Cloak of Darkness( return of vesna book 1)

Chapter 5 Eve

After escorting Jutu to the king, Eve whisked away to the laundry room where she found Eva and some other of the staff maids deep in sorting out the royal laundry.
She regarded the young woman silently, her golden hair hidden underneath a whimple, blowing a tendril that had escaped from its confinement. Evaline had unique soft features that even in profile were delicately molded as if by the gods themselves. There was a brilliance to her sapphire eyes that brightened her face. One could never tell what emotions ran through her as she flashed those brilliant eyes. Slight of body she was shorter than Eve by a few inches but her slight form was not to be mistaken for frailty. The girl was strong and vastly foolish of late.
"Eva," Eve motioned for the girl to join her in the corner.
Rinsing her hands from the tub of water, she wiped it clean before approaching Eve. Brow raised she remained quiet as if her silent question could be easily read. Thankfully the chatelaine had become adept at reading the young girls expressions.
"You foolishly drafted yourself in our time of need. Explain?" There was no mistaking the sharpness in Eve's voice. There was a coldness to her face that did not reveal much of what she thought but when it came to Evaline, a spark of affection escaped bleeding into the razor sharp edge of her tone.
Evaline shrugged facing the head of the household with as much guilt as she could muster." I'm sorry?" She tried a smile but the coldness in Eve's eyes was enough to freeze a lake.
"I understand your protective nature toward Darren,but the law is the law Eva, you can't hide him forever." The frost thawed somewhat as she leaned in to whisper. "Go now I can finish up here.  I believe the captain needs you before dawn."
"But there still so much to do. I can manage."
Eve shook her head and pushed Evaline toward the door. "Leave before I change my mind.  You need to gather your strength for what will come. There's no need to report tomorrow.  I will explain everything to the princesses."
As soon as Evaline left she unbuttoned her sleeves and folded them back before picking up what the young girl had left behind.  She was short of a maid, but she would get a replacement from the villages soon enough.
Turning a frosty glance at the rest of the girls. "Quit dawdling . There's work to be done!" On command they shifted their attention to their work.
Lifting the basket of wet garments left behind,she marched out the back door into the cool night air, where a gentle breeze washed over her heated flesh. She spotted the area the where clothes lines were strung from end to end. There, she started to rinse out the wet garments and hang them.
If the people of Meriadon saw what she was up, to they would have snickered. Their once regal queen reduced to this! She shook her head as she adjusted the garment on the clothes line pinning it in place.
Not that she had been much of a queen anyway. In her youth she had been a highborn lady, born to the house of one of the noble blood lines. She had the bone structure of most women from her land, not quite delicate but handsome enough.  Her marriage to the king had been an alliance that would join two noble houses.  It was only a contract nothing more.
From the time she could walk, she had been groomed as most of the ladies in the royal court. Her education went beyond reading and writing to stitching, weaving and acting as a noble should. Being the only girl her two older brothers had taught her some sword fighting just enough to get by but she showed promise and her oldest brother thought to advance her learning by hiring a swordsman of great skill. It certainly did not come in handy when she married the king despite the temptation to use the skill on several occasions.
The king had been double her age of 20 when she married him, average in height for a Meriadonian, he was bulbous rather than muscular. His features were average, disappearing into his round face. His dark hair long and untidy, his beard stuck together from the sticky lard that dropped from the food.
Upon her appearance at court they were married instantly, courtship did not matter as business was being conducted. His thick squat fingers gripped hers like a vice as they said their vows. And after......that's when the horror of her life began.
For seven years she endured his cruelty, it seemed that watching her suffer both physical and mental abused stimulated his appetite to have her.  Throughout her ordeal of rapes and beatings she had pledged to herself that she would not be the one to take her own life.  He would have to do it.
As their marriage progressed she prayed to the gods to quicken her womb but nothing came.  Month after month she bled and his beatings grew more intense.
Once he broke her nose, only to put it back himself causing her slight disfigurement.  Had she been tended by the medics it probably would have healed better but she was past caring. For every violent  act, her heart hardened further until all her innocence was shattered.
She stopped appealing to her brothers for help for they would never have raised a finger toward their king.  He was very powerful, having the backing of the dark Fae lords. He was obsessed with them, worshiped them and did terrible things to his people and the border mortal kingdoms in their name.
After the Light queen was slain her husband had returned, a triumphant gleam in his eye as darkness shrouded him. She had mourned the light queens death as if she had been slain herself when salvation came in the form of war. The king too distracted by the two strong mortal kingdoms to pay her any attention. Just as she plotted her escape, the kingdoms invaded. She was spared by an act of kindness from captain Jacob of the Pretorian army.
He had saved her from assaulting soldiers who would have used her for sport, and bargained with the Pretorian king to take her into the pretorian kingdom.
With her brothers slain and her land lost, she had ridden into this kingdom a stranger, broken from her time as the kings wife and a prisoner of war, there was truly nothing left for her to live for.
Consigned to the castle tower she thought to end her life by jumping off the tower when a young maid found her and held her back. She had clung to Evaline then, sobbing her whole heart out until there were no more tears to shed. In the young girl she witnessed a kindness and in the Captain a strong determination to make her whole. That's when her life began anew.
