, I began to wonder if we were discussing the same man," the Earl mused. "But then, most men reflect their lords, the way a mirror shows the person who looks into it. I'd heard of your reputation, before you came to us, and I've been watching you ever since then. You're not completely what I'd expected. As I said to Osbert, you've changed for the better. In fact, in the right circumstances, I believe you'd be capable of changing even more, and I'd be very pleased if you could find those right circumstances as a knight in my household."
He beamed down at Guy, and Guy smiled back, feeling a rush of relief as cool and refreshing as icy water on a hot day. Then the Earl lifted his goblet and said, "To miracles, Sir Guy."
"To miracles, my lord," Guy echoed, and drank. The wine tasted of hope, but he let himself take only a swallow, then put the goblet on the table next to the pitcher. Removing his dagger, Guy also unbuckled his sword belt and laid both items carefully on the floor as he knelt down in front of the Earl. He had just placed his hands together, palm to palm as though in prayer, when the man said, "Stop."
Guy froze, terrified that the Earl had suddenly changed his mind and did not want to receive his oath after all. His fears did not decrease when the Earl reached out, took his forearm instead of his clasped hands, and gave a little tug as a signal that Guy should get up again.
"My lord?" Guy asked as he got to his feet.
"I'm flattered that you would give me your oath here and now, but we will do it properly in a church, with witnesses," the Earl said. "Preferably with a holy relic of some kind that you can swear on."
Obviously seeing Guy's confusion, the Earl went on. "Is this how you gave your oath to the Sheriff?"
"Yes, my lord," Guy replied. "I apologize."
The Earl smiled. "There's nothing to apologize for, Guy. He should have known better, not you. As I said, we'll do it properly, back in Throxenby, but until then, we'll both act as though you've already sworn, how's that?"
It did not escape Guy that the Earl had not used his title, and he knew it was a sign of acceptance. "You are too generous, my lord."
"Once you get to know me better, you'll find I'm not." Smiling, the Earl handed Guy his goblet of wine, then drank from his own. Guy took a cautious sip, gathering his courage, then said, "There's one more thing, my lord."
The Earl lowered his goblet and waited with a pleasantly expectant expression on his face.
"I have changed, my lord. I hope it's for the better. In any case, I've had the chance to reconsider some of the decisions I recently made. I would like, that is—" Guy took a deep breath. "I have reason to believe that my offer would not be entirely repulsive …"
He watched the Earl closely, but the man's expression did not change. Encouraged, Guy blurted out the rest. "I would like to ask your permission to ask your daughter to marry me." In case there was any doubt which daughter he meant, he hastily added, "Lady Quenilda."
"Well," the Earl said. "Before I say anything, Guy, I would like to ask, why did you refuse her before?"
"Because I was afraid," Guy admitted, looking away and waiting for the Earl to laugh or make a cutting remark. When the man didn't speak, Guy dared to go on. "Afraid that I would get hurt again. And –"
"And what?" the Earl prompted gently.
"And afraid that I would hurt her," Guy said. In the ensuing silence, he raised his eyes from the floor and looked at the Earl. "If you say no, my lord, I won't bring it up again—"
"Wait," the Earl said, and Guy stopped. The Earl asked, "You're not afraid anymore of hurting her?"
Clenching his free hand to a fist, Guy looked down at it, remembered what he was capable of, and said, "I would try my utmost not to, but if I do, then please … just kill me."
The Earl lifted his eyebrows and said simply, "Well."
"Would you like me to go, my lord?" Guy asked, offering to do much more than simply leave the chamber, but the Earl waved away the question and asked one of his own. "Oh, by the way, what about Robin Hood?"
Guy answered truthfully. "My lord, I thought I'd leave him for the Sheriff and Sir Edmund to deal with."
"You don't want revenge any more?"
Shaking his head, Guy tried to put his newfound realizations into words. "The dragon that came here wanted revenge on me, my lord. It destroyed an entire village, and ultimately died trying to get that revenge. I would rather choose life and – and the creation of new life – instead of death and destruction."
The Earl lifted his goblet in acknowledgement, his eyes and his mouth both smiling. "Guy, to put it mildly, that answer is not entirely repulsive to me. That is, you not only have my permission to ask Quenilda to marry you, you also have my blessing."
Part 14
By dinner time, Guy still hadn't managed to speak to the Earl away from the Sheriff. Now, he sat quietly and ate while the others talked, trying to patiently bide his time until he could try again to get the Earl alone. The conversation moved from the weather, which was still rainy, to how the roads would be for travelling the next day – inevitably muddy. Despite it all, however, the Earl was still adamant about leaving the next morning.
