The Warrior Elf (35 page)

“Are you ready?” Kevin asked as he ate his cookie.

“Anytime you are. Now, where are we going and how are we getting there?”

“We’re going to Glendymere’s chamber by way of the tunnels. It’s easier than going over the mountain. Come on,” Kevin said as he led Warren through the living room. “The entrance is in my old bedroom.”

Twenty minutes later, Kevin and Warren emerged from the little side tunnel into Glendymere’s chamber. “Nice,” Warren said, looking around. “Love that basin.” He glanced at Kevin. “Don’t let Torrey see it or she’s going to want one, and she’ll want hers heated.”

Glendymere snorted at the image that had popped into Kevin’s mind of Torrey relaxing in a hot tub.
“We may have to make her one. Welcome to my home, Warren.”

Warren slowly tipped his head in Glendymere’s direction. “Thank you for allowing me.”

At that point Landis walked out of the cave room she was using. “Hello,” she said as she approached Warren with her hand out. “I’m Landis. From what I understand, we’re going to be working together.”

“If it’s agreeable with you.” Warren shook her hand. “My name’s Warren.”

“Thought you were going to introduce them,”
Glendymere said to Kevin.
“You need to be quicker than that if you’re going to keep up with her.”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Warren, I’d like for you to meet Landis, my apprentice. And Landis, this is Warren. He’s agreed to help you train as a sorcerer. And now I’m going to leave and let you two get acquainted.” He looked at Warren and said, “I’ll check with you this evening.”

Warren nodded as he turned towards Landis and rubbed his hands together. “Are you ready to get to work?”

Landis looked at Glendymere. “Can we use the cave?”

“If you like. I’ve got some errands to run, but I’ll be back before dinner.”

Then Glendymere and Kevin walked out of the cave together. Once they were outside, Kevin asked, “Do you really need to go somewhere? Or are you giving them some time to get to know each other.”

“Giving them some time. Why? Do you have something you’d like for me to do?”

“Would you mind checking out that island again? The one I took Landis to so she could talk to her brother? I want to be sure it’s still deserted.”

Glendymere nodded.
“Think I’ll fly. Want to come along for the ride?”

“Not this time,” Kevin said. “My lunch is waiting, and I’m hungry. But thanks for going.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When Doreen had found out how much Cryslyn was able to get for her boats, she’d revised the plans for her house to make it larger. Then she divided the ground floor into eight separate rooms so there could be two parlors, a kitchen, a dining room, and two rooms for her use, one as her office and the other as a bedroom. The eight upstairs bedrooms would each be large enough for a small sitting area as well as a bed, and could all be rented out.

Shortly after breakfast Monday morning, several guards had shown up to pitch in, and by lunch the outside walls were up and the roof was in place. The second floor had studs, but the flooring wasn’t down yet. The men promised to tackle that after lunch, provided they could find Marcus.

When the men left for lunch at the castle, Doreen and Rhianna headed for the chapel. Lunch consisted of stew and bread, nothing fancy, but quite good. By the time they were done, Doreen was trying to figure out how she could eat at the chapel every day. While she was thinking about it, Sister Theresa introduced Blair, who, like usual, had made herself scarce while everyone was eating. When Theresa mentioned Blair had been rescued from the slavers, Doreen asked Blair where she was staying.

“The sisters have been kind enough to allow me to stay here,” Blair answered. She kept her eyes focused on the floor and the left side of her face towards the wall.

“The chapel doesn’t look that big. I’d have thought three sisters and the aides would fill it up. Guess there are more rooms than I thought.”

“I sleep in the ward,” Blair said quietly. “Fortunately no one’s been sick enough to need the bed since I came.”

Doreen smiled. “Well, if you’re interested, I’ll have a couple of bedrooms for rent soon. I’d love for you to move in.”

Blair’s cheeks turned pink. “There’s no way I could pay you, but thanks for the offer.”

Doreen shook her head. “I don’t want your money, Blair.” Doreen looked around and shrugged. “I don’t guess it matters if everyone knows, but I can’t cook. Jana’s tried to teach me a little, but if I have to eat what I make, I’ll starve. If you’ll agree to handle the kitchen, the room’s yours.”

