The Affairs of Mortals

Chapter 7

Vero hated being cooped up in a bed. Even when she was sick as a girl, she had still given Mama no end of trouble making her lay down to rest. There was nothing else for it though. Most of her minor fractures were well on their way to mending, but her right leg has been totally shattered and her spine severely injured. Half the physicians brought to examine her urged her to temper her expectations of ever walking faster than a hobble again.

Jean sent those men away and retained only the half that believed in a full recovery- or at least those who claimed so. From the moment she had woken, Jean and his doctors had visited her constantly. The healing priests prepared a therapeutic schedule to manage her recovery. Jean stood by and listened to everything they had to say, then when they were finished, he would sit by her bed and caress her hand, occasionally leaning forward to exchange kisses with her.

At first, Jean had asked her many questions about herself, but he quickly realized that was one of Vero's most detested subjects of conversation. Instead, they discussed her previous hunts, a subject Vero felt much more at ease speaking about. She told him about the mountain lion which had become possessed by a rogue fae to snatch children with until she and her master had put it down, about the gibbering dead who had risen from the untended slain left behind by the mass battles of the civil war, and also about the false unicorn she and her master had exposed near the border with the Imperium.

Jean listened to her with unexpected interest. He had even heard the second-hand accounts of the unicorn and was greatly amused to learn the true tale of the matter. He returned her stories with some of his own. His father had remained aloof from the War of the Bastards until the end. Consequently, as a hot-blooded youth Jean had no choice but to throw himself into tournaments with reckless abandon and earned a reputation in both the melee and the joust. All his stories were filled with knightly valor – Vero's favorite kind of story – and she listened to him tell them with devoted attention. Eventually, Jeans father did commit them to a side in the war – the winning side, of course – and Jean had his opportunity at real battle. However, he did not speak of the war with relish, and Vero did not press him on the topic.

He was such a constant companion to her that she almost forgot how dreary it was to be trapped in bed all day, aside from her brief bouts of painful exercise. There were four of them total sleeping in the tent, which might have been uncomfortably close if Jean's pavilion was not larger than most peasant families' homes. Vero's bed was almost in her own room with the curtain between them. Her father had been the richest commoner in their village, but even the house she grew up in had only a single room.

The first nights after Jean had kissed her, she was afraid that he might simply come to her bed and take his pleasure from her, but he had not. Jean stayed in his own bed and his squire slept in a pallet at its foot. Vero and Antoinette shared a bed together and Vero found it very pleasant to have someone to hold as she fell asleep.

Fra Heward had come to visit her once, but only briefly. He had been called by his bishop to answer for all that had happened at Kaer Longus. Vero had tried to convince him to ask Jean for help explaining matters to his church, but he had refused. Relying on the Marquis' support would only reaffirm that he had lost his objectivity. The templar preferred to be vindicated only by his own actions, and Vero respected his choice.

Whenever they moved camp further into Umbria to subdue the next batch of disloyal vassals Vero traveled on a cart with Antoinette. Jean had offered her more servants, but Vero had turned them down. At least with Antoinette Vero could convince herself that the girl was not really a servant, but only her friend.

The necessities of campaigning began to draw more and more of Jean's time and Vero was shocked to find how quickly she had come to depend on his company. Fortunately, Jean traveled with a small library and he put it at her disposal to entertain herself with while he was away.