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They’d either moved on, or had been hunted as a threat.
An ache stabbed his chest, as he recalled days he would play with the dogs and train them to follow his commands. Times when he’d found some semblance of peace, watching them carelessly frolic about. And of course, the times when the girl would come to play with them. It’d been quite some time since he’d seen her. The baron had assumed she and her mother had moved on to another village. Perhaps one that did not force her to remain on the outskirts.
He plopped down in the grass and tore away chunks of long, green blades, thinking of his mother and what little he had learned of her condition. According to the courier, she had experienced frequent moments of weakness, oftentimes fainting for no apparent reason.
Of course the bishop assumed something vile had taken over her. The baron could only imagine what his little elixirs had been designed to do.
Voices reached his ear, and frowning, he turned toward their direction. He followed the path beyond, along the river. At the bank, he found his cousin Drystan sat beside a girl whose back was turned to him. A long black braid draped over her shoulder, and the simple white shift she wore told him she was a servant of some sort.
Drystan noticed him first, his eyes wide with surprise. It was when the girl turned around that the baron’s heart leaped inside his chest.
Her.
Her.The raven-haired beauty. Only, she no longer carried the features of a child. She had grown more beautiful, and although the glint in her eyes had faded slightly, he instantly recognized the scintillating stardust colors.
“My Lord, I was just fetching water with the girl,” Drystan said behind her.
The baron glanced down to his cousin’s empty hands, and a twinge of jealousy struck his throat at the thought of the two of them alone together. “With no bucket. How clever.”
“We lost the bucket by accident.”
He stepped closer to the two of them, his eyes searching for any sign of affection between them. Had he begun to court her in his absence? If it were true, that she was a servant, Drystan would have certainly been better suited, based on his lack of title. The bastard son of his father. Of course, no one else in Praecepsia knew that little secret. “I see you have found a proper escort for the woods,” the baron snipped, his irritation since returning home only growing by the minute.
Brows tight, Drystan lowered his head, undoubtedly angered by the remark. “She came with Bishop Venable. She is assisting him with your mother.”
Assisting the bishop? In essence, helping to poison his mother with whatever elixirs the bishop was feeding her. The overwhelming disappointment clenched his stomach.
His gaze shifted to the girl again, appraising her dress, which matched those of the other servant girls he had seen back at the monastery. Ones who hoped to become a pentash for the church. “Assisting him,” he spat. “Then, she is as equally useless.”
“I beg you not to speak about the bishop that way, My Lord. He is a good man, and such words have consequences.”
“Yes, I suppose they do.” Amusement colored his expression for only a moment before his cold eyes found the girl again.Lustina.
No longer the girl he remembered from the woods, but a disciple of thegood and holybishop. The fact that she could participate so willingly in Bishop Venable’s unscrupulous methods of trying to cure his mother only churned the anger and disgust in his gut.
The girl stepped forward to curtsy. “Baron Van Croix, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“It isLordVan Croix,” he corrected, eyeing her dress. “Seems your righteous and holy upbringing has failed you in proper etiquette. And dress, for that matter.” He scanned over the outfit meant to symbolize purity and chastity. “The kitchen rags would make finer material.” He sniffed the air and scowled. “And smell better.”
“My Lord, she meant no insult.”
The sound of Drystan’s voice only exacerbated the baron’s ire, and the way he came to her defense sent another bolt of jealousy through him. “Do the two of you share the same mind?”
“She is no more than a servant.”
“I do not need your observations. I know exactly what she is.”
“I apologize for my ignorance, My Lord.” Gaze still cast from his, Lustina interrupted their bickering. “I am not yet accustomed to all the rules of nobility. I come from a much simpler way of life.”
“Indeed.”
She lifted her gaze to his, the flicker of defiance in them spiking his blood with excitement. “Are you rude to all ladies, or only those deemed beneath you?”
He’d not expected her to speak with such insolence, and the baron found himself caught between intrigue and shock.
“Again, my apologies, My Lord,” she added in a much more acquiescent tone.
“I would mind yourtongue, girl. Our way of life dictates that such lack of respect is just cause for removing it. And as for theladieswho find themselves beneath me, I can assure you, they tend to think of me as quite charming.”
