Chapter Nineteen #2
“Anaxandra,” Estevan said as if it were the most beautiful name in the world.
“That’s what I wanted tae speak with ye about.
Firstly, not all of the women here are nuns.
That’s something I dinna know. Some of them are just widows or women who joined the order for shelter and protection.
There’s only eight nuns here, Mae. The rest are not.
Anaxandra is not. She… she’s very special, and I’d like ye tae come tae know her. ”
Mabel wasn’t stupid. She could hear something in Estevan’s voice when he spoke about the woman who’d saved Zora.
An eyebrow lifted.
“Because…?”
“Because I want tae marry her.”
There it was. The spoken truth. Mabel had to admit that she was surprised.
Not shocked, but surprised. Estevan didn’t have women following him around like some of her other sons did.
He was too sensible for that. He focused on his duty and on his family, so for this young woman to charm him as she evidently had was unheard of when it came to Estevan.
He’d never fallen for a woman in his life.
Until now.
Mabel could see it in his eyes.
“Does she know that you want to marry her?” she asked.
Estevan nodded, pleased his mother hadn’t outright denied him.
“She does,” he said. Then he lowered his voice.
“She’s been here since she was a bairn. She’s the bastard of the Earl of Teviot and a lady-in-waiting tae his wife.
They brought her here, so she was raised by the nuns.
Mae, she’s of good stock. She’s intelligent and beautiful and brave. ”
Mabel smiled faintly. “It sounds as if you admire her already.”
“I do,” Estevan said. “It was her idea tae save Zora the way she did. I’ve never known a woman like that in my life. I dinna have time tae be frightened because I was too busy being awed by her.”
Mae chuckled, softly. “She has impressed you.”
“She has,” he said. “But she doesn’t know where she comes from, so dunna mention it when ye speak tae her. I dunna think it matters, anyway, but I wanted ye tae know that she comes from noble bloodlines. I’d want tae marry her even if she dinna.”
“It sounds to me as if you are serious.”
“I am,” Estevan said. “Will ye speak tae her?”
Mabel nodded. “I will,” she said. “Where is she?”
“Outside,” Estevan said. “She’s with some other women cleaning the bolts they collected from the battlefield. I’ll introduce ye.”
Mabel stopped him. “No need,” she said. “You remain here. Go over and save Matty from your sister’s incessant chatter. I will find this young woman and speak with her myself.”
Estevan couldn’t help it. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“Thank ye,” he murmured sincerely. “And… be kind tae her, please? She’s been raised by women who have no warmth, no love as a family does.
She’s never really spoken tae anyone else but them, so she may seem cold. But she’s not, I assure ye.”
Mabel eyed her son knowingly. “I assume you have discovered this personally?”
Estevan wasn’t known to blush, but if he was, he would have done it at that moment. Instead, he started laughing, his hand over his face.
“Not as much as I’d like tae,” he said to her prying question. “She’s an innocent, Mae, in all ways. Dunna fear. Nothing untoward has happened. Yet.”
Mabel cracked a smile. “Cheeky devil,” she muttered.
Estevan just stood there and grinned. But it soon became apparent that Mabel wasn’t in any hurry to meet Anaxandra, but rather, she was still watching the care of the soldier with the damaged eye. Since the soldier wasn’t in any immediate danger, Estevan was becoming restless.
“Will ye go now?” he asked.
Mabel looked up from the wounded soldier. “Is there a rush?”
Estevan sighed sharply. “Nay, but…”
Mabel took the hint. “But you want me to do it now,” she said. “Very well, if you insist.”
Estevan was back to smiling again. “Thank ye, Mae. I love ye.”
Mabel snorted softly, giving her impetuous son a wink before heading for the sanctuary door. She passed near Mateo as she walked, noting that he wasn’t doing what she had told him to do.
“I will not tell you again to lie down,” she told him, pointing a finger at him. “You had better be on your back when I return or there will be a row you cannot win. Zora, sit on him if you have to.”
Zora smiled gleefully while Mateo rolled his eyes and fell back on the bed, feeling persecuted by a ruthless woman and her annoying daughter.
