Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick Page A

Hawise who lent him her juggling balls and cajoled him out of his natural reticence… and taught him to laugh.
    The shield boss finished to his satisfaction, he turned his attention to Joscelin's spurs and helm. Dearly as he would have liked to polish sword and dagger, that was a task left either to Joscelin himself, or Hugh, and would not be entrusted to him until he began full weapons training.
    Entering the room, Hawise saw him at his toil; and wandered over. The expression on her face was almost a scowl.
    'What's wrong?' he asked. The fact that he spoke first was testament to the changes that two seasons at Ludlow had wrought.
    'I wish I was going with you,' she said moodily. 'It's going to be boring when you've gone.'
    He knew that she wasn't referring to him alone, but to her father and the other squires. There would be fewer opportunities to ride out and her freedom would be curtailed. 'It won't be for that long,' he said, although he wasn't sure how many weeks they would be absent.
    'It will seem like for ever.' She flounced down on the stool at his side. 'I'll have to sit and do sewing with Marion and Sibbi while you'll be watching Prince Henry knighted.'
    Brunin shook his head. 'The ceremony will only be for the barons, not their attendants. The squires will be standing out in the rain holding the horses.'
    That raised a half-smile.
    'And there'll be so much mud that we'll have to spend all our time grooming and polishing.'
    'Would you rather stay here?' she challenged.
    'No,' he admitted.
    'Well then.' She sulkily kicked the floor rushes.
    Brunin draped the cloth over the rawhide top of the shield. 'We could go riding now if you want,' he offered. 'I've polished all the equipment I'm allowed to touch, and no one has given me other tasks yet.'
    For a moment he thought she was going to refuse, although she was not usually given to fits of pique. That particular trait belonged to Marion. Then she nodded grudgingly. 'It's the last chance I'll have all summer,' she said, a note of accusation in her voice. However, by the time they had saddled their ponies, she had brightened. Since no grooms or Serjeants could be spared to escort them, they were only allowed as far as the sward beyond the castle walls, but there was enough space to canter their mounts and indulge in short races. Hawise forgot to sulk and her laughter rang out. Brunin found himself grinning in response and realised that he was going to miss her too.
     
    Joscelin lay in bed and, in the soft light from the night candle, played with his wife's hair, repeatedly lifting the strands to release the clean, astringent seem and letting them fall against her shoulders and spine. Her back was to him, but she wasn't sleeping. He could feel her consciousness, and her breath had none of slumber's measure.
    'I have a fear,' he said softly, 'that when I return you and Ludlow will be gone. That I will find it has all been a dream and I am naught but a penniless knight.'
    The bedclothes rustled as Sybilla turned over and the scent of her body flooded his senses. 'Even when you had nothing, you were always more than a penniless knight,' she murmured, touching his face with her palm. 'What has brought this sudden mood upon you?'
    He brushed his lips against her skin. 'Ah, I do not know,' he said, irritated with himself. 'Probably the lateness of the hour and length of the journey I've to make on the morrow when I'd rather lie abed with you.'
    She gave a throaty laugh. 'Flatterer.'
    'I mean it,' he groaned. 'Earl Ranulf of Chester and the King of the Scots are no substitute for you and Ludlow.'
    'And Prince Henry?'
    'That is the reason I must go. I would be a fool not to secure his favour. He may still be a youth, but one day he is going to be our king, and he will remember who has served him faithfully and who has not.' Joscelin sighed heavily. 'I am gambling hard and the stakes are high. Sometimes I wonder what will happen if Henry does not prevail and Stephen secures his