“This is not simply my fatigue speaking,” she contended. “I have thought about this for a while now.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. “Then allow me some time to think it over as well.”
His dark eyes softened her.
“How much time?” she dared to ask.
“We can talk in the morning,” he offered. “Surely your plans can wait until then.”
Liesel bit her lip and risked another glance toward Maria. As much as she didn’t want to stay any longer, she didn’t have anywhere else to go that night.
She would just have to endure another long night trapped in the hut with the crazy woman.
Long after Maria retired, Liesel was still awake, toiling away over the wash barrel in the dim, flickering light of the dwindling fire. Her hands were raw and wrinkled from the wash water, but she refused to quit scrubbing until she had washed all of the mud from the skirts of her new dress. She was determined to show Maria that the dress was actually far from ruined.
When the stains had finally been vanquished, she collapsed into her straw pile in the corner, but her relief was short-lived.
“My shoes!” she groaned as she noticed them lying at her side. Caked in so much dirt, they were almost unrecognizable as such.
Her limbs felt so heavy. She was tempted to just ignore them until the morning, but considering her plans to set out on her own on the morrow, she knew she wouldn’t want drenched, sloshy shoes if she would be walking all day.
Stifling a groan, she plucked the shoes up and pushed herself back to her feet. There wasn’t time to waste grumbling about it. After rolling up the sleeves of her old peasant shirt once again, she plunged the shoes into the murky water and scratched at the dirt until the buckles were gleaming and the shoes were purple once more.
When they had finally been restored, she set them on the warm hearth next to her dress to dry. She then settled into her straw bed for a fitful night of sleep. She couldn’t risk a deep slumber. After Maria’s nefarious act this afternoon, she didn’t dare leave her dress and shoes in such a precarious place. She would have to make sure she awoke first to ensure no “accident” befell them so close to the fire.
Roderick punched down the straw of his makeshift bed and tried to get comfortable for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night. Sleep was proving to be elusive while his thoughts were tumbling over themselves in his mind.
What was he going to do about Liesel? He couldn’t let her go yet. Per his agreement with her father, he was still committed to almost three more weeks. How was he going to convince her to stay? Until the month was complete, she was his responsibility, and he couldn’t very well protect her and watch over her if she left.
And then there was the matter of Maria. Something was obviously amiss between the two young women, but he was clueless about what could have happened or what he could do about it. He knew Maria sometimes had a difficult disposition, but her grumpiness couldn’t explain the trace of fear he had detected on Liesel’s face when she had looked over at his sister tonight. What had Maria done to the poor girl?
He turned over in the straw bed, and nodded to the wall. He would have to have a talk with his sister the next morning. He wasn’t sure what he would say, but he couldn’t very well have her terrorizing their guest. Especially if he had to leave them alone together for the next few days.
He groaned. How was he going to convince Liesel to stay when he had to leave her? The timing of his summons from the castle was most unfortunate. If Liesel wished to escape Maria, she wasn’t likely to be thrilled about being left alone with her.
He punched the straw down again, and tried once more to settle comfortably into his bed. He had to think of a solution. After all, there was always a solution. He just needed to think of it.
As he tugged on his blanket, his arm smacked against something hard and the object fell over with a hollow thump. Propping himself on an elbow, he looked over at the toppled piece of pottery. A jug was lying on its side surrounded by several cups and vases. He had forgotten about the spare pieces he had piled there in the barn. Finding them again gave him an idea, and he glanced over the pottery with renewed interest. He counted the pieces. Disappointment swept through him when he only counted about thirty items in the collection. It wasn’t much, but he prayed it would be enough.
Liesel was relieved when she awoke before Maria began stirring the next morning. Eager to avoid a confrontation, she tiptoed to the fireplace in absolute silence and donned her drenched dress. The clingy, cold fabric sent chills through her frame all the way down to her curled toes. She frantically rubbed her arms and urged the dress to dry faster. The first chills of autumn were biting in the air, and she had no wish to have her escape thwarted by catching a cold.
After slipping on her shoes, she didn’t waste any time in idleness before she began scouring the room silently for a map. Water squirted out the sides of her shoes with every step, but she paid the soaked shoes no heed. Wet shoes were the least of her worries right now.
She rifled through the books stacked along the shelves on the wall. Surely Maria must have a map somewhere. She desperately needed one if she was going to devise a viable plan before her talk with Roderick this morning.
She snapped the last book shut in frustration just as Roderick entered the room.
“You’re up early,” he greeted.
“So are you.”
He nodded toward the book in her hand. “Have you been up all night reading?”
She set the book back on the shelf with an irritated sigh. “No, I was looking for a map.”
“I gather you didn’t find one.”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Then you still intend to leave?”
“I don’t intend to leave. I am leaving,” she insisted as she returned the rest of the books on the table to their previous places on the shelf.
Roderick walked forward to stand at her side. “Please stay, Liesel,” he urged quietly.
