The Lost Lady Page 3

It was understandable, but it seemed that whatever the Lady had tried to do to mend the situation had not been enough in the eyes of the villagers. Or was it the case of too little too late?

  “And the steward disappeared.” Luveday’s statement was to herself, but it sounded more like a question.

  Durstan, a gruff and dirty looking man-at-arms spoke his mind as he came to the top of the stairs once again. “The blither took off when word came that Sir Gregori and some of the lord’s men were returning home. Took the coin and the good ale and fled. Didn’t realize anything was amiss until Sir Gregori started demanding answers.” The man laughed though not exactly happy. “Didn’t know the skinny pole had it in him. He’s probably to King’s Point by now, drunk off his arse and tupin’…”

  “Durstan!” Gregori growled in warning as he stared the man down.

  Almost managing to look chagrinned, he apologized. “My ‘pologizies Ladies.” He turned away carrying a chair, at the landing a few steps down where the door to the Lord’s solar met it at an odd angle, he stopped and looked back at them. “But you know my meanin’.” He nodded at them, as Gregori came out of the storage room to glare at him in warning.

  While Elli looked shocked, Lady Emmalyn looked resigned, and Sir Gregori continued to scowl at them. This was when Mistress Adela and her lady, Christabel, made their appearance. The noise coming from the hallway drew the two women.

  Elli spotted them first, as they waited outside of the Lady’s chamber that by all rights had been Emmalyn’s. “My Lady Christabel, Mistress Adela!” Her voice was pitched to carry and warn the others of their unexpected guests.

  Christabel was beautiful in that thin and pale-skinned sort of way that teenage models could attain. She looked to be around sixteen, eighteen at most. Her hair was the shiny black of a raven’s wing that looked as if it would curl if not braided around her head so intricately. Her eyes were dark as well, but they were not kind. Her mouth looked like it tended towards poutiness and had a slight downward turn. The Lady was clearly unhappy though she contained it within her frame with an elegant grace.

  It was Adela who spoke. “Lady Emmalyn, young Elysant. What is going on here?”

  The women looked at each other. In their excitement to see what treasures might be hiding in the depths of the storeroom, they had forgotten that Lady Christabel’s chambers were right next door. No one had been concerned for the guests, and no one thought to make an effort to keep the noise down. Both women were at a loss; it had taken them less than a day to find out how changeable Christabel’s temperament was.

  Emmalyn looked to Luveday searching for some excuse to pacify the young lady. She introduced Luveday buying time but didn’t know what else to say.

  “It is my fault, dear ladies.” Luveday addressed Adela and her Lady, trying to copy Emmalyn’s style of speech. “I have arrived unexpectedly. Lady Emmalyn wished to find me a good bed for the night. Her graciousness led to this endeavor. The storage room seemed the best place for a simple woman like me.” She paused to look at the other women who waited almost impatiently. “I sincerely apologize if we have disturbed you. The task has proved to be more than it at first seemed.”

  Both women looked at the furniture crowding the hallway; many were in semi-state of cleanliness. Men continued to trek up and down the stairs redistributing the furniture. Adela looked to her lady, who examined the furniture more than the women. She smiled slightly and nodded. “Carry on Lady Luveday, and Welcome to Lander’s Keep.” Christabel retreated into her chamber, Adela paused to look at the three women curiously. She looked Luveday over thoroughly, nodded as if she approved and then followed her mistress, closing the door behind her.

  Elli and Emmalyn left out their breath in a whoosh that sent more dust swirling. Gregori had remained within the storage room, out of sight, a shadow among shadows listening to the conversation. He could see the curve if Luveday’s right shoulder as she leaned back against the door frame, and Emmalyn leaned against the wall opposite the opening. He noticed when she stood taller, and when her jaw took on a hard edge. Christabel had been an attraction at court, she was a child in Gregori’s eyes, but perhaps her arriving before the allotted time was not a mistake as he had supposed. Perhaps there was something more to her presence, though from what he had gleaned, the lady loathed being here. He thought it was all very interesting.

