Page 54 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)

“I did it because your lady was kind to us,” he was nearly whispering but the finger was shaking threateningly.

“I did it because she and I have something in common, wanting things we can never have. I did it because she saved my sister’s life.

There are many reasons why I did this and you will not question me again. ”

Tevin gazed back at him steadily. He could tell the man was posturing for the sake of his comrades for his words did not match the angry actions.

“Not only do you seem to have a deep understanding of these dark times,” he said quietly, “but it also appears that you are indeed a man of your word.”

“I am.”

“Come to see me again. We will discuss what I may do for you in return.”

Gillywiss’ gaze lingered on him as if trying to determine how serious he was. Then, the toothy grin made a bright return.

“Invite me to the wedding,” he said rather saucily as he turned away. “Perhaps I will wear one of the fine garments your lady left behind. And if you do not understand what I mean, ask your lady. I believe she knows.”

“She knows. She told me.”

Gillywiss paused, an eyebrow cocked. “What did she tell you?”

“That you like her clothes more than she does, so she left them for you as a gift.”

Gillywiss wasn’t quite sure what to make of the statement so he laughed.

Then he laughed again, that crazy wild-eyed laugh that he was so capable of.

He was still laughing as he moved back down the road and mounted the weary bay stallion.

The group closed in around him and they began to move off down the rocky road, into the dawn that was growing brighter by the moment.

Tevin just stood there, staring at the fading figures, until Myles caught his attention.

“Tevin,” he said quietly. “What do you want to do with her?”

Tevin turned around, seeing that Myles as well as John and Simon were clustered around the ox cart, gazing at the dusty, dirty figure on the bed.

Tevin walked up beside Myles, gazing down at the unconscious woman, before replacing his gloves.

Then, he rolled her onto her back so her face was fully in view.

The more he looked at her, the more he knew the face.

“Simon?” he muttered. “You knew Louisa. Is this her?”

Simon sighed heavily as he gazed down at the slip of a woman. After several long moments, he nodded his head.

“I believe it is,” he confirmed. “I can hardly believe it, but I believe it is.”

Tevin took his hands off the woman, still staring at her. “God’s Blood,” he hissed. “This is something I never thought I would see again. After all of these years… and in such bizarre circumstances. It does not seem possible.”

Simon could only shake his head, as stunned as his lord was, while Myles seemed a bit more logical about the entire thing. Unlike the others, he’d never met the woman and didn’t have an over amount of emotional investment in the situation.

“I will ask the question again,” he looked at Tevin. “What do you want to do with her?”

Tevin sighed heavily. “If she is ill, I will again reiterate that I do not want her infecting the entire castle.”

“But if she has the French disease, it does not spread like the Plague. We can still bring her inside and keep her isolated.”

Tevin was still resistant but he didn’t have much choice. It wasn’t as if they could leave the woman outside the walls, tucked away in the old ox cart, until they decided what to do with her. He looked at Simon.

“Have her brought inside and find a place where she can be kept well away from everyone,” he ordered.

“Have a couple of serving women clean her up and make her comfortable. Make sure they clean themselves after they have touched her, for I do not want her disease spread through them. Furthermore, have the physic exam her. I will speak with the man for his opinion on her condition when all of this is accomplished.”

Simon nodded, already moving to carry out Tevin’s orders. He was snapping his fingers at some of the soldiers lingering outside the gates to have them move the ox cart inside. As the old cart began to slowly move towards the gates, towed by a few soldiers, Myles turned to Tevin.

“What are you going to tell Cantia?” he asked quietly.

Tevin drew in a long, thoughtful breath. “For the moment, nothing,” he said. “I am not sure at the moment. When this woman is in better spirits, I will speak with her to see what can be determined.”

“And if it is Louisa?”

He lowered his gaze, contemplating his answer.

After a moment, he shook his head. “Anything I say will sound harsh and ugly,” he said, lifting his eyes to Myles.

“The truth is that I am relieved. I am relieved if it is Louisa and the fact that she is very sick and more than likely dying. It means that she will soon no longer be an issue and I can marry Cantia as God and the laws of Nature intended. If that is a horrible statement, then I am horrible. I feel guilty for even thinking such things. But I will overcome that guilt the first time I take Cantia in my arms and call her my wife. Cruelty such as this will seem trivial.”