“Why? I thought you would be delighted to be free of me.”
“Have I ever made you feel unwelcome?”
She turned to face him. “No, you haven’t.”
“Has Maria?”
She shook her head and walked to her corner of the room. “Such things do not matter anymore.”
“I can talk to her.”
A bark of a laugh escaped Liesel before she could suppress it. “Your lack of experience with the workings of women is quite evident,” she observed as she neatly folded her old peasant clothes beside the straw on the ground.
“You cannot leave like this. We hardly have any money saved. If you leave now, you’ll starve before the month is through.”
“I’ll find some way to make do.”
“Liesel, let’s discuss this. I can’t let you walk out the door to your death. Especially with winter coming.”
He crouched beside her and waited for her to look up at him. After she reluctantly met his gaze, he went on, “I found a few more pieces of pottery in the barn. I stored them there when they didn’t fit on the handcart that first day you went to the market. If you will stay and sell those pieces, you can take all of the profits when you leave.”
She shook her head. “That wouldn’t be fair …”
“You’ll need the money far more than me.”
Liesel was stunned by his generosity. “Why would you do such a thing? The pottery is yours.”
“I can’t let you leave until I’m sure you’ll be well-cared for. The extra money won’t solve all your problems, but you have to admit it would help.”
Liesel thought it over, but then turned away from him. “I can’t stay. Please don’t ask any questions, but I simply cannot stay in this hut with Maria any longer.”
“Would you consider sleeping in the barn?”
“Of course not!” she exclaimed, clearly horrified. “We are only betrothed, not married!”
He shook his head. �
��No, I won’t be there. It would be perfectly proper. I’ve been summoned to the castle and will be staying there for the next few days.”
“The king wants you to play for him?”
“You are clearly surprised.”
“No, I know you are talented. I’ve seen you perform, as you should remember very well. It’s just unexpected. I didn’t realize you’d have to stay at the castle when your home is so near.”
Roderick nodded. “I have to stay there so I can be available at any hour to perform for the court whenever the king desires.”
“That’s wonderful for you … I wish you the very best with it … But now I have absolutely no desire to stay. If you leave, I will be alone with Maria on this farm, and sleeping with the rats in the barn. Hmmm … it’s a tempting prospect, but I think I’d rather fend for myself in the forest.”
“You couldn’t even endure remaining here for a few more days if you had the promise of my earnings from the castle too?” he challenged.
Liesel’s jaw dropped. “I cannot ask that of you.”
“I would never make you ask. If you stay, sell the pottery, and take what the castle gives me, you will easily have enough money when I return to set off wherever your heart wishes to take you.” He leaned sideways and nudged her shoulder. “You may even have enough time while I’m gone to find that map you were searching for.”
Liesel bit her lip as she thought everything over. “It feels wrong to take all your money.”
“Until you leave, we are betrothed, and I consider it ‘our’ money.”
“But we have no intention of following through with the betrothal, so that argument is wholly without merit.”
“Then take it as a favor.”
“How is that?” she questioned incredulously.
“If your father ever seeks me out and discovers I broke my promise to him, I better be able to tell him I didn’t release you penniless and defenseless from my home or he would quickly make me pay for such a crime. And I doubt he would show any mercy.”
“You would be dead by the end of such a conversation,” Liesel grimly acknowledged.
“Then preserve my life and take my money,” he begged with a hint of a smile.
Liesel couldn’t help but laugh, and she knew her resolve was crumbling.
“Oh Roderick,” she replied, suddenly overcome with emotion. “You treat me better than I deserve.” She searched his eyes for a long moment and then quietly added, “I’m confident my father could not have entrusted my care to a person with a more noble heart than yours.”
“All of the other princes who attempted to court you would probably disagree,” Roderick countered lightly.
“But it wouldn’t make it any less true,” Liesel replied in earnest, impulsively taking his hand. “I’m beginning to see that nobility is deeper than just owning a title.”
His hand gave hers a squeeze, and her gaze dropped to their clasped hands. Something within her stirred at the sight, and instantly her heart began to pound. She felt a frantic worry swell inside. What had she done? This was no way to act when she was about to leave!
When he didn’t release her hand or break the silence, her eyes eventually gravitated back to meet his. Immediately, she wished she hadn’t. The intensity of his look and the feelings it evoked within her was unsettling.
He was a peasant. And she was trying to leave him to find a better life for herself. She needed to let go. She needed to be able to think clearly. And she obviously couldn’t do that while holding his hand.
She moved to pull away, but Roderick didn’t let go.
“Roderick?” she whispered, trying to break the spell, but saying his name only plunged her deeper into it.
“Liesel, I …” Roderick answered, pulling her forward. “I …”
His voice merely trailed off as his gaze dropped to her lips.
