She looked at him, her eyes glimmering. “You are a considerate soul,” she said. “I do believe I like that about you.”
He glanced at her, that sweet little face, that glorious blonde hair. He felt like a giddy squire. “I hope there are other things you like about me,” he said softly.
She looked away, coyly. “I do, too,” she said. “I surely intend to find out.”
She could hear him laughing as they made their way out into the sunshine.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They were in the room.
Joah had fallen asleep, but he was awoken to the sounds of someone moving around in his chamber. He could hear voices, women speaking softly, and he peeped an eye open to see what was going on.
Two women were moving around in the chamber, both of them with bright red hair and pale skin. One was taller and larger than the other, and she seemed to be the one giving the orders because she would point and whisper and the smaller one would do her bidding.
Joah suspected that these were the two women he had heard when he had first been brought into this chamber. The ones that spoke of Tor de Wolfe and Steffan’s sister. He thought perhaps to open his eyes and show them that he was awake but, on second thought, perhaps it was better if he didn’t. They had been forthcoming with a great deal of information the last time he feigned unconsciousness, so he was curious to know just how much more he could learn if he continued to play a witless lump.
So, he lay there and pretended to be unconscious as they moved around the room. Someone put another blanket on him and someone else begin washing his face and arms with cool water, which felt very nice. They didn’t seem to be as talkative this time around, so Joah decided to show them that he was awake. He wasn’t learning anything this way.
He twitched and one of the women gasped. He twitched again and both of them wondered aloud if he was finally awakening. One of them leaned in and spoke softly to him, asking him if he could hear them.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
“Where… where am I?” he asked weakly.
“You are at Blackpool Castle,” the larger woman said. “What is your name?”
Joah closed his eyes, feigning weakness. “My name is Joah,” he muttered, seeing no issue in giving them his real name. “How long have I been here?”
“You came earlier today,” the woman said. “Do you not remember?”
Joah opened his eyes again. “I think so,” he said. “But it all seems like a… dream. A painful dream. Where is my horse?”
The second woman leaned over him from the other side. “In the stables, I would imagine,” she said. “Do not worry about him, for he is being tended to. It is you that we must tend now. Where are you from, Joah?”
He grunted as if in pain. “South,” he rasped. “I… I am a knight errant in search of my next liege. I thought to come north… de Wolfe has many knights… did I make it to a de Wolfe holding?”
The larger woman nodded. “You did,” she said. “I am Lady Barbara and this is my sister, Lady Lenore. Blackpool Castle is the holding of Sir Tor de Wolfe, son of the Earl of Warenton. Do you think you could take some nourishment, Sir Joah?”
Joah nodded, letting both women hold him up as he sipped at a bowl of beef broth. He had a few sips before falling back on the bed, as if sitting up just those short few seconds were all he could bear.
He had to keep up the act.
“Thank you, my ladies,” he said, sounding a little more lucid. “You are most gracious.”
“Will you take more nourishment?”
He waved them off, weakly. “Later,” he said. “I find that conversation might help me to regain my strength just as much as your food. Will you simply speak with me? It has been such a long time since I have spoken to anyone and it is rare when I am in such lovely company.”
Barbara smiled faintly, looking over at Lenore, who was smiling quite brightly. Flattery went a long way with Lenore. As Barbara stood up and went to set the bowl of broth down, Lenore took her place next to Joah’s bedside.
“How long have you been without a liege?” she asked.
Joah closed his eyes wearily. “Long enough,” he said. “My former liege was a cruel man, so I left him to seek my fortune.”
Lenore was interested. “Have you been to many exciting places in your travels?”
He looked at her, young and pale and pretty. “A few.”
“Did you have exciting adventures?”
“More than a few,” he said. “But not without purpose.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I have done many things over the years, things that a man of my skill set is capable of,” he said. “I do what I can to earn money. You see, I have a sickly mother I send all of my money to, so anything I earn goes to her.”
Lenore was greatly sympathetic. “How noble of you,” she said sincerely. “You are a very good son to be kind to your mother.”
He sighed. “She is my mother, after all,” he said. “I have been forced to take some… unsavory tasks that pay very well just so that I can send her the money she needs. I was hoping to find steady work with the House of de Wolfe so I am not forced to take small and terrible tasks any longer.”
Lenore looked uncertain. “I do not know if Tor needs any knights, but I will ask,” she said. “I will ask him to come and see you.”
“Would you?” he said, hope in his voice. “I would be very grateful. But if you hear of anyone needing something, a knight to complete a task of any kind, I would be interested to know what it is. I will do anything for money for my dear mother.”
“What kind of task?”
It was Barbara asking the question, standing behind Lenore and wiping out a bowl. Joah turned his attention to the lass with the eyes as dark as sin.
“Anything,” he said. “If there is a dispute, I have been paid to kill the lord causing it. I have been paid for my sword to fight other men’s battles. I have been paid to abduct a bride for men who wanted one. I have been paid for many things.”
Barbara stopped wiping the bowl. “You have been paid to abduct women?”
“Many times.”
“Where do you take them?”
“Wherever I am told to,” he said. “I’ve dumped women off at nunneries, taken them to men who paid me to abduct them, even taken them to brothels to work off a debt. If you pay me enough, I will take a woman wherever you want me to.”
Barbara stared at him for a moment, pausing in wiping the bowl, before slowly resuming. “It must be well-paying work, then,” she said.
“It is,” he said. “As I said, I have done many things, so if you know of anyone who needs my services, I would be grateful if you could pass along the information.”
Barbara didn’t reply. She simply turned back to the table that contained the bowls and cups and medicaments she had brought to tend to the sick man. As Lenore picked up a wet cloth to put on his forehead, Joah lay back and wondered if his words had any impact.
It was difficult to tell.
They had spoken of wanting Steffan’s sister abducted or, at the very least, removed from Blackpool. The reasons behind it didn’t concern him. All that mattered was that they had unknowingly opened the door for him and he had stepped through, planting an idea in their minds.