“My God,” Hugh muttered. “What about her father?”
“Dead,” Orion said. “Zeus and the other Guardians took care of that. They felt guilty about even admitting the man so that he could attack Desdra, so they took his behavior personally. The last I saw, they’d put the body on one of the de Long merchant vessels and were going to dump it at sea. Ciaran le Daire can become food for the fish. It is better than he deserved.”
Hugh nodded. “That is the truth,” he agreed sincerely. “But what about Desdra? What is her condition?”
“Grave,” Orion said, shaking his head. He was exhausted, having not slept over the past few days, just like Jareth. “Fortunately, she did not fall on her head even though she wentout the window headfirst. The yew tree in the front, near the entry, broke her fall and flipped her onto her left side, so she fell on that. Her ribs are broken, as is her left arm and her left shoulder, and she is very bruised on the left side. I suspect something may have ruptured inside of her, but there is nothing to be done. We must wait and let God’s will be done.”
Hugh grunted with great remorse. “God,” he said. “What a horror. Is there anything I can do? Fetch another physic, mayhap?”
Orion shrugged. “We’ve already had the physic who tended Jareth’s shoulder come to The Feast,” he said. “Willow is his name and he seems competent enough. He has packed her entire left side with cold rags to minimize the swelling and the damage. He’s also packed cold rags around her head and neck. He’s trying to take her temperature down so the body will have time to recover. As I said, we must wait now. That is all that can be done.”
It was pitiful that no one could do more. Hugh seemed particularly pained about it.
“I told Jareth that Aphrodite’s Feast would be good for him,” he said. “He was so reluctant to accept the inheritance, so I feel as if we had to convince him that it would be worthy. And we could all see how he and Desdra were falling for one another—something quite unexpected, I might add. I’ve never known Jareth to be a fool for a woman.”
“Desdra is no ordinary woman,” Orion said softly. “Go and see him. He’ll be glad to see you. He’s in the chamber across the landing.”
Hugh simply nodded and headed up the stairs from the entry. There was an incredible pall of depression hanging over The Feast, so much so that they’d closed their doors since the incident between Desdra and her father. The muses didn’t feel like entertaining anyone and The Guardians felt as if theincident had been their fault, so they simply shut the doors and refused any visitors. That had never happened in the history of The Feast, but it was indicative of a group in mourning.
It was in everything about them.
As Hugh went upstairs, Orion wandered outside, to the window that Desdra had fallen from. He looked up, seeing the broken limbs that had kept Desdra from killing herself in the fall, but it was still a long way down. She had landed in dirt, but it had been hard earth. With a sigh, he turned in the direction of the river. Beyond the tree was the road and then the riverbank, with the silty waters of the River Avon as it made its way to the sea. The gulls were crying overhead and people were down on the riverbank, pulling in the boats from the fishermen. Everything seemed normal, but it wasn’t.
Nothing was normal these days.
“My lord?”
Orion turned to see Anosia standing a few feet away. She looked wan and strained, as all of the muses did. Something happening to Desdra had affected them all. But he smiled at her and extended his arm in her direction.
“Come,” he said. “Keep me company. I was simply thinking for a moment. Where have you been?”
Anosia came toward him, beneath the shade of that big tree. She was dressed in a simple garment, something that was unlike her. There were no ribbons in her hair, no jewels around her neck. She was dressed simply and demurely, but nothing could detract from her astonishing beauty. If anything, the plainness of her garb enhanced it.
“I have just been in to see Desdra,” she said. “Lord Jareth says she has not awakened yet.”
Orion nodded slowly. Then he reached out a hand to her, and when she looked at it in confusion, he simply took her hand and brought it to his lips. He smiled; she flushed.
He laughed softly.
“You must become accustomed to that,” he said. “I will again ask you if you will return to your cottage and allow me to provide for you. A woman of your beauty and talent should not have to entertain for money. Let me take care of you.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “As your kept woman?” she said. “Your concubine? Nay, Orion. I will not be kept.”
“But youarefond of me.”
“You gave me no choice.”
She was grinning as she said it, and he grinned in return. “I did not say you would be my kept woman,” he said. “I will return and marry you at some point, but not until my position with the king is solid.”
Her smile faded. “Why is it not solid?”
He shrugged. “Because I am relatively new,” he said. “These men that I am part of, the Guard of Six, do not like me very much. They are a tight unit, and a unit like that must work together with complete trust or it will fail. It is difficult to trust someone you do not like, so the king may decide that I do not belong with them. That is the only reason I do not marry you now—it is because I do not know what the future holds yet.”
She caressed his fingers. “They simply do not know you yet,” she said. “When they come to know you better, you will become part of them. I know. I watched my husband and his men as they trained and prepared for war. If you work enough with men, and do your part, it is inevitable that they will accept you.”
He smiled faintly. “Wise words, lady,” he said, but his smile quickly dwindled. “Will you not tell me your real name, love? I cannot call you Anosia when I know it is not your name. But I promise I will use the name when we are in front of people. Please?”
Anosia considered that request, one of many such requests he had made to her. Truth be told, she was weakening. He wassweet and he was sincere, and she couldn’t help the attraction she felt toward him. She’d been at The Feast for a long time, and in that time, no one had broken down her walls like Orion had. It was difficult to resist him.
