There Your Heart Will Be Also (2 page)
Read There Your Heart Will Be Also Online
Authors: Felicia Rogers
With great delicacy
,
she approached the captain.
Sir Henry was
still
concentrating on something outside the walls.
K
nuckles
had turned
white from his grip, and sweat roll
ed
down his sun-
weathered face.
He had taken off his helmet
,
revealing a m
a
ss of black hair
dappled
with gray.
“Sir Henry, you requested my presence.”
Sarra's insides did a flip flop as she continued to focus on the knight in charge and tried not to look down from the dizzying heights.
Slowly
,
but not loosening his grip a fraction
,
Sir Henry
faced her.
“My lady, are you expecting more, umm, company?”
“Company?
Sir Henry, whatever are you talking about?”
Removing one hand from the wall
,
he gestured with it toward the opposing hill.
Sarra
turned and
spotted the object of Sir Henry's fascination.
A
sudden intake of breath
slammed her lungs and was
followed by a small step backward; if not for Sir Henry's quick reactions she would have plummeted to the ground in a broken heap.
As Sir Henry steadied her once more,
Sarra
studied the figure linger
ing
on the hill beyond.
From this distance,
the trees behind
the fellow
gave
him
the appearance of great height
.
He stood with his feet slightly apart
,
staring directly at the castle walls.
His shoulder
-
length brown hair lifted slightly of
f
his shoulders as the wind blew over him
,
mimicking a caress.
His
clothing
did
little
to hide the shape of his muscular body.
A sword hilt could be seen peeping from over his left shoulder.
A certain air of authority seemed to exude from his person.
Sarra imagined his jaw muscles clenching as he thought of his next move.
A sense of sarcasm invaded her thoughts.
N
o doubt
he was
planning his siege at this very moment.
“My lady, do you think he has come to raid the castle?
Looking for sheep perhaps?
Or maybe come for a few wenches?”
When
Sir Henry
spoke, his
tone
was
one of jesting instead of the sincerity she expected.
Leave it to Sir Henry to try
to
lighten the mood after scaring her so with his tenseness.
Sarra restrained herself from giving him a playful slap on the arm.
One false move and she wouldn't be the only one on the ground.
After a moment,
Sarra
decided to respond to the serious part of his question.
“Nay, I think not.
You see, he has no army about.
It is just him.
I believe we have another suitor from King Edward come to stake his claim as Lord.
In truth, he probably comes not only for the castle but for the hand of the lady in charge as well.”
“Should I inform Charism there is another pest about
who
might need, hmm, squashing?”
Sir Henry
asked in
a gleeful tone.
“Aye, I suppose so.”
Exhaling,
Sarra continued, “I had hoped for a reprieve from the suitors
,
but I guess it
i
s not to be.
The
last one was extremely trying.
Sir Henry, please inform Charism to be prepared
to take action
.
This one
looks
to have more spirit than the others.”
She
considered the newcomer
w
hile descending the battlements.
W
hat kind of man was confident enough to travel completely alone in this part of the country?
Where were his knights and attendants?
What kind of man would travel without a horse or a trunk full of fine and dandy clothing?
Where
was he hiding
his pointed shoes?
Gnawing at her lip, Sarra began to worry.
No, t
his one
did
n't
seem like the other suitors
who
had come to the keep.
Something about him was different.
Indeed, this did not portend well for her future.
After descending the battlement steps, Sarra hurried to her room
quickly grabbing and donning her
hooded cloak.
Pulling back the
shutter
s
, she
looked
for Charism.
Sarra
spotted
Charism's
a
ged form ambling forward toward
the gate with Sir Henry following close behind.
They both knew the
routine
by now.
How many times would
she
have to do this
?
In frustration
Sarra slammed the wooden panels back against the window casing.
By now
the hulk of a man must be close to the castle walls
.
Sarra hurried down the stairs of the keep
,
once more dodging animals and humans alike.
She skidded to a standstill as the
newest suitor
arrived.
Sarra watched from behind Charism
with
a
bowed head
,
p
eek
ing
cautiously out from under
her
woolen
hood.
A frown
wrinkled
her brow.
Up close, the man was
nothing like she'd expected.
In height, he was barely above her own five
-
foot
â
six
inch
frame.
What Sarra had originally thought was brown shoulder length hair was actually more of a blond, held together by a dingy
string
, and lying halfway down
a hunched back
.
How could she have been so wrong?
With mouth stretched open,
a row of missing teeth
was shown
.
W
hat d
oes
t
h
e
stranger
have to smile about
?
Sarra wondered. He is
i
n a completely foreign location among
unknown
people.
Surely
the rumors
about the estate and its reputation
had been heard
.
Didn't he know the place was haunted?
Didn't he know the place was in disarray and falling apart?
It was in
this
moment Sarra realized since
there
had
been
no advance warning of
this newest conqueror
'
s
coming
,
she and those
who
help
ed
her had
no time
to
set things
around the village
awry
.
Therefore
what
the visitor
saw
was indeed
a pleasant surprise.
P
eople
were
scattered about the grounds doing work.
The garden was well
-
tended.
Children frolicked happily.
Everything
was
in perfect order
.
Sarra
could see the cogs turning in his
mind
.