“But I already cook here, and besides, where would I get the food?”

“Leave the food to me,” Doreen said. “I’m not sure how yet, but I’ll get it worked out.”

“Maybe we could help out there,” Theresa said. “Blair, if you want to move in with Doreen, you could cook enough extra for the two of you and take it home with you. Or Doreen could come here to eat if that would work better. We owe you at least that much for cooking for us.”

Doreen shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, and if it was just me, I’d take you up on it, but I’m hoping to have a few more women staying there, too. It wouldn’t be fair for all of us to eat here.” Then she looked at Blair. “If you’d like to move in, I’m sure we can come up with a way for you to handle both kitchens. I may not be able to cook, but I can warm up something. You think about it and we’ll talk some more later. We’ve got plenty of time to figure something out. The house isn’t even finished yet.”

Blair looked up and met Doreen’s eyes. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m marked. Are you sure you want me around?”

Doreen frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“This.” Blair moved her hair out of the way and pointed to the crescent birthmark.

Doreen shook her head. “No one would notice it if you didn’t point it out.”

“The other women will,” Blair said.

Doreen laughed as she stood up. “Give them a bowl of stew and they’ll think you’re a goddess. Believe me. No one will pay any attention to that little thing.” She turned towards Theresa. “Thank you for inviting us to lunch. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it.” She looked back at Blair. “I’ll check back with you when we’re ready to get stuff for your room. Think about what you’ll want.”

Rhianna, who had stayed out of the discussion, said, “Blair, she’s serious. If you want the room, it’s yours.” Then she turned to Theresa. “Thanks for lunch, and thanks again for your help last week. I’m not sure what you said, but whatever it was worked.”

Theresa smiled. “I just told the truth. Works every time.”

When they left the chapel, Doreen said she wanted to go by the dry goods store and look at some material. When they got there, Nan was minding the store. She smiled as soon as Rhianna walked in.

“I see you have your dagger,” Nan said, nodding towards the dagger at Rhianna’s side.

“You wrapped it, didn’t you?” Rhianna asked with a grin. “I knew there was no way Myron thought of that.”

“He’s a man. What can you expect?” Nan said with a laugh. “Do you like it?”

Rhianna fingered the dagger and nodded. “It was quite a surprise.”

“How did he give it to you? If you don’t mind my asking,” Nan said.

“He had someone put it on my dresser while I was out. I almost didn’t notice it when I got back,” Rhianna said, still grinning.

Nan nodded. “He’d have been disappointed if you hadn’t. Glad you like it. And by the way, he picked it out. I didn’t say a word.”

Rhianna’s eyebrows inched up. “Really? I figured you noticed which one I liked and told him.”

Nan shook her head. “He knew exactly which one he wanted. Went right to it. I’d say he keeps his eye on you a lot from what I’ve heard. You’ve got a good one there. Don’t let him get away.”

Rhianna felt her cheeks warm so she turned to Doreen and asked, “Didn’t you want to look at some material?”

It was all Doreen could do to keep from laughing, but she nodded and pointed towards a bolt of cloth. “I need some material for curtains. I don’t know much about it, but would that cloth work?”

“Maybe for the kitchen, but not anywhere else. It’s too light. You want heavier material for the bedrooms and parlors, more like that,” Nan said as she pointed towards another table of cloth.

Doreen looked at the stack of cloth on the other table. “This is more complicated than I thought.” Then she looked carefully at Nan. “Weren’t you at the meeting at Joan’s house earlier this month?”

Nan nodded. “You had your future all planned. What happened to the man you were supposed to marry?”

Doreen shook her head. “Turned out he wasn’t the person I thought he was. He wanted a slave, and that’s not me. I wished him luck and walked away.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Take care of myself, I guess,” Doreen answered. “I thought you were leaving Milhaven for someplace warmer.”

“I wanted someplace warmer than where I used to live. Milhaven is.”

“So, are you planning to stay here?”

“For a while, as long as Tolliver needs me,” Nan answered.

“Where are you living?”

“Right now I’m still with the same family I’ve been with, but I need to find someplace else. Where are you staying?”

