Remin’s jaw tightened, his lips pressed flat as if he were suppressing a really crushing response. And then he sighed.
“I know that,” he said, his wide shoulders sagging. He glanced back at Leonin and Davi. “Give us a few minutes.”
“You can’t,” Ophele repeated as she let him steer her over to a bench to sit down. “Remin, I canhelp.At least let metry.”
“I don’t want you getting hurt,” he repeated, crouching in front of her and pushing her skirts back up over her knees. “Not even this much. Your knees are so…Ilikeyour knees, you have pretty knees, what if this scars? I’m supposed to protect you. Ihatethis, you’re not supposed to get hurt, I hate watching—wife!What the blazes was that for?”
Ophele shook out her hand. She had slapped his head so hard, it felt like she might have broken it.
“You,”she said, her voice quivering with fury. “You! How do you thinkIfeel? I know you’re not sleeping, you’re not eating properly, do you think I like watchingthat?Do you think I don’t worry? You won’t eventellme, you won’ttalkto me, you don’t even admit it when you’re sick! How would you like it, if I just hid it and told you I was fine!It’s not fine!”
He rocked back on his heels, his eyes widening.
“You won’t even let mehelp,”she said, trying and failing to keep her voice steady. “I could get away from you, I know I could, but you won’t even let meshowyou! I can climb, I could get into the rafters and you would never get me down and then Leonin and Davi could fight you or go for help but you won’t even let metry,you won’t evenlisten—”
“I don’t want you climbing in the rafters,” he began, faltering, and then rose up on his knees, pulling her into his arms as she started to cry. “Oh, wife, don’t. I just don’t want you to get hurt. If something happened to you—”
“Well that’s how I feel, too!” she sobbed, slapping his chest. “All this time! All I could do is watch you hurt! Do you think I didn’t know?”
“All right,” he murmured. “All right. You’re right, I’m sorry.”
“You have totalkto me,” she wept.
“I will.”
“And you have to stop saying you’re fine if you aren’t.”
“That’s the pot calling out the kettle,” he said, his fingers stroking the back of her neck.
“I don’t care. I told you when I was hurting and it was embarrassing for me, too.”
“You did.”
For a little while, they were quiet, and she could feel his fingers moving through her hair, gentling.
“I want to help,” she said, lifting her head to look up at him unhappily. “Am I that useless?”
“Of course not,” he replied, low. “I just…I really was trying to keep you from worrying, wife. I want you to be happy. I want to keep you safe. I didn’t want you to know…”
“That just means I have to figure it out by myself,” she informed him, and made him give a short laugh.
“That’s what Miche said.” He bent his head, his lips brushing hers, and after a moment she decided to allow it. “I’m sorry.”
“Then can we try again?” she asked, looking up to meet his eyes. Her mouth set in a stubborn line. “I can do it.”
“Let’s do something about your knees first…” He trailed off and sighed. “And then you can show me what you can do.”
Chapter 13 – A Little Treason
Lord Edemir of Trecht was a steady sort of fellow.
In thirty years, he had yet to know a great love or great loss. When Valleth threatened the lands of Trecht, he had done his duty and gone to join Remin’s army, expecting only another push to the banks of the Brede. Four months later, he found himself mounted at the far end of the Gresein Bridge, in a single explosion of recklessness that would change the course of his life.
Edemir was not the sort of man to charge. He was far more likely to be found at the rear of an army, making sure none of the supply wagons got left behind.
That was the skill that had brought him to Segoile, with mercantile negotiations to cover his real business. Edemir could never have been one of Juste’s singers. The best he could do was endeavor to carry someone else’s tune.
“Indeed not, when he ordered an entire bathhouse imported for her,” Edemir told the knot of people gatheredaround him at Count Heroulte’s banquet. “I spent most of last summer acquiring gifts for His Grace’s bride.”
