Page 14 of Beholden
5
Vilmar
Curly knelt nextto a young woman in the infirmary and spoke to her as he smoothed her hair away from her forehead. She must be Molly, the woman Lady Gabriella had mentioned, the one Curly cared about.
By the glow of the hearth, I watched from outside the doorway. I couldn’t deny I was more than a little relieved to discover Curly already had a woman and that Lady Gabriella wasn’t a pawn in the redheaded leader’s hands.
My relief had nothing to do with desiring the beautiful noblewoman for myself. Because I most certainly didn’t want her, and I couldn’t mislead her in thinking we had a future together or allow myself to become distracted from my Testing. I’d been hesitant to meet with her this morn for that very reason and had almost skipped.
My gaze touched on Lady Gabriella’s bent head as she finished bandaging the stump at Molly’s elbow. The golden red of her hair never failed to draw my attention, just as it had yesterday after she started working in the drift with the rest of us. She wore it plaited in a single braid that fell to her waist, but that gave full view of her delicate features, her smooth skin, and her graceful figure.
The other slaves claimed the lady had once been lauded as the fairest maiden in the land, and I could see why. Apparently, she’d also been one of the wealthiest, until her father died and Queen Margery pilfered the lands and wealth away from Lady Gabriella.
From the first moment I’d risked my life pulling her and Farthing off the bridge, I sensed she would upend my life. After resisting her since then, I should have continued keeping my distance. But I hadn’t been able to stay away from the clandestine meeting, no matter how loudly my internal warning had clanged.
When she’d pleaded with me to teach her how to kill her enemy, the anxiety in her eyes and the desperation etched into her face made it impossible to say no. And I still couldn’t, not when I imagined what danger awaited her.
Though she hadn’t wanted to reveal her enemy, I guessed she feared her accuser coming to silence her, probably the duchess’s steward who had blamed her for stealing. Of course, I’d easily learned about Lady Gabriella’s crime. The other slaves spoke freely and had been all too willing to tell me everything I wanted to know about the comely noblewoman.
Now here I was, waiting to begin our charade. But first, I wanted to make sure she followed through in telling Curly about us. Even if I had earned more of his approval after yesterday’s rescue, I couldn’t jeopardize our tentative peace and risk his wrath.
As Curly started to rise, his attention snagged on me, and he shot a glare my way before he bent to say something in Lady Gabriella’s ear. Her head snapped up, and l found myself looking into her expressive blue eyes, which were filled with an anticipation that made my stomach do a strange flip.
I gave her a curt nod, hoping she understood that if she hadn’t yet spoken to Curly of our relationship, she needed to do so now. If Curly didn’t approve of me for Lady Gabriella, then I wasn’t sure what we would do.
With a new rosy hue painting her cheeks, Lady Gabriella said something to the redhead. His brow wrinkled, and the two argued in hushed tones back and forth for at least a full minute.
Several other patients lying on pallets slumbered through the commotion. Finally, Molly raised her uninjured arm and pressed her hand against Curly’s face. At the touch, the frustration disappeared and was replaced with a tenderness that made me like Curly better than I did already.
Molly craned her neck to look at me, and I caught a glimpse of her face, thin and pale but kind. She said something more, and it must have been enough, for when Curly rose, he crossed to the door and passed by me without even a glance.
Regardless, I sensed I hadn’t heard the last from him. He still didn’t trust me, and I had no doubt he’d find a way to threaten me again. In the meantime, it was clear he was attempting to respect both Molly’s and Lady Gabriella’s wishes.
A moment later, Molly peeked at me again and then whispered something to Lady Gabriella that embarrassed her. Or at least from the way the beautiful noblewoman smiled before ducking her head, I assumed it was something more personal.
Outside, the first pinkish orange of the rising sun tinged the eastern edge of the Gemstone Mountain Range. Low clouds hovered below the tips of the peaks, reminding me of the home I’d left behind over three weeks ago.
Thankfully, the sea voyage to the Great Isle had been uneventful. When the longship had reached a secluded cove along Warwick’s central coast, Ty and I had waded ashore and begun our journey by foot to the mountain range at the heart of the country. We’d avoided roads and rivers, opting instead for secluded trails until we’d reached our contact, Lord Kennard, a longtime friend of my father’s who’d once been an ambassador to Scania. He’d then made arrangements for his guards to escort us the rest of the distance to the mine.
Since arriving, I’d been too concerned with surviving to pay much attention to the surroundings or to think about home. But now, with the beauty of the dawn sky, I felt at peace with my Testing. I’d survived the beginning difficult days, the uncertainty of the work, the danger of everything that lurked in the depths of the mountains. I’d made friends with the other new slaves. And I hadn’t made an enemy of the leader—or at least I prayed Curly wouldn’t slit my throat tonight in my sleep. Things were going better than I could have predicted.
“You need not wait for me,” Lady Gabriella murmured as she exited the infirmary.
I guessed she would have ignored me as Curly had, except Molly was watching. Instead, she paused, allowing me enough time to offer half the roll I’d saved from breaking my fast.
She glanced away from the roll, but not before I caught sight of the hunger in her eyes. She had fed the last of her rations to Molly, leaving none for herself. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed her giving her food to others. Whenever anyone failed to make their quota, Lady Gabriella was always the first to share with those in need, eating something only at Benedict’s insistence.
Of course, I could do nothing to change the system of exchange that kept the slaves digging and thus too exhausted and weak to revolt. I hadn’t come to the mine pits to try to right the wrongs or eradicate slavery. All I could do was ensure I was learning to serve others and live out my challenge to be the slave of all.
“Take it, my lady.” I thrust the roll into her hand.
With Molly’s gaze still upon us, Lady Gabriella was left with no choice but to accept it.
“You could try smiling at me,” I whispered. “A smile might convince our audience that you like me more than the glare will.”
Forthwith, her lips lifted into a smile, one that nearly rendered me speechless with its beauty. Had I yet seen her smile? Surely, I would have remembered it if she had. For someone who brought so much joy to others, she deserved to be happy every day and all throughout each day. What could I do to give her more to smile about?
From the sad slant of her eyes, she obviously hadn’t had much happiness here or before she’d arrived. What had her life been like?