  Emmalyn and Elli both smiled at Luveday. “Well done,” the lady said.

  Luveday merely smiled back.

  Now that the room was finally clean, Luveday unpacked the tote by dumping its contents on the bed as neatly as she could. Her new clothes were folded at the bottom, she shook them out and placed them on the hooks in the wall. Elli looked on as she unrolled a light fleece blanket that was a plum purple. She’d picked it up for her mother from a street vendor. The throw was secured by a printed brown cardboard wrap around the middle. The craft vendor had embroidered flowers around the edge, turning a five-dollar piece of material into a pretty blanket. She sat the shoes down beside the chest and sat the books on the stool. Upon seeing the volumes, Elli moved closer. There were a few wax-paper bags of jewelry. A few pieces for Annalisa who like the natural, energy-centered quality of the stone. There was also a bag of costume jewelry she’d picked up for the girls. Abigail loved playing dress up. She looked to Elli who had inched closer still.

  Luveday smiled at her. There wasn’t much more she could do under her companion’s watchful eye. The backpack was full of odds and ends that it was probably best to go through later where medieval minds wouldn’t be confused by modern day tech. She needed a distraction to get them out of the room.

  As if on cue, Luveday’s stomach growled. Elli laughed, only for her stomach to make itself heard. They smiled at each other. Luveday was about to comment that she was hungry enough to eat a horse but stopped herself. Other than being un-lady-like she thought it might be possible that they actually ate horses and so kept her mouth shut. Her understanding of medieval cuisine was limited, and so it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Elli solved her dilemma by offering to take her down to dinner. “The evening meal should be about ready. We should go down. Together?”

  “Thank you. Together.” Luveday closed the shutters on the window and then the door behind her as they left.

  “Elysant. That is such a lovely name.” Luveday thought it was beautiful, much like the girl. Elli blushed but smiled happily at her.

  “Everyone at the castle calls me Elli.” She said as if to clarify. Elli had a light complexion with light brown hair braided like a crown around her head. It was a simple style that was popular with the women back home in Luveday’s time. Her face was heart shaped with a slightly pointed chin, and her nose had a small upturn at the tip. She reminded Luveday of a pixie, and the girl’s wit and mischievousness only added to the image.

  Luveday sat at the head table, Elli to her right, Emmalyn to her left. Gregori sat on the other side of the Lady while two places sat empty on the other side of him. Lady Christabel and Adela were taking their meals in their room for the second day in a row. In fact, they had only eaten one meal in the hall since their arrival, which Luveday learned, had been just as unexpected as her own.

  The meal before her was not recognizable, and while everyone ate they did not do so enthusiastically, even though many had worked up an appetite. A few men dined in groups of three or so at the long tables, but their presence only emphasized how empty the castle truly was.

  Dinner consisted of a roundish, slightly burnt piece of flatbread that acted like a plate, a hunk of meat, and a pile of salad greens that looked half weeds and half herbs with a few flowers thrown in for color. There were bowls of something that looked like gravy, something that smelled like vinegar and looked like pickled eel. Luveday’s stomach turned at the sight. The bread soaked up the juices from the meat and was rather tasty though most of the food was served cold, the meat was still warm but rather bland. Luveday ate with a strange two-pronged fork and a kni
fe one of the women had given her. After serving the high table the women went to their own meals, either joining the men or disappearing down a flight of stairs to the kitchen. The conversation was minimal, and while Luveday answered all the questions they asked of her, she was beginning to feel the weight of the day.

  Men got up to return to their posts which seemed to signal the end of the meal. Emmalyn ushered them over to the fireside, but even she seemed worn after the day’s events. It was with a lighter heart that the three women said goodnight to each other. Luveday watched Emmalyn and Elli disappear into their room down the hall before closing her own door.

