Page 4 of Centerpiece

There was a long, deep sigh.“I apologize again.”

“That also makes no sense to me,” Agreeable admitted.“But if you want me to talk while you eat, then I can.However, I must tell you that I’m not someone people go to for knowledge.”

“Well—” the man uncrossed his arms “—I’ve found that I get more truth from people who have no reason to lie.Oh, you have reasons,” he went on, that hint of a smile reappearing under Agreeable’s rapt attention, “but that’s to lie in general.Not about this.Though you perhaps should have.What if I were a friend of your count?”

“I said nothing but the truth!”Agreeable blurted immediately, leaving the door to make his case, then stopping with a shiver.“Are you?”

“Never met him,” the man responded, unfurling his brow.“Stay out of sight and be silent,” he ordered, and then went to the door again, this time slipping outside.Agreeable fussed with his scarf, ensuring it was firmly in place, and then the man was back.“The food should arrive shortly.You should...hmm.”

“I can hide behind the bed,” Agreeable volunteered.“Was it clear downstairs?Is the bailiff still around?”

“I didn’t go all the way downstairs.”The man turned away to consider the room.The space behind the bed was really all there was for a hiding place.“The bailiff and innkeeper seemed to know you well.They insinuated,” he paused, then used a word Agreeable recognized, “they hinted that they knew youwell.That many did.”

Some didn’t like women who were widely known.Agreeable was a woman at the moment.Well, he was and he wasn’t.But some also liked to laugh at men who were widely known.Some didn’t like men knowing each other—but those were usually Church followers, and Agreeable had seen the way some of the priests looked at each other, so he didn’t respect that even a little.

He shrugged though the man couldn’t see.“I’m agreeable.”

The small laugh surprised him.“Must be, to have drawn attention in the market even before the chaos you caused.”

Agreeable cleared his throat.“I didn’t causeallof the chaos.”

“Your friends did,” the man guessed, turned back to Agreeable at last.“The ones you’re protecting.Though they left you.”

“Well, that’s....They would have....It’s....”Agreeable tried to cross his arms and then had to worry over his bosom.If he put his arms beneath it, he would be pushing it out like the creature of suspect morals everyone believed him to be.He cupped the side of one cloth breast, looked up into intent, jewel-like eyes, and quickly dropped his arms.“They might have faced more than a beating.”

“So might you have,” the man replied.“They left you.”

“Well, they are all that I....They’re friends.In a sense.So...so....”Agreeable lowered his shoulders.“It’s no good to speak of it.”

“I apologize if my words stung.”

“You know they stung.”Agreeable pursed his lips.“And it’s funny, you apologizing to me.I’m nothing.”

“Your friends, or lovers, are disrespectful cads if they’ve convinced you of that.”The man smiled when Agreeable gaped at him.It was not the warm smile from before.“That, I won’t apologize for.Ah.”A knock on the door sent him in that direction, but he didn’t open it until Agreeable had scurried across the room to duck between the bed and the wall.

The bed frame was solid.The bedding quality.Agreeable heard footsteps and voices and the rattle of crockery, but saw nothing except the ceiling of the room.When the door closed again, he stayed put, and flushed hotly for no reason he could name when the man said, “Very good of you to wait, but you may come out now.”

Betram or someone from the kitchens had brought a small table and set it before the fire.It was laden with dishes, a bottle, and a jug.The food smelled like chicken with herbs.The man made no move to tear into it, however.He held out a towel when Agreeable tried to slip past him and leave him to his meal, then coughed.

It wasn’t a real cough, but rather a delicate one.“Forgive me, but I asked them for some hot water in case you’d like to wash up.”

“Bathed in the river two days ago,” Agreeable informed him, not with ill will, then paused.“Hot water?”

The man gestured to the jug, which was steaming now that Agreeable took a better look at it, and an empty bowl.

Agreeable should have been embarrassed, but he was hardly a rich sort with the time and servants to arrange baths all the time.Especially with warm water.

“Ididrun around a lot today,” he allowed generously, pausing again when he noticed the sliver of soap waiting for him in the bowl.Between that and the heated water, he wasn’t going to waste his chance.“And the warm water is a treat, so thank you.”

He got a smile, a full one, fit to steal his breath, but then it was gone, the man stepping aside and turning to face the wall.

Because oh yes, they were a bit more shy than regular folk, the wealthy.Had their big houses with doors and many rooms and whatnot.And Agreeable was a good woman dressing to please the Church.That meant modesty.

He removed the cowl first, setting it carefully aside since it had been clean and on a wash line when he’d nicked it, like the rest of his clothes.Then he washed his face and his neck, pausing to tie his scarf in place again, and then his hands, before giving himself a wipe beneath his clothes.He didn’t think he was expected to fully undress...although then he worried that he was.And then that a bathdidmean the man had a fuck on his mind, so he quickly splashed the last of the warm water into the bowl to scrub the rest of him as well.

In case, like.The man was a jewel and Agreeable was hardly going to say no.

“You’re on your way somewhere, then?”Agreeable asked while he scrubbed, keeping an eye on the man though he made no move to turn around.

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