“I’m still at Jana’s, but I’m in the process of building a house,” Doreen said. “When I’m done, I’ll have some bedrooms I can rent out if you’re interested.”

“I might be, if the price is right.”

“How do you feel about housework? Or gardens? Or cows and chickens?”

Nan frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m more interested in finding people who can help with the chores than I am in having paying boarders. Would you be willing to pitch in? Do some of the chores?”

“I don’t have a problem with doing my share, but I’m not going to do it all,” Nan said. “I like my job and I’m not giving it up to play somebody’s wife.”

Doreen shook her head. “I’m not expecting anyone to do that. Let me explain.” She outlined her plans for having enough people that no one person would have to do it all. “So if all you had to do was handle the parlors, or the dining room and halls, or tend to the livestock, would you be willing to do it?”

“I might. I’d like to see the place before I say one way or the other, and I’d like to meet the other women who would be staying there.”

“Fair enough,” Doreen said with a smile. “I’ll let you know when the house is finished.” She glanced back at the material. “But in the meantime, could you find some material we could use for curtains for the bedrooms?”

“How much will you need?”

“I’m not sure. There are eight bedrooms on the second floor and each bedroom has two windows. Does that help?”

Nan nodded. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Thank you,” Doreen said, “and we’ll talk more later.”

After they left the dry goods store, Doreen grinned. “Two residents who know how to keep house. This is going to work!”

Rhianna laughed. “And one of them is a good cook.”

“Can you imagine eating her cooking every day?” Doreen asked with a grin. “Why don’t you move in with us?”

Rhianna shook her head. “I’ve already got three bedrooms. I don’t need another one, but I’ll help you with the gardens while I’m here.”

“Aren’t you staying?”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably be here most of the spring, but I don’t know what’ll happen after that.”

They walked back towards the construction site in silence, each woman occupied with her own thoughts. While Doreen wondered where she could find six more women, Rhianna considered the possibility she’d be gone in a few months. In the short time she’d been in Milhaven, she’d come to think of it as home. She liked it here, and if she was honest about it, she’d have to admit she enjoyed spending time with Myron, going for quiet walks with him, even hanging out in his office while he worked. She was enjoying the roles they were playing a lot more than she’d expected and just thinking about the time when it would be over saddened her.

Her reaction to the thought of leaving startled her so much she stopped right in the middle of the road. She should resent every minute she was in Milhaven, but she didn’t. She should be counting the days until she could leave, not dreading it. Her eyes widened as she realized she didn’t want it to end. When had that happened? And more to the point, what was she going to do about it?

Doreen walked on a couple of steps before she realized Rhianna had stopped. She looked back with questions in her eyes. Rhianna waved it off, saying she’d remembered something she’d meant to do earlier, but she’d take care of it after she got back to the castle.

When they reached the house, Marcus and several of the guards were working on the upstairs flooring. Rhianna buried all thoughts of Kevin as she picked up a hammer and got to work. The next thing she knew, the sun was going down and Doreen was thanking everyone who had shown up for their help.

After the guards and Marcus left for the castle, Doreen said, “I need to do something for those guys. I just don’t know what. If they were helping me build one of my boats at home, I’d know what to do, but it won’t work here.”

“What?”

“I’d get a couple of kegs of scog and take them and their families out on the boat for a day. We did that every time we finished a boat. We had a lot of fun, too.” Doreen paused and looked around. “But here? What can I do? I can’t even give them a day off. They don’t work for me.”

“You could still get a keg of scog and I bet you could talk Miranda out of some food. They eat at the castle anyway. It’s not like it would cost the castle anything.”

Doreen considered that idea for a few minutes. “Think I’ll talk to Jana and see what she thinks. She knows these guys. She’ll know whether or not they’d like that.”

Rhianna nodded. “Or she might know of something else you could do.” Then she asked Doreen if she was ready to call it a day.

“As soon as we make sure everything’s put away.”

While they made the rounds, Rhianna asked, “Is Jana expecting you for dinner?”

“Well, they won’t wait for me, but she usually puts a plate up for me. Why?”

“You know that scog you mentioned a little while ago? Some would taste pretty good right now. Myron’s out of town this evening, so I’m in no hurry to get back. Want to go to Fenway’s?”