Conwy, Wales
They’d just finished delivering to the Dragon’s Heart Inn. On the front of the tavern, above the door, hung the usual wooden sign seen at pubs for centuries. The Dragon’s Heart had the red dragon symbol of Wales, rampant, with a bleeding heart in its claw.
“Look at that,” Roger said, pointing to the sign. “I really like it, rather dynamic painting, don’t you think?”
“I do. If I were to ever buy a pub, I’d give it a fierce name, like Dragon’s Heart,” Oliver said.
“Do you want to own a pub?”
“I’ve no desire to retire from science yet, but I’d like to have a pub in addition to my work. Lend a hand behind the bar on busy nights, enjoy a chinwag with the folks who stop for a pint.”
Roger laid a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “It’s a fine ambition. I hope Electra and I will be regular customers.”
“Look,” Oliver tipped his chin toward the intersection of the town’s wall and the road joining it to the castle.
Two knights and Electra had entered the town square. Roger took two quick strides toward the party.
“Wait,” Oliver said, pulling on his arm. “Let me go first. I can get closer to her than you. I don’t look like a threat and the knights might see you as one. To them, I’m a doughy, grey-haired old man. You, on the other hand, are a younger, stronger fellow with possible mischief on his mind.”
Roger looked to see where John was. He’d taken up a spot on the tavern’s stone wall and was drinking a tankard of beer with the Dragon’s owner.
“Go. Let her see you.” Roger’s gaze was fixed on only Electra.
Oliver passed by her and whispered, “To your left, under the sign.”
Electra yelped but choked it off before she drew too much attention. She was pretty sure there was an, “Oh, my God,” mixed in with the yip too.
Roger. She feared she’d never see him again and here he was a few yards away. Without thinking, she ran to him and he hurried toward her.
“Halt,” Horatio stepped between them, sword drawn. He fixed his sword inches from Roger’s chest. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Percival, who’d also drawn his sword held her by the arm. At the same time, Oliver had rushed back. Electra broke away from Percival and ran between Horatio and Roger. She pushed Horatio’s sword away. “Don’t hurt him, Horatio, please. It is my fault. I thought he was someone I knew.”
“Perhaps, but the oaf rushed toward you as well. He cannot have had good intent. Look at him.” He scanned Roger’s appearance with a look of disgust. “What was your intent, scullion?”
“He is deaf and doesn’t have the ability to speak,” Oliver interjected. “He doesn’t understand what he did wrong. He likely assumed she wanted him to do something.”
“You are his friend and will say whatever is necessary to keep him from the thrashing he deserves,” Percival said. “Cuff the whoreson hard about the ear,” he told Horatio. “Let it be a lesson.”
Horatio and Percival exchanged a smile, then Horatio, clubbed Roger on the ear with the pommel on his sword hilt. Electra shot a hand out to stop him from striking Roger but wasn’t fast enough. “Let that be a lesson to your friend.”
Roger staggered and put a hand to his ear, which was now angry red.
Electra turned and hit Horatio with balled fists against his chest. “Stop it. Right now. Both of you. This is cowardly behavior and you should be ashamed. You heard the man. This fellow is deaf and probably has no idea what he’d done wrong. Get out of my sight for a minute. I am angry with you and don’t want to see or hear you for a bit. For heaven’s sake, sheath your swords.”
“We cannot leave your sight, Lady Electra. You are our charge,” Horatio said, sword in hand and making no effort to sheath it.
“Then please step away and let me speak to the old man so he can communicate my apologies to the...oaf.”
Neither knight looked happy to do what she asked, but after a moment complied. “As you wish, but we will remain close at hand.”
Electra bent in and whispered so only Oliver would hear, “Meet me at the church in an hour. It’s empty in the afternoon. I’ll be in the confessional on the west wall.”
Oliver kept his expression sober, smiling and nodding when Electra finished. She returned his smile and rejoined Percival and Horatio.
****
It took some fast talking, but Electra finally convinced her knight shadows to go and enjoy a drink at the tavern. She told them that she missed her sister desperately and wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She wished to light a candle and enjoy the tranquility of the church.
She withdrew the hanky she kept stuffed in her sleeve whenever she went into the town. Baths for local folk were few and far between, it helped to have a perfumed handkerchief handy. She crushed sprigs of lavender to scent hers. Lavender wasn’t her favorite scent but it was better than the alternative.
In the entry to the nave, Electra put the hanky on her head and willed it to stay. As hoped, St. Michael’s was empty of parishioners and priests. She skirted along the walls, staying in their shadows just in case someone was there but out of sight. At the first bank of votive candles, she paused to light one even though she wasn’t Catholic. Why not light one and ask for saintly intervention? Couldn’t hurt.
She wasn’t sure which saint the candles paid tribute to but she thought logically it was the Archangel Michael the church was named for. Powerful chap, Michael. If any saint could influence the outcome of this time travel debacle, he’d be the one to do it...so she hoped. She only attended church on special occasions like Midnight Mass or wedding ceremonies. Although Anglican, she had to confess to envying the Catholics their Midnight Mass with its grand pageantry and grand choirs singing carols. Her local vicar wasn’t a huge fan of “showy choirs.”
After she pled her case to the statue, she wasn’t certain how to put the finish point on it. Catholics made the sign of the cross. Instead, she said her thanks and gave a little curtsy and then moved on toward the confessional. She felt bad about abusing the sanctity of the confessional but choices were few.
