Page 21 of Retribution

Departing Old Lloyd’s, he headed back to Adelie’s.

He had a knight to find.

CHAPTER SEVEN

He was so tall.

Tall and muscular, with eyes the color of liquid amber.

She couldn’t get Aidric St. John out of her mind.

Cleodora had seen him when he first entered the shop because he was taller than the men around him. He just naturally stood out in a crowd. He had dark blond hair that was streaky with lighter blond strands, wavy and shoulder-length, and a square jaw that seemed to give him a natural air of command. He’d certainly taken command of her when he whisked her to safety.

She’d never had anyone do that before.

Being a vassal of Cambridge had always made her feel as if she were on her own, as if there was no one to protect her or help her other than Filly. When she should have been able to depend on her father for such things, she knew she couldn’t. The man was weak and a slave to the narcotic he’d become acquainted with whilst on crusade in the Levant. That was how she’d become a possession of the Archbishop of Cambridge—because the man had promised to keep Everald supplied with his drug in exchange for not causing trouble because she was a Jewel.

Being one of the Seven Jewels of London was a complicated thing.

It was also an isolating thing, meaning Cleodora knew there was no possible way she could ever have a normal life with a man as just and righteous as Aidric St. John. Not that she was looking for someone to take her away from this life she led, because she wasn’t. She was resigned to the life she led. But there was a large part of her who wanted to be a normal woman, married to a man she adored, with children at her feet. She was very careful about voicing those thoughts, however, but her jaunt into London made her think of them again as she’d watched the mother with her young boy on the street. She’d even said something to Filly about it. But such thoughts were unhealthy.

Still…

What she wouldn’t give to be married to a man like Aidric. When she shouldn’t even entertain the thought, she found herself dreaming of him. A tall, handsome husband in a prestigious post, someone to care for her and protect her. Perhaps… perhaps he’d even love her. No one had ever loved her. Not even her father. Cleodora had lived her entire life without being loved for who she was.

“My lady?”

Filly’s soft voice roused her from her thoughts. Cleodora was sitting at her dressing table, brushing the ends of her hair and gazing at herself in the polished silver mirror, the one that showed a true reflection. Though she trusted Filly implicitly, she still felt guilty that her servant had caught her daydreaming.

Quickly, she set the brush down.

“What is it?” she asked.

Filly, who had been at the door to the chamber, swiftly stepped in. “Cambridge wants to speak with you,” she said, lowering her voice. “Neville told him what happened at Adelie’s today. He wants to speak with you now.”

Cleodora’s heart was pounding with apprehension. “Does he seem angry?”

Filly shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Not angry, but concerned. He is very concerned.”

Cleodora sighed as she stood up. “Somehow, he will make this my fault,” she said. “He always does. I can never do right in his eyes.”

Filly knew that, but she didn’t want to add to her mistress’s distress. “Hurry, now,” she said, indicating the door. “He is waiting.”

Cleodora hesitated for a moment, but it was more out of frustration than fear. It was so difficult to live one’s life in constant fear and, frankly, it was exhausting. Even if she was berated for what happened this afternoon, the truth was that it was worth it. It was worth those few stolen moments of being with a man who treated her kindly and who only seemed to want to protect her. Kindness was the rarest thing of all in her world and, somehow, simple thanks didn’t seem enough. She wanted to do more to show her gratitude. Given her conversation with him earlier, an idea began to form.

“Fil,” she said thoughtfully. “You saw the man who saved me from the robbers, did you not? When he returned to Adelie’s in search of Neville?”

Filly nodded. “I did,” she said. “A tall man.”

“Very tall.”

“With big shoulders.”

“I think everything about him was big.”

“What about him, my lady?”

Cleodora cocked her head. “He saved my life,” she said. “I do not know what would have become of me had he not put himself between me and the robbers. I told Neville this.”