Page 33 of Songs and Spun Gold
“Why not?” Axel asked, his brow creasing. “Who is he?”
“I don’t know.” Otto finally backed away from the corner and looked at his charge. “But he’s dangerous. There was a bit of red hair visible from the front, and he has a distinctive walk. I’d recognize him anywhere.”
“Based on your reaction, the two of you must have a history,” Axel observed as he watched his guard wipe the sweat from his forehead with the hood of his cloak. “Where do you know him from?”
“I can’t remember,” Otto admitted. He pressed a hand to his temple and winced. “It’s…strangely fuzzy. But I know it was him. I don’t know what he did, but the memory carries an overwhelming sense of danger, especially toward the royal family. I couldn’t let him see you,” he repeated urgently.
Axel considered him. Some men might pretend to avoid a dangerous situation to make themselves appear important to their prince. But even Axel, who could pretend to breathe hard or make his hands shake or any number of other things to simulate an emotion, couldn’t sweat on command. Otto had truly been terrified of that stranger and what he might do to them.
Even though Axel knew from his time at the practice yardsthat Otto was no slouch with his sword.
“I suppose I am fortunate, then, that you came with me today,” he finally said. “Thank you.”
Otto nodded without looking at him. “Might I suggest that we expedite our return to the castle?”
“Lead on,” he replied, sweeping his arm in the direction of home.
Then they set off, but Otto was in full guardian mode now. The light-hearted mood of before was gone. The one time Axel attempted to engage his guard in conversation, he was rebuffed with a grunt.
But after the morning he’d had so far, he couldn’t be upset by the change.
CHAPTER 9
Katy
Setting the bowl on the floor, Katy pulled the old wooden chair closer to her parents’ bed. Her mother’s eyes drifted open briefly before falling closed again.
“It’s time for your lunch, Mother,” Katy said soothingly. She reached over and attempted to help her mother sit up, but Mother was barely alert. “Come on, Mother. You have to eat.”
After a bit more badgering, she finally roused Mother enough to prop her up with the other pillow and a rolled-up blanket. Bending down, she carefully scooped up the bowl and stirred the soup. It was thinner than it used to be; even the fine quality of Katy’s yarn couldn’t overcome the current drop in price.
“Shouldn’t you be…mending?” Mother asked, looking at Katy through half-open eyes. “You shouldn’t be…wasting your time…with me.”
“It’s no waste, Mother,” she gently chided. Filling a spoonful, she held it up next to her mother’s mouth. “Adele is watching the counter, Liesl is with the sheep, and Father is milling.” The rattles and squeaks of the milling apparatus in the background validated her words. “I have no wool to spin, so there is no reason for someone else to be taking care of you.”
Mother accepted the mouthful, chewed a little – so slowly – and swallowed. “Is…everything all right, Katy?”
She jumped, trying to smooth out the worried crease thathad been growing in her forehead. “What do you mean?”
Mother tried to give her a knowing look, but the effect was diminished by the deep shadows under her eyes and her inability to raise her eyelids all the way. She lifted one hand a few inches off the bed, vaguely pointing up. “I know…that wrinkle. Something…is bothering you.”
“It’s nothing,” she replied. “You just focus on eating your lunch, and then I’ll fetch your medicine.”
“Worthless stuff,” Mother muttered before accepting another spoonful of soup. “But you didn’t…answer my question.”
That had been intentional. Mother was too weak to worry about their money troubles. “It’s nothing,” she insisted. Grasping for something less serious, she said, “I was thinking about Fritz.”
“Fritz? Has he…come by again?” The hint of hopefulness in Mother’s voice almost made Katy wince at her choice in topic.
“No, he hasn’t.” Mother’s face fell as she took the next spoonful Katy gave her. “But after the first time he asked, Angelika told me he’d been waiting for over two years, so…it’s a fool’s hope, but I was wondering if perhaps he’ll still ask a second time, even though it’s been a couple of months.”
She was…but at the same time, she half hoped he’d given up. It wasn’t fair for him to be second-best, and she might never be free of the whispers in her memory.
If that wasn’t enough, she now had full-bodied memories of a laughing actor who claimed that he would never forget her, even as he told her to forget him.
As if she could, after a statement like that.
“He’s…a nice young man,” her mother sighed. “I hope he does. You…deserve a…good man, Katy.”
