“A knight?” the oldest girl, Anora, piped up. She looked at Orion with big, curious eyes. “My father was a knight. He fought for Simon de Montfort.”
That didn’t come as a surprise to Orion. In fact, he’d suspected it might be something like that, since Anosia was so guarded with him. But he smiled at the young lady.
“Is that so?” he said. “I am sure he was a fine knight.”
“Anora, enough,” Anosia whispered sternly. “Go with Louise now. She will take you home and you can cook your fruit.”
It was then that Orion noticed an older woman standing over by the garden gate with a Guardian standing next to her. The girls ran to the old woman, who was escorted out by the Guardian. When they were gone, Anosia turned to Orion.
“Anora will chatter until you wish you did not have ears,” she said, smiling weakly. “She does not realize that sometimes, she says too much.”
Orion nodded faintly, but his gaze upon her was intense. “So your husband perished at Lewes fighting for de Montfort,” he said. “I am sorry, my lady. I mean that.”
Anosia averted her gaze, unable to look him in the eye. “That is in the past,” she said. “He made his choices and they cost him in the end.”
“The same could be said about all of us,” Orion said. “I have made my choices, as have you. But you are fortunate enough that a place like The Feast existed.”
Anosia nodded firmly. “So many war widows did not have this opportunity,” she said. “But some did and they are here, working in the kitchens or as servants. Lord Chester did not turn a woman in need away, but he was always particular about the women he allowed as muses.”
“I do not blame him,” he said. “If muses entertain men, they must have that skill set and the beauty to match, as you do. Not everyone will look like you. Or sound like you. Or move like you.”
It was turning into a compliment, and Anosia smiled modestly, lowering her gaze. “There is an old saying,” she said. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
He snorted softly. “I am not the only one who thinks you are beautiful,” he said. “Others have thought so. The old man who comes every seventh day so that you can read his wife’s letters to him thinks so. Do not underestimate yourself, lady. You are formidable.”
She laughed softly. “I am simply trying to feed my children and house them,” she said. Then she paused before glancing up at him. “Shall I tell you what I did today?”
“Please.”
She wasn’t particularly forthcoming with what she wanted to say. Instead, she cast him a somewhat alluring glance and headed into the vacant solar.
Orion followed.
“A man came to see me today,” she said as they moved toward a bench and table in a cozy corner of the room. “He has been here before. He likes to have me read the Bible to him, and I have done so a few times. Today, he came and wanted me to not only read to him, but dance for him as well. He is a wealthy merchant from Flanders, and he pays a great deal, but I sent him away.”
“Why?”
Anosia shook her head. “I did not understand it myself at first,” she said. “But it seems to revolve around you.”
He frowned. “Me?” he said. “Why?”
They had come to the nook with the stone bench and the heavy oaken table. She paused to face him.
“Because all I can think about is how you chased away the old man who wanted me to read his dead wife’s letters,” she said. “I am afraid of what you might do to a man if you know I have entertained him.”
She had a point. Orion wasn’t even sure what to say to that. He pursed his lips and looked away, wondering if his obsession with her was turning into something else.
Jealousy?
Probably. But she was an enigma to him, this woman who hid behind a name that meant “unholy” in the Greek language. Aye, he knew that. He was an educated man and he knew quite a bit. He was probably the smartest man in the room anywhere he went, yet he was obsessing over this woman, so much so that she felt the need to decline work that would bring her a good deal of money, all because she feared his reaction.
Butwhydid she fear his reaction?
Was it possible that she was obsessing over him, too?
“I never said that I was going to do anything to a man you entertained,” he said. “As for the man you were supposed to read to, all I did was tell him to go away. You and I were having a conversation and I did not want to end it, so I offered to double the wage he would have paid you for your time. I’ve never done anything to threaten you or those around you.”
Anosia watched him as he spoke, the way he wouldn’t look at her. He was trying to deny her perception of his behavior toward her, but they both knew she was right.
