Chapter Thirteen
The Crown and Anchor Inn
Longton
In spite of how long she’d been in the water, the bath was still moderately warm.
Wallowing in a big copper tub lined with linen and sitting before a fire that was giving off a great deal of heat, Cadelyn’s senses were finally returning.
She was finally starting to feel safe and calm and warm, but it had taken some doing to get her there.
The past hour had been hell.
Having been briefly knocked unconscious by the attack south of town, she’d come to her senses rather quickly but had remained dazed the entire ride into town.
And what a ride it had been; it had been just a few miles, but it had seemed like an eternity to her, all of it wet and jarring, and by the time they reached the outskirts of Longton, Kress was looking for any place to take her.
Any tavern would do; he wasn’t even picky.
Anything with a roof and four walls.
They’d come to a big, three-storied tavern made from stones on the bottom floor and then wattle and daub on the upper two floors, and he’d decided that was where they were going to seek shelter.
Leaving his horse to be tended in the livery behind the establishment, Kress had hurriedly carried Cadelyn inside and began bellowing for assistance.
That brought several people running.
Freezing, and muddy from her head to her toes, the innkeeper and his daughter, a heavyset spinster by the name of Jude, took one look at Cadelyn and immediately directed Kress to a chamber on the upper floor.
Jude had gone into the chamber first, starting a fire and snapping at the servants to bring hot water and a bath.
It was difficult to tell if they were moving quickly because Cadelyn looked to be in such distress or because Kress was a very big man with a sharp manner.
And a very big sword.
In any case, Jude and her wenches moved quickly, and in a very short amount of time there was a fire in the hearth and a small copper tub half-full of hot water.
She chased Kress out and helped Cadelyn strip off her muddy things, putting her in the hot water and then rinsing her hair with clean water until all of the mud came out of it.
But she wasn’t finished. Realizing that Cadelyn had brought nothing with her into the inn, no baggage or personal effects, Jude’s wenches found some soap and a comb, and Jude scrubbed Cadelyn’s hair with it to get rid of the mud.
She even scrubbed her fingernails. In little time, Cadelyn was washed, rinsed, and clean, and Jude left the chamber to find Cadelyn something to wear while her own clothing was cleaned up.
And that was where Cadelyn now found herself.
It had been a whirlwind.
Outside, the storm was still raging, but inside the small chamber with its surprisingly big bed that took up most of the room, Cadelyn was grateful for the simplest of comforts in a hot bath.
Her head was throbbing from having been knocked unconscious, and her right shoulder and arm hurt a great deal from where she’d been struck, but the hot water seemed to help that as well.
For the moment, there was peace in a day that had seen absolutely none.
As she sat there and soaked, Jude blew back into the chamber with garments in her arms – a long, heavy shift that belonged to her as well as a heavy woolen robe that went over it for warmth.
She helped Cadelyn out of the tub, dried her off, and put her in the clothing that was so big that Cadelyn was swimming in it.
Jude was a great deal larger, and taller, than Cadelyn was, but the clothing was clean and warm, and Cadelyn was very grateful for it.
As she sat on a stool next to the fire and ran the wooden comb through her blonde hair to dry it, Jude went to the door and opened it.
“Ye can come in now,” she said loudly, crooking her finger at someone out in the corridor. “The lady is ready tae receive visitors.”
Cadelyn looked at the door curiously only to see Kress enter with the big, damp dog in tow.
He was still in full protection, his tunics and mail, helm and weapons, but he didn’t come any further into the chamber than the doorway as Goliath boldly entered and curled up by the fire at Cadelyn’s feet.
Kress pulled his helm off to get a good look at her.
“Are you well?” he asked, something in his eyes quite soft upon her. “I can send for a physic if you were hurt in the fall.”
He sounded very concerned and Cadelyn shook her head as she reached down to pet the dog. “My arm and shoulder are sore, but nothing else seems to be amiss other than my ear and my throat,” she said. “They ache a little.”
His concern grew. “Then I shall send for the physic at once.”
She shook her head. “Truly, that is unnecessary,” she said. “A hot drink and sleep should be all I need. We shall see how I fare on the morrow. Where is the escort? Is everyone well?”
