Relieved, she nodded. Rinalda looked contemplative, “I’ll see what I can do but only if yer sure ye can handle a bath. No more fainting on me, y’hear? I need to get ye something to eat first.”
Amused, Mary nodded while Rinalda walked off. The bed was flush on a wall and she pressed her back on the wall. It was cold but it did not matter to her. The nearby window did not give her a vista but rather a row of buildings and the wide, square tall, dark mass of a keep.
A pennant was flying from a pole with deep blue and grey colors. A gold eagle with a blazing blue eye was stitched in the middle and words, written in Latin, were stitched under it. The pennant was flitting in the wind, but she eventually got to read: virtutem et fortitudinem
Valor and strength…
“Lass,” Rinalda’s voice drew her attention back from the flag. “Here, this is tea, bread and butter, a fig tart and some fruit. I ken these would be much easy on yer stomach.”
Smiling in thankfulness, Mary took the tray and sipped the tea first. She then ate the sweet fig tart and was buttering her bread when Rinalda asked. “Have ye ever learned to sign?”
Sign? As in to communicate with other people? That must be it. Mary shook her head.
“There a few deaf children here in the clan, mostly servant children and they were taught the home signs. If ye want I can teach ye a few,” Rinalda offered.
Nodding, Mary set the last part of her meal away and looked expectantly at Rinalda who shook her head. “Finish yer meal first.”
She ate quickly and brushed her hands off. Rinalda then smiled and held up her hands. Her left palm was turned flat and the index of her right hand was pointing to it. “This means I want food. Try it.”
Following her, Mary committed the sign to memory and then learned the rest for need help and thank you. She learned how to ask for directions to the great hall, keep and servants’ quarters. She was shown how to tell people how she was, happy, tired, sad and feeling well. She was perfecting how to ask for medicine when Leith came in…but from behind her.
She nearly yelped when his hand rested on her shoulder but did skitter away with fright painted on her face. Leith’s hands were up in regret, “Sorry, I apologize.”
“Sir!” Rinalda scolded. “For shame! I kent ye were going to talk to her but nae touch her!”
Mary was pressing her hand to her heaving breast, trying to calm her racing heart. Leith drew up a seat near her and sat. He was dressed in breeches, boots and thin vest that showed his muscled arms. His grey eyes were soft and penitent, “I’m sorry lass. I swear I willnae do it again. Do ye accept me apology?”
Looking at Rinalda who was actually glaring at the man, Mary bit back her laugh and then nodded to Leith. He asked, “How are ye feeling?”
She signed feeling well to him and his brows darted up. “Feeling well, eh. That’s good. I’m glad to hear that. Do ye have a name lass? Do ye remembered it?”
Scrunching her eyes tight as one who was laboring to remember something, Mary nodded slowly—hesitantly—as if she was not sure. She made the sign of a cross over her breast, then made the sign of rocking a baby. It took Leith a while to understand then grinned. “The Christ…rocking, Mary? As in the mother of Jesus, that Mary? That’s yer name?”
She nodded with a brilliant smile.
“I cannea ken of a better name for ye,” Leith said, “Lass, Rinalda told me that ye dinnae remember much about anything. If ye have naywhere to go, I’m happy to give ye a station here if ye want. We always need people in the kitchen, and ye can stay in the servant’s quarters. Is that what ye’d like?”
Again, Mary looked to Rinalda who gave her an assuring look, “I’ll help ye for the next few days until ye get a hold of it.”
Mary looked around then back to him, nodded and signed thank you. He stood and faced Rinalda, “Take her to the servants’ quarters, find her a bed and get her used to the quarters. She starts tomorrow, nae a moment earlier, ye understand?”
“Aye,” Rinalda said.
“I’ll see ye in the morning then,” Leith said standing.
As he left, Mary trailed her eyes after him. She wished he could look at her with the same fire his orbs had held when he’d kissed her, but she understood that he could not, not yet. They had to stay as strangers for a while until all was clear, but even then, she didn’t know if they could reconnect the way they had all through the journey here.
The hairs on the back of her head rose and she turned to see Rinalda staring at her with an inquisitive look. Suddenly, Mary was afraid. Had she seen something she wasn’t supposed to? Had she given herself away? She braced herself to answer questions but Rinalda’s soon cleared and she stood and brushed her dress off. “Are ye ready?”
Standing up too, Mary took her empty tray and followed Rinalda down a hall and through a wide front room to another part of the infirmary. This room was smaller but had three wooden tubs—one of them filled with steaming water—and tiny windows up above.
“We use this room to give healing soaks to our injured soldiers but ye can bathe here. The water is filled with the essence of rosemary and valerian root. It will ease yer tense muscles.”
Slowly, she handed the sack over to Rinalda then looked over her shoulder to the door but it was closed. She disrobed and went to the warm tub. A moan of pure pleasure slipped from Mary’s lips as she
