The Reckless Oath We Made - Bryn Greenwood Page 0,70
a handful where it grew upon my crown and made as though to pass my blade twixt head and hand. She laughed so that I dared not look upon her, for the firelight gilded the shape of her breast and roused flames in mine own bosom.
“The sound of scissors ’pon my head liketh me not,” I said.
“Okay. That explains a lot.”
Our ablutions finished, I took our repast from the fire.
“If it thee liketh, we might break our fast atop the hill and see the sunrise.”
“Let me put some clothes on,” she said, for tho she was warm next the fire, the morning was chill.
“My cloak hangeth in the pavilion, if thou wilt wear it.”
Lady Zhorzha drew it over her chemise and laced her shoes, while I packed our meal in a basket. Upon the hill, I spread the blanket and we ate in quiet but good fellowship. In the east, the sun painted the sky in red. All was still but for the stirrings of deer and turkeys, and only a whisper of smoke rising from the trees revealed our camp below.
“Do you come out here every weekend?” she said.
“As oft as I may, but less than I wish. For my lord Bombardier requireth much of me, and my mother and sister needen me. And thee, my lady.”
“You don’t have to look out for me all the time. In the last two years, I only desperately needed your help like twice.”
“’Tis no hardship that I should see thee every day,” I said.
To my perplexity, she laughed.
“I jest not, my lady. To hold thee in my protection is both duty and pleasure.”
“I wish LaReigne was under someone’s protection. It makes me crazy not knowing where she is or if she’s safe. The marshals act like if she had a relationship with this guy, she’s safe. Like those aren’t exactly the guys who kill you.”
Lady Zhorzha shivered, but she drew not my cloak to cover her shoulders and arms. I had no comfort for her, but the quiet eased me, and I hoped it served her also. She rose and walked to the edge of the bluff. The sun arrived in all its heraldry and lit her hair like a watch fire, like the quick leap of a spark upon dry grass.
I went to her, and for once, those within me all weren silent. They offered no warning and no guidance, so that I followed only mine own heart. I went down upon my knee to Lady Zhorzha and, finding me there before her, she offered her hand. I envied Sir Rhys’ ease in that passage of a lady’s hand to his lips, but I possessed it not. Still I took her fingers into mine.
“Mayhap thou art a phoenix, for thy hair is like fire,” I said.
She laughed and pressed my hand.
“It’s beautiful here. I wish I could stay here. I wish I could bring Marcus here.” She was heartsore to be parted from her little page. The night past, she had gone up the hill to call him, but his grandfather rebuked her and would not allow her to speak with Marcus. She had been much distraught. “But I can’t stay, can I? I need to figure out what to do, and I have no clue what that is. I feel so fucking helpless,” she said.
“What wouldst thou do? Wishest thou return to thy mother?”
“I don’t know. We always fight, and I’m no use to her, but I can’t just hide out here and wait for . . . I don’t even know what I’d be waiting for. We have to go back to Wichita anyway, don’t we?”
“I vowed we should return ere the midday meal, for my aunt, the lady Bernice, needeth my help,” I said.
“I know you have things to do. You don’t need to worry about me.”
She released my hand and, all the while she paced the hilltop in her fiery splendor, I kept watch. She spake not to me of the battle that raged in her, but ere the sun rose above the trees, she returned to me.
“I think I need to go see my uncle,” she said.
“My lady, I shall take thee wheresoever thou wilt.”
“No. I can’t ask you to do that. It’s all the way in Missouri. Plus, I haven’t seen him in a long time. He acted really weird when I called him, so I don’t even know if it would be safe to take you with me.”