Kress nodded, relieved to see that she wasn’t injured but still concerned with an aching ear and throat. “While you have been in here, I have been outside in the road, watching them trickle into town,” he said. “A few of my men were injured, but none too badly. They will recover.”
“Who were those men who attacked us?”
Kress shook his head. “Outlaws,” he said.
“Those who were not killed fled into the woods. My guess is that they were simply criminals looking for an opportunity, which I provided when I dismounted my horse and left us vulnerable. But I will tell you one thing – the next time that dog acts strangely, I shall pay attention.”
Cadelyn looked down at the dog again, petting his head and pondering a situation that had been quite frightening.
“Goliath was a good dog, wasn’t he?”
“Most definitely.”
“Are you well?”
“I am.”
“Where are Susanna and Yerik?”
Kress scratched his wet head. “Susanna is seeing to her horse and the cleric is down in the common room, stuffing his face,” he said. “They are both well. You needn’t worry. But they are concerned about you, so I shall tell them that you are uninjured.”
Cadelyn nodded and he turned away, but she stopped him. “I am rather hungry,” she said. “I do not wish to be any trouble, but do you think you could have food sent to me?”
He paused in the doorway, nodding. “Indeed,” he said. “Anything else?”
She thought on that. “All of my things are back in the carriage that we could not bring with us,” she said. “I have nothing with me but what I was wearing. If the weather is better tomorrow, do you think someone can go back and retrieve my bags?”
He scratched his head. “I did not want to bring them because of the extra weight on the horse,” he said. “But if the weather is better tomorrow, I will send men back for some of your possessions.”
“Thank you. And, Kress?”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“I do not care.”
He grunted with some frustration. Considering all they’d said to each other yesterday in the old woman’s house, he supposed the last barrier of her addressing him by his given name was a foolish formality to stand on.
“Have it your way,” he grumbled. “What do you want?”
“Will you come back and eat with me?”
He just looked at her for a moment and then he was gone, closing the door behind him. Cadelyn sat there with a comb in one hand, petting the dog with the other, and wondering if he was simply going to leave her alone for the night.
She hoped not.
The conversation the day before kept coming back to her.
It had been an important conversation; so much had been said between them.
She’d been able to see the wall of self-protection he’d kept up around him crumble, just a little, and there had been moments when he’d been warm and kind.
That was the man she wanted to see more of, that sweet and flirtatious knight she’d first met.
But she knew it was wrong; it was wrong in so many ways.
What do you want from me?
He’d asked that question, but with it had come a myriad of answers to questions she hadn’t even asked.
All of it told her what he was really feeling for her, mirroring what she was feeling for him.
The connection they had made in Lynn on that fateful day hadn’t been an accident, something quickly experienced and quickly gone.
It had been something that was meant to happen, preordained for that very moment in time by the winds of fate she so often wrote about in her poems.
At least, that’s what Cadelyn believed.
She refused to believe anything else.
Therefore, when she asked him to dine with her and he simply walked away without answering, she wasn’t upset by it. She knew he’d be back.
Next to her, the dog was beginning to snore, exhausted and lulled by the heat.
She looked down at the beast, petting his head again, thinking that meeting up with him had been preordained, too.
She’d hardly been around the beast, but he’d taken to her greatly, which seemed very strange to her.
Perhaps the dog sensed her distress; animals were very intuitive, she thought.
He’d certainly tried to warn them about the attack.
He was a good dog, indeed.
As she sat there and gently rubbed the dog’s head, there was a knock at the door. Cadelyn invited the caller to enter and when the door creaked open, Yerik’s fair face appeared.
“Sir Kress said you were feeling better, my lady,” he said. “You suffered no ill effects from your fall?”
Cadelyn motioned him into the chamber. “I am a little sore, but nothing that will not heal,” she said. “The warm bath did wonders, as you can imagine.”
Yerik came into the room, looking over at the tub of cooling water. “That is good,” he said. Then, his gaze trailed to the dog lying at Cadelyn’s feet. “The dog seems to have earned his keep today.”
Cadelyn looked to the dog as well, stroking his head. “He was a great protector,” she said. “I shall make sure he gets a good bone tonight as a reward.”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet. I asked Sir Kress to have food sent up. Is he downstairs?”