Heart's Magic Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
stables and the horses, just as he did. She wished he were still
with her, still hard inside her. She would order him to come to her
again later after the evening meal was over and she would see to it
that he pleasured her again and again. She would keep him with her
all night long.
    In the meantime… She let her hands slide down
to the place where Brice had been, her fingers rubbing and
pressing, and for a little while the menacing shadows retreated
into the corners once more.

Chapter 3.
    “Gentle sirs,” said Robin, appearing at the
guestroom door, “I am sent to conduct you to the great hall for the
evening meal.”
    “I am surprised to see you here,” Giles
responded. “I thought you were a stableboy.”
    “No, sir.” Robin’s face was freshly scrubbed
and beneath a tangle of damp, reddish-brown curls his gray-green
eyes were bright. “My father was the seneschal here at Wroxley
before Sir Brice. My mother is seamstress now to Lady Alda and I
should have been a page, but Lady Alda took a dislike to me and
told me to get myself off to the stables and occupy myself there. I
am good with horses. I cared for yours very well.”
    “I am sure you did, lad,” said Hugh. “Tell
me, why is your father no longer seneschal here?”
    “He died soon after Lord Udo. They had the
same disease.” The cheerfulness faded from Robin’s face, but he
seemed to be a boy who held a positive outlook on life and he soon
brightened again. “Then Sir Brice came to Wroxley and brought Lady
Mirielle with him. She is teaching me to read and she begged Lady
Alda not to send my mother away.” Robin’s face glowed as he spoke
of Lady Mirielle.
    Giles thought of the scene in the stable with
Robin on his knees to the plain, middle-aged woman. Once again he
wondered about Mirielle’s true appearance. Perhaps when Robin
looked at her he saw something Giles and Hugh were not permitted to
see.
    “Sirs,” Robin asked, looking from one man to
the other, “will you come with me now?”
    “Of course we will,” Giles said. “Lead on,
Robin. I am hungry.”
    “At evening we usually eat the cold meat left
from the midday meal, with cheese and bread,” Robin informed them
as he showed them the way along a narrow stone corridor, the walls
of which were pierced at intervals by arrow slits. The boy
continued down a stone staircase with the two men following him.
“For tonight Lady Mirielle has ordered special dishes prepared in
your honor, so we will feast on roasted fowl. There is a pigeon pie
freshly made, and an almond custard. I do like almond custard.”
    “I take it you are allowed to roam the castle
at will,” Hugh said. “You range from the stables to the kitchen to
the great hall.”
    “My favorite place is Lady Mirielle’s
workroom,” Robin said. “Mother tells me to stay out of Lady Alda’s
way and she never goes to the workroom, so it is quiet there. Sir
Giles, is it true that you are suffering from an old battle wound?
Would you tell me the story of how you got it?”
    “Warfare is not as exciting as it is made out
to be,” Giles said. “But if there is time while I’m here, I will
tell you of my adventures.”
    “Sir,” Robin asked Hugh, “are you a knight,
too?”
    “Only when I cannot avoid it,” Hugh said. “I
prefer more scholarly pursuits.”
    “Then you must talk with Lady Mirielle,”
Robin told him. “She knows everything. She is a most learned
lady.
    “Here we are,” Robin continued, leading them
into the hall and toward the dais. “Lady Mirielle said you are to
sit at the high table. Now, if you will excuse me, gentle sirs, my
place is below, with my mother.” With a bow Robin left the two men
standing beside the benches set at the high table.
    “He has fine manners for a boy who spends his
days in the stables,” Giles noted. “Is it the result of Lady
Mirielle’s training? It would seem she has informally made him her
page after he was denied that position by the mistress of