  Making her way carefully to the window, she knelt on the bed to pull open the shutters. The castle was cold, but the light from the moon was strong enough for her to see a bit more of the room. She pulled out her pack, opened it and started to go through the contents. The cell phone still had power though, not surprisingly, no signal. It was a work phone and had its own hotspot, but there was still nothing for it to connect with. She made sure it was on silent before stashing it in a space behind her headboard. It might be good to count her time here. She hid her I-pod in easy reach of her pillow. She pulled out a pair of boxer shorts, a long-sleeved cotton top and the spare socks and underwear she kept in the bottom of the laptop holder. Not only did they cushion her laptop, but they were there for emergencies. They made convenient nightclothes.

  Undressing was the least of her worries. She took off a pair of gold flats and the blue tights she’s worn for modesty and slipped on the shorts. Her skirt was high waisted, and the vest gave her more of a Victorian feel than the velvets and wools that the other women wore. Luveday wore a sports bra over her pushup bra to keep the latter from moving around. She put on the white cotton shirt, it was baggy, and she had bought it a few sizes larger just to be sure it fit. She wouldn’t consider herself fat, but she wasn’t skinny either. Losing some weight recently had made her feel better about herself but hadn’t made a big impact on her wardrobe. She hung the clothes up and stored her bra in the tote that hung from its hook.

  She sat on the bed, turned on her wind-up emergency flashlight and began sorting through her backpack. Makeup bag. Check. The toiletries included her crystal deodorant, animal-friendly perfume and all-natural lotion, all courtesy of Annalisa. Check. Okay, the other bag of toiletries which included a toothbrush with paste and nail kit. Check. Hair Supplies. Check. Emergency kit. She sat that aside to go through later. First Aid Kit. Double Check. Bag of medications. She thought about taking an Aleve but decided against it. Her headache wasn’t that bad. Waste not, want not; she chimed to herself. Altogether her supplies were rather impressive; one might even say she had planned for something like this, and perhaps they were right.

  Along with her items were things for work. A few notebooks of different sizes, her day planner, pencil case with a bevy of supplies. There was the folder with the meeting agendas and hotel information. She found some snacks; a few protein bars, some fruit leathers, three half-empty packs of gum, two tins of mints, and two large handfuls of individually wrapped ginger candy that had migrated to the bottom of her bag. Two more books joined the pile on the stool. The first was the complete works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Annalisa knew her soft spot for romantic poets and old books, while the other was a romance novel she’s picked up at the airport after she’d finished the two she’d brought on the plane. She looked at the titles of the other three books, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter was a collection of retellings of the old fairytales. Luveday had read it in college and found it at the bookstore for a few bucks. There was a journal, the sticker price tag labeled it the celestial journal, which she had purchased to add to Annalisa’s birthday gifts. The cover was an exotic and beautiful shade of blue that had made her think of the deep Indian ocean. A color she imagined coming out of some hot, arid climate on the back of pack horse along the silk road. Embossed on the cover was a swirling pattern of golden that reminded her of a Persian rug. A gold clasp held the book closed. She’s picked up a quill and ink set to go with it, rounding out her sister’s gift. It looked like Luveday would be using it instead.

  The light began to fade so Luveday spent a minute winding up the lever on the flashlight. The final book was another gift for Annalisa; The Complete Medical Herbal by Penelope Ody. Annalisa had asked her to keep a lookout for such books to add to her growing home remedy collection.

  She stashed her solar charger, another gift from her dad, in the pouch that held her travel chargers and extra electronic add-ons and stuffed them down with her phone. The work stuff went back in her bag; she’d put it in the trunk later. Toiletries went on top of the chest for in the morning. With the bed now clear, she pulled back the covers and did a once-over before laying down. The decorative blanket was over the thick wool and linen sheets. They weren’t smooth like her cotton ones at home, but they were comfortable.

  Turning off the light, she looked out the window, no glass just open air. She was loathed to close it, even though the breeze was cold. Luveday had a habit of going over her to-do lists before she went to sleep, but tonight that proved unsettling rather than a comfort. There wasn’t much she could plan for with all the unknowns. She doubted she would somehow wake in her own bed and hoped to make the most of her current situation. The best she could do was hope that she could be useful here. Useful meant she wouldn’t be forced out into the world with nowhere to go. Useful meant a roof overhead, food in her belly, and a chance at finding out why she was here and how she could get home.

