Chapter Ten #3
Julian sensed it, too, because his attention was moving between Louis and Flora and Lista. He could see that Lista was glaring at her aunt so he sat forward at the table, blocking her view.
“Where is Addie this morning?” he asked.
Lista turned her attention to him, seemingly gratefully so. “She was up most of the night so she is sleeping right now,” she said. “Where is Ashton?”
“Outside supervising the clean-up,” he said, mopping up the last of his bread and gravy. “I will sleep a few hours, too, while I am able. I find that I am wholly exhausted.”
Lista smiled faintly. “Then you must rest,” she said quietly. “I will take the watch.”
He looked at her as if surprised by her words.
But he realized it was one of the sweetest things he’d ever heard.
He was weary and she was prepared to stay vigilant while he slept.
Was that what it meant to have a woman’s genuine concern?
Her loyalty? God help him, he’d never had that before.
He’d seen it between his parents, between Cole and Corisande, and even his sisters and their husbands, but it was something he never imagined he would have for himself.
Reaching out, he took her hand under the table, fondling her fingers.
“Show my new friend where he should rest,” he said softly. “Then you will escort me to my chamber. I want your face to be the last one I see before I sleep.”
Giving him a wink, Lista stood up from her seat, collecting the pitcher of wine on the table and topping off his cup. Then, she moved to Louis, completely ignoring her aunt and her empty cup.
“When you have had your fill of food and wine, I will be happy to show you to a comfortable chamber,” she told him, pouring a little more wine into his cup. “You have had a busy night.”
Louis grinned at the true statement. “Busier than I had hoped for,” he said, taking a drink of the tart, red wine. “I am very grateful for your hospitality, Lady Lista.”
Lista smiled at him and set the pitcher down, out of the reach of her aunt, who was growing frustrated that she was being denied more wine.
“And we are very grateful for your sword,” she said. “I must check on the wounded on the other side of the hall, but fetch me when you are ready to lie down.”
“I am ready now,” he said, standing up wearily and collecting his things. “I do not wish to be any trouble, so if you point me in the right direction, I shall find a bed.”
“Nonsense,” Lista said. “I shall show you myself. Mayhap Julian would care to join us?”
Julian was already on his feet, moving around the table as he collected his own things. “I am so tired that I am not entirely sure I will be able to make it under my own power,” he said. “You two may need to drag me.”
Lista giggled as Louis answered. “I fear Lady Lista may be dragging us both,” he said. “I could curl up on a rock and sleep like the dead.”
“I have no rocks,” Lista said as she came off the dais, heading for the southern door to the hall. “But I do have comfortable beds. That shall have to suffice.”
Grinning, Louis and Julian followed.
Lista led them around to the front of the castle, near the great portcullises, where there were small guard rooms, three in a row.
The first two had been used but the third one had a bed that had not been slept in.
The linens were clean, the pillow soft, and there was a hearth that was stacked with kindling and not lit.
“Here you are,” Lista said, moving to the single window facing south and reaching up to pull the oil cloth down to dim the chamber and cover the window. “If you need anything at all, there is usually a servant or soldier at the end of the corridor. They will be happy to help you.”
As Louis dropped his things wearily, Julian set his down at the doorway and went to light the hearth.
Using a flint and stone, he sparked the wood easily and a blaze came forth, filling the chamber with some warmth and light.
Lista picked up the empty water pitcher and went to find the servant she spoke of, sending the man for fresh water.
As he ran off, Julian finished with the fire and went to collect his things again.
“Thank you,” Louis said, removing the belt around his tunic. “I feel as if I have made a good acquaintance today, Julian. I hope it will not be the last time we see one another.”
Julian nodded his head. “As do I,” he said. “I realize Pelinom and Berwick have not been great allies of Sunderland, but we can change that.”
“I believe we can.”
Julian’s exposed left eye twinkled. “If I do not see you before you leave, then this parting was well made,” he said. “Find me at Pelinom the next time you are in the north and I shall seek you at Herrington the next time I am further south.”
“I hope you do.”
“Good sleep to you, my lord.”
Louis gave him a smile and Julian quit the chamber, running into Lista as she returned with the pitcher of water.
She took it into Louis as Julian stood just outside the door, waiting until she emerged and shut the panel quietly behind her.
Then she looked up at Julian and looped both hands through the crook of his elbow.
“Now,” she said. “Off to bed with you, young man. You have had a busy night, too.”
That was very true. Julian let her lead him back to his borrowed chamber, which was actually quite a large chamber and very comfortable.
Far too big and comfortable to be for visitors.
As they entered the room, Lista let go of him and went to the hearth, which was dead embers at this point.
There had been a fire yesterday when Julian had arrived, but that had long since died out.
As Julian began to strip down, Lista swept away the ashes and neatly piled the kindling, lighting the fire with a flint and stone.
“This used to be my father’s chamber,” she said. “Normally, no one stays here, but I made an exception in your case.”
Julian smiled faintly as he placed his belt upon the nearest table and bent over to begin stripping off the rest of his clothing.
