to see if he would eat the stew while she stood to face the opposite wall with her arms crossed. "You are not obligated to give me anything, nor am I entitled to anything. I was merely hoping that someone in your position may be able to help me leave this." She waved her hand around, indicating the square hut where she lived.
Blaise thought about it. The scent of the stew called to his nose and his stomach twitched, but he put off eating from it. "You are correct, I do owe you nothing."
Her back cringed at his words.
He sighed. "Yet I am not of the sort to abandon someone who did not abandon me. When the rain stops I will take ye to Graystone and explain yer situation to my father."
Elizabeth spun to stare at him. Her eyes sparkled with tear drops and her jaw trembled at his offer.
Feeling generous, Blaise dug the wooden spoon into the bowl, lifted out a mouthful of the steaming brown stew and took a bite. His eyes slid shut, savouring the taste. "Perhaps since ye are skilled as a cook we can give ye a position."
Elizabeth's face fell. 'Twas obviously not what she had in mind. Blaise chuckled and took another spoonful into his mouth.
If this wench thought he would give her a house and finery before he knew the truth about his robbery, then she was as mad as they came.
***
Elizabeth clenched her teeth, seething as he enjoyed the stew she created with the last of the essentials in her home.
Still, she supposed she should feel grateful, but she suppressed her sigh of relief until later. Whether it had been accidental or not, intended or not, if he suspected that she had anything to do with his attack, he would kill her.
Chapter Two
The walk to Graystone castle took a few hours after the rain stopped. It seemed like days to Blaise, who had nothing to protect his feet against the mud and sharp rocks on the road.
The ragged blanket Elizabeth offered was all he had to spare his dignity. Indeed, the only other option was to wear her cloak, and from the way it draped heavily around her, filthy from overuse and mud, it would have not been any better.
His eyes scanned the trees, his fingers itching to wrap around the handle of a sword he no longer had. A sword he regretted losing above all else. "If we are to be ambushed I would have to defend ye with nothing but my fists."
"'Twas you who did not wish to wait for the roads to dry." Elizabeth replied in an equally sour tone, kicking muck off of her flimsy shoes. “My gown is already filthy, and now being ruined further as I trek in the mud next to you.”
Blaise shook his head. He eyed the gown she wore, which original color he still could not discern, with contempt. She managed to clean some of the muck off it before they started on their journey, but all it did was spread the dirt deeper into the cloth. “As though it makes a difference.” He mumbled.
She looked at him. “What did you say?”
"I spoke of nothing, and I wished for a quick departure because 'twould be best for a helpless woman and her naked companion to travel before the thieves who live in the woods decide the weather is fine enough for them to stalk their prey. They wish to sit in the bushes, not in the muck. Like us."
Elizabeth would not look at him. She adjusted the parcel in her arms and continued to walk, as though hoping he would not see the color climbing her neck. "I had not thought of that."
She had wrapped the gown Blaise had seen in her small hut in a clean skin to protect it against any damage similar to the gown she currently wore. She carried it with her as though it were a precious child.
Blaise couldn't help but remark upon it. "Are ye wishing to look presentable when I introduce ye to my father?"
Her pale cheeks heated again. 'Twas easy making that color appear in her skin, it seemed. The pink color contrasted nicely on her pale cheeks.
She swallowed. "Aye, I am a lady and wish to look as one when I am in good company."
"Ah, then you should be wearing it now as you are in my company." He grinned. He visualised her wearing finery, a clean gown with color, and the dirt washed