Mabel continued to the door as Estevan went over to save his friend, but what he really wanted to do was send Zora away so he could tell Mateo about Anaxandra. He was fairly bursting with it.
And Mabel knew it.
The last she saw, Estevan was trying to force Zora to tend to the other wounded, but Zora was more interested in bothering Mateo.
Mabel smiled to herself as she headed out into the sunshine of a new morning, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air and thankful that a bad situation hadn’t turned out too horribly.
As Estevan had said, it could have been much worse.
But now, she was on the hunt for a young woman she didn’t know. All she had was a name and a location.
She struck out to search for a group of women cleaning bolts.
Like everyone else who visited St. Margaret’s, Mabel immediately noticed how odd the place was.
The bailey was vast, but some of the buildings were connected by walkways that looked as if they were ready to collapse.
As she continued on, she caught sight of a large and well-tended vegetable garden and stables that were small, given the size of the complex.
In fact, she could see her husband and two of her sons in the stable, speaking to Mother Michael as they tried to figure out how to feed all of the horses.
Mabel briefly wondered if she should go and help Lares, as Kaladin had suggested she might be better in dealing with the mother abbess, but she decided against it.
She’d already chased the woman out of the hall.
Besides, Lares was a man of tact and understanding when he wanted to be.
She hoped this was one of those times.
As Mabel continued on, she could see groups of women around the bailey.
Some were sitting down, cleaning swords, while still others were over by the kitchen yard.
She couldn’t quite see what they were doing until one of them moved aside and she could see that they were handling bolts, which were fired from crossbows.
She headed in that direction.
“Who is Anaxandra?” she asked as she came upon the women.
Seven or eight pairs of eyes looked at her, startled, but one young woman set down the bolt in her hand.
“I am Anaxandra,” she said. “How may I be of service, Lady Torridon?”
So the woman knew her name. Mabel found herself facing a tall young woman, taller than she was, with long blonde hair, tied back, and the face of an angel. She could immediately see what had Estevan smitten, at least on the surface.
She didn’t blame him.
“You know me?” she said.
Anaxandra nodded. “We all do,” she said. “We saw you come in with the carriage. Estevan told me who you were.”
Mabel nodded, looking the young woman over, evaluating her. But Anaxandra didn’t flinch, instead, facing her the way she faced everything.
With bravery.
That impressed Mabel.
“I would like to speak with you, my lady,” Mabel finally said. “Will you walk with me?”
Anaxandra didn’t hesitate. The two of them started walking toward the abandoned outbuildings on the south side of the bailey where the stone circle was.
Anaxandra was struggling not to look directly at Mabel, or speak to her, instead waiting to be spoke to first. She wasn’t the type to start up a conversation, anyway.
Nervously, she waited.
“I understand that you are to thank for saving my daughter’s life,” Mabel finally said. “Estevan said that you were very brave.”
Anaxandra flushed that familiar shade of red. “I saw a problem, my lady,” she said. “I only wanted to help.”
“You did,” Mabel said. “My daughter is unharmed and you are to be commended. You have my gratitude.”
“I was glad to do it, my lady.”
“My son also tells me that he wishes to marry you,” Mabel said. “Has he told you that?”
It was a bold question, right to the point, and one that had Anaxandra’s cheeks predictably flushing.
They had come to the abandoned stalls, which was away from the activity in the main part of the bailey.
It was wet and muddy and cold because of the heavy mist, and the derelict buildings gave the area a spooky quality.
Anaxandra had to steer Mabel away from a particularly nasty mud slick before she answered.
“I know, my lady,” she answered honestly. “He has spoken of it to me.”
“And what do you say?”
“I am agreeable.”
Mabel had been expecting more of an answer. “And… how do you feel about it?” she said, trying to elicit more of a response. “Are you happy? Sad? Repelled?”
Anaxandra could see that Mabel was a strong woman.
That was obvious. But given that she dealt with Mother Michael and Sister Hildegarde on a regular basis, she was rather used to strong women.
She wasn’t intimidated, but she couldn’t help the nerves she felt.
Deep down, she did want to be liked. Especially by Estevan’s mother.
The moment was as unexpected as it was important.
