The Mercenary's Marriage (9 page)

Obediently, she followed.

Time passed in a blur of pain and a slight
fog. As the medications that Kurt had given her worked their way
out of her system, Brice’s mind progressively quickened, but at the
same rate so did the pain. She was still sore. Vaguely noting that
they were following a main road, she kept her eyes on the ground
appearing from beneath Trenar’s feet. Darius’ strange actions were
more than enough to occupy her mind.

They reached the gates of the city right as
it began to downpour. The soldiers, not wanting to stand out and
get soaked, were posted under the shadow of the arch. The entering
travelers plodded past them for inspection. Occasionally someone
was pulled aside for questioning, but it appeared that no unusual
care was being taken. Trenar and Brice trudged past without
incident.

The city was crowded in spite of the rain and
the mud in the streets. Brice found herself so involved in keeping
track of Trenar and avoiding collisions, she had no energy to look
at her surroundings. Feeling harassed and claustrophobic, she was
extremely thankful when Trenar turned off the main street into a
quieter neighborhood. The rain slowed and tapered off to
nothing.

The houses lining the street were nicer than
she had ever seen. Moving more quickly, Trenar strode along
purposely. Brice had to speed up to a hasty trot to keep up.
Although he was not as tall as Darius, her guide was still taller
and longer limbed than her. He increased the pace now that they
were unhindered by a crowd. At the end of the street, a high wall
blocked the way and there appeared to be no way to turn.

They came to a hasty stop and Brice’s knees
almost gave out. For the first time in hours, Trenar spoke. “Are
you going to make it?” His voice was rough, but not unkind.

“Rest.” She gasped. “Please.” Her ribs were
throbbing. Gingerly, she eased to the ground. The cobblestones were
far from comfortable, but she needed to get off her shaky legs. Her
head throbbed and she was sure her healing ankle was swollen.
Closing her eyes against the painfully dim daylight, she tried to
push away the cold. It was a doomed endeavor though. Freezing water
was seeping into her skirts from the street beneath her.

Kneeling next to her, Trenar examined her
face. He did not remove his hood, but he did lift it enough so she
could see that his eyes were blue and worried. “You are doing a
great job,” he said encouragingly. “We are practically there. Do
you think you can continue with my help?”

She took a deep breath and nodded. He
immediately rose and offered her his hand. Taking it, she found
herself being pulled to her feet. With his arm supporting her
beneath her shoulders and around her ribs, they approached the
wall. Brice winched at every step, but together they waded through
the waterlogged brush at the base. Off to the left, Trenar directed
her along the wall and behind a stand of bushes and an ancient
tree. There, blocked from the view of the street, was a door. About
five feet high and two feet wide, it was set back into the thick
stone of the wall and almost impossible to see from the side.

Trenar produced a key from somewhere and
thrust it into the lock. With a quick turn and a muted click, the
latch released and the door swung inward. In moments, they were
through and he was locking it again from the other side.

“Remind me to give this to Karyn,” Trenar
said before making the key disappear into his jerkin.

“Why would Karyn want the key?” Brice
asked.

“This is their property,” Trenar stated
matter-of-factly. “Come.” He offered an arm and Brice took it
gratefully. “It is time for me to introduce you.”

Beyond the trees guarding the small door, a
large walled yard spread out. The house, a ways from the back wall,
was a simple building with three windows overlooking the garden:
one on the second floor and two on the first. As they approached
the first row of vegetables, a small figure dashed past them up the
path to the door of the house. Brice glimpsed what she thought was
a flash of red as it disappeared inside, but she was not sure.

“We are being announced,” Trenar commented
with an amused smile.

Just as he spoke, the door opened again and a
medium-sized woman emerged with a child behind her. The woman and
child both had red hair. Certain that Trenar had gotten the wrong
house, Brice slowed her steps.

“Ah, Trenar.” The woman smiled, but as she
approached, Brice saw fear in the woman’s eyes. “Where have you
harkened from?” Not waiting for an answer, she continued. “Come in
and rest a bit. You can test some of Joyla’s first loaf of
bread.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Trenar replied with a
similar false lightness. “How are the girls these days?” They were
almost to the door now.

