The Healers Apprentice (6 page)

Rose laughed and the sound made its way around the nearby trees as it was snatched away by the wind.

She stood gazing at the tall tree’s spreading branches. How much she had enjoyed climbing it as a child. A lovely view of the stream and surrounding meadow always rewarded her. If she were to climb it now she could see if everything looked the same.

It truly was the perfect climbing tree, with branches and crooks in just the right places. As she studied it, she tried to recall exactly where she could place her feet. Almost before she knew what she intended, she grasped a limb and hoisted herself up.

As a child, her skirts had been short—not as cumbersome as the voluminous, full-length ones she now wore. Rose stepped on her hem and then had to kick it aside while she searched for a crook in which to place her other foot. She held on with one hand while she shifted to a higher branch, reaching up with her free hand.

A sound like the snort of a horse came from below her. Her heart
jumped. As she turned her head to see who was there, her foot slipped and her fingers lost their grip. She scrambled frantically, her fingertips scraping loose bark. Before she could even scream, she landed on her back on the ground.

Air forcibly escaped her lungs. Darkness shot through with tiny bursts of light filled her vision.

“Are you hurt?” A masculine voice, laden with concern, entered her consciousness a moment before his face came into view above her.

Lord Hamlin.

After the longest moment of her life, Rose drew in a gasping breath. Rolling to her side, she closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply.
O God
,
let this be a dream.
But when she opened her eyes again, he was still there, kneeling beside her, worry creasing his brow.

“Are you hurt?” Lord Hamlin repeated.

“No.”

He studied her face, as though trying to make sure she was telling the truth. Then he grasped her arm and pulled her into a sitting position. She leaned limply back against the tree.

He released her, and her arm tingled where his hands had touched her.

Her back ached and her chest had a painful, hollow feel, but she wanted to show him she was not injured. Instead of smiling in reassurance, however, she stared at her lap, too embarrassed to raise her eyes.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt? I’ll go fetch Frau Geruscha.”

“No, no, I am well.”

“Do you climb trees often?”

Rose couldn’t help but peek at him. His eyes were wide, as if he was amazed at her.

“Why not?” She threw the question at him, feeling suddenly reckless.

He lifted an eyebrow. “I should think you’d stop climbing them after such a tumble.”

“If you hadn’t distracted me, I wouldn’t have fallen.”

She could hardly believe she said it. No one of her station should speak in such a way to Lord Hamlin. But there was something liberating in saying exactly what she thought, instead of making the humble, deferential replies expected of her.

“Forgive me,” he said quietly. “I’m thankful you didn’t injure
yourself.” A slight smile tugged at his mouth. “But perhaps I saved you from falling from an even greater height.”

Rose folded her arms across her chest. “I could easily climb this tree. I’ve climbed it many times.” She wanted to add,
when someone wasn’t sneaking up on me
, but managed to muster a bit of self-possession.

Lord Hamlin ducked his head, but Rose saw the smile he was trying to hide.

“You don’t believe me.” She suddenly wanted to prove to him that she could do it. However, climbing a tree while wearing a dress, with a man below her, did not seem wise.

“No, no, I believe you. I of all people know that you are a maiden of many talents.”

Wolfie ran up, barking wildly, and planted himself between Rose and Lord Hamlin’s big black horse.

“Wolfie, stop that.”

The horse began to graze, as if to show that the dog was beneath his notice.

Lord Hamlin reached out a hand to Wolfie. The dog sniffed him then allowed Lord Hamlin to rub his shaggy head. Rose held her breath, fearing Wolfie would bite him. Instead, Wolfie relaxed under his touch, moving closer to him.

Rose shook her head at her dog’s unusual behavior. “He must like you. He doesn’t let people get that close.”
Especially men.

Lord Hamlin stroked him behind the ears. Wolfie grinned up at him, saliva dripping from his tongue.

“I had a dog once,” Lord Hamlin said. “A good one too. Unfortunately, he got trampled by a horse and died.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” And she truly was. How sad to lose a beloved dog.

