Page 48 of Knight School Chronicles Box Set

“ Y our chamber,” Sir Eamon said, surprising Amalia.

They had been touring the castle grounds, Eamon taking Amalia through unfamiliar corridors. It was a maze she was unlikely to remember how to find her way through anytime soon.

“Do the lady’s maids not sleep together in servants’ quarters?”

“There are no other lady’s maids here. The only other women at Castle Blackwood besides yourself are maidservants and Lady Elara.”

“Does Lady Elara not have a lady’s maid?”

Eamon smiled. “She does not.”

Peculiar. “Nay? But she is noble, aye?”

“Indeed, she is. But unusual in many ways.”

“An instructor, the only woman among men? I should say ’tis quite unusual. But no lady’s maid either?”

Amalia had the overwhelming desire to embrace the man before her as he watched her with the kindest eyes of any she’d ever met.

“Thank you,” she said. “For giving me a place to stay. You will not regret it. Tomorrow I will see the seneschal and learn what duties I may assist him with here at Castle Blackwood until my lady returns.”

Eamon sighed. It weighed heavily on him, the situation they found themselves in.

“I wish I could tell you when that will be, Mistress Amalia. Though I’ll speak to the baron on the morrow, I’ve little hope he will listen to reason. In the meantime, I will also speak to the instructors and recruits, ensuring they know you are no scullery maid.”

A distinction that could make much difference in a place such as this, occupied with so many young, unmarried men.

Though Amalia was no virgin, her station allowing her more freedom than the lady she served, she also had no wish to be accosted in her new temporary home.

Something Eamon clearly worried about, as he’d mentioned it more than once.

The men they’d recruited were honorable, he said.

But some more than others. And so it was not ideal.

But then, she had nowhere else to go.

She refused to go back to her parents. Though she loved them, and her sisters too, Amalia’s father, a farmer, would be devastated for her to return. Her parents had been so grateful those many years ago when Lady Evelina had chosen her as a lady’s maid.

“Many thanks,” Amalia said, as she had done so many times these past days as they traveled back to Castle Blackwood. ’Twas still difficult to believe her lady had married in secret. “Do you believe Lord Ashcroft will ever accept the marriage? And allow m’lady to return?”

“You know him as well as I,” Sir Eamon said. “Do you believe so?”

It was difficult to believe the man that stood before her was her lady’s true father, neither of them ever having suspected the real reason for Lord Ashcroft’s animosity toward his only “daughter.” It had been an extraordinary turn of events.

When Evelina had fallen in love with Sir Gareth, Sir Eamon had revealed his identity as her real father, leading to her lady’s secret marriage.

One Lord Ashcroft would never have allowed, as his sights were firmly set on a much bigger prize.

“I do not believe so,” she said. “He is not a forgiving man.”

“Nay,” Sir Eamon agreed. “He is not. But we shall see. In the meantime, you are a guest here. There is no need to see the seneschal. Rest. ’Tis been a long journey.”

Bobbing a curtsy to both her lady’s savior and hers, Amalia thanked him as the door closed behind her.

What she would give for a hot bath. Perhaps she would be permitted to carry wooden tubs of water up here herself.

The small tub in the well-appointed, if also small, bedchamber was a luxury she’d not expected.

Amalia sat on the bed.

She’d fetch water soon enough. For now, she wished to relish not being on the back of a horse.

Being safe, even after all that had occurred.

Lady Evelina had taken a great chance, to marry Sir Gareth in secret, and might well lose her inheritance because of it.

Or worse, not be allowed to return here at all if the baron carried through with his threat to claim the marriage invalid.

It mattered not.

Whatever happened to Lady Evelina, she would follow. A farmer’s daughter, she needed not the grandeur of a castle to be content. If her friend and her new husband found safety, and she with them, ’twas all that mattered.

Her own wishes, and dreams...a far-off memory.

What use would the village have of an herb shop, anyway?

Nor did Amalia have any of the coin she’d saved thus far to fulfill such a silly dream.

Having left quickly in the night, Amalia had chosen safety for herself and her lady over the possibility of discovery.

Fetching the coin had been too risky a proposition.

As she’d repeated to herself over and over again on the journey back. Naught mattered except that she was safe. Lady Evelina was safe. Even more than that, her lady was happy, now married to a man she loved.

All was well.

It was Amalia’s last thought before she allowed sleep to claim her.