“Go on,” he said, forgetting her in exchange for his fingernails.
“Why me? What do I have to do with King Arthur? Why did the brooch come to me?”
“That’s three questions.”
“Should I pick one?” she said with irritation staining her voice.
“It doesn’t matter. The answer will be the same for all. I don’t know why the brooch went to you. There may be no reason at all. But I do know the knights will find out it was you, and you will no doubt tell them it was me who stole the brooch. I will find you another way.” His smile was riddled with deceit. “I like a challenge. But there is a rule. You must go back exactly as you came. Nothing new in your hair or on your fingernails, else it will not bring you to the time you left.”
She nodded and he left. She sat alone in the solar for a little while wishing Nicholas was here. But he wasn’t. He stayed away and she grew angrier with him each day.
The next afternoon, Elia came for a visit, escorted by one of Nicholas’ soldiers. She brought news of Cook’s gratitude to her for a cartload filled with vegetables, spices, and some beef all the way from Scotland. All Kes’ friends were well and wished her well.
“Nicholas has been unbearable.” Elia let her know. “Walking around growling at everyone like a wounded bear. Even the king has left him alone.”
“It was his choice to go.”
“Because you are choosing to go, Kes. Why should he risk his heart and his life when he must return to battle?”
Kes lifted her hands to her mouth, but she still gasped. “Oh! He is returning to that horror.” She returned to a seat by the hearth. “I had put it out of my mind.”
“’Tis always difficult to see him leave,” Elia agreed.
“I can’t stay here, Elia,” Kes told her. “What would I do here?”
The pretty head maid smiled softly. “Hopefully, raise his children. From what I have seen, ’tis a difficult endeavor.”
Kes groaned. Oh, children. There weren’t any contraceptives back here. Nothing like morphine or whatever they give to delivering moms. “How do they do it?”
“I do not know how they do it anywhere else, but here, all the women come together as a family and help her deliver.”
“That sounds nice. Still painful though,” Kes sighed. “And my father—he probably thinks I’m dead or kidnapped. I’m all he had left, Elia. I don’t think he would want to go on anymore.”
“I’m sure he is stronger than you think.”
“He’s already lost my mother.” Kes hugged herself and stared into the flames of the hearth. “I miss him so much.”
“Why do you not tell me about him?” Elia said and sat in the chair opposite her. “It will help you remember him.”
“I don’t want to remember him,” Kes cried. “I want to see him.”
“There now, I’m sure you will. He sounds like a very strong, determined man to raise a daughter on his own.”
“He was. He is.” Kes let her know. “And patient.”
“Ah, a most important trait to possess.”
“Yes,” Kes agreed. She liked Elia. They got along well from the very beginning. “He is quite handsome, too, Elia. Perhaps a few years older than you.”
Kes told Elia about her father and her roommates. She didn’t remember much of her mother, just the memories her father had built for her over the years. She had learned to love those memories as they were all she had. Many times though, Elia had made her feel like a daughter.
“I will miss you, Elia.”
The maid’s hazel eyes filled with tears. “And I will miss you, Kes.”
They both smiled and wiped their eyes.
“Now, tell me. How badly is he suffering?”
Elia threw herself back into her chair and gave Kes an exhausted look. “He has never been this bad. I found a place for Reg and his family to live and they have been moving their things out. All the coming and going is driving him mad. He is somber and brooding all the time. The servants tell me he is awake all night walking the outer walls. I must tell you, Kes. I have never known him to be so affected by anyone.”
“He will forget me.”
Elia gave her a hurtful look. “I think he feels more for you than he will admit.”
Kes left her chair and wrung her hands together. “I wish he hadn’t left. They always leave, Elia. It seems time doesn’t change anything.”
“How is he supposed to fight and stay alive if losing you is fresh on his mind?”
Kes’ shoulders sagged. How could she blame Nicholas for staying away, or Elia for understanding why he did?
Well, she understood, too, and it was time she stopped acting like a selfish brat. She couldn’t have Nicholas and then be done with him when it was time to go home.
She swallowed her tears and squared her shoulders. “I understand, Elia. Please tell him that. He’s doing the right thing. I’m being selfish.” She took her friend’s hands and swallowed back her tears. “Don’t tell him though that I miss him more than breath if I was suffocating.”
Elia smiled at her and pulled her in for an embrace. “’Tis easy to see why he is mad over you, Kes.” She withdrew, sniffed, and looped Kes arm through hers. “Look, ’tis a beautiful day. Let us take a walk outdoors. ’Tis stuffy in here.”
Kes nodded. She could use some air. “I will tell you what Walter’s friend told me about the brooch. And Elia,” she told her on a soft breath, “he can disappear and reappear. I’ve seen it. He left and returned a minute or two later with a gold cuff he’d just stolen from Cleopatra!” She nearly squealed her softly spoken words.
Elia stopped and her mouth opened into an O. Then, a breath before she said, “Cleopatra? How? How can he do it?”
Kes told her about his curse and everything he told her about Sir Gawaine and the brooch, and about