"Speaking of mud, we had a bit of a mishap while digging a hole for the dragon," Sir Edmund spoke up. "One of the sides of the hole collapsed and buried two of the peasants."
"Did they get out alive?" Quenilda gasped, horrified.
Sir Edmund gave her a sharp look and a short reply. "No."
Sadly, the Countess shook her head. "So many deaths, so much tragedy!"
"And all the deaths were the wrong people! If only Robin Hood and his gang had been caught in the mudslide instead," the Sheriff murmured. "Since the man who slew two dragons obviously wasn't able to kill them, we might as well hope for a natural disaster."
Quenilda opened her mouth to speak, but the Countess quickly laid a hand over her daughter's, stopping the outburst before Quenilda could get out more than a strangled sound. Guy stared at her freshly-washed face, saw the way that the candlelight glinted off her shiny brown hair, and remembered how she'd stood up for him against Hood and all the outlaws, or against Osbert and his men. She might have been afraid, but she'd voiced her opinion nonetheless, and if she didn't do so now, it was only because her mother had asked her not to. He could definitely live with a woman who spoke her mind when she could, but was also obedient, at least most of the time.
Thinking of Hood, Quenilda, the dragon, and the Earl, Guy felt something connect inside his mind. He'd already kept his end of the bargain that he'd made with Hood, about not hunting the outlaws until after sundown that day. For his part, Hood had also kept his word and had even returned the horse to the stables that morning with the help of a young girl just barely old enough to lead the animal and claim she didn't know the man who had given her the reins along with an entire loaf of bread.
But the sun had set, the deal was over, and Guy was free to start searching for the outlaws, which he'd planned to do as soon as it was light the next day. Now, however, he realized he could not have it all. If he wanted to return to Throxenby with the Earl, as a prospective member of the family, he'd have to be ready to leave the next morning and wouldn't have any chance of confronting Hood at all. He'd have to make one final choice about what he wanted most.
Glancing back down the table at Quenilda, Guy was reminded of the question she'd posed after Guy had killed the second dragon. Had it become a stupid beast because it wanted revenge, or had it wanted revenge because it was a stupid beast? It was obvious that Quenilda didn't think much of getting revenge, and Guy feared he'd become little better than a stupid beast in her eyes if he insisted on going after Hood.
As though hearing his thoughts, Quenilda looked up directly into his gaze, then gave him a smile. Guy smiled back, and heard the Sheriff groan in disgust.
"Are you well, my lord Sheriff?" the Earl asked solicitously. "Is the food not to your liking?"
"The food is fine," the Sheriff barked. "I simply lost my appetite for a moment because I was thinking of lepers!"
"I wish there were a cure for leprosy," Quenilda said, answering the Sheriff in all innocence. "It's a terrible disease."
"Why bother with a cure when the merciful thing would be to kill them all?" the Sheriff demanded. "Just run a sword right through them and put them out of everybody's misery!"
He glanced at Guy, looking for a reaction, and Guy stared back, doing his best to look unconcerned, even bored. Marian's death was the one thing that he was still sensitive about, but he refused to let the Sheriff know that.
"Would you say that, my lord Sheriff, if you were the one afflicted with leprosy?" Quenilda challenged.
"Ivo said once that he had a cousin who had leprosy," Isolda spoke up. "He said he took his boots off one evening and all his toes dropped off, just like that!"
"Isolda, we don't –" the Countess began, but Thurstan said suddenly, "Shh, did you hear that? I heard something drop!"
There was a silence as everybody strained to hear. Thurstan said, "It's rolling this way!" then reached out to the table top and closed his hand over something that Guy couldn't see. Letting the tip of his thumb peek out from between two fingers, he showed it in the direction of the Sheriff and exclaimed, "Look, I've got your nose!"
Guy almost choked on a bite of bread. Almost everybody else at the table was laughing, too, including Sir Edmund. Even the Sheriff forced a smile, but the Countess sighed with disapproval and said, "Oh, father, don't!"
"Oh, father, do!" the Sheriff mocked. "I absolutely love making fun of lepers."
"Well, I'm sorry that you'll have to do it without me, at least for a few minutes," Thurstan said. "Sir Guy, you know this castle well. Would you be so kind as to lead me to the nearest privy?"