Lord Hamlin looked up and their eyes locked as his features softened. His earthy, leathery smell drifted over her, warm and pleasant. Aware of his close proximity, Rose’s heart beat erratically.

As though also conscious of their nearness to each other, he moved a couple of paces away. “My sister, Lady Osanna, told me you’re coming to the ball next week.” He sat down on the grass, one knee pointing toward the stream, and picked a tall weed. Staring at it, he twisted it between his fingers.

“Yes, although I’m sure I won’t know anyone.” Rose frowned, wondering if she should have revealed her insecurity.

“At least there will be music, and I know how much you like music.”

“Yes.”
How did he know that?
“I do love music.”

He smiled and twisted his upper body to face her. His broad shoulders stretched the fabric of his white shirt as he propped one elbow across his knee. “Do you sing?” he asked.

“A little. Do you?” She couldn’t believe she was asking personal questions of Lord Hamlin. Their whole conversation was unthinkable. Yet here he was, looking relaxed and quite interested in answering her questions.

Wolfie, on the other hand, must have grown bored, because he dashed off to chase a chipmunk.

“Osanna and my mother like my singing. I’m not sure anyone else could appreciate it, and I’m certain I don’t sing as well as you tell stories. You have the gift of storytelling. It is remarkable that you know how to read and write. Did Frau Geruscha teach you?” He fixed his eyes on her face.

Rose didn’t feel offended by his statement, as she knew it truly was remarkable. None of her friends knew how to read. “Yes. Frau Geruscha started teaching me when I was very young. She said she’d never seen anyone so eager to learn.” Rose felt a bit smug and then laughed at herself.

She met his gaze. He was smiling at her. His deep blue eyes absorbed the sunlight and sparkled like gems. His dark curls shifted in the breeze and brushed against his forehead.

Oh
,
but you are handsome.

Rose drew in a quick breath, shocked at herself.

At that moment Lord Hamlin stood and pulled something from the leather pouch that hung behind his horse’s saddle. It was a lute. He sat back down and smiled at her, the light dancing in his eyes.

“Will you sing for me if I play?”

Rose shook her head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t.”

She could hardly believe she was refusing a request from Lord Hamlin, even though she couldn’t imagine actually singing for him. But it could hardly matter what he thought of her. She could never hope to be anything to him except a servant, a healer’s apprentice working for him in his castle. Besides, he would never think twice about her when he had nobly born ladies around him like Lady Anne, who might even turn out to be his betrothed. Nonetheless, Rose was
glad he didn’t seem angry at her refusal to sing. He simply stared down at the stringed instrument.

Her heart fluttered at the strange honor of Lord Hamlin playing the lute for her.

He strummed his thumb across the strings and a familiar tune emerged, the song of a maiden, fair and gentle, who walked alone, waiting for her lover to come to her. Rose listened, enraptured by the melody—and the sight of Lord Hamlin. She watched his hands, sunbrowned and strong, expertly evoking the song. And watched his face, his eyes half closed as he appeared to concentrate on his playing, sighing in spite of herself.

He looked up and caught her eye. Never had she felt so alive—alive to the sound of the music, alive to the sight of Lord Hamlin’s beautiful eyes gazing at her as though her soul was visible to his.

Rose tried to quiet her heart. She should not be thinking about Lord Hamlin this way. But if she believed in the songs that spoke of love, or believed what his eyes seemed to be saying to her…no, it was wrong to even think that she could be anything to Lord Hamlin, that he could find her in any way as interesting as she found him. It was simply the music playing tricks on her, making her feel strong emotions that didn’t apply to the situation.

As the last note drifted away, she cleared her throat. She should speak of something, anything, to distract herself from her reaction to the music. “That was beautiful. I suppose you have to practice a lot to remember all the songs…all the notes.” She was babbling.

“I play for my family a lot.”

Rose nodded, searching her mind for something to say. He was smiling at her in a way that made her even more nervous, so she picked up a chestnut from the ground and studied it.

“I noticed a new boy helping out at the stables.”

“You mean Lukas. I found him in the Marktplatz stealing an apple, so I put him to work.”