“I am honored,” he said. “Truthfully, I was wondering who this chamber belonged to, once. It is quite grand.”
He pulled off his de Velt tunic as Lista glanced up at the enormous de la Mere standard that hung against one wall. “Grand, indeed,” she said. “My father liked his comfort.”
“Were you close to him?”
Lista blew on the fire, bringing forth a weak flame. “I was,” she said. “Closer to him than to my mother. I miss him daily.”
Julian put his tunic on the table and bent over to shimmy off his mail coat. “I am sorry,” he said. “But I understand what it is like to miss your father. I miss mine daily, as well.”
Lista fanned the flames a little more. “Were you close to him?”
“Very close.”
She paused a moment. “What do you remember most about him, Julian?” she asked, then quickly added: “I do not mean to pry, but I wonder if it is the same thing I remember about my father. He has only been gone a little over two years and I awoke the other morning, terrified that I’d forgotten what he looked like.
More than anything, I remember the sound of his voice.
Do you remember that about your father?”
Julian’s movements slowed as he set the mail across a chair to dry out, his thoughts moving to his father. He didn’t often let that happen.
“I remember,” he said, subdued. “Mostly, I remember the way he made me feel when I was in his presence.”
“How was that?”
Julian’s gaze drifted over to the de Velt tunic, like the one his father was wearing when he’d been killed. “Safe,” he finally said. “My father made me feel… safe.”
Lista pondered that. “I don’t remember that about my father,” she said.
“Of course, we rarely had any trouble at Felkington. Last night was a rare occasion, indeed, so safety was never something I needed to feel. What I remember other than his voice is his hands. My father had very big hands. Odd, isn’t it?
What we remember about those we loved, I mean. It’s the little things.”
Julian didn’t reply. He stripped off the rest of his clothing, leaving him naked from the waist up.
There was a basin of cold water from the day before so he went to his saddlebags, pulling out a bar of white, lumpy soap that smelled of lavender.
Using the cold water in the basin, he proceeded to lather it into a slick froth and ran it over his arms, neck, underarms, chest and, finally, his face.
But he’d gone silent for the most part and Lista was aware of that. She continued to blow on the fire, coaxing forth a healthy blaze.
“Did I bring up a subject you to not wish to speak of?” she asked. “If you do not ever wish to speak of your father, you only need tell me and I will never bring him up again. I am sorry if you thought I was prying. I wasn’t, truly.”
“I know,” he said, overlapping her last word. “I know you were not prying. Since this is a time of discovery between us, you should know that it is not easy for me to speak of my father.”
“You would prefer I did not speak of mine, too?”
He splashed water on his face and neck, rinsing the white froth off.
“Nay, sweetheart,” he said softly. “You may speak of your father as much as you wish. I would like to come to know him through your eyes. But my situation with my father is different. It is simply difficult for me to speak on him so do not press me if I won’t. Agreed?”
Lista turned away from the fire about the time Julian pulled out a cloth from his saddlebags to dry off with. “Agreed,” she said. But then she caught sight of his naked torso, illuminated in the weak light of the chamber, and her cheeks flamed. “Oh… goodness.”
Quickly, she turned away because the sight of Julian’s magnificent, naked torso had her heart thumping against her ribs. Na?vely, she hadn’t expected him to strip down and wash up, so she abruptly found herself in a rather intimate position with a man she found quite beautiful.
More beautiful when his clothes were off.
She stood up.
“I will leave you to rest,” she said, heading for the door and trying not to look at him. “I will be in the hall if you need me. Send a servant to fetch me and I will come.”
Julian paused in his drying. He couldn’t help but notice that she was moving rather rapidly for the door. “Wait,” he said. “Where are you running off to? You do not need to leave right away.”
Lista was at the door, her hand on the latch. “Aye, I do.”
“But why?”
She wouldn’t look at him, but she pointed a finger in his direction. “You are without clothing, sir,” she said. “It is not proper for me to be here.”
He grinned lazily. “I see,” he said, tossing the drying cloth onto the table. “You think we are in a compromising position?”
She could hear the humor in his voice. “Do not tease me, Julian,” she scolded. “You know it is not proper. You should have waited until I left before removing your clothing like that.”
“Don’t you like what you see?”
With a growl, she yanked the chamber door open and charged out, leaving him rushing after her. “Wait,” he called. “Lista, I am sorry, truly. Come back!”
She was already halfway down the corridor, heading for the hall. “Nay!”
He started laughing. “Please?”
“You are incorrigible, Julian de Velt!”
He watched her disappear through a doorway and, still laughing, he went back inside the chamber and shut the door. He hadn’t meant to chase her away but he had a feeling she’d run not because she was offended.
Because she was titillated.
It was just a feeling he had.
Going back to the basin, he stripped off his breeches and washed the rest of his body from the waist down with the lavender soap.
It wasn’t that he had a penchant for being inordinately clean but more that he couldn’t stand the smell of a stinky body, especially his own.
Once he was washed down and dried off, he climbed into the bed with the soft mattress, his thoughts lingering on the beautiful young woman with the sea-colored eyes.
Sleep claimed him before he realized it.