Page 22 of Promises Made at Midnight
Bridgette swayed before falling back into the chair she had been sitting in. “Zoe?” she asked in a hushed and strained whisper.
“Aye, Zoe,” Kenna said with a soft smile. She is my granddaughter… or she will be in yer future time.”
“You know of Zoe,” Bridgette said in awe. “S-she was f-fine the last time I saw her. D-do y-you see her, too?”
“Only in visions from time tae time. She came tae me right before Lady Jade fell throughTimethis past Christmas.” She beamed as if Bridgette should have figured out what had happened to a lady she had only met once.
“Jade! Jade is here at Berwyck, too?” Bridgette couldn’t believe someone else she knew was close by. She stood up, ready to head to the door. “I’ve got to find her!”
Kenna came and took her elbow before she could leave. “Slow down, Bridgette,” she said, shaking her head. “I knew I should have kept quiet but I had tae know. And, nay, Jade does not live here at Berwyck. She and Sir Thomas live north in Scotland.”
“Oh… that’s too bad. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to who experienced something similar to me.” Bridgette couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Then ye must needs have speech with Lady Ella. She is married tae Sir Killian who is Lady Amiria’s uncle of sorts.”
“And Lady Ella is here at Berwyck?” she asked.
“But of course. Where else would the lady live, since she and Killian are now wed?”
“I’ll seek her out and see if she’ll speak to me,” Bridgette replied, feeling a sense of comfort knowing she might have answers to some of her questions.
“Ye have much in common, at least as far as traveling through time is concerned,” Kenna said. “And as for the Lady Jade… I am most certain she will make herself known to you at some point. Her husband Thomas was once Lady Amiria’s guardsman and called Berwyck home. They are sure to come for a visit to see you.”
“Thank you again for all your help,” Bridgette turned to leave, but paused at the door. “May I ask you a question?” At Kenna’s nod she continued. “Was I brought here to be with Ulrick?”
If a person’s face could light up, it was Kenna’s. “What do you think, dear?”
Bridgette gave her a nod. There wasn’t really any answer to give her. She already knew within her heart her reason for being here. She could only ponder if Ulrick had the same premonition. With a smile, she left Kenna’s dwelling and shielded her eyes from the brightness of the sunlight. Looking out into the inner bailey, she shouldn’t have been surprised to see Godfrey standing there as if he had been waiting for her. She shivered as though it was really Brad pestering her across eight hundred years of time.
He strode forward and Bridgette could see that he was confident she would find him appealing. She was wary of him, but she didn’t want to judge the man based on her past experience with a look-a-like.
“My lady,” Godfrey said with a bow.
She curtsied. “Good day to you, Sir Godfrey,” she softly murmured.
“You were impressive in the lists this day. Besides the Lady Amiria, I have never come across another woman who had such a desire to learn the art of sword play.”
“It may come in handy someday. You never know when I might have the need to defend myself.”
“But that is why you have us knights here to protect you. Surely ’twill not be necessary for you to lift a sword, my lady. Such a delicate flower as yourself should leave the fighting to us men,” Godfrey urged, taking another step closer.
Bridgette stepped back rolling her eyes.Delicate flower, indeed. “I am not like most women, I am afraid. Besides, I am certain Sir Ulrick will come to my aid if the need arises.”
Godfrey’s brow rose. “I see…” he said, as though there was a bitter taste in his mouth with her confession. “I had no knowledge that you and Sir Ulrick had come to an understanding between you, and that you had pledged your troth to one another.”
“We haven’t,” Bridgette blurted out forgetting her pattern of speech. “I mean, we have not announced this as yet.”
“Then there is hope that you might still consider me as a suitor,” Godfrey said with a wide grin.
Bridgette shook her head. “I do not think so.”
“You know, Ulrick is not as good at sword fighting as I am” he said, with a crooked cocky grin.
Bridgette’s laugher bubbled forth, since she had already seen Ulrick’s sword techniques, and he was a master at them. “You may not think so, but he is good at other stuff,” she retorted hotly. “I gotta go.”
“The way you sometimes talk confuses me. Why do you have speech like that?”
She was so stupid for letting her anger get the best of her. “I am from abroad,” Bridgette declared, hoping such an answer would stop his assessment of her. With a toss of her head, she cursed herself for quickly falling back into the routine of normal twenty-first century speech.Idiot!How could she forget Kenna telling her to be careful but an instant ago? Bridgette really needed to be careful about how she spoke when in public. She was already failing. She went to move passed Godfrey, but he stepped in front of her to block her path.
