Page 13 of One Knight
“Would you care to redress now and then wear the cloak? I am happy to hold it as a curtain for you.”
She swallowed, and her gaze dropped to the ground. “I’m exhausted and frozen. I don’t know what I’m thinking, saying, or doing right now.”
Her honest admission touched him in a way nothing else could. “Then hold still, and I will dress you. No one will see.”
“But,” she protested, but he could see the truth of her statement on her face.
She was exhausted, and her wits were failing her. The cold water had likely slowed them, even as they helped her body recover.
He unfolded her dress and held it out. “Step in.”
He was surprised when she did as he’d said.
“I’ll tie your dress if your fingers are frozen.”
“How did you know it would help? The water? At least if it doesn’t kill me.”
She laughed slightly, and he was glad her humor was coming back.
“It is the greatest remedy I have found for aching muscles after a battle. The only reason I suggested it is having experienced it many times myself.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
He did up the front laces of her dress. He was thankful she had chosen something simple and manageable. It was another indicator of her good sense and his wise choice.
When she was once again fully covered by the cloak, he offered his arm. “Come. A seat at the fire and some hot food will set you to rights.”
“I am glad those battles didn’t kill you.”
In surprise, he looked down at her lowered head as she gripped his arm. “Are you?”
“Yes,” she replied so quietly that he barely heard her. “Will there be many more?”
“More what?”
“Battles?”
“I am a knight, my lady. It is the purpose I have in life.”
She looked up at him, and he was pleased to register concern on her countenance.
“Fear not, I am rather difficult to kill. And with a lady wife awaiting me at home, I will have even more reason to stay alive.”
He was right. After food and the warmth of the fire, along with the comfort of his voluminous cloak, Elisande did feel much better. Her body still protested when she moved, but after the chill from the stream, it wasn’t as bad as when she had first dismounted.
The larger surprise was how Sir Henry saw to her needs before his own. She had never met a man beyond Alger who ever seemed to notice she even had needs of her own.
His men were nothing like the baron’s knights—at least in her presence.
“Are you sure you don’t want more, my lady?” Sir Geoffrey asked.
“Thank you. I don’t think I could eat more even if I wanted to.”
It was educative to see how Sir Henry’s men treated him and how he was with them. She observed nothing but respect between all of them. It was the most time she had spent in the presence of warriors and not heard profanity or vulgarity.
They might not have been barons, but they certainly seemed nobler than those she had met of her brother’s class. And certainly, they were far kinder and more respectful.
When it came time to bed down, Elisande observed as his men determined watch and fire-keeping shifts, and then the others settled in a circle around her and Sir Henry.
