Chapter 45

HENRY AND ELIZABETH

Henry was surprised at how much he wanted Elizabeth to go with him. He didn't really know himself what was wrong with him. But the need to always have her close, to protect her and to always be able to see her was overpowering. He didn't know himself how or when Elizabeth had become so dear to him. Yet it was so.

Raising his mug to his lips, Raven rinsed his mouth and spat. It was a beautiful morning. Elizabeth sat next to Robin and explained the situation to him. He smiled, impressed.

"And what are you doing with her in Nashville?" Raven asked, slicing his cheese into five pieces with his dagger.

"I do not know that yet." Henry looked at her. Her hair shimmered gold in the sun. ... Then listen to him...

"Is she still your squire?"

"Are you crazy?"

Raven laughed to himself. What she was to him was not clear to him himself. Except she wasn't a squire anymore. Elizabeth helped Robin renew his bandages. She did the same with Henry and Raven. Only then could they continue.

Riding through defeated France was not so easy. The peasants did not meet the English squad with hostility. They despise them. Therefore, all soldiers continued to be armed, kept watch when they set up camp, and rarely left camp alone. Because the peasants were many. And most of the soldiers were badly injured. If the peasants attacked them, they would even have a chance.

Finally back on English soil, a messenger reached the troop. Theo sent word to Henry that he expected to see Henry at his castle when he arrived. So the first shadow, weighing tons, fell on Henry's homecoming. If Theo sent a messenger, then something was up.

But Henry suppressed this thought, said goodbye to Robin and followed Raven to his castle. Because Raven was his employer. So there were a few things to complete there before he could ride to Nashvill.

When they reached the rolling hills, Henry took a deep breath. It was the small forest, the two rocks that wedged the castle, the slope in the back of the almost white castle, the lush green grass that was practically everywhere. He came here as a brat to be Raven's page. Here he was taught everything he could do today. Here was his true home.

Elizabeth was next to him, surveying the area enthusiastically. Still, he couldn't look away. "May I introduce; The Castle of the White Knights."

Her eyes shone. "Insanity..."

Raven grinned and rode up. The two followed him. But Henry couldn't avoid absorbing everything there was to see, hear or smell in the forest. The rustling of the treetops reminded him how he and Raven had raced. The distant rustling of animals in the undergrowth of his first hunt. Here he felt comfortable.

After passing through the gate, the sun-drenched courtyard spread out before them. Elizabeth widened her eyes and surveyed the mighty castle. "Impressive..."

Raven smiled and nodded. "Our grandfather built it. The Campbells have lived here ever since."

Suddenly, an adoptable one-year-old with a long brown mane trotted past inside. As if it were completely normal. At Raven's shocked face, Henry laughed. Then the young stable boy came along and took up the reins again. When he saw Raven, his eyes widened.

"My lord!" He hastily bowed his head in greeting. "Welcome back!"

"What is he doing here?"

The boy, his name was Tupold, seemed contrite. "He escaped me when the smith was about to make his hooves."

The blacksmith was an old farmer who didn't do a bad job, but he didn't do a particularly good job either. Raven nodded and put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Bring the horse back and tell the blacksmith someone else will do the hooves."

Tupold beamed at Henry. "You're just in time, Henry! All the nags will faint with joy because you're taking care of them."

Henry smiled, feeling Elizabeth's gaze keenly. But Raven, almost proudly, raised a hand. "It's not Henry anymore, it's Lord. He has a castle in Nashville now."

Tupold took an excited step forward so the horse pranced. "So we won the war?"

"If the king has enough gold to take the crown for good, I'll say yes."

Henry was fed up with war and politics. He took the one-year-old and glanced over his shoulder to motion for Elizabeth to come with him. Then they went to his forge. Not his, but almost.

I was impressed that Henry was a blacksmith, but not at all surprised. But the fact that he had so much sensitivity that he could calm the upset young studs without saying a word really blew me away. With an inner hardness and calm, he tamed every animal. Gently patted the nostrils and got to work. And he noticed every name, of all the nags tramping about here and there.

He stood shirtless by the flames, had thick gloves in which to carry the heavy tools around as if they weighed little more than straw, and grinned wider than usual at the banter of the stablehands.

"That was the last one." He threw the gloves aside.

"It's already dark outside. And you haven't eaten anything yet." He smiled with those charming dimples. "And you're hurt too. How did you do that?"

He modestly shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. He ran a hand through his black hair. "Glad you're here, Elizabeth."