Her heart rang like thunder in her ears as her mind registered what was happening. He was going to kiss her! She was sure of it. She was, of course, surprised by that fact, but what was more surprising to her was that she suddenly didn’t want to pull away anymore.
Just as she closed her eyes and moved to lean forward to meet him, the door to the adjacent room swung open.
Liesel jumped back at the startling sound and Roderick immediately released her. Folding her arms, she spun around and walked to the fire, eager to quickly put as much space as possible between them.
“Roderick!” Maria practically screeched at her brother. “What are you doing here so early?”
Roderick ran a hand through his hair. “Calm down, Maria. I needed to tell Liesel that I’ll be staying at the castle for the next few days. You know that. I have to leave within the hour.”
“It didn’t seem like much was being said,” Maria countered. “Next time, I’d be more than happy to deliver a note for you.”
“Thank you, but I very much prefer delivering my own messages,” he answered firmly.
Liesel turned away again from the brother and sister and focused all of her energy on watching the dancing flames of the fire as she tried to think of a way to gracefully excuse herself. She closed her eyes and wished she could simply disappear. She could feel Maria’s seething eyes burning into her back, and the speed of her racing heart was proof that Roderick’s presence was still affecting her.
Maria started slamming bowls around as she began her breakfast preparations and Liesel wondered when Roderick would leave. She began to offer a silent prayer that he would just do so to alleviate some of the tension in the room, but she stopped herself before she was through. Perhaps it would be in her best interest if he did stay a little longer … at least long enough to keep Maria from poisoning her breakfast. The woman looked quite capable of such a thing this morning.
That thought made her realize that she probably ought to start making her own meals while Roderick was gone. In the least, it would be a good practice for her before she set out on her own.
After she had finally managed to collect herself, Liesel cleared her throat and turned back to face Roderick and Maria.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Liesel addressed the siblings. “I believe I should go to the barn now and take inventory of my pottery so I can see what I’ll be selling this week.”
Roderick nodded his approval. Her declaration let him know that he had won their argument and his satisfaction was obvious. She would stay a few days more.
But only until he returned, she silently swore. The sooner she left, the better.
As she stepped outside into the crisp morning air, her wet dress made her feel as though she were encased in ice. A violent shudder wracked her frame and she wished she could simply return to her place by the fire. But that wish only lasted a moment. There was absolutely no way she was going to go back inside that hut just yet.
After squaring her shoulders, she sprinted to the barn and quickly closed the door behind her. Breathless, she leaned back against the wooden wall and looked around at her future accommodations. The smell emanating from the lumps of manure in the horse’s nearby stall was unsavory to say the least, but there was plenty of straw on the other side of the room to make a warm bed. At least she could be grateful for that.
She smiled wryly at her surroundings. Two weeks ago she would have shrieked at such a prospect. Now she only felt consuming relief.
But anything would be better than being confined alone under the same roof as Maria.
At the thought of that woman, the image of Maria’s livid form stumbling into the room only moments before popped into Liesel’s mind. Liesel shook her head at the memory. She hated feeling indebted to the woman, but she was actually grateful Maria had barged into the room.
It was unfathomable how close she had almost come to veering from her charted course.
She shut her eyes against the details of that particular moment. She couldn’t dwell on such thoughts. She couldn’t let herself get distracted.
If she did, she knew she could easily lose her heart t
o a man so strong and good as Roderick, and then … then she knew she would be utterly lost forever.
Chapter Eleven
Liesel welcomed the stiff wind that whipped against her on her way to the marketplace that morning. Her dress was still chilled, but she reasoned that any discomfort she presently felt was still an improvement compared to the breakfast she had just endured.
The morning meal had been beyond uncomfortable. It was remarkable how much had been said in the ten minutes around the table without anyone speaking a word to each other. Liesel had wanted to simply avoid it altogether, but Roderick had insisted she join them.
At least she had prevailed when she had insisted on walking to the marketplace alone. It would have been utterly foolish to allow Roderick to accompany her as he had proposed.
Distance. Distance was the key to regaining control of her heart, she reminded herself.
When she finally arrived in the marketplace, she stubbornly set up her table at the same empty corner again. She wasn’t about to change locations in case Maria happened to pass through the market again. Liesel would show Roderick’s crazy sister she could not be intimidated so easily.
The morning progressed as expected, except Liesel was surprised by the large number of people that were passing through the city so early in the day. Crowds like this were much more common later in the afternoon.
She didn’t think much more of it until she saw a band of soldiers turn a nearby corner and begin to travel her way. Instantly, her attention was arrested by the familiar yellow and black coat of arms they bore on their shields and raised flags.
Liesel let out a small cry and reflexively slumped in her seat and shaded her face. Oh, this was not good. Why did she have to be so stubborn? If only she had set her pride aside and moved back to her original, obscure location this morning, she wouldn’t now be faced with this predicament! She was sure she would melt into a puddle of mortification if she were detected!
Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale Page 10