The Red-Haired Night

The Red-Haired Knight 09

Malle and the Lord Edward

Gwyneth was there to welcome Malle. "My Lady."

Malle answered the unspoken question, she had fewer secrets with Gwyneth than most of her people. "The sergeant is fiercely loyal, I knew but had to be sure."

"Yes, my Lady."

"You are very careful, Gwyneth; I know you love this man."

"Yes, my Lady, despite all his faults."

"That is how love must be...despite ALL faults." Malle grit her teeth...but only mildly. She had learned things from the sergeant, things he would never know he revealed. "Oh Edward! Oh, my sons!"

"Gwyneth, I have bathed in the lake so no need to draw a bath tonight, but I have not eaten since the lodge this morning."

"Ah, you must have had the 'infantry gruel' or the cavalry stew." Gwyneth never understood why the Lady ate as her soldiers did.

"And tonight, 'Gwyneth's Surprise'!"

"Yes, my Lady." Reheated slops from the servants' dinner had been cold for several hours.

But heavy, hot food washed down by the wines from her cellar, sufficed for Malle. She read by candlelight as she sipped her spiced 'night wine'. It relaxed her and made her drowsy.

For safety, she thought...time to douse the candle.

And so, she slept. In a linen shift and wimple, a heavy blanket on her lap and a rolled fleece as her pillow. It was late summer; in the Valley, the nights were cool, even in high summer.

Dreams came quickly.

Edward came to her. Not the Lord Edward, but the young husband.

The people of the Valley could frolic as they willed before marriage. There was no shame. But offspring of unconsecrated unions were given to the Keepers of the Holy Ground, to become future Keepers of the Holy Ground.

Once a union was consecrated, it was forever. Not for life, but for eternity. Malle, indeed, no proper person, no true believer in the ways of the Holy Ground would take another lover, either while the partner lived or after death. If the marriage were true, the lovers would never part. They were bonded in their dreams.

Malle had to banish the thoughts, the knowledge she had of Edward...and HER SONS, their sins in the Wild Lands.

The drink had its effect and Malle could welcome her lover joyfully, as she had every night, they were together.

This night would be like no other. Edward came to her many times, as the young husband as the new Lord, and as the Lord and man, who had lain with her the night before his death at the hands of ambushing cowardly, beastly assassins.

Exhausted from the attentions of her 'shadow husband', Malle rose and sipped more 'night wine'. Her lust sated by her Lord-Husband, she resisted the Demon Lover who visited her when she was in a dark place, a place of vengeance and anger. The demon was a male-female, alternately confusing, frightening, and seducing Malle.

There were times she needed the help of the Dark Side. She had made bargains with both Light and Dark before battle. The demon had left, secure that someday, Malle would summon the Dark One for help.

Liard and Liam. Her boys, their boys, their murdered MEN. So close as to be mistaken for twins. Both blond, both tall, taller than their father, much taller than their mother, thus the rumors of the demon lover.

As youth they appeared willowy, almost fragile. They loved both books and hunting. As they matured, they gained muscle, but never much heft. It was after Liam's birth when Malle knew there were no more children to bless the union, she became a knight companion of Lord Edward.

There was a scandal in the Valley. A mother was not a knight. Some women warriors were known, in legend, but they were virgins, sworn to chastity.

A mother with children, impossible. So scandalous for the pious. To fend off the rumors, Malle submitted to an examination by the Keepers of the Holy Ground.

In the Valley, one was nude only to bathe or to show their vulnerability to the Gods of Earth and Sky. Pleasurable union was a matter of lifting nightgowns. Even spouses rarely saw one another naked.

But before the Keepers of the Holy Ground (both male and female) she exposed herself entirely.

No sign of a demon congress was found, no bodily sign of witchcraft discovered. The keepers examined her thoroughly in matters spiritual. She had kept the Holy Days, consulted the Keepers in matters that troubled her. She was certified as an understanding mother and True Believer.

Her love of military things was exceptional, but not blasphemous. She trained as her sons trained, a slow learner, but gifted athletically; she had not the blood lust for combat. But this she would learn...just in time, or a little too late?

Her sons went with the sergeant on the Wild Lands Expedition. These were rare events, but she never questioned the sanitized version of what happened in that time.

As a Mother she SHOULD HAVE. More 'night wine' buried those thoughts and let her sleep.

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Many thanks to my editor: Kenji Sato. All characters in this story are over 18 year of age.