Page 305 of Historical Hotties
Rotri looked up at the keep as if to see Caledonia through the walls. “I would like to see her,” he said. “Will you send a servant for her?”
The little girl eyed him a moment, but she kept looking off toward the east side of the compound. “I came to find my chicken,” she said.
Rotri looked off into the darkness, the same direction that had the little girl’s attention. “Your chicken?” he repeated.
“Mary,” the little girl said.
“And that is your chicken?”
“Aye.”
“What is your name?”
“Janet,” she said. “I live here.”
“Are you a servant? What I meant to ask is if you tend the chickens.”
She shook her head. “My mother is Lady Stafford,” she said. “Who are you?”
That information filled Rotri with joy. He’d heard that his niece had children, but he hadn’t known how many or what sex.He’d never really cared. But now, he had one of them in his grasp and wasn’t going to let her go.Leverage,he thought.
He would use the child against the mother, if needed.
Fate had taken pity on him tonight.
“Will you take me to your mother, Lady Janet?” he asked politely. “I must speak with her.”
Janet was indecisive. “But I must get my chicken.”
Rotri held out a hand to her, a kind gesture if it had come from anyone other than him. But coming from Rotri, it was a deadly and possessive one.
“I will help you,” he said. “We will find your chicken and then you will take me to your mother.”
That was good enough for Janet. She grabbed his hand and practically yanked him back to the kitchen yard, where her chicken was sitting, quite comfortably, in a worn, woven basket that was used for many chores. She gathered up the fat black chicken and, with Rotri in tow, headed back the way she had come. He followed her all the way to the front door of the keep, where she suddenly stopped and turned to him.
“We must be quiet,” she whispered. “And do not tell my mother about the chicken.”
He shook his head solemnly. “I will not, I swear it,” he said. But then he looked up at the keep again, dark and forbidding against the night sky. “Is there anyone else in the keep?”
Janet nodded. “My sisters,” she said. “And Nica, but they are all sleeping.”
“Who is Nica?”
“My friend.”
“Where does she sleep?”
Janet pointed up. “On the very top, in her own chamber.”
That was enough chatter as far as Janet was concerned. Quietly, she took him inside, and Rotri shut the door behind them. The old hinges creaked, causing both to freeze in theirtracks—surely the squeaking would alert someone—but several seconds passed and no one appeared. Relieved, Janet headed up the stairs with Rotri close behind her. Quietly, they took the stone steps, and Janet pushed open the door at the top of the stairwell.
It was as still and silent as it had been when she left. Leaving Rotri standing at the top of the stairs, she rushed into the chamber that she shared with her sisters and plopped the chicken on her bed, covering it up with the coverlet to hide it. Then she returned to Rotri, pointing to one of two closed doors on the landing.
“My mother is sleeping in there,” she said. “I will wake her.”
“Nay,” Rotri said. “I will. Thank you for bringing me.”
That was enough for Janet. She didn’t question him. She was eager to get back to her chicken, so she simply left him and went back to her chamber, shutting the door.