"Certainly," Guy said, and they both stood up. Outside of the great hall, Thurstan asked, "What else does leper stand for?"
"What?"
"The Sheriff isn't only talking about people with leprosy, is he? He means something else."
"Oh. Women," Guy explained, remembering how the Sheriff used to refer to Marian as "your leper friend." It seemed more cruel now than it had at the time.
"Yes. That makes sense." Thurstan was quiet for a moment, then remarked, "He just can't stop it, can he, stabbing you with words?"
Guy shrugged, somewhat uncomfortable at having to admit, "He's always done that."
"Has he? I got the impression he's trying to punish you."
"Punish me?" Guy asked. "For what?"
"For leaving him," Thurstan said as they approached the privy. "Putting him to the inconvenience of finding somebody else to take your place, and then discovering that he can't necesssarily put Sir Edmund down to make himself feel bigger, or at least not as easily as you."
Guy had never considered that before, but quickly realized how true it was. He also knew with certainty that he was no longer prepared to suffer it any longer than he had to. No matter what happened, he wouldn't be staying here. In fact, there wasn't even any reason for him to go after Hood now, except perhaps personal satisfaction. When Guy had left Throxenby, killing the outlaw had been uppermost in his mind, but now, everything had changed, and things that had once seemed important had since become worthless in his eyes. Yes, defeating Hood would allow Guy to oust Sir Edmund and take his place again as the Sheriff's lieutenant, but why should he bother? And as for personal satisfaction, Guy knew that if he let the opportunity pass by to join himself to the Earl's household, he'd be left with nothing. The gratification of having killed his enemy wouldn't warm his bed at night, or give him anything to look forward to during the day.
Once he'd made his decision to forget out the outlaw and concentrate instead on Quenilda and her family, Guy was surprised at how easily Hood slid out of his thoughts. It was as though he'd laid down a weight he hadn't known he'd been carrying, and the loss of it made him stand taller and feel more cheerful than he'd felt for a long time.
At his side, Thurstan sighed and said, "That's a relief."
"Yes," Guy agreed, but he was certain that they weren't thinking about the same thing.
On their way back, they ran into the Earl, and after a quick check to make sure they were alone in the corridor, Guy quickly took advantage of the situation. "My lord, if I may ask a favour?"
"Certainly, Sir Guy," the Earl replied, not sounding astonished or inconvenienced at all.
"My lord, may I speak with you this evening, in private? I'd be grateful if you could spare me a few minutes."
"Come to my chamber after the meal," the Earl said. "We'll take care of Osbert and his men, and after that, I'll spare you all the time you need."
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After the dinner had finally ended, Guy went out to the courtyard with the Earl. Of course, Osbert and his men had been trying to get away, though they hadn't quite managed to untie all the knots yet. But when Guy pulled them out of the wagon and discovered their attempts, it was only Luke who struck out and tried to escape. Osbert and Hugh both seemed to have given up, remaining silent and sullen as Guy gave Luke the few required blows that would bring him back into submission. Remembering his own tactics of pretending to be weaker and more humiliated than he actually was, Guy kept a close eye on them all the same, but the only sign of life that he saw in them was when they gulped as much ale as they could get. Guy was tempted to let them have more, to let them get drunk and fall asleep so that they'd be less trouble, but he was also impatient to get away to talk to the Earl. At last, the men had been taken care of and were tied up again in the back of the wagon, the new guard had received instructions from the Earl to keep a closer watch during the night, and Guy and the Earl were free to go back inside.
"Will you join me for some wine?" the Earl asked, pouring some into a goblet and extending it towards Guy. Guy held it without drinking, and watched as the Earl sipped from his own goblet, looking questioningly at Guy over its rim.
"My lord," Guy said, trying to keep it simple and not let his tongue trip because of any overeager thoughts. "I would like to offer my services to you."
"Your services, Sir Guy?" the Earl asked.
"I am a knight, and I have recently been a master-at-arms," Guy said. "I regret that the only sword I have to offer you is borrowed, but I can offer my experience, my strength, and my loyalty. And –"
He hesitated, and the Earl prompted, "And?"
Guy blurted out, "I know you'd treat me well, my lord, and I would do anything and everything to deserve it."
"Did you offer this devotion to the Sheriff?" the Earl asked gently. Ashamed, Guy looked away and shook his head. "No, my lord."
"No, I didn't think so. I wouldn't have done so, either," the Earl mused.
"But I gave him my loyalty, my lord," Guy said, a little bitter when he remembered how the Sheriff had treated that loyalty.
