Read Online Honor & Roses by Elizabeth Cole - Free Book Online Page B

spoke she hunted for the syrup in its glass bottle. It was made from mint and horehound, and the sticky substance was so thick it had to be drizzled in boiling water before it could be taken. Cecily put a small pot of clean water over the brazier. “It will be ready as soon as the water heats. Tell me, then, why you have been sleeping in fields rather than in a house.”
    He looked down, scuffing one foot into the dirt floor. “I slept in a house until April, my lady. I lived near Hereford. The house caught fire one night. I alone escaped the blaze—I slept nearest the door. My parents died, along with my brother and my new baby sister.”
    “Lord have mercy,” Cecily said. “You have my sympathy. I too lost my father in a fire.”
    The boy’s gaze flickered up to her. “When?”
    “I was eight years of age. It happened at Aldgate, to the north. I haven’t seen the place since.”
    “How long did it take for you to stop dreaming of smoke?”
    Cecily sighed. “I still do, sometimes.” She busied herself with the syrup, pouring it into a cup. “So you have no one to take you in?”
    “No. The fire consumed all. There was nothing to recover, nothing to sell to start fresh. My neighbors did what they could, but I’m not blood. I’d be a burden if I stayed. I traveled, sleeping in fields, or sometimes working for food and shelter.”
    “And that’s what you’re doing now? In town?”
    “No, my lady.” Bertram’s eyes darted all around the room. “Not in town.”
    “Where, then?”
    “Where they told me about you, my lady. About how you come and help them.” He looked at her nervously. “That’s why I came here. There are those there who begged me to tell you that they need your help again.”
    Cecily put a finger to her lips. “It is best not to mention more, Bertram. Not here.”
    She took the steaming water off the brazier and added the syrup. Then she poured it into a dish he could drink from.
    “Take this, and don’t let it cool too much,” she said.
    Bertram drank it obediently, though his nose wrinkled at the taste. “Medicine must be bitter, I suppose,” he said. “But I do feel better already.”
    “I will give you a little to take with you. Drink some once in the morning and evening. You’ll remember how to prepare it?”
    He nodded, watching as Cecily poured some syrup into a smaller bottle. He took it from her, giving a little bow. “Thank you, my lady.”
    “Tell them I’ll come as soon as I can,” she reassured him. “But I’m not sure of the day.”
    After she saw Bertram off, Cecily felt a rumbling in her belly. It was past time to eat, and she’d been hard at work since dawn.
    While she left the gardens, she pondered what excuse she could dream up so she might slip away from the manor for a whole day. It was easy enough to invent a reason for her to go somewhere, and Theobald rarely looked for her until suppertime. But with the men back from the war, it meant more eyes and more curiosity.
    She needed at least three of her women about her, not to mention horses. That would cause comment, unless something else was happening about the manor to distract Theobald and the men, a distraction that would let her own activities go unremarked.

Chapter 9

    Over the next few days , Alric worked hard to restore his old connections at Cleobury. He needed to get used to life here once again, and he needed to get Cecily off his mind.
    Fortunately, there were many people to meet and speak with, old friends and acquaintances to catch up with. At a manor the size of Cleobury, there was always work to be done, too. A strong man like Alric could make himself useful nearly anywhere.
    Lord Theobald summoned him the day after his return to specifically request Alric’s assistance in seeing that the manor’s fortifications were as complete as possible.
    “I want to be sure this place can be defended for at least seven days before help arrives.”
    “You fear the Welsh will be outside the