From the determined tone of her voice, he could only assume she spoke her true feelings on the matter. Since he had pulled her naked from a bed, of course, he was well aware she was no longer a girl and, while her wishes seemed reasonable to him, they would never find fruition—not for a king’s great-granddaughter, not even a bastard one. ‘Do you realise how impossible that will be for you?’
‘Why?’ She looked up at him. ‘Why will it be so impossible for me?’
‘Lady Avelyn, surely you must know your value. You can’t have been so protected, so kept in the dark, that you know nothing about how much you can bring to your family’s coffers.’
Her focus turned to the ground at her feet. ‘I am nothing but a servant’s shamefully begotten spawn.’
Something in the sadness of her voice and the slight, barely perceptible tremor of her chin touched him deeply, making him feel guilty for something not his doing and filling him with a need to convince her of her value. While the unfamiliar emotions pricking inside his chest deserved some thought, the young woman sitting beside him needed his attention more.
‘Lady Avelyn...’ Elrik reached out and lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers, coaxing her to look at him. ‘Avelyn, you are not to blame for what your mother and Brandr did. She might have only been a servant in his keep, but no matter the circumstances of your birth, you are a lord’s daughter and a king’s great-granddaughter, nothing can change that.’
When she tried to turn her head away, he slid his palm to her cheek to keep her focus on him. ‘I know not who made you feel this shame, or lack of worth, but they were wrong to do so.’
She rose, bringing an abrupt halt to this conversation. ‘I am famished.’
As much as he wanted to, Elrik wasn’t going to push the issue—it was none of his concern.
He stood up, saying, ‘Then we should get you something to eat.’
They joined Fulke and Samuel who had unpacked a meagre fare atop a boulder. Samuel waved a hand towards the food. ‘It is nothing grand, but there’s plenty for all of us.’
Avelyn picked up a wrinkled apple and took a bite. After swallowing it, she said, ‘The food here suits me far better than anything you might consider grand.’
Fulke tore off a piece of bread from the dark round loaf and handed it to her. ‘I doubt you would find any of this at your father’s table.’
Samuel inspected the small wheel of cheese before slicing off a few slivers, which he also gave to her. ‘Surely Lord Brandr’s table provides better food than what we can offer.’
Avelyn took the cheese while shaking her head. ‘Since I always made certain to eat with the cook and helpers in the kitchen, I am afraid I wouldn’t know what was served in the hall.’
Fulke offered her a good-sized portion of smoked fish, nearly bumping into Samuel in his haste.
Elrik watched his two men vie for the opportunity to wait on her. Their actions were so out of character that he nearly choked on the piece of bread he was eating.
If he had to guess at their reason for such gallantry, he’d say they had overheard the conversation he’d been trying to have with Avelyn and were going out of their way to be more than kind to a woman who’d apparently experienced little kindness in her short life.
Since he found nothing amiss with their actions, he saw no reason to stop them and slowly backed away from the boulder to watch from a distance.
Avelyn’s soft laugh at something Samuel said made him smile. He was grateful his men were showing her such attention instead of ignoring her as they normally would. From what he’d seen and heard, the lady deserved a few light-hearted moments before she would once again be back in the cold embrace of her family.
From King David’s description, Elrik had believed Avelyn to be lovely yet headstrong. She was indeed quite lovely, but he’d yet to witness much that could be considered overly headstrong. Oh, yes, she’d been defiant when he’d discovered her at the inn, but that had been expected since he was unknown to her. She would have been foolish not to have questioned him. And he’d experienced a small flare of her temper when he’d taken his frustration out on her a short while ago.
But he’d seen no overt stubbornness or any action that could be considered headstrong or wilful, quite the opposite, actually. Even though it was obvious she’d had no experience riding a horse, she’d not complained once yesterday. Nor had she given any argument when he’d essentially tied her into the saddle like a child today. She’d simply accepted the fact that she had no choice in the matter of riding the horse and had made the best of what had to be an uncomfortable situation.
And when he’d suggested she argue her future with King David, she’d not whined or complained. As far as he could tell she had given it some thought, otherwise she’d not have asked him for a man’s opinion on what might be considered valuable.
No. This was not some simple-minded woman who would argue for the sake of arguing. She might not have been raised in her father’s keep and had yet to learn courtly manners, but she was not lacking in wits. She stood up for herself. And she knew what she wanted, along with what she didn’t want.
In a way it was a shame she was so connected to Brandr. He was not someone Elrik wished to be related to in any manner, otherwise, he might be half-tempted to offer for her himself.
Elrik shook his head in an attempt to clear that ludicrous thought from his mind. Things like a wife and family were for other men, not him. But sometimes...times like this when he let his guard down and his musings drew him once again into wondering what if...he had to remind himself of that simple fact.
A hand rested gently on his arm, startling him away from his odd thoughts. ‘What are you thinking about so intently?’
He looked down at her and asked, ‘Did you get enough to eat?’
‘More than enough, thank you.’ Avelyn laughed. ‘I had to walk away before the two of them fed me enough for four meals.’
‘They were simply being kind.’
She let her touch fall away from his arm. ‘I know that. I wasn’t complaining.’
Elrik closed his eyes for a moment at the feeling of loss, then he reached out to draw a fingertip along her cheek. ‘I apologise. I know you weren’t complaining.’
She tightly clasped her hands before her and lowered her gaze. ‘We should be getting back on the road.’
‘In a bit.’ He covered her hands with one of his own and tugged gently. ‘Come, sit with me for a few moments.’
At her nod, he pulled a fallen log to rest at the base of a tree. ‘Here, you can rest against the tree.’
When she settled on to the log, he took a seat on the ground next to her legs, pulled off his helmet and then unlaced and pushed back the chainmail covering his head. The breeze rushed against his damp hair, drawing a sigh of relief from him.
Samuel and Fulke paused to stare at him a moment before they finished packing the food away. Once finished, both men took up a position at opposite ends of the entrance to the small clearing.
Avelyn nodded towards the men, asking, ‘Do they expect trouble?’
Elrik shook his head. ‘No. But this ensures that if any threat should occur, I’ll know in advance.’
‘Ah. So, they see to your safety when you aren’t.’
‘That’s what they are here for, yes.’
‘But aren’t they more than just your guards?’
‘Of