“And not let her tend this garden?”
Mary was quick to catch his eye and saw his own teasing nature surface.
“My lady may enjoy the garden while I do the work. She will not toil in the soil; it is unbefitting to her station.”
“Good, then as of this moment you are my wife’s personal servant. You will answer to me or my wife and no one else. Is that clear?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You will be given a room near our bedchamber. Go gather your belongings.”
Jenna bowed her head and jumped up, then stopped abruptly and extended her hand to Mary. “My lady.”
Mary smiled and took her hand but when she stood, her head suddenly turned light, her stomach grew nauseous, and the world around her dimmed.
“My lady, are you all right?”
Mary was unable to answer, and with panic in her eyes looked to her husband.
Decimus caught her in his arms before she collapsed.
It was a strange sight, and all who saw it stopped and stared. The man who ordered tortures and condemned many to death rushed through the fortress with his wife cradled in his arms.
A young servant girl followed in his wake.
Whispers followed the trio and then tongues began to wag.
“A wet cloth,” Decimus said to Jenna as he laid his wife on the bed in their bedchamber.
Jenna was a step ahead of him, rinsing a cloth she had dipped in the water bucket and hurrying to his side.
Decimus applied the wet cloth to Mary’s face and worried over her, especially if she should call him anything other then Decimus. It would be better if Jenna were not here.
“My wife may need sustenance. I do not think she has eaten at all today. Go and get her food and drink.”
“Aye, my lord,” Jenna said and hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.
He pressed the cloth gently to her pale face. “Wake up, Mary. You are safe. I am here with you.” He kept repeating the reassuring words to her until they turned more forceful and became a demand. “You must wake up now, I insist. Do not frighten me like this.”
To his relief her eyes fluttered open.
“What happened?” she asked in a bare whisper.
“You fainted.” He patted her face with the cloth until her eyes were open wide, then laid it aside and took her hands in his. “Do you feel all right now?”
“I am a bit nauseous,” she admitted. “And my head fuzzy.”
“Did you eat this morning?”
She frowned. “I was so eager to seek the outdoors, the day so beautiful, that I gave no thought to food.”
“I thought that, plus the babe, might be the reason for your faint. I sent Jenna for food.”
Mary realized she was on her bed. “You carried me to our bedchamber?”
He nodded. “To everyone’s surprise.”
“Oh dear,” she sighed. “Tongues surely must be wagging now, and with us being here only three weeks there will be talk that I was with child before we arrived.”
“No one would even dare voice the thought and chance sending Decimus into a fury. Your faint actually works well for our plans. If you appear sick throughout your pregnancy then your death will be easily accepted.”
Mary had thought differently and another plan began forming in her mind, one she would share with Reena and Brigid when they arrived. It was a plan that would benefit all.
“Are you suggesting I faint more often?” she asked with a giggle.
“Absolutely not,” he said adamantly. “I forbid you from ever fainting again.”
“I do not think the choice will be mine.”
“Then the babe better listen to me well,” he said smiling.
Mary loved seeing him smile. It was so very rare to see him do so, and it never failed to fill her heart with joy.
Decimus splayed his hand on her stomach. “You will not faint again.”
The door opened and a wide-eyed Jenna stood balancing a platter in one hand. From her horrified expression she must have heard Decimus’s order and thought he was issuing it to his wife.
Decimus quickly stood and followed through on keeping his image of a wicked and uncaring soul.
“I do not expect my wife to be an ill and weak-willed woman. See that you remain strong so that you will give me fine sons.” He turned to Jenna. “Make certain she eats and rests and takes walks. I hold you responsible for her well-being.”
Without another word to Mary, he stormed out of the room.
Jenna hurried to her side, her eyes filled with tears. “My lady, you must stay well or he will surely send me to the dungeons for torture.”
“Do not worry, all will be well,” Mary said. She would have no choice but to see Jenna free. If her plan succeeded and Jenna was left behind, she could possibly be made to suffer. So although Jenna did not know it, in a few months time she would be starting a new life.
The days passed pleasantly enough, at least when she was alone with Decimus. He remained a strict, heartless man in front of others. No one dared to question his orders, any directive from him met not an ounce of opposition.
She watched people tremble with fear when confronted by Decimus. And she attempted to listen to the gossip that circulated throughout the fortress, but whispers turned to murmurs in her presence. Everyone feared she would confide in her husband what she had heard and punishment would follow.
Jenna was careful with her remarks, always praising Decimus and reminding Mary of her husband’s orders.
Mary continued to play her part well and to plan. She had hope of their successful escape and she intended to hold that hope strong in her heart and see that it became reality.
Decimus was roused from bed late one evening by one of the guards. He tucked the blanket around Mary and told her to sleep, he would return when he could.
He returned angry, several hours later, bolting the door behind him.
Mary shook away the sleep and sat up to see her husband pacing in front of the fireplace. “What is wrong?”
“Jenna was caught stealing food.”
Mary jumped out of bed and hurried to her husband’s side. “Stealing food?”
He stopped pacing and slipped his arm around her waist. “She was caught taking the leftover food from your tray and giving it to her younger brother, who waited in the woods.”
“What is wrong with that?”
“It is not permitted. It is considered stealing and punishable by severe torture.”
Mary’s legs grew weak. “You cannot be serious.”
He shook his head. “I issued the orders myself when I first came here. I had to make certain they all feared me beyond reason, so that none would question me. I needed complete obedience if I was to be able to come and go from the fortress without question.”
“No one has ever stolen?”
“No one has ever been caught.”
“Except Jenna.”
He nodded. “I found out that Jenna had been sharing her own food with her younger brother who lives in the woods. When she became your personal servant, she began giving him your leftovers. The boy is just as thin as his sister. They were orphaned a few months ago and Jenna had no way to feed them, so she came here to work.”
“Is that how you get most of your servants; they have a choice of either starving or working here?” Mary asked.