I looked flattered at the toes of my boots. I agreed with him. On the journey back to England, we were closer than we had been before. We had kissed more often, had talked a lot to each other and slowly I had the feeling that I had completely fallen for him. Still, I was too shy to say it.

Then he suddenly stood in front of me. He looked me in the eye with a blank expression. He ran both hands through my hair and tilted his head down towards me. He smelled like horses and sweat, but it was the best thing I've ever smelled in my life.

"Henry! Elizabeth!" Raven walked into the forge just as Henry was slowly pulling away from me. "Oh, sorry. But if you still want something to eat, you should hurry up."

Henry grinned lewdly at me. But he just took my hand and led me into the hall.

SHOCK CONDITION

Henry was stunned. He had only just got into his tent when he heard footsteps behind him. It was Nash, of course. Or whatever her name was. He said nothing, stood with his back to the clock and waited. Because your head was swept empty.

"Henry, I..." Her voice was velvety smooth, very different from how it had sounded as Nash. Henry couldn't help but wonder what else was a lie about her. And for some inexplicable reason, that thought made him bitter. She took a deep breath. "My name is Elizabeth. My story is true. Also the reason why I am here."

"You lied to me..."

"I didn't want to involve you in this. Or that you would hold back towards me. Or chase me away."

That she thought of him like that gave him a pang. Did she really think he didn't care so much about her fate that he would have just chased her away? He was so disappointed in a total stranger. It confused him and made him uncertain. And that was a feeling Henry couldn't stand. Uncertainty was the beginning of the end.

"Get out of my eyes." He growled into the tense silence. "Just leave me alone."

He heard her footsteps, but only after a few moments did he realize what he had just said and whirled around. "Elizabeth!"

But she was gone. Henry was reminded of his dream in which Nash disappeared, taking all the light with him. And only the pain and the loneliness remained. He immediately stormed out of the tent and ran into Rosalinde's arms. "Oh, Henry! Thank God you're fine!"

He pushed past her distractedly. "Eliza...Nash!" Damn she was gone! Henry ran through the camp looking for her, but she was swallowed up by the ground.

"Henry!" Raven held him back. "Let the boy go, let's heal our wounds."

"You don't understand, Nash-" Then the scales fell from his eyes. "Elizabeth has disappeared."

Raven nodded guiltily. "I'm sorry."

With a jerk, Henry freed himself from his grip and refused to look at his cousin. "Just find her before someone else does."

But Elizabeth was and remained missing. Because Henry didn't want it soon, he kept looking. When it was already dark, however, he had himself taken to the hospital. He had lost a lot of blood, was tired and battered and didn't want to risk fainting.

He was sitting on a cot and the ground around him was soaked in blood. But not with his blood, which made it a lot more uncomfortable. Some poor devil in the tent cried out in agony. Henry had seen Robin earlier and figured he'd make it. Max sat upset but completely unharmed next to his employer and slowly fell asleep.

After his wounds had healed, Henry went back to his Empty Tent. What had he done? Where did she go?

When they sent the wounded soldiers back to England the next morning, Henry threatened to despair. He had hoped Elizabeth would come back that night, but it wasn't. I hope she doesn't stay in France. Then the chance of seeing her again would be zero...

Raven, also wounded, rode beside him and said not a word about Elizabeth's disappearance. Whether he blamed Henry or not, he worried too. And he was glad that Henry hadn't refused to ride home with him before he found his squire, or whatever you wanted to call her. It would only have caused problems with Theo again.

But Henry had complied. He broke up his tent very slowly, probably hoping that she would come back, but that didn't happen. Since then he only sorached when it was absolutely necessary, searched the area with his eyes and fell into a deep hole. Raven would have liked to know how to get him out of there, but it wasn't that easy.

A day's journey from England, the troop stopped at a village to camp. Henry, forced, marched into the small inn with Raven. Only when he saw the two traveling whores on their way there did he realize that he had said goodbye to Rosalinde, but that he had acted more roughly than he had intended. She had wanted to share his bed with him again, but it just didn't occur to him. Astonished and horrified, he found that he was completely cold when she began to cry bitterly.

Even though Raven tried to talk to him, Henry couldn't bring himself to do it. He kept thinking about what he had experienced with Nash. It had been a short time. Still, things had happened that he would never have done with or in front of a lady. He had been rude, even naked, and on top of that he had hit her. your first exercises. Oh man... Now it wasn't so abnormal anymore that her backside caught his eye.