But as she watched the man his expression shifted to a frown, then deepening into a scowl, which caused her own happy nature to resurface.
The stranger was so
focused on
the castle
and its
orderly surroundings
,
he'd
almost bowled over Charism
who was
standing directly in his path
.
Sarra cover
ed
her mouth to stifle
the
giggle
that
threatened to escape.
“Excuse me
,
miss. I didna' see ye there.”
Charism waved a bony hand at
the newcomer
.
“Never ye mind, S
onny.
What can we do for ye?”
With a beefy paw,
t
he
man
pulled
a
letter
out of the leather pouch hanging on his side.
Pointing with the parchment
,
he spoke with an authoritative tone.
“
I'm Barney.
I have a missive from the King.
I would
â
ave speech with the mistress of the castle, if ye please.”
“Aye?”
asked Charism, one eyebrow arched upward.
A
stutter
ing
, “Aye?”
was said.
P
aus
ing
, he took a deep breath and added
, “My lady, if ye will just point me to the mistress.”
“Ye are looking at the lady of the castle,” replied Charism.
Sarra watched the myriad of emotions play across
the heavily
-
jowled
face.
Shock seemed to be
the
current
emotion displayed
.
If the situation had not been so dire, she might have laughed out loud.
But as it stood, she kept her laughter in check and continued to follow the drama as it unfolded.
“Ye, my lady?”
Barney's
face registered a stunned look.
Sarra found herself wondering just what he
'
d expected of the mistress.
Charism continued to stare at him with birdlike eyes, playing her part to perfection.
“Well, S
onny, I might not be what ye expect,
but
I am lady of this keep
,
and ye will refrain from insulting me.”
“I meant no disrespect, me lady.
I am just a wee bit confused.
Ye see
,
I was led to believe the lord
,
well, I mean the lady of the keep was younger.”
Sarra loved this part.
It was always the same.
They all knew Charism was too
old
to be the lord's daughter.
At least, they thought they knew.
But they were all scared to say she was too old
.
T
hey would cover
their confusion
with some kind of
nonsensical rambling
.
Sarra enjoyed Charism's different explanations
, n
ever
once
sa
ying
it was just because she
was
old.
“Well
,
ye see deary
,
I am younger than I look.
It was the pox
,
ye know.
And then there was the famine
.
I
t
did terrible things to me bones and left me bent over and humped and such.
And
,
well
,
the sun, ye know is bad for a body
.
C
auses lines on the face....”
Sarra watched
the
newest suitor as he
listen
ed
to Charism ramble on and on about the ailments
which
had caused her to appear seventy instead of the score of years
which was
expect
ed
.
Th
e
visitor
must have realized
certain issues mentioned had nothing to do with her aged form.
Perhaps he even considered she was just old or maybe the
previous
l
ord had had children at a young age.
Whatever the case,
t
he
stranger
didn't seem ready to leave just yet.
Sarra noticed the man had quit listening.
Charism
must have noticed it as well because she changed the subject.
“Ye
have
to
be a mite hungry after all ye travels
.
”
“Well, n
ay
.
Not at the moment.”
“Rubbish.
Maid
?
M
aid
?
W
here are ye deary?”
Sarra stepped out from behind Charism.
“Here I am
,
my lady
.
”
Sarra made a deep curtsy
,
keeping veiled eyes glued on
the
guest at all times.
“Maid, go inside and have
C
ook arrange an assortment of delicacies for our new visitor.
And remember, only the finest for this one.”
Sarra
stood from the curtsey and nodded
.
“Of course, my lady.”
“All right, young man grab my arm
,
and let's head to the great hall.
It might take us some time to get there
,
though.
These bones don't move like they used to
after
the famine ye know.”
“Aye, of course, the famine.
But mistress, I insist I am not hungry.”
“Of course
,
ye are hungry.
Ye are practically wastin' away to nuthin'.
Besides, Cook sets the finest table in all the land and trust me ye will want to enjoy the fruits of his labors.”
Sarra
had left the two of them and rushed inside.
She
could
still
hear the arguing going on outside the hall walls.
Perhaps
the gentleman had heard tell of the
disease of the bowels
which
was
ram
p
ant
in these parts.
He
seemed
desperate
to get out of eating
.
B
ut Charism
,
true to form, was
overwhelming
him in her subtle way and keeping him right on track toward the keep doors.
With her slow gait,
Sarra knew it would take Charism several minutes to
reach
the great hall.
She would have to act quickly
.
They
might not have had time to
“
tear down
”
the outside walls and create some decent hovels, but
Sarra
did have time to “spruce” up the inside of the keep.
A
s
Sarra
ran
toward
the kitchen she passed
by the maids
g
i
v
ing
them instructions.
“The
usual
,
ladies, and be quick about it!”
Knowing exactly her meaning, they went to the slop buckets in the corner, and liberally scattered the contents around the fresh rushes in the room.
When Sarra reached
the kitchen
,
Cook
was given his
directions for what the current guest might
require
.
After dealing with Cook
,
she located
James, the stable boy
,
and
told him he was needed at the keep.
Then there was
only one other individual to commandeer and all would be ready.
This suitor seemed to be headstrong and might need a
little
extra
to be
sent on his way.
As Sarra worked the plan over in her mind, she couldn't help but smile.
