Queen of Lost Stars (Dragonblade Series/House of St. Hever) Read Free Page B

him. Nicholas took Cairn away from the fighting, back to where the wounded were being tended.
    Nicholas also noticed that Kaspian was with the wounded as well, having been felled by a nasty Welsh spear straight to the lower abdomen. With Cairn dead and Kaspian badly wounded, Nicholas took charge of the battle from Thomas Allington-More. Thomas, a seasoned knight with more battle experience than Nicholas, had been swept aside by the brash and arrogant knight. Nicholas was able to take credit for the victory with his fresh men against the weary Welsh, but it was a victory nonetheless.
    As a valiant knight in shining armor, Sir Nicholas de Dalyn emerged from the battle of Beeston as the glorious one.
    At least, that was what the Beeston commander’s missive to King Edward clearly stated.
    The battle at Beeston had a hero, and that hero had a specific request of the king.
    Lavister Crag.

CHAPTER TWO
    Lavister Crag Castle
    Days later
    “W hat shall I tell her?” Mavia hissed. “She will want to see her child!”
    An old man in smelly woolen robes and a head of stringy white hair simply shook his head. “She will not,” he said. “She knows her child is dead. He was born with the birthing cord wrapped around his neck. She’ll not ask for him.”
    Mavia stood at the chamber door, peeking into the small, cramped chamber beyond where Madelayne had recently given birth. She could see the woman lying on the bed, bundled up and lying on her side. Mavia thought she was sleeping. The child had been big enough, unlike the previous child she had birthed who had been born far too early, but this son had been born with the cord wrapped around his neck and his face shades of blue. It was heartbreaking, truly. Madelayne had feared for this child so and her worst fears had come to light. Mavia sighed heavily.
    “My heart grieves for her,” Mavia whispered. “She wanted this child so badly. Why do you suppose such things happen, Dolwyd? Madelayne is a good woman. She is kind to the poor and she is pious. Why should such bad fortunate befall her?”
    The old physic shook his head. He, too, could see Madelayne on the bed through the slit in the door. “It is the will of God,” he said simply. “The lass has suffered much loss in her life; her mother dying when she was young, her babes dying last year and this year. Lady Madelayne may have to face the fact that God does not want her to have a child.”
    Mavia’s gaze was intense upon the old man. “After you ripped the child from her, it is a wonder she did not bleed to death,” she muttered. “Did you have to be so rough?”
    Dolwyd was unruffled by the accusation. There wasn’t much in life that excited or upset him anymore. “The child was wedged in,” he said. “He was stuck. Would you have me lose both the mother and the child?”
    Mavia sighed sharply. “Of course not,” she said. “But the way you… God’s Bones, Dolwyd. You literally yanked the child from her body. You tore her to shreds!”
    “If I had not, the child would not have been born and Lady Madelayne would have eventually lost her strength and both she and the child would have died. Is that what you would rather see? There is no place for your proprieties, lady.”
    “It was not a matter of propriety! It was a matter of your being quite rough with Madelayne. She is not one of the soldiers you tend, you know. You did not need to be so forceful with her.”
    As Mavia and Dolwyd whispered outside of the chamber door, Madelayne was very much awake even though she was motionless, facing the wall. She could hear every word spoken, angry whispers from her friend and the calm response of the old physic. As if they thought she couldn’t hear them. Tears trickled from Madelayne’s eyes and onto the pillow beneath her; aye, she knew her son was dead even without the whispers outside her door. She hadn’t even seen the little lad when he’d been born but the way Dolwyd had handed the child off and the receiving