Shedding her past, she embraced her new life and thought to find purpose for it every day. Being given the Princesses to her care definitely had its challenges, but her life was now in Pretoria, and here in this grand kingdom she was reborn.
By the time she looked at the basket of wet clothing it was empty. "That's all done then," she mumbled about to turn back and retrieve another basket, she stood still as she spied the Captain watching her.
Typical of a soldier his body hardened by battle in form and structure, muscles screamed from everywhere straining against his tunic and leather pants.
The scars on his arms were a testimony of what he may have endured, but she never asked him about those. Neither did she pry about his personal life. His eyes, a deep shade of grey only brightened occasionally otherwise they remained cold, sometimes on the brink of heartlessness. The rest of his fine features were covered by facial hair although she suspected he would have been close to handsome had he attempted to remove some of it.  His hair was shorn on the sides, the rest of it gathered in a single braid that started from the center all the way to the back flowing like a tail just below his shoulders. Strange tattoos marked his exposed scalp reminding her of runes.
Taller than her he stood at least a head above her making his features all the more intimidating.  One would find it ridiculous that he could cut a smile, but for her he did most often and that in itself was unnerving. Just as he was doing at that moment.  They met half way, silently he took the empty basket from her hands and walked beside her to the laundry room.
"How long have you been standing there?" She asked breaking the awkward silence. Had Jutu not hinted at him earlier she wouldn't have felt this awkward. 
She never minded his manner toward her despite the furtive looks she had received at his presence but it had not been the case of late.
"Just about.  I was hoping to share a meal with you this evening but when I searched for you in the kitchens they said you hadn't been."
"So you searched for me here, a place of the most base woman's work." She meant it as a joke but he did not chuckle. Chucking the basket beside the next basin full of wet garments he started shoving them into the basket.
"I don't find it base." He nodded to several of the maids who stood still and watched theirs mouth gaping. "In fact it's an essential chore, one of the most basic yet important in order to maintain good personal hygiene." She watched in amusement as he started wringing the wet garments into ropes and carefully putting them back into the basket.
Motioning to a nearby maid she ordered the girl to take the basket.
"I am impressed, Captain that you consider personal hygiene to be important.  I suppose you impose this on your men?"
She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm as they made their way to the kitchen.
"Oh we wouldn't want the stench of unwashed bodies to litter the court especially when they dine with the king and his family.  That's would be cruelty on the sense of smell."
She laughed ignoring the way he watched her with those stormy eyes.
As soon as they entered the kitchen they sat on the bench for for the servants and waited as they were served by one of the cooks who winked at him before laying a platter of roasted duck garnished by tomatoes, potatoes and other vegetables.  There was some bread and cheese along with a carafe of wine which he pour for both of them.
Taking the carving knife she started slicing portions of the meat for him and her. Serving him some vegetables before passing the sauce.
"This one smells good Matilda" his voice was deep and hard but there was a sensuality to it that seemed to attract the cook.
It was common for the captain to dine with the servants in the kitchen. The cook made everything as special for him as she did the royals, such was her loyalty to the captain.
Handing the glass of wine to Eve their fingers casually brushed but she ignored the intimacy.
"I'm going to be short of a maid once Evaline joins the ranks in training," she began casually, cutting into her meat.
He finished chewing his food before replying. "No choice of mine."
"So I heard. I will be short handed with the gathering looming ahead. I suppose I will have to make do with the recruits from the villages."
"You will have to, the girl will have to train hard if she is expected to participate in the gathering."
"Participate?" Surprise edged her voice. " I thought she would just stay by the sidelines."
He shook his head slicing her a glance. "The prince expects more out of her than that. If your worried, Caspian will be in charge of her training. At least with him she may have a chance with whatever the prince plans." The captain did not have to say anything more for the underlying current of his words revealed endless possibilities.
"That doesn't put my mind at ease." She sipped her drink turning to face the captain. "Is there any way you can get her out of this bind." From experience maids such as Evaline were never dismissed lightly.
"I ......." he took a long swallow of his drink. "It's still several weeks away, let's hope the prince forgets about her." Seeing that Eve was still bothered he leaned forward."I'll make sure she's at the back of the line during practice, he never looks there. Besides he might be distracted enough by the lords who plan to make their entrance into the castle starting tomorrow."
"Goodness I didn't realize they were arriving so soon."
He chuckled at her discomfort. "Only Lord Madden will be coming with his sentry. He was a formidable contender last year and only lost because of a foul. I believe he is on a mission to win which is why he wants to start early. The rest of them are coming to fulfill an obligation."
"I remember Lord Madden, he was very good, every move was perfectly executed."
"Admittedly, Lord Madden and Lord Fenwick are the top contenders of Pretoria, the rest pale in their wake."he mused.
"Will you be participating this year?"
He shook his head, grey eyes darkened as he became thoughtful. "Caspian will step up this year, he's been training for it along with prince Byron, I will be keeping watch making sure that nothing goes wrong. Besides I believe I've played out my share of games. The Gathering is supposed to be an event for the royal court, each of the kingdoms will present four braves mostly lords of the court."
"Except Meriadon," she couldn't help what she said,ignoring his grave stare as she continued to eat her food.