“Anxious,” she finally said.
Mabel’s brow furrowed. “Why do you feel anxious?”
Anaxandra took a deep breath. She’d never wished more in her entire life that she’d been schooled in the social graces, because standing before her was a cultured woman.
A great woman who presided over a great house, who was well respected by her peers.
From her short observations of Mabel, she could already see how much her sons esteemed her. Estevan spoke so fondly of her.
Now, this gracious lady was asking her why she felt anxious.
Honesty was the only thing Anaxandra could give her.
“I simply meant that I was not raised in a fine home,” she said. “Surely you can see that.”
Mabel nodded. “I can,” she said. “That still does not explain why you feel anxious.”
Anaxandra struggled to put her emotions into words. “Because I do not know anything of the Outworld,” she said. “I have told Estevan this and he does not seem to care. He said that I could live with you and that you would teach me how to be a fine lady.”
Mabel cocked her head curiously. “Outworld,” she repeated, making it sound mystical. “What is that?”
“It is what we call the world outside of the abbey.”
“Ah,” Mabel said in understanding. “Truthfully, there is not much to know. Can you do your sums?”
“I have been taught such things, my lady.”
“Can you read?”
“I can, my lady.”
“Then learning the Outworld, as you have called it, will be a simple thing,” she said. “You can learn to manage a home. You already know how to command the people around you, don’t you?”
Anaxandra nodded. “I am the leader of the Bow Pack.”
“What is that?”
“The archers of St. Margaret’s.”
Mabel smiled. “See?” she said. “You already know how to properly command women. You can easily direct servants with that knowledge. And what you do not know, you will learn. Estevan believes you are very bright, and I think that I agree with him.”
Anaxandra looked at her doubtfully. “You do?”
Mabel nodded. “Are you willing to learn?”
Anaxandra was bobbing her head in an affirmative gesture before Mabel was even finished speaking.
“Indeed, my lady,” she said. “I would be willing to learn anything Estevan wishes for me to learn. I… I told him that I never wanted to remain here at St. Margaret’s forever.
I always felt there was more for me in the Outworld, but I never truly believed it until now. ”
Mabel’s smile faded. “Then you see my son as your way out of the abbey?” she said. “Do you seem him as a savior to give you a better life?”
Anaxandra sensed suspicion in that question, though she wasn’t sure why.
“I have felt that way since I was a child, my lady,” she said.
“If you mean did I wait for a man to come and take me away, the answer is that I did not. I would have left whether or not Estevan came to St. Margaret’s.
Mayhap I would have become a servant somewhere, or herded sheep, or scrubbed floors, but I would have found a life to lead on my own. ”
Mabel didn’t seem convinced. “Did you tell Estevan this?”
Anaxandra nodded. “I did,” she said. “I have not been dishonest with him. Or you.”
“Do you love my son?”
“Love?” Anaxandra seemed confused by the question.
“My lady, we have only just met. I have grown very fond of him. He is a kind and generous soul. He sees things in me that no one else does. Love has not existed in my life before now, but I am certain that love can be built on such things. Admiration and friendship, to start.”
“Love takes more than that.”
“Did you know that you loved your husband within the first three days of knowing him, my lady?”
It was a clever question, but Mabel felt like it was a challenge. Her eyes narrowed. “We are not speaking of me,” she said. “We are speaking of you and of my son, who seems to have presented you with the chance you have been looking for.”
“That is not true, my lady.”
“Will you swear this to me?”
“Upon all that his holy, I will.”
Mabel still wasn’t certain. She was coming to wonder if the girl was simply an opportunist and Estevan had fallen for it.
As she was considering that very thing, hoping her son hadn’t been foolish in his assessment of Anaxandra’s character, she wandered toward a stall that had a buildup of mud and debris around the base.
It was crumbling, but she wasn’t paying attention to it.
She was thinking on what Anaxandra had said.
As she reached the stall, she turned around to say something to Anaxandra, but the strangest thing happened before she could get the words out of her mouth.
Hands grabbed her, digging into her flesh, and she let out a yelp. Then she had visions of Anaxandra charging in her direction.
After that, it was pandemonium.