That night, when Julian comes scratching at my door, Tephanie gets up to see who it is. I do not hear what she says, as my head is groggy from Sister Serafina’s potion, but her presence is enough to drive him away. She returns to the bed and crawls back under the covers. “Your brother wished to see how you were doing. He said you had a headache at dinner and he wanted to be sure it was gone.”
“It is,” I say, and scoot over so she may have the warmest spot. She deserves that much, at least, for chasing off the monsters.
Chapter Eight
WHEN I COME AWAKE IN the morning, my first thought is of the knight the abbess wishes me to free. His anguished bellow of defeat as he was struck down haunted my dreams.
Even at the convent, we had heard of the mighty Beast of Waroch and of how his ability to rally his countrymen—noblemen and peasant alike—to the duke’s cause allowed us to win our past three battles.
As I listen to Tephanie’s gentle snoring, I wonder why the fallen knight has so captured my imagination. Was it because he fought so valiantly against such overwhelming odds? Because of his dedication to his young duchess? Or simply because I looked into his eyes just before he died?
For he is dead. I saw him struck down with my own . . . ah, but Julian arrived just then. I never saw the knight’s lifeless body. And it is said that men in the throes of battle lust can suffer much damage, yet live.
When I went to bed last night, I vowed to ignore the abbess’s message. But now, now all I can think of is that noble knight rotting—or worse—in d’Albret’s dungeon.
I place one of my cold feet on Tephanie and she stirs at last—the great slug. She blinks twice to clear the confusion from her eyes, then remembers where she is and with whom. “My lady! I beg your forgiveness. I have overslept.”
“Did you know that you snore?” I say, amused at the bright spots of red that stain her cheeks.
She looks away. “I am sorry—you should have shoved me from the bed or awakened me in some fashion.”
“I did not say it disturbed me, only that you did it.”
She does not know what to say to this, so she leaps out of bed, curtsies, then hurries to fetch my chamber robe.
Just as she is about to help me into it, Jamette enters the room babbling like a brook. “Barons Vienne and Julliers were found dead in their chambers this morning—” Her mouth snaps shut when she finds us standing together in nothing but our shifts.
She blinks, her mouth opening then closing as she searches for something to say. Because she annoys me so very much, I reach out, place a finger under Tephanie’s chin, and turn her head gently toward me. “Thank you, Tephanie,” I say. “For everything.” Tephanie’s cheeks turn a dull red, and I almost laugh and spoil the effect I have so carefully created.
Poor Jamette cannot decide if she is shocked or jealous. “So, who are these barons whose chambers you visited last night?” I ask languorously.
“Not me,” she snaps. “It was the servants who reported they died of the plague in their sleep.”
“Could you bring the water? I’d like to wash now,” I say with a sleepy yawn.
“Do you think we will catch it?” Tephanie asks. “The plague, I mean?”
The look Jamette sends Tephanie is so full of venom I am surprised the other girl does not wilt on the spot. She does look acutely embarrassed, however, and hurries away to finish dressing in the privacy of the garderobe.
Jamette’s temper makes her careless, and she splashes water everywhere. “Watch what you are doing,” I warn her. “Else I will have you clean it up with that sharp tongue of yours.”
Our eyes meet, and I can see all the insults and accusations she wishes to hurl at me. Instead of saying them, she mutters to herself, “At least now I know why she ignores the few men who cast their attention her way.”
I run my finger along Jamette’s arm. “Do not tell me you are jealous, little one?” I have found an entirely new way to get under Jamette’s skin and anticipate hours of fine sport.
She pulls her arm away. “Of course not!” She turns and moves across the room to the clothespress. “Which gown do you want today?”
“The dark gray satin with the black underskirt.”
She helps me dress, but her movements are stiff, and she touches me as little as possible. When she laces up my bodice, she pulls so hard she nearly cracks my ribs.
I jerk away and grab her hand. “Careful. Your duties are to attend me, not cause me bodily damage.”