“Just for stealing an apple?” Rose heard the dismay in her voice. Part of her said to be quiet, but another part was indignant that he would punish a young child for such a minor offense.

“He seems to be an orphan. He says his mother is dead and he doesn’t know what happened to his father.”

“The poor thing.”

“He’ll make himself useful in the stable.”

“But he’s only a child. Will you force him to work with those rough men? Who will look after him, take care of him?” Rose knew she should hold her tongue, knew that boys often were put to work at a very young age, but she didn’t like it. Where was the justice in forcing a child to do dirty, hard work, merely because he had no parents to take care of him?

Lord Hamlin said nothing for a long moment. He stared into the trees across the stream bank.

Rose’s throat tightened. Perhaps he was angry at her ranting. Certainly she had spoken far beyond what her status allowed.

“You’re right. I myself shall make sure he isn’t worked too hard and has a few hours every day to romp with the town children. I’ll assign one of our matrons to look out for him, and I’ll make sure he has a comfortable, safe place to sleep with the women servants.”

She let his words sink in.

“Does that satisfy?”

She examined his face but found no hint of resentment. A bubble of joy expanded in her chest. He had actually listened to her.

“Yes, my lord.”

His expression was unreadable. “My father needs an advisor like you. The region would be a more compassionate place, I dare say.”

Rose stifled a laugh at the absurdity of a female advisor and at the outrageous compliment. The tension between them dissolved.

Lord Hamlin tossed the weed on the ground and leaned back on one hand. “You must live near here.”

“I stay at the castle, with Frau Geruscha in the southwest tower, but my family lives near here.”

A shiver of horror ran down her back at the thought of him seeing the small hovel where the five members of her family lived. Desperate to keep him from asking where she lived, she stood abruptly. “I have to go…help Frau Geruscha…with something. Farewell, my lord.”

She turned and walked quickly down the grassy hillock, escaping her second unlikely encounter with Lord Hamlin, the future Duke of Hagenheim.

“Farewell,” he called after her.

Several days later, one day before the ball,
Rose held up her skirt as she walked across the dusty courtyard toward Frau Geruscha’s chambers. She was startled when Lord Rupert stepped from around the back of the castle, directly into her path.

He smiled and bowed low. “Beautiful weather today, is it not?”

His bowing to her seemed a ridiculous gesture. She was hardly more than a servant.

“Yes, my lord.” Although she knew she shouldn’t stare, Rose glanced at him, curious. He was dressed fashionably in a violet doublet and a bright white shirt with sleeves that puffed out from shoulder to elbow. His light brown hair curled against the back of his neck and he carried a bunch of red roses in one hand.

“May I ask your name?”

“Rose, if you please, my lord.” She curtsied.

“My dear maiden!” He clutched at his chest with one hand while holding out the flowers with the other. “Why, just now I was in the garden and found these roses. I knew I was picking them for someone. Now I see they were meant for a maiden of the same name and beauty as the flowers.” He stepped toward her. “I don’t think I could have planned anything more appropriate.”

Rose hesitated. She did not want to accept them, thinking it rather
in
appropriate. But it was also inappropriate to refuse the duke’s son. She reached out and took the flowers, carefully avoiding touching his hand. “I thank you, my lord.”

He stood smiling at her for so long that Rose broke the uncomfortable silence. “You must have many important duties to attend to. I bid you good day.” She took a sliding step to one side to walk around him.

Rather than allow her to pass, he studied her, and she watched as his eyebrows shot up in recognition. “I know who you are. You’re the author of that amusing tale my family was so enamored of.”

He laughed out loud and Rose felt her cheeks turn pink, knowing he must be drawing the attention of every person in the castle courtyard.

“Not only that, but you are the maiden who sewed up my brother’s leg.” He grinned down at her. “This is indeed an honor.”

His demeanor, the jauntiness in his voice, and the tilt of his head, made Rose surmise that he was not entirely sincere.

“I look forward to seeing you at our ball. You are coming, aren’t you?” He fixed his light blue eyes on her.

“Yes, Frau Geruscha and I will be there.”

“I shall count the hours.” He bent forward, holding out his hand.