Sarena had laid out riding clothes whileRussal and Kambry had their meal on the balcony. At first, itseemed no one was aware they hadn’t spent the night together.Russal had kept the small room’s door closed and readied for theday in his dressing room. Servants reordered their room, laying outclothes for the day.
Before exiting, Sarena had made their bed,pausing a moment before tucking in the sheets, and asked if Kambryhad slept well. The two younger maids puttered in the dressingroom.
“The evening was trying, but I slept as onewould expect,” Kambry had said. But after the three women had left,Kambry had given her bed a long look. At first, nothing seemed odduntil she realized it was plain only one person had slept in thebed. Kambry had left the sheets turned out on only one side.
Russal had stepped from his dressing room,catching her yet unmoved from her perusal of their chambers.“Dress, my dear. We’ve several visits to make this morning.”
Serena’s expression had been neutral, herdemeanor pleasant. Perhaps she hadn’t given it any thought.
The quiet ride gave Kambry time to reflect,and she wasn’t comfortable with how the servants might interpretthe two of them sleeping in separate beds. Would it be best if sheasked him to sleep in the bed with her? She didn’t know what shewanted.
Kambry forced herself to focus on thesurroundings and watched a young mother guide her toddler along thepath beside the road. She closed her eyes and shook her head.The small room off their chamber was a nursery. Maybe Sarenawouldn’t say anything, and Kambry would have time to decide whather relationship was with Russal.
They’d already left the market behind andwere heading along a wide cobbled street edged with tidy homes. Themain bodies of the homes sprawled left and right of the entrance,their low gabled roofs over red-stained clapboards. After turningdown a side street, they came to a stop before a neat home. Itsswept yard and clipped bushes lined a stone path to the door.
A guard took her reins and kept her mountstill as she dismounted. Russal joined her as soon as she reachedthe ground. He offered his arm, and they strolled to the door as ifthey were visiting for tea. She’d avoided thinking about Gordy’sinjuries, but as the door opened following a guard’s rapid knock,her concern for his health returned.
A round-faced woman, her gaze even withRussal’s, stood surprised in the doorway. She dropped into acurtsey then backed away.
“Good morning, Cyntha,” he said. “We’re hereto check on your father. Any news?”
“How thoughtful of you, Your Majesty, toreturn so soon. He was awake this morning but has already fallenback to sleep. Please, come in.”
From a neat entryway where boots and coatshung, they entered a sprawling sitting room extending to the rearof the house. A short hall ran to the left, while to the right wasa glimpse of a kitchen to the rear and a front bedroom, a brightcomforter on the bed.
The woman wrung her hands. “Can I offer youtea, a bit of cake?” Her gaze ran about the room, and shestraightened a stack of wood by an unlit fireplace, closed a bookopen on a square table, and came to fluttery stiffness, her handsclutched at her waist.
Kambry stepped forward and took her hand.“Please don’t be nervous. I couldn’t delay seeing how Gordy is andhadn’t thought how this would disrupt your care of him. May I takejust a quick peek at him, just to settle my mind?”
Cyntha’s eyes swam a moment in tears, and shegave a quick curtsy. “Of course, Your Majesty. This way.” Sheguided Kambry into the short hall and turned right into a dim room.“I’ll light a lamp.”
Kambry put out a hand and whispered. “No, Idon’t wish to awaken him.”
“He won’t notice.” Cyntha lit a candle andset the glass shade over it.
Russal stepped up behind Kambry and lay ahand on her shoulder. Her lungs dragged in a shaky breath. Gordylay stretched out on a narrow bed, his arms folded over a beigecoverlet. Swathed in gauze, the entire top half of his head lookedswollen. Bruising crept below the wrap across his left eye, hischeek mottled and misshapen.
Kambry covered her mouth but could not keep afrightened whimper from escaping.
“It looks worse than it is, Kambry,” Russalsaid. “Baraby ordered a poultice round the clock. They’re hisspecialty, but they give a person a rather lumpy appearance.”
Her heart slowed. She’d had a poulticeapplied to her shoulder after her injury now months past. It hadhelped, though the chilly bulk had rankled. She had promised justto take a peek at him, but she had to get closer. She drew upbeside his bed. The scent of ginger and clove filled her nostrils.Her fingertips tapped the edge of the mattress. How couldindomitable Gordy lay here, his chest rising in a slow rhythm?
She took another step forward, and Russal’shand slipped from her shoulder. The window was open, and thecurtains rippled with the breeze that flowed into the room. Kambrydropped into a chair pulled up close to the side of the bed and satwith her hands clasped in her lap. She heard feet shifting behindher. Leaning close, she whispered, “I expect you up and about soon,Guardsman Gordanza. None of this lying about.”
The breeze lifted the curtain up, and shefelt it brush like a caress over her. Gordy grimaced, though hedidn’t appear to awake. She turned and looked up at Russal.
He shook his head. “Kavin magic is not ahealing magic.”
Kambry looked down at Gordy. Her throattightened. Who was responsible? Felip Covey, his mother or theother woman?
“Come, Kambry.” His hand reached forhers.
She rose, only half aware that he was guidingher out of the room. She murmured some kindness to Cyntha. Russalstayed a moment, speaking to Gordy’s daughter about her sisters andthat they were not to worry about his care. He would take care ofeverything. His words followed her out the door.
By the time she stood next to her horse, shewas angry but no longer caught
