Cree glowered at him again. “Don’t you have duties to attend to?”
“They have been seen to,” Sloan said and stood. “The only thing left to do is to go enjoy the celebration.” He raised his tankard and downed what was left. “Come, let’s go make merry before you must deal with your future bride again.”
“That’s the first wise thing you’ve said today,” Cree said and downed what was left of his ale before both men took their leave.
~~~
Dawn woke with the sound of the door opening. She wondered how long she had slept. Then she heard Lila call out, “Dawn.”
She smiled, hurried into her boots and using her fingers as a comb worked them through her soft hair while hurrying into the other room.
Lila smiled and greeted Dawn with a tight hug, which had her suspicious. It wasn’t that her friend rarely hugged her; it was the degree of the hug. Lila had always hugged her tightly when she was concerned for Dawn. And the hug was extremely tight.
Lila shed her cloak draping it over the back of the chair closest to the heat of the hearth. “It’s snowing heavily. There should be a generous accumulation by morning and possibly more if it doesn’t stop.”
There was fresh food and a fresh pitcher of cider on the table, which meant that Dawn had slept through the evening meal. She placed her hand against the pitcher; it was cold. That meant it was well past the evening meal. She moved it to the hearth to heat.
Lila sat. “The celebration continues,” —she shook her head— “so much food. Everyone cannot believe Cree’s generosity, and though his future bride is beautiful, she doesn’t appear to tolerate the villagers well.”
Dawn wrinkled her nose and tossed her chin up.
Lila laughed. “You are right. She is nobility and we are lowly peasants she must tolerate.” She lowered her voice. “The women already worry that she will change things around here and not for the better.”
Dawn shook her head, then scowled and puffed out her chest.
Lila laughed again. “You look so funny when you imitate Cree. So you don’t think Cree would allow it?”
Dawn shook her head slowly.
“He does rule with a tight hand, though a fair one.” Lila stretched her hand out to Dawn.
Dawn smiled and squeezed her friend’s hand, then pointed to Lila, then herself and then her mouth.
“I should realize that I can’t keep anything from you. I do have something to say. While the lady of the keep smiles, it is a forced one. I do not trust her and my worry for you grows. Cree still keeps a guard at your door so therefore it must mean that you are still in danger and now this, and” —Lila pointed to Dawn— “what has gotten into you of late? You seem” —she paused as if unsure of her next word— “fearless. I should say more fearless than I’ve known you to be. I fear that one day soon Cree will have you beaten for your defiance.”
Dawn did not think of herself as fearless or defiant, quite the opposite, though she supposed climbing out the window, which was now boarded, twice could be defined as defiant.
“He will lose his temper one of these days and you will suffer for it. Cree was furious when you went missing. He had Thomas taken from me while we spoke and I feared that he wouldn’t return him.”
Dawn felt her heart catch and she squeezed Lila’s hand. She patted her chest profusely and shook her head.
“I know you’re sorry, so am I. I cannot imagine what it is like for you being Cree’s kept woman. I love my husband and he loves me and we will share our lives together. I had always wanted the same for you, to find a good man and share your life with him. Now…” She lowered her head with a brief shake. “You must be careful, especially now with his intended here.” She raised her head. “I fear Lucerne’s arrival does not bode well for the village and I fear she will not tolerate her husband having a mistress a short walk from the keep.”
Dawn did her best to reassure her that all would be well and soon talk turned to other things until Lila left needing to get home to feed baby Thomas.
The food on the table had lost its appeal and she didn’t even favor a tankard of the now heated cider. And it wasn’t due to the babe nestled in her stomach. It was worry that wore at her gut. She had wished for a love like Lila and Paul’s and a husband to share her life with.
Now look at her, she was nothing more than a kept woman who could be discarded at Cree’s whim. And yet the fool that she was, she loved him. How could that be?