Chapter Eleven
Her head was killing her.
Emelisse awoke the next morning to a pounding inside her skull, knowing immediately that it was because she’d had too much to drink.
She didn’t usually drink wine at all if she could help it, or if she did, she ingested very little of it because it made her head hurt.
Her preferred drink was boiled apple juice or boiled water flavored with berries or even rose petals.
Wine simply didn’t sit well with her.
But the knight with the black eyes had forced it down her throat. She’d ingested a good deal, plus more besides when she ate her meal. Truth be told, yesterday had passed in a blur – a blur of horror, of pain, of upheaval. But one thing had remained constant.
Sir Caius d’Avignon.
She’d fought him, bellowed at him, told him she hated him, and tried to hurt him.
She’d been all shades of terrible to him.
But he’d been calm and rational, and even soothing at times.
Through all of her panic and wild behavior, she realized that the man was trying to help her.
After all of the terrible things she’d done, he was the last thing she saw before she drifted off to sleep.
It was unimaginable comfort.
But he was gone now and she was alone. Rolling over, she groaned as she sat up, looking around the chamber and seeing that someone had already been there to stoke the fire and bring her a meal.
The little room was surprisingly warm and she noticed the woolen blankets hammered over the shutters of the windows.
She stared at them, trying to remember when those were put up. She honestly couldn’t recall.
Through the cobwebs of sleep, the blur of events the day before began to fall into place.
Her first thought was of her father and tears sprang to her eyes at the last memory she had of him.
She fought the tears, however, and the sadness.
There would be time to grieve her father, but now was not the time.
She was in a bind of her own and she knew her father would want her to think of herself, to take care of herself.
She hadn’t done a very good job of it yesterday, unfortunately.
But she wasn’t alone.
Thoughts of Caius swung back on her, stronger than before.
He wasn’t the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, but he had a certain quality that made all women sit up and take notice.
Something that made him so unconventionally alluring.
His coloring was striking; black hair and eyes, but a pale English complexion underneath the stubble of a black beard.
And he was big; enormously big and taller than any man she’d ever seen.
The man was a giant. He’d spoken to her calmly, he’d been honest and forthright with her, and she’d acted like a madwoman.
When he’d told her about Marius, she’d tried to kill herself.
In hindsight, it had been foolish.
Oh, she’d meant it at the time. She was fully prepared to throw herself from the window, out into the snowy night, and hoped she broke her neck in the fall. The day had taken its toll on her in that sense.
But now… now, with her senses returned, she was glad Caius had stopped her. He’d used that enormous strength and he’d prevented her from harming herself. And how did she thank him? She bit him. Emelisse was embarrassed by that, and by her behavior in general.
Nay… yesterday hadn’t been a good day at all, but the only good thing about it had been Caius d’Avignon.
He had remained the constant.
A knock on the door roused her from her thoughts.
Before she could stand up and answer it, the door opened and Lady de Wrenville entered with one of her maids.
The woman was clad in yet another glorious creation of silk and damask, with an elaborate escoffion on her head – a two horned wimple with pearls sewn into it and gossamer veils made of a see-through fabric called albatross.
Noble women of fine breeding wore them and Lady de Wrenville’s was exquisite.
“Ah,” she said with a smile on her face. “I see that you have awakened, my lady. How do you feel this morning?”
Emelisse rubbed her temples. “My head aches a bit.”
That did nothing to dampen Lady de Wrenville’s smile. “Not to worry,” she said. “Come and eat. I shall have my maid fetch a potion of willow bark, which will ease your aching head. Come along, now.”
Both she and the maid reached down to pull Emelisse off the bed. They led her over to a chair and revealed the morning feast; fresh bread, cheese, fruit compote, and cold beef. There was also a small pitcher of warmed wine, now barely warm, and Emelisse immediately pushed it aside.
“My lady, would it be too much trouble to ask for boiled fruit juice?” she asked. “Wine is why my head aches so. I have never gotten on well with it.”
Lady de Wrenville quickly waved the pitcher away and the maid ran off with it.
