“What is this scent?” she asked. “I have never smelled it before.”
“Sandalwood and cedar,” he said. “I purchased that soap in the Levant. It has lasted me a very long time.”
Annavieve took a good, long sniff. “It is lovely,” she said. “Thank you for it. In fact… thank you for everything. For taking me to dance last night. I… I know that participating in the festival was not something you were eager to do.”
He looked up from tying his boots. “It was no trouble,” he said neutrally. “You wanted to dance and I saw no harm in it.”
Annavieve was coming to notice something about his behavior towards her; when they were intimate, or last night when he’d had too much to drink, he had been quite warm and almost affectionate with her. But now, with the effects of the alcohol worn off, he was back to business. He was professional and formal with her. She liked it much better when he was relaxed and the constant back and forth of his behavior was starting to wear on her a little.
He only sees you as a duty,she told herself, but she knew deep down that her tender heart wasn’t listening. Her heart was beginning to long for the man and she had no idea how to stop such a thing. She’d never had experience with romance, or love, so this was very new to her. Hurt by his swing in mood and his stiff demeanor, she averted her gaze.
“Of course,” she said. “But I will thank you nonetheless. If you will have some warm water sent up to me, I would be grateful.”
Kevin noticed the change in her tone. He was a sharp man, sensitive to the moods and actions of others, so he detected the change right away. His gaze lingered on her a moment, pondering her change in attitude, before returning to his boots and finished securing the left one. Dressed, he stood up and went to the door.
“I will return,” he said.
When he was gone, a lone tear trickled out of Annavieve’s eye.
Kevin could feel her mood when he left the chamber but he would not let himself think about it, he couldn’t. He was already dangerously close to feeling an attachment to the woman and he refused to let it happen. It was much easier to focus on the tasks he had ahead of him, struggling to put her out of his mind, as he headed down to the common room of the tavern in search of the proprietor.
It was still very early but people were beginning to stir and he found the man over by the hearth, stirring up the embers of the fire to build on the blaze. He relayed his needs to the man, including food and hot water for the lady, and the tavern keeper yelled at two of his wenches, women that were near the rear of the establishment wiping out cups. Hearing their employer’s orders, the women set the cups aside and began scurrying about. With the wheels in motion for food and hot water, Kevin left the tavern and headed over to the church.
Father Innocente was just finishinglauds, or the morning prayer, as Kevin entered the church. There were several people in the congregation going through the liturgy. Kevin remained in the rear of the church, waiting, until the priest was finished with his rites. He didn’t have long to wait before Father Innocente dismissed his congregation and made his way over to Kevin. He greeted the knight kindly.
“My lord,” he said. “You are up early.”
Kevin smiled weakly. “I slept longer than I should have,” he said, humor in his tone. “I have come to see how much progress has been made on the duchess’ garments.”
Father Innocente already knew why the man had come. He motioned for Kevin to follow him. “Come with me,” he said. “I have not checked on the women in a couple of hours but last I saw, they had made great progress. Do you intend to leave this morning?”
“I do.”
“Then let us see how they have progressed.”
Kevin followed the man out of the church, through the small yard, and into the dormitories on the other side. No one was asleep at this early hour; everyone was up completing their daily tasks. The dormitory floor was already swept and the beds made. It was tidy enough. Father Innocente led Kevin over to the far end of the cavernous room where there was asmall alcove, separated from the room by heavy, rough-woven curtains. Father Innocente pulled back the curtains to reveal that the alcove was crammed with the duchess’ things and the two women were both seated, facing each other, working on the same dress.
“Women,” Father Innocente addressed them. “The knight has come to see how you have progressed on the duchess’ clothing. Are you nearly finished?”
The old women looked up, their pale faces lined with fatigue. “This is the last one,” the half-blind woman said. “The rest have been completed.”
Kevin could see that they had packed everything back into the original trunks so the pile of clothing was actually quite orderly. He was impressed.
“Then I shall take what you have finished,” he said, looking to the priest. “I will need a wagon to accommodate these trunks. Do you know where I can purchase such a thing?”
The priest nodded. “Across the street at the livery,” he said. “Go and see the proprietor, Teeg. He will have something you can purchase.”
Kevin did. Within an hour, he had a small wagon and a sturdy horse purchased and all of Annavieve’s new trunks and possessions loaded into the wagon. His stallion, who had been boarded at the same livery overnight, was very happy to see him and the livery owner said the horse had eaten non-stop before tearing up his stall and then falling into an exhausted sleep. Kevin had to grin at the horse, an intelligent and feisty animal. He didn’t like to be caged.
He also didn’t like to be denied. The stallion was very interested in the sturdy mare Kevin had purchased to pull the wagon, thinking perhaps he might have a lady-friend to cavort with, but Kevin put the stud into the livery’s corral and made the horse very unhappy. As his horse threw a tantrum, kicking thefence and biting the wood, Kevin ignored the beast and opened one of the trunks on the wagon, pulling forth the first dress he came across.
Made from yellow lamb’s wool, the garment was soft and fine and lovely, and he set it aside as he went on the hunt for other things like shoes and hose. He didn’t know much about ladies’ clothing but he knew they wore things like shifts and hose. Perhaps even a belt or a scarf. He pulled out what he could, collected the box of jewelry, and left his angry horse while he headed off to the tavern across the square to present it all to Annavieve.
Entering the establishment, he could see that more people were awake now, yawning and groaning and making demands for food and drink as the serving wenches scurried about. Arms full, Kevin climbed up the stairs to the last door on the right and knocked quietly.
“My lady?” he called softly.
He hadn’t taken another breath when the door flew open and Annavieve was standing there, clad in her durable woolen garments. She was properly dressed and waiting for him. Kevin stepped into the room and tossed the clothing in his arms onto the bed.
