The Holding - Book 1 in The Medieval Knights Series by Claudia Dain Read Free Book Online Page B

around her.
    William le Brouillard had touched the core of her; he had snared and caught the emotions she kept so protectively guarded—and he had done it with a smile.
    But all that William saw was Cathryn's deathly stillness, which seemed to him to be remote serenity. Defying reason, he was disappointed with her response to him, and then chided himself for his folly. She would be Lady Snow to his Fog. They were well matched; after all, the land was his goal, and it seemed they shared a love of the land.
    Flicking his cloak back and over his arm with courtly elegance, William leaned down to sign the completed contract. It was with satisfaction that he watched Cathryn do the same.
    Greneforde was his.
    Father Godfrey then began the ceremony that would bind them in the eyes of God.
    "It only remains for me to solemnly demand from you your consent to the marriage. This is the moment for you to reflect... and to think of He who blessed all marriages..."
    Cathryn heard only snatches of the ceremony. She fought against William's touch on her soul, so casually achieved. She would never survive this marriage if he could touch and hold her with such ease. His deep voice rumbled and she heard: "Yea; I, William, take thee to wife."
    Her hands clasped in front of her, the image of feminine submission, Cathryn responded softly.
    "Yea; I, Cathryn, take thee for my husband."
    Cathryn was his.
    Father Godfrey produced a ring of gold studded with rubies and topaz that caught and held the flickering light of the candles.
    "May the creator and preserver of all men, may the giver of grace and eternal life cause His blessing to descend on this ring."
    William took the ring from the priest's hand and put it successively upon three fingers of Cathryn's right hand, gently pulling her clasped hands free of each other, and said each time, "In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
    Taking her left hand solemnly in his two large, callused ones, he looked into her eyes upon saying the final words of the contract. Dark brown eyes absorbed the glitter of gray as he said, "With this ring I thee espouse." Cathryn felt her stomach lurch.
    His voice husky now, he continued, "With my body I thee honor." The stillness within her shattered like icicles when they struck ground.
    "With my goods I thee endow."
    Unable to look away from him, she could only try to recapture the peace of rigid control.
    Then, with Father Godfrey leading them and Rowland following, they crossed the solar silently and climbed the stair to the chapel one floor above. Of all the rooms in the tower, it alone had the luxury of glass. Reaching the center of the nave, Cathryn felt William's gentle tug on her hand and then they lay prostrate, the extended hands of Father Gregory held over them.
    The wooden floor was cold and rough against her cheek, and she welcomed the sensation. She wanted to block it all out: the poverty of Greneforde, the hunger, the fact that her home had been given to a stranger and that stranger was now her husband. But she couldn't. Emotions long suppressed rolled through her prostrate form until she thought she would be sick. This man would rule her, her life lay in his hands by the authority of both God and king. If she displeased him, he could beat her, imprison her, starve her. And she would displease him, of that there was no doubt at all. The priest's next words caught her off guard.
    "May God bless you, and Himself teach you to worship one another in your bodies and in your souls."
    Had God blessed her with William le Brouillard as husband? She had said as much to Marie and John and all the rest, but in her heart of hearts, did she believe it? Would God, indeed, instruct her in worshiping her husband—for he was husband now—with her body? How could her body, the house of her pain, be used in worship? It could not be, yet the priest had said so. The tremors that had begun with William's words rocked against her lungs and all her inward