Myles wriggled his eyebrows in sympathy. “I do not disagree,” he replied. “But I should at least tell Val.”

“Why?”

“Because she can read my mind. She has already learned this skill and we have only been married two months. If I do not tell her, she will beat it out of me.”

Tevin gave him a half-grin. “Then it would be wise to tell her,” he said. “Moreover, she knew Louisa. If anyone can confirm the woman’s identity, Val can.”

“I am not entirely sure I want my wife around a sick woman until we can determine whatever she has cannot be spread.”

“Agreed. Make sure the physic examines her in short order so we know what we are dealing with.”

Myles simply nodded and the pair of them watched the ox cart, which was now lumbering beneath the yawning portcullis as it made entrance into the enclosure of Rochester.

With wonder, disbelief, and perhaps some fear, they followed.

*

It was noon before the physic could be found and instructed to examine the woman in the cart, mostly because the castle physic of Rochester, although a knowledgeable man, was something of a drunk and it had taken that long to find the man sleeping off a binge in a muddy crevice of the castle.

Myles had manhandled the old surgeon to one of the unused smithy shacks where they had the woman called Louisa sequestered.

Tucked away on a straw bed with a serving woman to watch over her, the surgeon took his time in examining the woman, struggling to shake off the after effects of too much drink with the big knight glaring daggers at him.

The man felt her pulse, looked in her eyes and ears, and listened to her lungs.

He also poked and prodded a good deal, and thumped her several times on the back and listened to the results.

Myles stood in the entry to the shack, watching, glancing over his shoulder now and again to make sure Val or Cantia weren’t around to wonder why he was hanging around an old smithy shelter.

Cantia was curious but Val was worse. She had the senses of a trained knight and he swore the woman could move like a phantom and read minds like a witch.

He rather liked it, though. The past two months had been the best of his life.

Grinning when he thought of his lovely, strawberry-blond wife who was trying very hard to learn to be a good chatelaine, he refocused on the old surgeon as the man thoroughly examined the patient, who was by now becoming semi-lucid.

Folding his arms across his big chest, Myles leaned against the door jamb, his mind wandering, when someone stuck a finger in his ear.

“Boo!”

Myles jumped as much from the finger in his ear as the voice, turning to see Val grinning back at him. He returned her smile as he turned his back on the door to block her view of the interior. Then he wrapped her up in his embrace.

“Greetings, wife,” he kissed her sweetly.

Val put her arms around his neck, accepting his affection. “Greetings,” she kissed him in return, savoring the gesture. “What are you doing?”

He shook his head, trying to distract her with sweet kisses and moving away from the shack at the same time. “Nothing of note,” he said, trying not to lie to her. “More importantly, what are you doing?”

Val had her arms wrapped around his neck as he picked her up and began to walk off with her, her legs trailing down his long body. She giggled as he swung her around playfully.

“Walking with Arabel,” she said, removing an arm and pointing over to her niece several feet away. “She wanted to come outside on this lovely day.”

Myles smiled over at Arabel in her specially built chair with wheels on it, being tended by the two women who had raised her. She lifted a weak hand to wave at Myles and he waved back.

However, as Myles was smiling and waving, he was also quite frantic to move them both away from the old smithy shack.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen them coming.

His mind must have been wandering more than he realized.

But to take the blame off himself, he silently reiterated that his wife moved like a wraith and he was paying the price for it by being surprised at her appearance.

“Arabel,” he called over to the girl. “I saw that a dog had a litter of puppies over in the stables. Do you want to see them?”

As he hoped, Arabel was properly distracted. She cried out gleefully. “Aye!” she clapped her hands. “Perhaps my father will allow me to have a dog like Hunt does!”

Myles grinned at her enthusiasm. “Perhaps,” he said. “But do not tell him I told you about the puppies. He will berate me when he is unable to refuse you.”

Arabel nodded happily and her women began to wheel her off in the direction of the stable. Just as Myles settled Val in beside him to follow, the physic emerged from the shanty and called out to him.

“My lord!”