“Have you always wanted to be a mother, Genevra?”
“Of course,” she said as if there were no other way to feel.
Camelee thought in this time there might not be.
“And yet you never married so that you could have children.”
Genevra shook her head and looked off into the distance. “They would not be thecorrectchildren.”
Camelee stared at her. She said nothing though. Maybe Genevra was right.
“Besides,” Genevra said as she shook her head again. “As I told you, my heart has never felt as if it were mine to give away. I believe my true love will come find me and when he does, I will know he is the right one. If waiting has cost me children, so be it.”
Camelee thought she should feel sorry for Genevra, but the woman was too happy and comfortable in her skin to pity. Genevra knew what she wanted and even if Camelee didn’t understand it, she admired Genevra for following her heart and not marrying a man she didn’t love. Women of this era didn’t have the luxury to denounce marriage.
Fin, shockingly, was no exception to Genevra’s motherly attention. In response, he made certain at all times that she had enough food and that she was protected. In fact, he smiled almost as much as Wolf did.
Wolf. What could she say about him? Was there enough time in the day?
“The women whisper that Chief Kristiansen is in love with you,” Genevra told her, smiling secretively.
Camelee waved her hand, casting off the gossip. But in her heart, she believed it. He kissed her like she meant something to him. And it wasn’t just a feeling. He gave in to her when it came to just about anything. She wouldn’t use it to her advantage for just anything though. It sometimes sent him off angry with himself and some poor unsuspecting fool, namely Fin or Alric. Both almost had their hands bitten off when they offered them to him. If, in mid-bite, she called out to him, he stopped and warmed instantly. It made her feel important to him. She liked it.
When she wasn’t thinking about how love felt like a foreign germ she needed to expel, she was letting it touch her when he looked at her, smiled at her, kissed her.
He was falling in love. The same as she was.
So, she cooked, or she tried to. She guessed she should learn how. It was a basic survival issue, wasn’t it? Sadly, she didn’t know how to do anything. It hadn’t been something she was ashamed of before she came here and met Genevra, and many other women here. Now it was.
Genevra assured her that she had nothing to be ashamed of, but the more Genevra and the others knew how to do and the less she knew how to do, the worse she felt about her life so far.
Genevra smiled when she saw Alric entering the kitchen. He appeared a bit overcome with happiness at such a place, for here were loaves of bread hanging from the rafters, bushels of apples, whole lambs and pigs, and fish roasting over long spits. People were chopping, kneading, rolling, slicing and more everywhere he looked.
He made his way to her table where she stood chopping an endless supply of carrots. It was the only thing anyone trusted her to do.
“The chief sends for you. He is with Hild in your chambers. Tell him, please, that I will be here for the remainder of the day.”
Camelee smiled at him and then motioned for Genevra to follow her. But her friend refused to go. She wanted to be a part of the celebration from the other side of the great hall, where she felt comfortable.
So, Camelee left on her own. She should have known Wolf would be close by when Alric let her leave the kitchen alone.
“Hild and I thought you might want to come with us for a walk.”
“Outside?” she asked, seeing their furs. Queen Emma had a fur-lined coat made for Hild with a matching hood. Of course, the queen had also had a fur cloak made for Camelee. The two were fast becoming friends.
Wolf carried Hild in one arm and her cloak in the other. “Would you prefer to remain in?” he asked at her seeming reluctance.
“Are you kidding? It snowed last night. Of course, I want to go out!” She took her cloak and didn’t wait for him to help her put it on, then led the way to the front doors. “Hild, I’m going to teach you how to make snow angels.”
“Okay,” Hild replied merrily to which Wolf laughed.
Camelee wasn’t sure he made the sound more than a few times since she’d been here.
“Will you teach me as well?” he asked, melting her bones with the deep cadence of his voice.
“If you like, but your men will see you having fun with a couple of servants.”
“And if they dare look at us askance, I will cut them limb from limb.”
