My cheeks burned with a heated blush.
“Is it so shameful, Virago? Can’t we love each other in the way a man loves a woman? The laws of this place are of this place alone. I have told you there are other places where we could love one another openly and without shame.” He lowered his thumb to my chin, and lifted it so my eyes met his. “You mustn’t be caged, but be free. You must promise me one day that you will go where the land is not ruled by ancient laws. Even if it is not with me, you must promise.”
I put up my hand to touch his and nodded. “I will, I promise.”
Seton chuckled. “Good, I am glad. Now shall we eat or shall we stay together and feast only on each other the entire day?”
I shook my head. “If only I could. I will be lucky to finish the damned garment in time.” I gathered the vest from where it had been cast.
Seton came and took the garment from me, held it up and made an approving sound.
“It is made of velvet. Do you know it?” I asked, my eyes lingering on the curves of his chest. I felt my hunger for him spark and had to turn away to avoid succumbing to the pangs of want in my stomach.
“I know it well. It is common where I come from, but I gather it is not so in this place.”
I went about collecting my clothes and began to dress. “It is true. I have never seen velvet before this, and neither has Duir. He says he will make it unlawful for anyone who is not gentry to wear such finery. There is already a long list of such things and to think, I am the cause of such an addition to the law.”
Seton laughed aloud and placed the vest on the table. “You are no guiltier than I am, for it is not your law, or Duir’s. The laws of this land have been passed down through time by those in places of power.”
“I despise the laws of sumptuary,” I lamented as I drew my breeches up and started lacing them. “Perhaps it is because most of my life has been spent so close to the gentry. I’d forgotten how inane such laws are. I remember a peasant man hanged because he dared to wear the fur of a fox he’d hunted! The High Courts found him guilty of breaking the laws of sumptuary and stealing because the fox lived within the King’s forest and considered royal property.”
“You cannot mean it!” Seton exclaimed.
“Oh, my friend, there have been many such trials and executions. Though, in that case the man confessed to buggering one of the magistrate’s youngest daughters. But that fox fur was stuffed down his throat with a pole before he was hanged. I can remember the fur dangling from his slack mouth as he swung.”
“And this happened under the good King Killian’s rule?”
“Ahh, who can tell what stories went with which king? Killian was not always aware of The High Courts’ rulings. He helped many outside the kingdom and thusly relied on the Privy Council and his advisors to act in his absence. Many of these men served Killian’s father, who was a brutal and bloody ruler. My father was no coward, but even he trembled when he mentioned him.”
“I tremble now, if only because I think all kings capable of pitiless violence. Their moods alone can decide if someone lives or dies. The wind can decide a man’s fate in these times.”
Seton remained naked and went to where his lute rested, then to the window and sat upon the ledge. He saw the shocked expression on my face and grinned. “Fear not, my Virago, there are no men about, and if so, I am not wearing fur, and surely the statutes of apparel do not apply to one’s own skin!”
I shook my head but could only grin at his boldness. He started to play and I watched him. His head cocked to one side as he gazed out the window and into the distance. I imagined he dreamt of a place where what one wore or who one loved did not decide one’s fate.
After a lunch of cheese and bread from my pack and fruit from Seton’s earlier kitchen wanderings, I resumed my work. Seton remained on his window ledge, now dressed and lazily playing the lute. Occasionally his eyes would find me, and he would smile or wink.
Duir arrived from the procession amidst cheers and shouts of admiration. Noise resumed within the castle, but we remained undisturbed. Most likely, I wouldn’t see Duir until before his coronation and not until the celebratory feast in the evening. It was as well. I enjoyed our solitude and my work became even more joyous in the company of Seton’s music.
When the shadows grew long and twilight descended, I broke from my task, went to the window, and held the vest up to Seton. “Will you put it on?”
Seton swung his leg in from over the ledge and stood. “It would be an honor to wear such a garment. I have always wondered how it would be to be the owner of such things, especially things made by one I have given my heart.” He lifted his shirt from his body excitedly, took the vest from me, and slid one arm then the other into it.
I winced as his bare skin met the velvet. It would have been my doom if anyone had known I allowed Seton to wear Duir’s coronation vest, but something about him made me reckless.
He stood before the mirror opposite my worktable. “How wondrously gifted you are. It is a truly fine vest and certainly fit for one such as Duir. It is plain why he wished to be the first to be seen in this velvet, and even more apparent why
