Read Online Rebel Warrior (Medieval Warriors #3) by Regan Walker - Free Book Online

because he did not know her, but she sensed there was more behind his reluctant demeanor. The boy’s being orphaned young and having no one made her all the more grateful for Niall. Without him, she would be as alone as this boy.
    When he reached her, she invited him to sit beside her. “My name is Catrìona. How are you called?”
    “Giric,” he said crawling onto the bench.
    Thinking he was about six or seven summers, she handed him a spoon. “I expect you feed yourself.”
    He nodded vigorously and took the spoon, dipping it into the bowl. Between mouthfuls of gruel, he said, “Yer hair is pretty.”
    She could not help but smile. He was adorable. “Thank you.”
    He squinted up at her. “Art new?”
    “Aye. My cousin, Fia,” she pointed to Fia sitting across from them feeding a young girl, “and my brother, Niall, and I have just come from Dunkeld. Like you, Niall and I are orphans.”
    “Ye’re older,” he said as if that was entirely different and she supposed it was.
    “Aye, but orphans still.” He did not ask how it had come to be she had no parents and she did not wish to ask about his own circumstances, knowing it would cause each of them pain to speak of it. She had only wanted him to know she and Niall understood his loss.
    The sounds of eating and occasional exchanges between the children echoed about the hall. For a while, she let Giric eat. Then she thought of something that might please him. “Do you like falcons?”
    His eyes lit up and he put down the spoon, wiping his mouth on his tunic sleeve. “Aye, lady! Do ye have one?”
    “I do. His name is Kessog and he lives in the mews. Mayhap we can visit him this afternoon.”
    He frowned. “The queen’s ladies do their sewing then.”
    “I will ask the queen if she will allow me to show you my falcon. I am not so good at needlework that I will be missed. Can you be outside the door to the hall at midday?”
    He nodded. Licking the last bit of gruel from his spoon, he reached for a piece of bread. “I will be there.” Taking the bread with him, he slipped from the bench and raced toward the door to join the other children who were leaving. Just as he went outside, he turned and waved to her.
    She returned the gesture. Giric. Smiling to herself, she thought to ask Niall to go along on their afternoon adventure.
    When the children had gone, a score of men and women came into the hall and were greeted by Margaret. They were simply dressed like the servants. All of them seemed to know the queen and warmly responded to her words of welcome. Catrìona wondered who they were. She had not seen them the evening before. Their clothing was modest but clean. Some looked more like Saxons than Scots, fair-haired and blue-eyed. A few children accompanied them.
    They took the empty places at the same table where Catrìona, Fia and Audra sat with the other ladies.
    Catrìona was puzzled.
    As if reading her mind, Audra said, “They come each morning, the poor in Dunfermline. Many are English. The queen offers them food and provides them clothing.”
    “The queen does much good,” Catrìona observed as a servant filled her bowl with the warm, cinnamon-scented gruel. She was happy to see raisins sprinkled on top.
    “I love her for her goodness,” said Audra. “We all do. You have not seen the half of it.”
    “Will the queen eat now?” Catrìona asked. She would not eat before her mistress, but truth be told, the smell of fresh bread and the thought of the honey and raisins on her tongue made her ravenous.
    Audra glanced at the villagers and then turned back to Catrìona and Fia. “Once Margaret is certain the poor have been fed, then she will eat. But much of the time, she consumes little. We must remind her each day that she eats for the babe she carries or she would waste away to nothing. She fasts often.”
    Catrìona felt shame for her own selfishness. At her father’s home in the vale, any in need had been welcomed but they had never placed the