“Not to worry,” she said calmly, quietly. “You did what you had to do. He would have alerted everyone. Now, come along. Caius will meet us down by the brook.”
She had to tug on William a couple of times to get him moving. He was still in shock at what had happened, at what he had done, but he knew her words were correct.
He’d had no choice.
He’d just killed a man with surprising ease.
William tried not to still look shaken when they met up with Caius several minutes later down by the brook, and Emelisse told Caius what had happened and how bravely William had defended her. She told the story with great flourish, praising the young squire’s quick and decisive actions. Somehow, hearing the story from her perspective didn’t make him feel so bad. In fact, he felt rather heroic with his first kill. He would never forget the look of approval in Caius’ expression.
And then he puked.
He would never forget the laughter, either.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Whitchurch
Because of theincident with the soldier, and in knowing his body would be found at some point, Caius, Emelisse, and William rode swiftly northward to the small village of Whitchurch.
As Emelisse had indicated, their destination was quite close and took them under an hour. After the snowstorm the night before, the roads were muddy with big, dirty snowdrifts at the road’s edge. Even so, the roads weren’t completely impassable, and they were able to make good time as they entered the village through the southern end.
They were met with more dirty snowdrifts that were piled up against the houses. People were out and about, going about their business, as mothers yelled at their children to scoop the snow away so the doorways would be clear. As they watched with some amusement, boys would get their ears boxed when they refused to obey their mothers. They would rather play in the snow than sweep it away.
Whitchurch was surprisingly large for a village and they passed through a big residential district with timber-framedhomes and wattle walls before they managed to make it into the center of the city where there were several merchant stalls open for business. The first thing they came to was a man selling meatballs on a stick. He cooked them over an open flame and the tantalizing smells filled the air.
When Caius saw Emelisse and William looking at the cooking meat longingly, he reined the horses to a halt and dismounted.
“De Wolfe,” he said. “Take the horses and find a livery. Hide them well should Winterhold men come to town. We will not be long, but I do not want to take any chances. Tuck them away and return to me. I will be at that large church over there.”
He was pointing northward, where a red-stoned church rose up out of the ground, big and fortress-looking and imposing. William nodded and gathered the horses, but not before passing another wistful glance at the roasting meatballs.
Realizing the lad was hungry, and also in need of a reward since saving the lady from the Winterhold soldier, Caius went to the vendor, paid him a pence, and got two sticks of meatballs for the squire, who gratefully wolfed them down as he walked away with the horses. He watched him go before turning to Emelisse.
“And for you, my lady?” he said. “Meatballs?”
She nodded firmly. “Meatballs.”
As it turned out, she was famished. Caius paid for five sticks of meatballs, three for him and two for her. She very nearly finished one before they’d even left the stall, so he purchased a meat pie she could hold in her hand, and as they walked across the avenue to the church on the other side, she stuffed the rest of the meatballs into her mouth and went to work on the pie. It was beef in cinnamon gravy and by the time they reached the doors of the church, the entire thing was in her mouth.
Caius fought off a grin.
“Mind that it does not all come back up again,” he said. “Do you want to sit down and let your food settle before we proceed?”
Her mouth was so full that she could hardly chew and he started laughing. She was trying very hard not to laugh because the food in her mouth might come dribbling out all over. She finally had to turn away from him as he chuckled, chewing her food and swallowing what was in her mouth. She ended up wiping her lips with the corner of her sleeve because she had nothing else to wipe it with.
“I am sorry,” she said. “I have not eaten since yesterday and you seem to be in such a hurry. I thought I should eat it all immediately.”
“Poor woman,” he said, taking her by the arm and turning her for the church door. “It appears as if you have been starving to death and I had no idea.”
She laughed softly, her white teeth flashing. “I wasnotstarving,” she said. “But I was hungry. I have become accustomed to it over the past three years, not eating so my brother and father could. They were the ones doing the fighting, after all. Unfortunately, my manners have suffered because I tend to eat very quickly. Thank you for the meal, however. It was delicious.”
He pulled open the door of the church. “Let us get through this and I shall take you to an inn and feed you until you cannot hold anything more,” he said, his voice suddenly quiet because they were entering the church. “Your days of fear and starvation are over, Emelisse, I swear it.”
She looked at him, his declaration meaning something to her. She’d gone the past three years eating when she could, and what she could, so that the thought of plentiful food was something of a dream to her. That’s why she ate so fast. She was always afraid that she would perhaps have to share it, or afraid someone would take it away from her entirely. She had learnedto eat quickly, as she’d told him. He must have seen the awe and bewilderment in her eyes, for he simply winked at her.
It was a most reassuring wink.
They entered the domain of St. Alkmund’s Church. For being in a relatively small village, the church was quite large. The red stone that it was built with was evidenced all over the inside, with great red pillars supporting the pitched roof. The floor was dirt, and uneven in places, and the entire sanctuary smelled of earth and mildew.
