Lady Thief - By Rizzo Rosko Page 0,101

well.

"Thank you, milord, but 'tis true nonetheless. My mother took me from him before I was born and hid me away until she too finally went into hiding. She feared he would take me from her. 'Twas how she explained it to me, at least."

"Do you know the name of your father?" William asked.

Eliza nodded. "Sir Bartholomew Ferdinand."

As though the air had been sucked from the room, everyone stopped breathing for some seconds.

A flash of memory passed through Blaise's mind, as vivid as though it were happening before his eyes. 'Twas of that old man, Ferdinand, a villain known for torturing women, running towards William and Marianne with a blade in his hand, intent on destroying them.

Blaise had rushed forth and kicked the man's feet out from under him, and the devil fell and stabbed himself in the neck with his own dagger.

Blaise never thought much of the memory, certainly had never lost any sleep over it. But now, guilt wracked his soul that he had apparently murdered this girl's father.

Chapter Three

Elizabeth awoke from her dream and snuggled further into the warmth of her bed. A lazy grin touched her lips. The feather mattress provided a better night's sleep than the mound of putrid hay she'd been using in her mother's hut.

Memories of insects and dirt brought a shiver to her shoulders. Nay, never again would she trouble herself with those memories. Now she was here, in a beautiful room in a castle, and lady in waiting to Lady Gray.

She allowed herself a luxurious stretch before sitting up. It seemed the bedchamber she had been led to the day before had once belonged to Lord Gray's mother, and while it had almost never been used since the death of the woman, it had been kept in a good, clean condition. Now Elizabeth was free to have it.

"I think 'tis time a new soul brought life to it." William had said after suggesting that she stay there.

She'd been shocked at first, having expected to share a room with another servant rather than being given one of her own. Though she supposed 'twas one more thing the lord of the castle thought so little of when compared to having his son’s life spared.

Blaise. How angelic he appeared while observing her in Lord Gray’s solar. Not at all compared to when she first saw him in the road.

The image brought a shudder to her shoulders and a regretful stirring in her chest. No. Best not to think of that. He was safe now, and that was all that mattered.

He had been handsome once she'd brought him in from the rain and cleaned him up, despite the displeasing color of his hair. She had spent a good deal of time with him, listening to his complaints of the muck during their trek back to his castle, so Elizabeth became unnerved when he simply vanished after she explained her situation and who her father was.

His face had paled of color, allowing her to see every individual freckle on his otherwise tanned nose and cheeks. He had excused himself and all but fled from the room.

Elizabeth lifted herself from the bed, walked across the room, and gazed out the window at the sunrise that coloured the horizon.

'Twas two days ago, and since then she had only seen him during meals in the great hall. Though there were fireplaces in each room, enabling a lord and his lady to have their meals in privacy, it seemed Lord Gray insisted upon eating with the men and women who served him, as well as requiring that his family and guests do the same.

"'Twas something Lady Gray demanded when she first came to be mistress of the castle," said Olma when Elizabeth gave her a curious glance. "She said it keeps the servants respectful."

Elizabeth was not precisely certain how that worked, but if the lord and lady insisted on it then she would oblige.

Though they hadn't rushed out of the solar and avoided her as Blaise had when she revealed the name of her father, Lord Gray, and especially Lady Gray, had been giving her strange glances when they thought she would not see them. Being raised the daughter of a prostitute, Elizabeth grew to know when the eyes of another stared at her.

She did not like it. The name of her father obviously stirred displeasure in their hearts and Elizabeth longed to know the reason of it.

Did they know Sir Ferdinand? Was he ally or enemy? And was he