  What-ifs and doubts assailed her. Concerns for her family, friends, her condo, her car. Her life in the other world and what would happen the longer she was lost in this one. She shut down her thoughts, focused on the things in front of her. Tomorrow, you must learn about Lander’s Keep, learn about this country, learn about its people. Be useful, be helpful, be someone they can depend on. And don’t lie, lies will trip you up. That was about all she could do. Luveday turned over, facing the wall below the window she looked up, perhaps the deep windowsill would be a good place to charge her phone if she found something to conceal it. She then promptly shut out the rest of the world and fell asleep much sooner than she would have believed possible.

  Life at Lander’s Keep was everything that Luveday had imagined and then some. Life without running water or electricity was okay for a weekend; modern inventions made it fun to go camping in nylon tents with eco-friendly everything packed into your light-weight, waterproof, space-saving pack. Life in a medieval castle had the trappings of civilization and none of the amenities.

  A woman appeared with a pitcher of water, luckily Luveday was an early riser, or the woman would have walked in without preamble to find her sleeping form. That thought disturbed Luveday a good deal, but there was no latch on her door, and she felt it wasn’t her place to ask. Not yet, at least.

  Privacy was a non-issue, meaning no one thought about it a wit, except Luveday. A brief trip to the garderobe was as disgusting as she imagined, at least state parks had that blue liquid to help with sanitation. She shuttered to think of the smell in the summer. Once back in her room, Elli arrived with a handful of garments.

  “Your clothes are very fine but too light for this time of year.” She laid out a gray wool gown, white undergarments, and a shift. Elli chatted while she helped Luveday dress. “Lady Christabel is a late riser, but she has barely left that room since she arrived. I guess the castle was not what she was expecting, though we weren’t expecting her arrival until late summer when the betrothal time had started; that the King had given the Lady a choice was probably Lord Iain’s doing. He had plans you see, plans to get the castle settled before she came.”

  “Is that why Sir Gregori said he would not be pleased?” Luveday asked as she was laced up from behind.

  “That and the fact that he wanted to give her a proper welcome. No one was there to greet her. There was no fanfare as is fitting a bride. It’s a sad start to things.” Elli turned her around a
dmiring her work. “There, all done.”

  Luveday looked down at herself. The gown fit her in most places. It was a little long, but not too much. The gown’s quality fell somewhere in between Lady Emmalyn’s serviceable velvet and Mistress Agnes from the kitchen with her coarser wool. The fabric was soft, and the gown well made. She felt as if it would help her to fit in better and that was very nice in itself. “Thank you, Elli.”

  “You are welcome, Lady Luveday.” She smiled and rushed to open the door. “Lady Emmalyn wanted to see you in the kitchens if you were awake.”

  Luveday grabbed a pair of gray fingerless gloves and her yellow scarf from the pocket of her jacket before following the girl out.

  The kitchen was a massive affair, something befitting of the castle, though dark and rather quiet. Agnes spoke to Emmalyn as a few women did busy-work around them. Both turned as Elli and Luveday entered the room.

  The women greeted each other. Luveday was as polite as she could be, but she was distracted and looked around in wonder. The kitchen indoors? She hadn’t realized she had spoken aloud until Emmalyn answered her.

  “Aye, not many of its kind. We bake the bread in a separate house, but most of the cooking is done here. Easier to get it to the table hot.”

  “Yes, that is wise. Do you worry about fires?” Luveday asked.

  Agnes answered in her gruff voice. “We keep a good watch and if tended well nothing will get out of hand.” Luveday thought the cook’s words had a double meaning, but she wasn’t sure.

  Luveday was eager to prove herself. “What can I do to help?”

  Agnes eyed her sharply. “You wish to help, lady?” The cook seemed wary, but Luveday couldn’t tell if it was because she was an interloper or a lady.

  “I will earn my keep,” Luveday stated honestly.

  Agnes and Emmalyn exchanged looks, while the cook’s expression did not change, Emmalyn smiled happily. “Good girl. We have plenty of work to go around.”