The next day, Sebastian arrived home shortly following lunch. Kai had just gone to his room to rest.
As Sebastian walked into the great hall, I ordered food brought for him.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Paying a call on Rosamund Monvílle,” he answered. “The Monvílles were quite hospitable considering my unannounced arrival. They specifically asked after Kai. Wasn’t that considerate of them?”
I nearly gasped and was glad Kai wasn’t here. “The Monvílles?”
Jarrod looked Sebastian up and down. “Is it done?”
“Not yet, but soon.”
“What do you mean?” Jarrod demanded. “What did you do?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Met a pretty kitchen maid and spent some time with the food stores.”
Jarrod was quiet for a moment. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I wanted to know what was happening, but something in both their faces kept me from asking.
Later that afternoon, Kai went out into the courtyard on his crutches. I went out to watch over him, but the guards were glad to see him, and this made me step back. He didn’t seem remotely embarrassed to be seen on his crutches. The only thing he couldn’t stand was to be seen requiring help from anyone.
I was grateful to Daveed.
Over the next few days, this gratitude increased as I realized how important it was that Kai spend time outside with the guards. Captain Marcel had some influence over my young husband and had helped to train him in techniques with the sword.
“Use the crutches,” the captain said, “but put some weight on that leg when you can. You’ll need to strengthen it slowly.”
He made it sound as if Kai was facing an injury like any other, something that needed only time and effort to heal. I think this did more for Kai’s spirits than anything else. He began to work harder at his own recovery.
Two weeks following Sebastian’s visit to the Monvílles, Captain Marcel came into the great hall as we were eating dinner. As he would never do this without a good reason, we fell silent.
“What’s wrong?” Jarrod asked.
“Forgive me, my lord, but I’ve just heard some news, and I felt it couldn’t wait.”
We all looked at him with a mix of expectation and trepidation.
“Allemond Monvílle is dead,” the captain said.
“Dead?” Kai repeated. “How do you know this?”
“A friend of mine . . . from my days in the king’s army stopped by Monvílle Hall yesterday seeking work. He was refused, but while there, he learned that Lord Monvílle has been dead nearly two weeks, poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Jarrod echoed.
“Yes. Apparently, there was a cask of fine wine in the kitchen. It was his favorite though Lady Rosamund did not care for it. No one else was allowed to drink from his special stores. Someone laced the cask with hemlock. A kitchen maid was . . . questioned, but as of yet, no culprit has been named.”
Jarrod glanced at Sebastian, who’d been silent during this exchange.
“Go on back to the barracks,” Jarrod told Marcel.
The captain hesitated. “My lord?”
“What?”
“My friend . . . the man with the news, is still seeking work. May I hire him?”
“Yes,” Jarrod said absently. “Give him a place here.”
“Thank you.”
As Captain Marcel left, Kai shook his head. “Poisoned. Someone cheated us of ever taking revenge.”
“Did they?” Sebastian said, taking a bite of roast chicken. “Perhaps they did us all a favor.”
Looking at him, I suddenly felt cold.
Midsummer passed into late summer, and Kai reached a point where he could walk without his crutches. His limp was pronounced, and he had to keep much of his weight on his left leg. This created an awkward stride for him as he could only place weight on the right foot for a few seconds while quickly moving the left one forward.
But he was walking.
The slash on his face was little more than a red line now, and it would eventually turn into a white scar, but it didn’t bother him. Captain Marcel once said it made him look battle-scarred. Kai almost smiled. I was ever grateful to the captain.
Though Kai was self-conscious about his limp, I think he could have come to terms with it had his father not watched him so carefully for improvement. At times, Jarrod winced when he saw Kai come into a room with his odd, step-drag-step manner of walking. This hurt Kai’s confidence as much as Captain Marcel helped it.
Relations between my husband and myself had not improved. He was civil but nothing more.
One day, as the harvest was about to begin, he had a horse saddled, and he rode out the gate. I watched him go.
Up on the horse, he was capable of gripping with both knees and no one would even be aware of this injury.
Poor Jarrod was not so fortunate. As of yet, he still couldn’t ride without causing pain to his abdomen. Up on a horse, he needed the muscles in his stomach, and they’d not healed properly.
When Kai came home that night, Jarrod and I were in the great hall by ourselves. Hearing the familiar sound of Kai’s footsteps, I turned to see him come through the archway. Something was different. I could see it right away. He looked almost . . . happy. In addition to his need to be seen as utterly independent, he was a person who also needed an occupation. He needed to be useful. I loved that about him.
He’d spent the day out on the land, overseeing the workers and the impending harvest, and this alone had washed a way a good deal of his internal pain and self-doubt.
I smiled at him, and to my joy, he smiled back.
Then as he kept coming toward us on his step-drag-step-drag-step, his eyes turned to Jarrod and the color drained from his face.
Jarrod didn’t smile nor watch Kai with pride. His expression was tight and strained.
“You rode out?” he asked, though we both knew he had.
“Yes,” Kai answered uncertainly. “The wheat is ready to thresh.”
“Did you stay on your horse?”
“No, not all the time. I needed to speak with some of the workers.”
“So they saw you . . . like that?”
Kai’s already pale face turned ashen, and I wanted to strike Jarrod. All of Kai’s happiness was gone. He would have been grateful for the success of his day, with a promise of the future he’d wanted as a lord of the Volodane lands. But his father would never see him as anything but a limping cripple.
Nothing I did, nothing Captain Marcel did, could change this.
Early in Kai’s recovery, an idea had come to me, but he’d been doing so well on his own I had not voiced my thoughts. Now, I realized that if I wished to save my husband, two things had to happen. First, I needed to get him away from his father, and second, I needed to help him heal his leg.
“My lord,” I said, turning to Jarrod. “I have remembered something I wished to share with you.”
His eyes were still on Kai. “Mmmmmm?”
“My mother has a cousin who lives on the west coast, near Avingion. I call him my uncle even though he is not. He and his wife own a line of fishing vessels, and my sister and I often spent time in the summers with their family.”