Chapter Six #4
The common room of the inn was deep. It went back, all the way to the rear of the building, and it was about half-full at this time of day.
This place was more expensive than most, with a good meal served to those who had paid for a room for the night, and Aidric kept the lady in his grip as he sought out the innkeeper.
The man had been back in the kitchens, which smelled heavily of bread and singed meat, and he emerged from the steamy kitchen wiping the sweat off his face with a rag.
“What’s wanting, m’lord?” he asked.
Aidric went straight to the point. “A room for the lady,” he said. “I want your finest with a good, solid door and a lock. Do you have such a room available?”
The innkeeper nodded and again wiped his face of the sweat that wouldn’t seem to go away. “Aye,” he said. “But it will cost you.”
“I will pay.”
“Show me your money.”
“How much is it?”
“Five shillings.”
Aidric didn’t hesitate. He dug into his purse, pulled out the money, and slapped it into the man’s hand. “There,” he said. “Show me the chamber. Now.”
The innkeeper pocketed the coin and began to move quickly, heading for the stairs.
They passed an entry into the kitchen as they moved and he shouted to those in the kitchen to bring food to the Bird’s Chamber.
Aidric put the lady in front of him as they entered a narrow corridor, glancing over his shoulder at the entry door they’d just come through, keeping an eye out for anyone who might have followed them.
He was in battle mode.
Up the narrow, leaning stairs they went, up two flights, until they came to a landing at the very top. There were two doors on this level and the innkeeper opened the door with a bird carved in the wood.
“Here,” he said, going straight to the windows to open them and air out the musty, dusty smell. “This chamber has a big bed for the lady and a private room for her trunks and bath. I reserve this for my wealthiest customers, so it has a lock and a bolt on the door.”
Aidric dared to finally release the lady as he inspected the door itself.
It had an enormous bolt on it, with a lock, and then a second big bolt above it.
The door itself was solid oak, two inches thick at least, and quite sturdy.
Realizing that, Aidric began to feel some relief for the first time since departing Adelie’s.
“This will do,” he said. Then, he dug into his purse and pulled forth another five shillings, handing them over to the innkeeper. “This is for your silence. You did not see us. Not me, not the lady. No one matching our descriptions has come to your inn. Is that clear?”
The innkeeper took the money, nodding as he tucked it into his pocket. “It is, m’lord,” he said. “Food is coming. I assume you want it.”
Aidric wasn’t sure if the lady did or not, but he agreed. “Aye,” he said. “Send it up.”
With that, the innkeeper departed, closing the door behind him.
Aidric threw both bolts, going to peer cautiously from the window and realizing they were facing the street.
He could see a great deal from this vantage point, including the street they’d come from after fleeing the shop.
Realizing they were safe for the moment, he sighed heavily.
“Now,” he said, turning to her. “I am going to return to the shop and locate your escort. I will send them to this tavern so they can return you to Cambridge. You are not to leave here until I can send them. Do you understand?”
The woman nodded timidly. “Aye,” she said. “But… but why did you do this? Why did you take me away?”
Aidric lifted his eyebrows. “Because you were targeted by thieves,” he said. “Did you not hear the man? He wanted your garment and he wanted you. Lady, you cannot go out in public wearing valuable clothing like that. Men of greed will target you. Has no one told you so?”
She looked down at herself, at the elaborate gown with the pearls sewn into patterns and the diamond chips that lined her neckline. After a moment, she sighed faintly.
“It does not matter if I have been told or not,” she said, sounding glum. “I wear what I am told to wear. I do what I am told to do. I have no choice.”
“Who gives you such dangerous orders?”
“Cambridge, of course. I belong to him.”
I belong to him.
The conversation Aidric had had with Britt and Dirk and Bennet began coming back to him. He has a Jewel, Dirk had said.
It suddenly occurred to him who this woman was.
He’d been a fool not to realize it before.
“You are a Jewel,” he murmured.
She looked at him as if surprised he should say such a thing.
Or even know it. Unsure what to say to him, she lowered herself onto the end of the bed, sitting heavily.
She seemed to be suddenly, and completely, weary.
As if the fact that she’d been targeted was weighing her down most powerfully.
As her guard went down, her composure went with it.
“You know that we do not call ourselves that,” she said softly.
“What do you call yourselves?”
“Various things. Mostly, the Chosen.”
He nodded. “That sounds more… elegant.”
“And less like a possession,” she said. “Men possess jewels. But if you are Chosen, it sounds less like a possession and more like a position of import.”
“Are you permitted to tell me your name, my lady?”
She sighed faintly. “Since you have risked your life to protect me, it would only be right that I do,” she said. “My name is Cleodora Leonora Elizabetha de Beaumont. My father is Everald de Beaumont, Lord Nalliers.”
Aidric dipped his head politely. “Lady Cleodora,” he said. “Thank you for telling me. And I do not know your father. Where is his seat?”
“Lerryn Castle in Cornwall,” she said. “Actually, it is my mother’s family home, but my mother was an only child.
My father’s title is hereditary, from his father, but his lands are in France and unspectacular.
Because of his marriage to my mother, he will inherit Lerryn when my grandfather, Lord Lerryn, passes away. ”
“I see,” Aidric said. “What is the name of your mother’s family?”
“De Sauster.”
He cocked his head curiously. “Where have I heard that before?”
She smiled weakly. “If you are familiar with Cornwall legends, my family plays prominently in several,” she said.
“You see, rumor had it that, long ago, a wounded warrior washed upon the very shore where Lerryn was built and a siren tended him. They married, and the House of de Sauster was born. We are supposedly descended from the sirens of the sea.”
He grinned. “I can believe that,” he said. “You look like a magical creature. I thought that when I first saw you in Adelie’s shop. You have a very rare beauty, my lady. I do not say that to flatter you. I say it because it is the truth.”
Her smile turned real and she lowered her head modestly.
“My mother was the beauty in the family,” she said.
“Or so I was told. She died when I was very young, so I do not remember her, but my father says I look just like her. I inherited my hair from her. All of the de Sauster women have pearl-colored hair, which, I suppose, lends credence to the legend that we were born of a siren. It makes for an amusing story, anyway.”