As Emelisse forced a grateful smile and turned to the food spread out before her, Lady de Wrenville took a seat on the opposite side of the little table.
Emelisse picked up the bread and smeared it with butter and the fruit, gingerly taking a bite.
It was difficult to be enthusiastic about eating when her head was hurting so much.
“I am having warm water and clean clothing brought to you,” Lady de Wrenville said. “Is there anything else you require to make your stay more comfortable?”
Emelisse chewed her bread slowly. “You have been more than kind, my lady,” she said.
She eyed the woman hesitantly. “Given that I have behaved like a wild animal, I would like to thank you for your treatment. You have been good to me and, as it was pointed out to me last night, I have responded abominably. Please forgive me.”
Lady de Wrenville frowned. “There is nothing to forgive,” she said. “And who pointed this out to you?”
“Sir Caius,” Emelisse said, taking another bite of bread. “He was right. I… I think I lost my head yesterday. It will not happen again. But I do have a question.”
“What is that?”
“Did you speak to your husband about his intention of marrying me to his son?”
Lady de Wrenville shook her head slowly. “I had every good intention of speaking to him, my lady,” she said with regret. “But I was convinced that my husband would not take it well from me. He would view it as interfering in his business.”
Emelisse sighed faintly. She understood and appreciated the lady’s perspective, but she was still disappointed to hear it.
“Sir Caius told me that Wolverhampton is trying to convince your husband to release me,” she said. “He told me that there are those who will support me, people I do not even know. Yesterday, I felt so alone and in despair, but Sir Caius has given me great comfort.”
Lady de Wrenville smiled faintly. “I can see that you hold great regard for him,” she said.
“You should. I have heard men speaking of him this morning as I was going about my tasks. He was a great knight on Richard’s Crusade, so great that the enemy called him The Britannia Viper. Did you know that?”
Emelisse shook her head. There was some surprise in her expression. “I did not,” she said. “But I would not doubt it, not for a moment. I have never seen a larger man. He is strong, too. And fast. Fast enough to grab me before I threw myself from the window.”
Lady de Wrenville was watching her face as she spoke. “And he is handsome, too,” she said. “I do not suppose that escaped your notice. If you are to be confined for now, then you may as well have something pleasant to look at.”
Emelisse looked at her sharply only to see that she was giggling like a blushing maiden. She was teasing her and Emelisse broke down into a grin.
“I could have done worse, I suppose,” she said. “And… and I did not notice if he is handsome or not. I was too busy worrying about myself.”
Lady de Wrenville rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Lass, you’d have to be blind not to see that he is a fine form of a man,” she said. “And he was quite attentive to you, too. I believe he thinks you are lovely, and you are.”
Emelisse was starting to feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, but not in a bad way.
She simply didn’t like speaking of herself when it came to the subject of beauty.
Her hair was too unruly and her teeth too big, or so she thought.
At least, that’s what Caspian had told her when he was feeling particularly mean and nasty as children.
Somehow, it always stayed with her. That dastardly brother that she was now willing to die for.
She began pulling the beef apart, trying to think of a way to change the subject.
“He was here until I fell asleep,” she said, putting a piece of beef into her mouth. “When I awoke, I noticed that the windows were covered. I do not remember them being covered up when I went to sleep last night.”
Diverted from thoughts of the fair Caius, Lady de Wrenville looked at the covered shutters. “They must have been covered at some point last night,” she said. “They were not covered when I left you here, so Sir Caius must have done it while you were sleeping.”
Emelisse looked at the windows in shock. “I slept through that?”
Lady de Wrenville started giggling. “You were quite… exhausted.”
Emelisse looked at her. Then, she started laughing, too, even though she was embarrassed. It felt good to laugh, even for a brief moment.
“Aye, I was exhausted,” she said, her smile fading.
“But now that it is morning and my head, though aching, is clearer, I will tell you that I am still very frightened. I am frightened that no one will be able to stop Marius from marrying me and when he does, he will use me against my brother. I am assuming there have been no changes since yesterday and my brother still holds the keep?”
Lady de Wrenville’s smile faded also. “I have not heard anything to the contrary,” she said. “He must still be there.”