This man’s name was Hake and he didn’t look oddly at de Evereux when the man entered his shop and asked him to sew up the hole in the side of his torso created by the broken pole. While Hake was preparing what he would need to suture the skin, he instructed de Evereux to lie down on a table that was near the center of the room, close to the hearth.
It was a two-room structure and as de Evereux made his way to the table, he happened to glance in the back room and saw part of a woman lying upon another table. The woman was quite dead and an older woman was preparing the body. It took de Evereux a moment to realize that the body was that of the older women he’d killed earlier in the day when he’d gone to visit Hage’s lady friend.How ironic,he thought as he lay down on the table Hake had indicated,that I am giving the barber-surgeon a good deal of business today.
A twisted and humorless thought, to be sure, and the part about the Fate’s blessings had come after Hake had finished stitching his side. The man was a barber-surgeon, which meant he had a variety of sharp implements at his disposal. Very valuable and sharp steel razors. De Evereux thought perhaps it would be a good idea for the man to shave him completely clean, as it would make him less identifiable to Hage.
He was sure the Fates had whispered the idea to him, for it was a clever one. He wanted to be able to get near Hage and unless he intended to wear a disguise, he wasn’t sure that was entirely possible with Hage now on his guard. Therefore, he had the barber-surgeon shave his scalp and his face, leaving him completely hairless. He even had the man shave his eyebrows.It gave him a rather odd look, but de Evereux didn’t care. All he needed was the opportunity to get near Hage, unnoticed.
Stitched and cleanly shaved from the neck up, de Evereux wandered back into the alleyways of the city, losing himself in the throng, and waited for the evening to fall when he could join the feast at the meeting house. He had a dagger with Hage’s name on it.
Tonight, he would make de Clemont proud.
*
She’d never feltless like a party in her life.
Dressed in a light woolen garment that was a dark orange in color, the surcoat was all one piece and, like the others, it clung to her long body almost indecently. The neckline was square and there were cutouts in the wool where a lighter yellow and orange brocade was added. Annavieve wore the gold chain with the clear yellow stones and her hair, brushed and braided, was looped into a bun at the nape of her neck and secured with a big butterfly comb, made from some kind of metal, that she’d found in the jewel box. The final picture was stunning; she may have looked every inch the Duchess of Dorset but she didn’t feel like it. She felt sad, empty, and frightened.
Sad and empty from her meeting with Lady Alys earlier in the day and also from the death of Magda. Her fear was the result of Kevin’s determination to take her and flee during the feast. She was terrified that they would be caught and punished, or worse. She would be returned to Victor but Kevin’s punishment would surely be terrible. Try as she might not to think on it, she simply couldn’t help it. The man was risking everything for her and she was growing increasingly terrified.
So she kept busy, trying not to think on her sorrows and fears. Kevin wanted her to pack a bag but she didn’t have asatchel, only trunks, so she used one of her heavy cloaks and wrapped her possessions up in it. Out of the twelve dresses she had obtained in Staines, she was able to comfortably carry four with her, not including the one she was wearing. On her feet were soft, doe-skinned boots that were a wee bit too small and she had packed two additional pairs of shoes, knowing how valuable they would become over the weeks and months of travel.
The bundle also contained all of her jewels, as Kevin had requested, as well as a comb for her, and three clean shifts. She was trying to think in the long term, knowing what she would need as the winter came and the weather grew colder. Having no idea where they would go, she could only presume to bring warmer clothing. It was the best she could do.
With the cloak-turned-baggage tied up tightly with garter ribbons, she sat on the bed and waited for Kevin to come. By now, her nerves had the better of her and in spite of trying to think on other things, she simply couldn’t. The events from the entire day were starting to weigh quite heavily on her as she sat and waited and prayed.
She prayed for God to be merciful this night. God help them both if He had turned against them. Already, she felt as if He had turned against her, but for Kevin, there was still hope. She prayed for it.
Her wait was excessive. Four hours after leaving her to go about his duties, Kevin showed up with Adonis and Thomas with him, all three of them to escort the duchess to the feast. When Annavieve opened to the door to her chamber to admit them, she was in for a surprise– all three of them were cleaned and shaved, and she was fairly certain they had bathed. She caught whiffs of pine as opposed to body odor.
More than that, they were without their armor– clean tunics, leather breeches, and boots. No armor of any kind although shecould see daggers in the belt of Kevin’s tunic. In truth, she had never seen the man look so handsome and couldn’t keep the smile from her face. But she made sure to aim the smile at all three of them, as not to appear too obvious that she had eyes only for Kevin.
“Well,” she said, inspecting all three men with approval. “I would never have recognized you if I had seen you elsewhere. You all look like fine and noble men.”
Kevin was having a hard time taking his eyes off of Annavieve in the luscious orange dress, perfect with her coloring. She looked positively delicious.
“My thanks, my lady,” he replied evenly. “We have come to escort you to the feast.”
Annavieve was ready to depart. Donning her pale yellow cloak with the brown fur lining, she quit the room and took the first arm that was offered to her, which happened to be Adonis. She didn’t see Kevin’s annoyed face as he stood behind his friend and she also didn’t see when he flicked Adonis’ ear with his finger. Adonis flinched, smiling weakly at Annavieve when she turned to see why he had jumped. As Kevin followed the pair down the stairs, harassing Adonis for having taken his place beside Annavieve, Thomas closed up the duchess’ room and put two guards on the door to protect her possessions. He then caught up to the trio and followed them out into the night.
The streets were fairly active, even after dark, because of the multitude of visitors in the village for the tournament and the festivities in general. Some of the vendor stalls had even remained open, lit by greasy torches or oil lamps. People were actually doing some shopping at night beneath the light of the silver moon. The smithy stalls were also very busy, repairing armor and shoeing horses for tomorrow’s games, and Annavieve’s mood began to pick up as she observed all of theactivity. It was a distraction, and one that she very much needed, and soon enough the meeting house came into view.
Some towns still had remnants of Saxon settlements and Longcross happened to be one of them. The meeting house near the church was one such structure left over from those ancient kingdom days; it was extremely old but well maintained and it was, literally, one enormous room with a pitched roof overhead. On this night, the meeting house was lit up with dozens of torches as the festivities inside went on.
The entry door was already open and people were milling in and out of the hall. As soon as their group reached the building, Adonis let go of Annavieve and handed her over to Kevin, who tucked her hand possessively into the crook of his elbow and scowled threateningly at his friend. Adonis simply grinned. Then, they entered the meeting house, greeted by a stifling warm atmosphere because of massive hearth in the center of the room that spit ribbons of gray smoke out through holes in the thatched ceiling. The heat was cloying and more than one person in the feasting hall was sweating because of it. With some of the heavy fabrics people wore, the heat was most uncomfortable.
But it didn’t detract from the festive mood. Music was being played by several minstrels in a gallery overhead. Annavieve looked up, straining to catch a glimpse of the harp player or the lute player. There were servants everywhere with trenchers of food, serving guests, and the room smelled heavily of meat and bread mixed in with the smoke. Tables were arranged on the outskirts of the hall, leaving the floor in the center for dancing, and several couples were doing precisely that.
Annavieve was quite fascinated with all of it, watching the dancers as they pranced about in a lovely practiced dance. Seeing where her attention was, Kevin casually leaned over her.
“I will not dance with you no matter how much you beg,” he whispered.
She looked at him, feigning shock. “I wouldnotbeg you.”
He gave her a look that suggested he didn’t believe her at all. “I am simply stating the rules now so you are not disappointed later.”
“Not even a tiny bit of dancing?”
“Nay.”
