Page 91 of Raven's Rise
“Aye, but I’d still be sewing, wouldn’t I?” Robin sighed.
“What would you rather be doing?”
“Nothing appropriate to a lady,” the matron in charge interjected. “Robin must learn calm and comportment. And patience. Sewing teaches all these things.”
Robin rolled her eyes.
“And respect!” the matron added darkly. “I despair of you, Robin. You’re a hoyden at heart.”
Angelet sought to rescue the girl. She stood, wobbling a little for effect, and said, “I fear I must lie down again. Could someone walk me to my chamber?”
“Yes, of course!” Robin was already on her feet and stepping toward Angelet before anyone else could reply. Her sewing lay unregarded on the floor.
Angelet let Robin take her by the arm, playing up her unsteadiness. Once they left the room, however, she suggested a detour to the courtyard. “A little bit of fresh air may help me.”
Robin nodded, just as eager to get outside. The courtyard of the manor bustled with activity. Workers brought in firewood and supplies. A young boy led a sheep on a rope toward the kitchens. Grooms exercised and brushed down horses by the stables.
“That white one is yours, is it not?” Robin asked, pointing toward one of the horses.
Angelet walked toward the paddock. “She is the one I rode before, though she’s not mine. Beautiful animal.”
“I love horses,” Robin said. “Being able to ride is the one good thing about being a lady.”
“You speak as though you haven’t always been one.”
“Of course I wasn’t!”
“You mean you were a child.”
“I mean I was free,” Robin said hotly. “No long heavy skirts to trip me up. No sewing. No sitting for hours and hours inside the manor because that’s what ladies do.”
“But as a lady, you’ll be protected and cared for. Is that so very bad?”
A look of remorse filled Robin’s face. “I shouldn’t say anything. Lord Rainald has done everything for me and I owe him my life. I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but no one asks what I want to do!”
“No,” Angelet agreed. “No one ever asked that of me either.” Well, Rafe asked. Asked and asked and asked until she revealed her very deepest desires, and then he did his very best to fulfill them. She grew hot under her clothing, and tried to get her mind back to the actual topic. “They mean well, our families. At least most of the time.”
“Is it true you’re going to take the veil?” Robin asked, looking at her sidelong. “I heard that you were on your way to a nunnery when…things went wrong.”
“That part is true enough. As for whether I will take the veil now, I cannot say.”
“What’s changed?”
“The nunnery wasn’t my choice,” Angelet said. “It was a compromise.”
“A compromise? Lord, what was the alternative worse than a lifetime of being trapped behind walls?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Just then, a flurry of movement at the other end of the courtyard made her look over. There he was. Rafe, dressed in black as usual, walked along with several other men, who all seemed to be guards or men-at-arms. They were headed for the practice fields and didn’t see the two women.
“Look at that. He’s got a retinue now. Surprised anyone would spar with him,” Robin muttered. “After what he did.”
“Who did?”
“Sir Rafe.” Robin’s eyes narrowed. “Do you not know?”
“Know what?” Was this the same thing Cecily hinted at? She knew that Rafe had some falling out with Alric, and that he had been very reluctant to return to Cleobury until Angelet’s dire state demanded it. “Tell me what happened. Please.”
“Sir Rafe tried to murder Sir Alric.”
