Page 89 of Raven's Rise
No, not till he died. One more reason to get out of Cleobury as soon as humanly possible.
Chapter 25
Angelet seemed to spend along time adrift, half asleep, half awake. She remembered fragments of conversations with Cecily and a few other women, but no details. The room was sometimes light and sometimes dark. Breathing occupied much of her attention, since every time she inhaled, an ache pulsed through her whole chest. She was very lucky to be alive, and she sent several prayers to Mary in thanks. The mother of God must have extended a hand to deflect the shot, protecting another mother out of compassion.
Her dreams sometimes included scenes of the visions she had in the past, from the goldencity in the clouds to the black figure she thought of as an angel. But she never lost control of her body as she did when the seizures came upon her, and for that she prayed thanks to her nameless angelic protector.
Even after she awoke from her deeper dreams, Angelet still felt adrift and lost. But at least she could enjoy a new gown. When Angelet was well enough to get out of bed and walk around the chamber, Cecily offered her one that she had recently put away due to her pregnancy. It was a lovely soft blue wool. Along with a new shift in a crisp white, Angelet felt like a different person. Perhaps she was, considering how much had changed for her in a few short weeks.
While walking, she stumbled, and Cecily reached out to steady her. “Careful! You don’t want to turn an ankle and be stuck abed longer!”
“I don’t know what I want anymore,” Angelet said miserably, as she shuffled to the bed. She felt winded after only a few steps.
“Then you should stay here while you decide,” Cecily replied.
“You’ve done so much already, my lady. I cannot impose.”
“Nonsense. Guests are rare enough. Don’t deny me a lady’s company for a while. I’ll send word to your family at Dryton—”
“No, you must not do that!” Angelet said.
“Why ever not? They will worry once they hear you’ve not arrived at Basingwerke. They’re likely already worried, if news of your broken carriage and the bodies of the slain are reported to them.”
That had undoubtedly already happened. But Angelet still shook her head. “Please don’t send word, at least not until you’ve spoken to Sir Rafe about it. Heed him—he’ll know what to do. There were men following us and I’m not sure it’s wise to alert anyone to where we are. Not yet.”
“You set great trust in Rafe,” Cecily observed.
“He earned it! He defended me, and brought me here. Without him, I would be dead.”
Cecily said, “Rafe does seem to have cared for your well being. But if I may be so bold as to counsel you, don’t blind yourself with gratitude.”
Angelet blushed. Did the other woman somehow guess that she and Rafe had shared a bed? “I don’t think Rafe is like most men.”
“No, he’s not at all, and that’s what worries me. You think you know Rafe, but I’ll wager there’s much in his past he’s told you nothing of.”
“What?” She knew there was something, but Rafe had never confided in her.
Cecily sighed. “I’ll leave him to tell it, if he dares. I would not tell the story properly. We’re all too close to it.”
It was a cryptic line, but Angelet didn’t want to press the other woman since the topic obviously distressed her. But when she next saw Rafe, she would try to steer the conversation to learn more.
In the great hall, she slowly ate some hot broth with warm, crusty bread speckled with green bits of wild onion. Rafe joined her at the table, his eyes filled with questions he couldn’t ask out loud. Beneath the innocuous talk they exchanged, she sensed his concern. She also recognized how fiercely she’d missed him during their time apart. Cecily’s warning seemed to evaporate when she looked at the face of the man across from her. Still, she wanted to know more about him.
Angelet asked him, “How did you come to be in training here? Under de Vere specifically, I mean. Isn’t that usually reserved for sons of relations, or friends, or those in alliance? That’s why my Henry was fostered where he is now.”
“I don’t know,” Rafe said. “I asked him directly, only once. He said he did it out of Christian charity, and could tell me nothing more. Perhaps he owed a favor to someone, and taking me on was sufficient to repay it.”
“Or someone owed him a favor,” she countered. “After all, having you as knight must have benefited him. He had one more to send when the king asked, and one more to defend his own walls. Although no one could have predicted your skill, not if you were only…eleven, did you say, when you came here?”
“Eleven or close to it. Too young to know if I had a gift for fighting.”
“Well, no one can now dispute that you have.” She gave a little laugh, then winced, putting a hand to her aching chest.
Rafe leaned forward. “What’s wrong? Should I find Lady Cecily?”
“No, I just need to mind how I react. Too deep a breath or too sudden a movement and I can feel it.”
“I can walk you up to your chamber. You should rest.”