When she reached the dark oak closet-like compartment with intricately carved doors, she listened for voices. Hearing none, she knocked on both doors to make sure no one was inside. No one answered and she quickly entered and sat on the narrow seat provided. Her side of the two cubicles had a knob on the latticed window, indicating the priest’s side.
Sweat beaded her forehead within the first minute. Summer heat, the stuffy compartment, and the weight of her wool gown, turned the space into hot coffin. She wouldn’t be surprised to discover priests flopped out with heat exhaustion on a regular basis.
Footsteps echoed across the nave. Then they stopped and she questioned whether she’d really heard them. Worse, what if it was a suspicious priest sneaking up on tiptoe? The door on the other half of the confessional slowly opened. Please be Roger. Please be Roger. She peered one-eyed through the lattice work.
“Thank heavens, it is you,” she said, breathy with relief and excitement. She tried to slide the window open, hoping for a kiss but the damn thing refused to budge.
Roger closed the door and dropped down to kneel on the prie-dieu provided for parishioners. “Were you expecting someone else?”
“No. I was frightened I’d been found out.” She reached through the window’s fretting with her fingers and Roger kissed each. “I love you so much and have missed you so much. I was afraid I’d never see you again. You must’ve seen Emily to know I was here. Is she still fine? How were you able to come to this time? Can we use the same way to get back? God, I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t run out of breath.” He grasped her fingers and held onto them. “You’ve no idea how happy and relieved I am to find you and see you’re well. In answer to your questions: I love you too much to not turn the world upside down to get to you. The time passage is somehow triggered through the outcropping where you picked flowers. A form of super lightning is the trigger source. I don’t know if we can get back that way, but if we can’t return to our time, we’ll go to my chateau in Normandy. As for Emily, she’s doing fine.”
“What do you mean your chateau?” Was he suggesting he’d traveled through time before? Stephen was from this time and came forward. “Are you saying you came from this time originally because I know Stephen did?”
“Yes. How did you learn about Stephen? Never mind, that’s not important right now—”
“No, it isn’t. I want to know about you. Were you ever going to tell me the truth?”
“Yes, and I promise I’ll tell you the whole story soon. First we need to figure a way to get you out of the castle and the Prince’s retinue.”
“The castle is tough to break into. The Prince is incredibly conscientious about security. If you were able to get inside and reach me, we couldn’t escape through the walled part of the town. He has guards posted everywhere.”
“But he does allow you to walk freely in the town. The guards know you and would give you passage. I can pose as a deaf beggar and Oliver my father, together we can finagle a way out.”
“I don’t have freedom of movement. I have an escort everywhere I go. You saw them.”
“Those knights go everywhere with you?”
She nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see her well through the window decoration. “The Prince wants us to become acquainted. He wants me to marry one of them.”
His fingers tightened hard over hers. “What?”
“Edward doesn’t believe a woman should remain unmarried. He likes those two and thinks either will make me a good husband.”
“That’s never going to happen. Not while I still breathe. Is there any possible way I can sneak in by means of the bridge side?”
“No, too many checkpoints.”
“I thought so but had to ask. I didn’t see any weak spots on the walls.”
“The only way you stand a chance is the gate on the river’s side.”
“The river’s side.”
“What’s wrong...other than the obvious?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me. I can hear it in your voice. Something is wrong.”
“Nothing. Honestly.”
He was quiet for a moment. Electra assumed he was making a plan. “Can you get to the riverbank tonight after the evening meal?” he asked.
“No. The Prince is entertaining some local VIP. He expects a banquet. I’ll be at his beck and call to deliver whatever he asks for. If I go missing, he’ll turn the grounds and surroundings upside down.”
The door to the nave opened and they both went silent. Footsteps came their way. Neither door of the confessional had a view of the cathedral’s interior. The footsteps were light. Electra lifted a silent prayer it was nun passing through and not a parishioner who might linger and choose to lift prayers of their own. Whoever it was, they moved on past. She cracked the door open to make sure.
“We’re alone,” she said, closing the door.
“Tomorrow then?”
“Yes. I finish in the kitchens right after the evening meal but I’ll wait until nightfall to meet you at the riverbank.”
“I’ll come as soon as the moon is up. It’s only a crescent this time of the month, so the light is at its weakest.”
“We’re going south to rescue Emily then, aren’t we?”
“Of course. We’ll head for Liverpool and try to find a boat going south. It’s the fastest way back.”
“Tomorrow.” Electra couldn’t help herself and rushed to him. She couldn’t leave without holding Roger, fearing this might be her last time to do so. A big part of her worried he’d fail and get caught. If that happened, she didn’t know what the Prince would do. It was entirely possible whoever captured him would kill Roger outright.
She hugged him tighter than ever before. “I love you. I love you so very much.” She kissed him with all the love and power a last kiss carries.
“I love you,” he said, cupping her face. “I don’t care which century it is. You’re mine, now and forever.”
He threaded his hands through her hair and returned her kiss with equal passion. He must’ve sensed what was in her heart. “Do not make yourself sick with worry. It’s going to be all right. Nothing and no one will keep me from you again.”
“I won’t. I’m stronger than you think.”
“You best go before Tweedledum and Tweedledee come looking for you.”
It surprised her he knew the Alice in Wonderland reference. But then he was good at surprising her. Good grief, he’d found a way to come back in time for her.
“Until tomorrow.” Electra looked back when she reached the doors, but he was gone. She held on but once she stepped onto the church steps, the tears flowed.