Susanna shrugged, coughing into her hand as Jude and the serving wench built up such a blaze in the hearth that it was licking at the wall above it. But glorious heat filled the chamber as Cadelyn went to work on the food Jude had brought her– hot wine with honey, bread and cheese, a hunk of the pork pie and the pea soup from the night before, all warmed-over.
Cadelyn devoured the soup and bread, gave the pie to the dog, and then sipped at the wine because it felt good on her sore throat. She even shared some with Susanna, who took it gratefully. The two of them sat in the now-cloyingly warm chamber, feeling tired and sore, as the dog stretched out over the end of the bed, lying happily on his back with his legs sticking up.
And that was how Kress and Achilles found them.
Kress didn’t even bother to knock. Having been summoned by Bric, as he was out back in the livery with his horse, he came in the rear entrance to the inn and, seeing Achilles with the wounded in the common room, spoke briefly to the man about Cadelyn’s health. Achilles knew nothing about it, so the two of them hastened up to the rented chamber only to find two sick women and a happy dog who was sleeping on a warm bed. But the dog leapt off the bed when he saw Kress, excitedly jumping on him. Kress absently petted the big dog’s head as he came into the chamber, his focus on Cadelyn.
“Bric says you are ill,” he said. “What is the matter?”
Cadelyn was feeling tired now that she’d had all that food and wine. “I am coughing and my ear hurts,” she said. “I cannot travel today but Bric said that word has already been sent on ahead.”
Kress was in his mail and tunic, but without his helm or weapons. His blond beard and golden-blond hair lookedglorious in the morning sunshine as he came over to Cadelyn and put his big hand on her forehead. He grunted.
“You are feverish, too,” he said, turning to Susanna. He frowned at her. “Are you ill, also?”
Susanna nodded reluctantly. “I fear that I am.”
Kress pursed his lips, irritably, and shook his head. “Then get out of here and go find a bed somewhere,” he said. “I will tell Sherry we cannot travel today. We can allow you both one day of rest. I think the escort would appreciate that, too, after the day we had yesterday.”
Cadelyn tossed back the covers which, so far, had been up to her neck. “Susanna can get into bed with me,” she said. “No need to put her elsewhere.”
But Kress tossed the coverlet back on her. “Pah,” he said. “You will never get well if Susanna stays with you. You shall keep giving each other the sickness. She will go recover elsewhere. Achilles, go find that woman a bed. Get her out of here.”
Susanna didn’t even protest when Achilles pulled her out of the chair and, subsequently, out of the chamber. When the door shut softly behind them, Cadelyn turned her gaze to Kress.
“She really could have stayed with me,” she said quietly. “It would have been less trouble to take care of us both in the same place.”
Kress shook his head. “If she is in here, I cannot speak with you alone,” he said flatly, removing his gloves and tossing them onto the table. “How do you feel, really?”
Cadelyn smiled as she lay down in the bed, pulling the covers up around her head. “Terrible,” she said. “But wonderful.”
“How’s that?”
“Wonderful because you are here.”
He eyed her before breaking into a weak grin. “There was a time I would tell you not to say such things to me.”
“Has that time passed?”
He lifted his eyebrows, going to sit in the chair that Susanna had occupied. “It should not have,” he said. “But after what happened between us last night…”
He trailed off and Cadelyn rolled onto her side, propping her head up with her hand. She studied him a moment. He seemed more relaxed around her but not particularly happy. There was a glimmer in his eye when he looked at her, but not a spark that told her he was wildly thrilled about all of this.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know why.
“I think that you are a man with much on his mind,” she said. “Would it be better if we spoke on it?”
He shook his head. “Mayhap. But I am not sure there is anything you can say to me that will ease my dilemma.”
“I can tell you that I shall love you for the rest of your life. Would that help?”
Kress looked at her sharply, his eyes widening. He was out of the seat before he realized he’d moved, already at the door. He put his hand on the latch but didn’t lift it; he simply stood there with his eyes tightly closed.
“Bloody Christ, do not say that to me,” he hissed. “Why did you have to say that to me?”
“Because it is true.”
He opened his eyes, let go of the latch, and whirled to her. “It cannot be true,” he said angrily. “I did not come into this chamber to hear that. I do not want to hear it again.”
