“I never say anything I do not mean,” he said. Then, he began to think that something was seriously wrong. “Is there another, my lady? If there is, then….”
Courtly cut him off. “Nay,” she said quickly. “There is no other. But let me be clear. What you have just told me brings me more joy than you can possibly comprehend. Last night, inspite of everything, was the most marvelous night of my life and although I should not be thankful for such a thing, I find myself very thankful that the hostel burned, because if it had not, I more than likely would never have met you. You are a kind, wonderful man, Maximus, and I am deeply honored by your attention.”
Maximus was greatly pleased to hear that she was receptive to his suit. Not that he believed otherwise because, based on the time he had spent with her, he felt very strongly that she was interested in him just as he was interested in her. Once, he’d feared that was not the case but clearly he had been wrong. He was glad, for once, that he had been wrong. But it seemed to him that there was something more that Courtly wasn’t telling him.
“But…what?” he asked, seeing the myriad of emotions in her face. “What is the matter?”
Courtly sighed heavily. “If you are truly serious about asking my father for permission to court me, then know it will not be an easy task,” she said. “I do not want to tell any more than that for fear that you will change your mind, but I find that I cannot withhold such information. You must know that my father has chased off every potential suitor I have ever had. He is fanatical about it. The fact that you and I were so attentive to one another last night, engrossed in conversation as we were, was enough for him to make the decision to send my sister and me back to Trelystan Castle. Before you and Lady de Shera arrived this morning, my father and I were arguing over just that very thing. He wants to send me away from you.”
Maximus’ expression grew serious. “Is this so?”
“It is,” she replied miserably. “I realize that my father is an ally of de Montfort and you more than likely do not want to disrupt that allegiance. If that is the case, then as much as it pains me to say it, I understand.”
He cocked his head. “Understandwhat?”
“That you will not ask permission to court me and risk disturbing the alliance, of course.”
He frowned. “If your father allows a suit for his daughter to destroy an alliance, then it would be by his choice alone,” he said. “I will still offer for you and he will accept if he knows what is good for him.”
Courtly sensed something ominous in that threat. “What does that mean?”
Maximus could feel himself getting worked up over the fact that his suit for Courtly was evidently going to run into an issue in the form of the lady’s father. It could prove to be a formidable obstacle. He began to prepare his answer with all manner of threat against de Lara but, looking at the lady’s face, he realized that he couldn’t do that. In spite of everything, the man was still her father. Uncertain now, Maximus simply took her by the elbow and continued on their journey through the alley.
“Come along,” he said, somewhat quietly. “We will speak on it later.”
“Please do not think me forward, but there may notbea later once you return me to Kennington.”
“That remains to be seen.”
Courtly didn’t question him further. He said it with such finality, as if he had no doubt that he would emerge the victor in whatever tussle there might be for her hand against Kellen de Lara. Therefore, she simply followed the man through the narrow passage and out onto the road beyond.
The Street of the Bakers wasn’t quite as crowded as the Street of the Merchants but it was still fairly busy. Maximus paused before taking a direction of travel, inspecting the buildings surrounding them to see if he could spot a bath house. He finally poked his head into the nearest bakery and asked the proprietor, who directed him to the next street, a smaller avenue, where a bath house was indeed attached to a neighboring bakery.There was no name on the bath house but there was a piece of wood hanging over the door with a crude flower painted on it. Opening the heavy, awkward door, having swelled from the heat and moisture inside the bath house, Maximus ushered Courtly inside.
It was very dark inside the structure and the ceiling was low, causing Maximus to have to duck his head. When the proprietress was summoned by a hovering servant, Maximus explained that his lady needed to be bathed and dressed, which the proprietress was more than happy to do. But rather than simply leave Courtly off and allow her to be tended by strangers, Maximus insisted on inspecting the bath house to make sure there were no hidden threats like lascivious men or any other danger to threaten a lady. As the proprietress stood by, rather shocked, Maximus carefully handed Courtly her bundle of possessions, unsheathed his broadsword, and went on the offensive.
He quickly learned that there were only five rooms to the entire structure; a small greeting room at the door with an attendant and three big dogs, then a room for men and a room for women. Off of each of these rooms were smaller rooms used to dress in. Maximus marched right into the men’s bathing room where two fat merchants were lingering in one of four big, barrel-shaped tubs of lukewarm water. The tubs could each hold two to four men, and serving women attended the bathers by rubbing oil into their skin and then scraping it off with a pewter instrument meant for such a thing. In the corner, a young man played a mandolin very badly, meant to be an entertainment while one bathed. But Maximus didn’t like the fact that it was a bathing house for both sexes if Courtly was going to be in the other room, so he ordered the merchants to put their clothes on and leave.
Of course, the men didn’t take well to this in the least, so Maximus reached into the bathing vessel and pulled one man out by his neck. Seeing his companion being roughly handled by the enormous knight, the second merchant fled the tub and, with both men dressing hastily, Maximus chased them from the bath house without them as much as having time to put on their shoes. Courtly, in the reception room, watched the barefooted men flee with great curiosity until she saw that Maximus was pursuing them with his enormous broadsword in hand. It made for a very comical situation but she dare not laugh. In fact, she rather appreciated Maximus’ sense of propriety. He didn’t want naked men in the same building with her, and she was deeply flattered.
With the merchants having been chased out, Maximus then went into the women’s bathing room and was greeted by three women in various stages of undress. They screamed when they saw the knight with the broadsword and it was enough to chase Maximus out of the chamber as abruptly as he had entered. He was fine in a room full of naked men, but a room full of half-dressed women had him somewhat unsettled. He stood at the door and tried not to look too embarrassed.
“There are already three women in there,” he said to her. “Are you comfortable bathing with other women?”
Courtly grinned at him. She couldn’t help it. She knew that if she told him that she wasn’t, then he would chase the women from the chamber just as he’d chased the men. Therefore, she nodded.
“Perfectly comfortable,” she said. “What will you do while I am bathing?”
He shrugged those wide shoulders. “Wait here until you are finished.”
“You have nothing else that you could be doing?”
He shook his head. “I will not leave you unattended.”
Courtly didn’t have an argument for that. “I see,” she said thoughtfully. “I feel rather guilty that you will be waiting for me to bathe. It will take an hour at the very least.”
“I will wait.”
“Why not go and find us something to eat? By the time you return, I should be finished. I will hurry.”
