Draven leaned heavily against the joint as the pain lessened ever so slightly. “‘Tis only by the effort of my will that it hasn’t.”
“It must have hurt terribly.”
“It certainly didn’t feel good,” he muttered.
From the crowd they heard a small child crying. “Mama?” the girl wailed.
Emily looked past him. Before he knew what she was about, she headed off for the little girl a few feet away.
She knelt down before the child and gently touched the girl’s cheek.
By the ragged dress, and unkept hair, he surmised the girl was a peasant’s child. But Emily didn’t seem to notice. She took a corner of her cloak and dabbed at the girl’s wet cheeks.
“Have you lost your mother, sweetling?” she asked.
“Aye!” The girl wailed. “I want my mama.”
“What’s her name?”
“Mama.”
Draven rolled his eyes as he moved to stand over them. That was certainly helpful.
Emily gave a gentle laugh. “Well, I daresay there are quite a few women here today who answer to that. What does she look like?”
“She’s beautiful,” the girl said with a sniff.
Emily cast a glance up to him over her shoulder. “A beautiful woman called Mama. Do you think we can find such, milord?”
“In this crowd, who knows.”
Then Emily did the most unexpected thing, she reached out and chucked him on his good leg. “Milord, please. I am trying to comfort the girl. Not frighten her more.”
Draven clamped down on his tongue. No man or woman had ever been so at ease in his presence that they would just reach out and touch him so recklessly.
Not even Simon.
“What’s your name, little one?” Emily asked the girl.
“Edyth.”
“Come, Edyth. Let us find your mother. She must be looking for you, too.” Emily rose to her feet and to his utter amazement picked up the girl and rested her on her hip.
“Milady, she’ll no doubt soil your gown.”
“The tears will wash out, as will the dirt.”
The girl laid her head on Emily’s shoulder and encircled her neck with her arms. He felt something strange in his gut as Emily cradled the girl to her side.
The feeling was something he didn’t truly want to identify as he watched Emily give the girl her sweetened nuts and carry her through the crowd as she stopped and asked people if they knew the girl or her mother.
They hadn’t gone far when he noted Emily growing weary of carrying the child, but she refused to put her down.
“Here,” he said before he thought better of it. “Let me take her.”
The little girl’s eyes widened in fright as she shirked from his touch. “Will he hurt me, milady?”
“Nay, Edyth. His lordship is a good ogre.”