"Yes, he told me. We spoke earlier to-day, among other things, about you. He went to great pains to point out how incompetent you were and how saintly he was for putting up with you for all those years. To tell the truth, Sir Guy, I began to wonder if we were discussing the same man," the Earl mused. "But then, most men reflect their lords, the way a mirror shows the person who looks into it. I'd heard of your reputation, before you came to us, and I've been watching you ever since then. You're not completely what I'd expected. As I said to Osbert, you've changed for the better. In fact, in the right circumstances, I believe you'd be capable of changing even more, and I'd be very pleased if you could find those right circumstances as a knight in my household."
He beamed down at Guy, and Guy smiled back, feeling a rush of relief as cool and refreshing as icy water on a hot day. Then the Earl lifted his goblet and said, "To miracles, Sir Guy."
"To miracles, my lord," Guy echoed, and drank. The wine tasted of hope, but he let himself take only a swallow, then put the goblet on the table next to the pitcher. Removing his dagger, Guy also unbuckled his sword belt and laid both items carefully on the floor as he knelt down in front of the Earl. He had just placed his hands together, palm to palm as though in prayer, when the man said, "Stop."
Guy froze, terrified that the Earl had suddenly changed his mind and did not want to receive his oath after all. His fears did not decrease when the Earl reached out, took his forearm instead of his clasped hands, and gave a little tug as a signal that Guy should get up again.
"My lord?" Guy asked as he got to his feet.
"I'm flattered that you would give me your oath here and now, but we will do it properly in a church, with witnesses," the Earl said. "Preferably with a holy relic of some kind that you can swear on."
Obviously seeing Guy's confusion, the Earl went on. "Is this how you gave your oath to the Sheriff?"
"Yes, my lord," Guy replied. "I apologize."
The Earl smiled. "There's nothing to apologize for, Guy. He should have known better, not you. As I said, we'll do it properly, back in Throxenby, but until then, we'll both act as though you've already sworn, how's that?"
It did not escape Guy that the Earl had not used his title, and he knew it was a sign of acceptance. "You are too generous, my lord."
"Once you get to know me better, you'll find I'm not." Smiling, the Earl handed Guy his goblet of wine, then drank from his own. Guy took a cautious sip, gathering his courage, then said, "There's one more thing, my lord."
The Earl lowered his goblet and waited with a pleasantly expectant expression on his face.
"I have changed, my lord. I hope it's for the better. In any case, I've had the chance to reconsider some of the decisions I recently made. I would like, that is—" Guy took a deep breath. "I have reason to believe that my offer would not be entirely repulsive …"
He watched the Earl closely, but the man's expression did not change. Encouraged, Guy blurted out the rest. "I would like to ask your permission to ask your daughter to marry me." In case there was any doubt which daughter he meant, he hastily added, "Lady Quenilda."
"Well," the Earl said. "Before I say anything, Guy, I would like to ask, why did you refuse her before?"
"Because I was afraid," Guy admitted, looking away and waiting for the Earl to laugh or make a cutting remark. When the man didn't speak, Guy dared to go on. "Afraid that I would get hurt again. And –"
"And what?" the Earl prompted gently.
"And afraid that I would hurt her," Guy said. In the ensuing silence, he raised his eyes from the floor and looked at the Earl. "If you say no, my lord, I won't bring it up again—"
"Wait," the Earl said, and Guy stopped. The Earl asked, "You're not afraid anymore of hurting her?"
Clenching his free hand to a fist, Guy looked down at it, remembered what he was capable of, and said, "I would try my utmost not to, but if I do, then please … just kill me."
The Earl lifted his eyebrows and said simply, "Well."
"Would you like me to go, my lord?" Guy asked, offering to do much more than simply leave the chamber, but the Earl waved away the question and asked one of his own. "Oh, by the way, what about Robin Hood?"
Guy answered truthfully. "My lord, I thought I'd leave him for the Sheriff and Sir Edmund to deal with."
"You don't want revenge any more?"
Shaking his head, Guy tried to put his newfound realizations into words. "The dragon that came here wanted revenge on me, my lord. It destroyed an entire village, and ultimately died trying to get that revenge. I would rather choose life and – and the creation of new life – instead of death and destruction."
The Earl lifted his goblet in acknowledgement, his eyes and his mouth both smiling. "Guy, to put it mildly, that answer is not entirely repulsive to me. That is, you not only have my permission to ask Quenilda to marry you, you also have my blessing."
Part 14