(Featured Story in Spanish) Ardith Cuthberht is the daughter of the powerful duke of Harzburg. When she was a girl she lost her beloved mother and as a grown lady the man she loved was sent to battle in far away regions. One day Ardith found a seve...
When Ardith arrived to the bedroom, she found his father standing by the bed where Leila was still asleep. He stared fixatedly at the young woman when she interrupted his trail of thought. "Father, what are you doing here?" the young duchess carried a tray with a pot filled with a thick and fragrant broth and a few loaves of bread on it. She carefully placed it on the bedside table to then beam a pry look at her father, still waiting for his reply.
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"I was curious. Everyone was talking about this woman. You were the one who brought her here and I wanted to see her. This unfortunate girl has stirred up the servants and they only talk about her and I can see why... she is so beautiful."
"Yes, it's a tragedy what the poor girl has gone through. I can't imagine what she had suffered, felt and faced throughout these years after being kidnapped beaten and raped. Endless days and nights helpless and away from her beloved ones."
"Oh, God... Is that what happened to her?" Lord Aelderic was shocked.
"Well... when I found her in the woods near the cemetery..." In the instant Ardith began to narrate the events, Leila woke up, whispering Ardith's name. But when she realized there was a third person in the room, a man she didn't knew, she reacted erratically. Pulling the bed sheets up to her neck, Leila wrapped herself and crawled back to the bead's headboard like a terrified child, in the exact way she did when physician examined her earlier that morning. As if the woman had seen a ghost, her eyes dilated, blacker than the night itself.
Jolting back, Ardith's father leered at Leila shocked by her strange reaction.
"Who is this man Ardith and what is he doing here?" Leila was shaking, her eyes darting straight to Lord Aelderic with a mixture of helplessness and terror on her face.
Motherly, the young duchess sat next to Leila. Like a little girl, the raven haired lady cuddled to her sides, her face nested on her chest while Ardith embraced her, stroking her head to calm her down. "He is my father, Lord Aelderic Cuthberht, Duke of Harzburg. There's no need need to be afraid. I told you that I was going to protect you. No harm will ever fall upon you the time you are staying here."
A little bit more relaxed, Leila sat straight on the bed, giving the duke a faint smile. The handsome man extended his hand to the young belle in an attempt to prove he was reliable. She hesitated at first, but then she reached her hand in the same way to greet Lord Aelderic.
"Leila, I don't know the details of your misfortune, and I do not pretend you to reveal me anything now if this will cause you any pain. You can tell me when you feel ready to do so. I just want you to know that meanwhile you are under my protection and my daughter's care, nothing will happen to you, I give you my word on that. Here you will be safe and no one, absolutely no one will ever touch you against your will again. Do you understand?" The nobleman reassured her.
With a tear rolling down her cheek, Leila nodded. Her eyes were poignant opaque onyxes. A great suffering was reflected on her weary and pale body, tangible on the marks of violence and abuse on her skin. The duke smiled to her reassuringly while holding her hands. Something was moved inside him and for a moment the man was unable to stare anywhere else than this striking woman in front of him. The more he looked at Leila the more mesmerizing, enigmatic she was to him.
"Father..." Ardith cleared her throat reminding him she was still there. She tried to wake his father up from the reverie in which he appeared to be immersed. It was the first time the duchess saw her father like this and inferring he was moved by some overprotecting fatherly instinct, she smiled touched by the scene. Ardith knew that he was a very sensible and kind gentleman who found rewarding to help all of those in need. Nonetheless, Lord Aelderic understood he might look a bit awkward to his daughter and it was obvious the meaning her insistent gaze and so he let go Leila's hand gently. Ardith continued talking to her father. "It's time for Leila to eat before the broth gets cold on the table."
"Oh, yes... of course. I will leave you two girls now. I hope Leila recovers soon and I know she will... It was a pleasure to meet you Leila."Standing up, the Duke told Leila.
"The pleasure was all mine, Lord Aelderic... Thanks for your kindness and for your hospitality." Leila replied in a girlish voice.
After the duke left the guest dormitory, Ardith grabbed the soup bowl and sat by Leila's side. Assisted by the duchess, the woman slowly sipped the broth grimace after grimace. Ardith laughed to the exaggerated gestures drawn in Leila's face every time she had to swallow a spoon-full of the soup.
"Come on, Leila. It's not that bad. I prepared it myself and tasted it before giving it to you. I'm a good cook, did you know?" Ardith smiled.
"It's not bad at all... It is that I had never tried this broth before. It has an odd taste to me."
"How can that be you'd never had it? It's a very common broth recipe... This soup just contains herbs and vegetables... What things are given to the people when they get sick in Swabia?"
"Let's say that it is other kind broth, one thicker and comforting... The recipe is so powerful that it can revive the dead ones."
"Oh Leila, the things you say. Well, if it's so invigorating, you have to share the recipe with me." Ardith giggled placing the plate back into the tray.
"Of course I will share soon that recipe with you. Consider it done my friend." Leila crooked her lips up, winking her eyes playfully.
"Well Lady Leila, it's time to bathe and change into clean clothes. It's been almost two days wearing the same nightgown", Ardith assisted Leila up and then guided her to the attached room where the lavatory was.
***Oh, Lord Aelderic! Do you think he had a truly fatherly reaction or was moved by something else? What do you think of Leila, Ardith and the Duke by this moment?
