deal of indignation, she straightened her clothing and glowered at him.
“Again, I asked ye how yer skin came to be bruised and irritated.”
“Very well,” she replied with a good deal of frustration. “If ye must know, ’tis yer fault.”
Unable to look at him, even if she couldn’t truly see him, Aeschene turned her gaze to the floor. Her voice was so soft, he could barely hear her.
“At night, when we join, ye do not take off yer tunic. The leather ties scrape and dig against me skin.”
Richard felt ten kinds a fool and twenty times a cruel bastard. He was glad she could not see his own face burning with shame.
Aeschene took a deep breath before daring to look back at him again. ‘I did not say anythin’, because I feared ye would stop, well, ye ken.”
Aye, he did. And she was right. He would have stopped joining with her and not only just until she healed, but stop altogether. His own shamed burned deep and bright.
Sensing his distress, she said, “Richard, I do not care about yer scars. I have a few of my own.” To prove it, she lifted her robe and chemise almost to her hip. Turning, she showed him her leg. “See? Ghastly is it nae?”
The vision of her bare thigh was enough to make his heart skip a few beats. Without thinking, he went to her for a closer inspection. The ghastly scar to which she referred, was no more than three inches in length and only a hair’s breadth in width. Barely noticeable.
“Ghastly?” He asked, shaking his head.
“Aye, I thought so,” she said, dismissing his sarcastic tone. “I got it several years ago, before I lost my vision. We were invaded by a horde of marauders, ye ken.” She let lose her hold on her garments and with wide eyed excitement, she told him the story. “Och! There were thousands of them. A swarthy lot, they were, dark hair, and eyes as black as the night. They carried golden swords which were curved at the end. Sliced through one soldier after another until the ground flowed red with blood.”
Soon, she was acting out the event, one which Richard was quite certain did not hold a grain of truth to it.
“I stood bravely, on the parapet, and pulled out my trusty bow. My quiver, thanks be to God, never went empty.” She took the stance of an archer, pulling back on an invisible string, pretending to let loose one arrow after another. “As the marauders climbed the walls, I picked them off, one by one. And one by one, they fell. Thousands of arrows I let loose that day, until the sky grew dark. One of the attackers came from behind. I heard the whistle of his sword slicing through the air and jumped!” She jumped to the side and spun around. “I was almost too late. The golden blade sliced through my skin. But I held firm, and shot him right between his eyes with my arrow.”
She spun back around, still pretending to let loose those invisible arrows. Richard was enchanted by her tale and found himself smiling at her.
“All alone I was, on that parapet, as one after another they climbed the wall. But I never stopped. Night fell, the sky black and ominous. A stillness rent the air and ’twas then, as I stood covered in sweat and the blood of my enemies, that I realized I was victorious!” She shoved a hand into the air, her smile growing. “There was nary a one left. Thousands of marauders lay spread on the ground, as far as the eye could see.”
She smiled then, a bright, beaming, and mischievous smile. “And that is how I got the ghastly scar. To the bone it cut.” She nodded once and tilted her head ever so slightly. “It only bothers me when it rains.”
Lord, he could not help himself. Richard laughed a good, deep belly laugh. ’Twas something he had not done in years. “Now tell me, how much of that story is true?”
“Nary a word,” she quipped. “But, I do love the tellin’ of it. Besides, ’tis much more excitin’ than admitted I tripped over me own two feet and landed in a thorn bush.”
He laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks.
Once Aeschene heard Richard’s hearty laughter, she could not help but join in. Oh, she felt quite victorious in that moment. For she had made her husband laugh, and not at her own expense. After