"Henry!" Raven nudged him to look up from his beer. "There she is!"

ELIZABETH AND HENRY

Henry jumped up immediately. When I saw him coming, I turned calmly and walked out of the little tavern. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he was really following me. Then I took him to a farmer's stable where I had been allowed to sleep for two days. He was an old widower, so I wasn't too worried.

I lit a candle and waited for Henry to settle into the straw. .Since I was no longer Nash I wore my hair down on one shoulder. Henry eyed me with interest as I sat down next to him. His gaze lingered on my wounds on my ribs and thigh for a moment. Then his eyes went to my hair.

"Why didn't you come back? How could you think I would seriously send you away?" His voice was so calm, so gentle and so missed by me. Goosebumps covered me.

I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. "I thought it was your right."

His big warm hand rested on my cheek and turned my head towards him. He was not an inch away from my face. I felt his breath on my cheek. A pained look came into his eyes that almost broke my heart. "Don't ever do that to me again."

At that moment I thought he felt the same way I did. But it was impossible. So I lifted my hand from my cheek again, but didn't step away. It felt so good to be near... "You don't know me, Henry."

"Neither do you. But you still can't tell me you didn't miss me half as much as I did you. You'd be lying."

"Where do you want to get that from?" He missed me...

"I look at you. Sometimes I feel like I've known you all my life. Since we both know, I don't know a thing about you."

"How can you say that when I've lied to you for so long?"

"You did what you had to do to survive. Why do me want to punish you for that?"

My heartbeat stopped. "Would that be it? A punishment?"

A bitter crooked smile appeared with its wonderful dimples. Without another word, he put his hand back on my cheek and pulled me to his lips. Then nothing mattered. Is it possible to fall in love with someone in such a short time? Whether he had really missed me, or only his bad conscience drove him to me. Or if he could ever trust me, never be suspicious. At that moment everything was just right.

With a soft sigh he pulled away. Gently rubbed my thumb across my cheekbones and rested his forehead against mine. His brown eyes shone in the twilight. "Tell me that you will accompany me to England."

I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. But I was young and had nothing to lose. Except Henry. And I wanted to prevent that. I shrugged casually and lowered my eyes. "I was planning on going home anyway."

Henry chuckled. "But I'm lucky."

He waited a moment longer, then he wrapped his arm around me, very carefully as if I were a shy deer, and kissed me again. I had to smile. It wasn't that long ago that ver beat me up or pissed me with an ash stick in practice. And now he was being as careful as if I were made of glass.

Henry scanned my hay bed. "You don't have to sleep here. Come over with me."

"To the men's camp?"

"Why not? You can sleep with me." He grinned uncertainly. "This time you get a bed too."

I smiled, glad that Henry wasn't about to leave just yet. He stayed seated next to me on the ground, leaning against the wall of the stall, looking very relaxed. I was a lot more nervous. He had kissed me and was now sitting here as if we had just held hands. Of course it wasn't my first kiss. But it was Henry. Everything felt different with him.

"What were you doing with Schencke?"

"You." Oh man... did I really just admit it like that? "I saw your squad coming and wanted to...well..." how did I get out of there gracefully?

Henry grinned crookedly. "And on the battlefield? I thought you promised me something."

"I couldn't help it. When I heard the French attacking the English, I worried about my teammates. But I only got involved a little at the end. How's Robin?"

"It's bad because he's lost a lot of blood. They thought they had to take his leg off, but he woke up before that and he can even ride. He's limping a bit, but otherwise he's moving normally."

"Do you think the limp stays."

"You can't say that yet." He smiled so goddamn charming. "My father stayed in the camp, thank God for his small favors, and the king gave me a little of the spoils. He did it with all his soldiers because after the dysentery he could hardly pay us properly. In addition, I asked him about his friends because of his victory again about my castle." A little embarrassed, he looked at me through his dark lashes. "Would you like to accompany me to my castle?"

I widened my eyes in surprise. "Henry... Are you serious?"

"Why not? I know Nash, but not Elizabeth. You may want to go home, but that shouldn't stop you from deviating a little from your goal."

"I hope you don't expect me to replace Rosalinde for you..."

He furrowed his brows sullenly. "If I had wanted her, I would have taken her with me. But I know what you mean. Don't worry."

I shrugged, smiling. "Agreed then. I'll come with you. What's the name of the castle?"

Henry laughed. "It's in Nashville."