“They are all healthy and well.” Their
hostess stepped aside so they could enter the house. Brice’s numb
feet stumbled on the first step, but Trenar, by sheer strength, all
but dragged her into the building. “Joyla is becoming quite a
little lady.” The woman said before she followed them inside.

The instant the door was shut, the woman’s
face changed. “Joyla,” she called. The sound hurt Brice’s ears.
Trenar set her on the nearest chair as the sounds of feet came from
above them.

“What are you doing here? Where is the army?
Why aren’t you with them?” The woman asked. Brice was still certain
that she could not be Karyn. She looked up to find their hostess
glaring at Trenar.

“Calm down, Karyn. Ewian was perfectly fine
when I left him this morning. A contingent of the army is just
miles outside the walls. We were not certain about the reception
awaiting us inside the city. I was sent to scout things out and
Darius sent Brice with me.” Trenar began removing his cloak. The
fabric was water logged and dripping on the packed dirt floor. “He
wants you to take care of her until he returns. She is his wife.”
Karyn nodded her head in Brice’s direction and turned immediately
back to Trenar.

Another redheaded child had appeared
suddenly. Brice judged her to be about ten. The child’s face left
no further doubt in Brice’s mind about the father. She had Ewian’s
dark brown, almost black, eyes.

Turning to the older child, Karyn said,
“Joyla, get out the bread and cheese in the pantry, Uncle Trenar
and his friend are hungry.” She took Trenar’s cloak and waited for
his boots.

Brice rose and started to remove her own
cloak while Karyn and Trenar continued their discussion.

“Since when has Darius been married?” Karyn
asked as the man pulled of his second boot.

Sitting down on the bench by the door, Trenar
sighed. “Since right after Lord Micrey was defeated. I suggest you
keep your questions to those that Brice cannot answer because I am
going to be leaving almost immediately.”

“But you will have to wait for these to dry
at least.” She raised the sopping garment for emphasis, showering
her own skirts anew.

“I was hoping that you would lend me one of
Ewian’s. I really need to hurry. I have lost time already and need
to return to camp by nightfall.” The eldest girl was setting the
food on the table and Trenar eyed it hungrily.

“Very well.” Karyn briskly turned and
collected Brice’s cloak and headed toward the fireplace. Spotting
her younger daughter watching from the side, she told her, “Lysa,
fetch your father’s extra cloak from the trunk in the bedroom.”
Lysa disappeared through a door to the left of the fireplace.

Karyn spread out the wraps in front of the
fire. “The least I can do is feed you and tell you what I know,”
she said as she turned toward the oven set in the wall next to the
fireplace.

“That would be helpful,” Trenar admitted.
“What is the latest news from the castle?” He leaned back in his
chair.

After trying to follow the conversation,
Brice soon found her head getting heavy and her stomach tightening
in response to the smells of cooking food. The whole time that
Karyn was enlightening Trenar, she was producing a large selection
of food from various nooks in the kitchen. Finally, she paused
after setting a steaming loaf of fresh bread on the large table and
announced they could come to the table to eat. Trenar rose and
complemented Joyla on the golden colored loaf.

Brice did not catch the rest of the following
exchange; instead, she concentrated on rising again. After the
brief rest, her muscles had decided they had taken enough abuse and
were not going to cooperate. As she gradually managed to gain her
feet, Karyn exclaimed, “Trenar, why didn’t you say she was
injured!”

In a flurry of activity, Brice found herself
being ushered carefully up the stairs behind the fireplace onto the
second floor. Dimly aware of a large room and four beds of varying
sizes, Brice was directed to the largest. “Joyla, fetch my
nightdress.”

Karyn made Brice sit on the edge of the bed
while she removed her shoes. Once Trenar had been shooed back down
to the kitchen, Karyn helped Brice out of her wet clothing and into
a dry gown. Brice found she had no strength to protest and meekly
obeyed every command. This was good because Karyn was not one to
listen to any objections. In the end, she and Joyla left her tucked
snugly into bed to sleep until Karyn could bring up some sustenance
appropriate for a weak stomach. Brice wanted to point out there was
nothing wrong with her stomach, but lacked the initiative. The bed
was too soft and her bones too weary. Sleep claimed her almost the
instant the hatch closed.

Darius glanced restlessly at the sky. The
gray expanse gave not one hint as to the time that had passed.
“Will you stop worrying?” Ewian hissed. Darius dropped his
attention to the battle plans he was supposed to be studying and
ignored his friend. That did not discourage Ewian. “You are
worrying too much,” Ewian accused as he whipped the rough map from
beneath Darius’ nose.

“Trenar is not back yet,” Darius pointed out,
“and the army should have caught up with us by now. Especially
considering all the time we lost with the attack and having to slow
down for the wounded. I am concerned about what might be keeping
him.”

“Trenar has not had time to do more than get
his bearings,” Ewian protested.

Darius was about to comment, but one of the
sentries was approaching.

“There is movement of some kind to the west
of us. It looked like a group of thirty to thirty-five armed men
heading toward the city.” The man informed Darius as he snapped to
attention.

“What kind of men?” Ewian asked as Darius
returned the salute.

“They are armed and in a hurry for some
reason we cannot identify. They are not part of our army or any
other that we know.”

Darius caught Ewian’s intrigued glance and
dismissed the soldier with a nod. Ewian immediately started to roll
up the maps before them. “The king should be in his quarters about
now,” Darius commented as he reached for the battle plans that they
had worked out so far.

Ewian nodded. “He will want to know about
this.” Grimacing slightly, he paused and glanced at Darius. “This
means we are probably going to make our move tomorrow morning with
or without Trenar’s report.”

“I only hope he figures out the change in
plans in time to help,” Darius said. Together they headed across
camp to inform the king.

Brice slept for an entire day. Except for the
interruptions of meals, she was oblivious to the passing of time.
In the following afternoon, Brice awoke to silence. There was a
large metal wash tub at the end of her bed with two towels draped
over the end. Feeling sore from laying so long in one spot, Brice
pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked around the room for
the first time.

The room covered the whole second floor.
Three smaller beds stood against the other outside walls, each with
a chest at the foot. The bed she had been occupying for the past
day was wide enough for two people to sleep side by side. The two
windows on the tallest walls of the room were covered with dark
curtains that dimmed the bright sunshine beyond.

Carefully she eased her feet over the edge of
the bed. Just as they touched the rough surface of the floorboards,
Karyn appeared in the stairwell at the far end of the room.
Catching sight of Brice, she smiled. “Feeling better?” she
asked.

Brice nodded and eyed the steaming bowl in
her hands that had just come into sight. Her stomach rumbled loudly
and she suddenly smiled. It was anxious for sustenance. Karyn
smiled in return. “Here.” She crossed the room and offered the bowl
cradled in a cloth nest to Brice. “You eat this and I will start
carrying up bath water for you.” The matron immediately disappeared
down the stairs again. Obediently, Brice started in on the
stew.

After she finished the soup, it took her an
hour to scrub herself. It had been many weeks since she had been
allowed to bathe. While the castle was under siege, the water
supply had been just as short as the food supply. Since then, there
had been no time. Brice found herself reveling in the feeling of
clean skin and hair. It had been too long.

As she dressed in her much cleaner old
clothing, she found herself wondering what Darius would think of
her now. Without the smell of sweat and dirt, she might actually
please him. She fixed her tunic so that white place where her slave
collar had been was not obvious, but Karyn still commented on it
when Brice appeared in the kitchen.

“So you are a former slave.” Karyn set a
plate with bread and cheese on the table in front of Brice and then
went to pick up the crying baby from the small raised chair at the
end of the table. “Once being a slave himself, Darius can be pretty
touchy about the issue.” As she wiped the child’s face and hands,
she sat down on the far side of the table. “How are you
feeling?”