The Bride's Portion. Susan Paul

been a distressing one, for Lillis had little experience with men, even less with one so handsome. He’d stood before her, green eyed and dark haired, tall and muscular and much younger than she had realized. His features were purely aristocratic, with a straight nose, expressive eyebrows and a well-shaped mouth. As well, there had been about him a mild and utterly natural expression of superiority, which marked him as the nobleman he was.

      It had taken only a moment before she’d determined that her best defense against such a man would be anger, and so she had steeled herself against him.

      The conversation with her captor, once begun, had gone more smoothly than Lillis had expected. Alexander of Gyer was not the tyrant she had thought he must be; instead, she found him polite, well-spoken and intelligent. He had explained her situation with honest regret, and had listened to all that she’d had to say.

      She’d suffered some shock when he told her of the things her father had done, but he was right when he said that she was not really surprised. Lillis loved her father deeply, for to her he had always been loving and kind, but she knew he was a vengeful man and could be quite cruel. She’d seen enough during her childhood of how he treated his servants and vassals to know these things about him. But she also knew he would listen to her if she only had a chance to speak with him, for he had never been able to deny her anything she’d asked of him. The fact that Alexander of Gyer didn’t believe this was understandable, of course, but extremely frustrating.

      “Are you quite sure that he’ll not change his mind, my lady?” Edyth asked. “Your poor father must be terribly worried by now.”

      “Yes, I’m sure he is,” Lillis agreed. “But, no, I do not think Alexander of Gyer will change his mind. I don’t know what he will do or how he will use us, save I am reasonably certain we shall not be killed or beaten. Still, I do feel foolish sitting here and enjoying ourselves in the luxury of Castle Gyer while my father is probably worrying himself into illness. Too many more days and I promise that I will begin to think of ways to escape our benevolent prison.” At these words Edyth looked absolutely panicked, so that Lillis quickly added, “But we’ll not speak of such things yet. We shall wait a day or two and accept whatever hospitality Alexander of Gyer offers us, and pray that he finds a solution by then.”

      Edyth seemed comforted, and managed a slight smile. As Lillis returned the smile she chanced to look behind Edyth’s chair and saw a movement in the shadows. She bent forward to look more closely and noticed that the shadows were actually two small figures; children who were hugging themselves tightly against the wall to keep from being seen.

      “What now!” Lillis said lightly. “Who have we here? Come and let us see you. Come,” she coaxed. “We’ll not harm you.”

      Edyth turned to see who it was that Lillis addressed and, being closer to the children, was able to discern them more clearly. “Why, what precious little ones!” the older woman exclaimed, dropping her needlework. “What do you do there, hiding so? Will you not come and say hello?”

      But the children seemed thoroughly frightened, if not of Edyth, certainly of Lillis.

      “You’re a witch!” accused a small, trembling voice.

      “My goodness!” Lillis declared with surprise. “Whatever makes you say such a thing?”

      “You look like a witch” came the reply. This time the voice belonged to a boy.

      “Do I? How is it that I look like a witch? I’ve never seen one before, so you must tell me.”

      “You are all white. And you are a giant.”

      “Oh, I see,” Lillis said, repressing the urge to laugh. “Well, I suppose I am all white, as you say, but I assure you that I was born this way and that being such doesn’t make me a witch. As to being a giant, why, I’m not nearly as tall as the Lord of Gyer, am I?”

      “No,” said both voices.

      “And is he a giant?”

      “No.”

      “Then, if I am not as tall as he, and he is not a giant, I am not a giant. Does that not make sense?”

      They were quiet, clearly thinking this through. Finally the boy spoke again. “Barbara said you are a witch. She said that you turn children into mice and drown them in wells. She said you can put a house to fire by pointing your finger at it.”

      “Barbara said you cast spells on people that makes them howl like dogs,” the little girl added enthusiastically, “and that they grow hair all over their bodies and can never be the same again.”

      “Oh, my!” Edyth put one hand over her heart in distress. “What dreadful things to tell children!”

      Lillis finally gave way to an amused chuckle. “So the lady Barbara told you I am a witch, did she? Well, she is quite wrong. I can do none of those things and I most assuredly am not a witch. Come now, I promise I shall not harm you.”

      The children did come, but warily. The closest child was a beautiful little girl, seven or eight years of age, with golden auburn curls atop her head and large hazel eyes full of curious expression. The other, a boy a couple of years older, was surprisingly lanky and thin. He had brown hair and deep brown eyes, and the most serious expression Lillis had ever seen on a child.

      “What lovely children!” Edyth exclaimed, putting out a gentle hand to draw them closer. They willingly moved to the older woman but kept their distance from Lillis, whom they stared at with open distrust.

      “What are your names, my dears?” Edyth asked them.

      “Candis,” whispered the little girl, never taking her eyes from Lillis.

      “I am Justin,” the boy said.

      “It is a pleasure to meet you, Candis and Justin.” Lillis nodded to them formally. “Do you belong to someone in the castle?”

      They looked at her with confusion.

      “How is it that you are here in the castle?” she clarified.

      “We live here. Alex is our brother,” Justin replied.

      “Oh,” Lillis said with disappointment. She had assumed that they belonged to the cook or one of the servants, and had been happy with the prospect of having children close by to spend time with. She sincerely doubted, however, that Alexander of Gyer or his family would appreciate her and Edyth even speaking to Candis and Justin. She looked to see whether the women across the room had any reaction to the children being with them and was relieved to find that Aunt Leta and the others had their heads bent in conversation.

      “Why are you not doing your lessons now, children?” she asked. “It is not yet time for the midday meal, is it? Do you not have a tutor?”

      The boy shrugged. “We do what we want. We did have a tutor last week, but Hugh and Hugo put a snake in his bed and he left. Alex hasn’t found a new one yet, but it won’t matter when he does. Hugh and Hugo always get rid of them in a few days.”

      “Once they put salt in the tutor’s wineglass!” Candis said with a giggle. “It was so funny to see him try to drink it without choking! He was too afraid to tell Alex that the wine was bad!”

      “How horrid!” Lillis said, surprised at the anger in her voice. “Are your brothers not punished after they do such things?”

      “Ye-e-es,” Justin replied haltingly, sounding somewhat uncertain.

      Amazed, Lillis shook her head. “That’s too bad for the both of you, is it not? You are deprived of an education because of your brothers’ behavior. Where are your nurses? Who looks after you during the day?”

      “We only have one nurse,” Justin supplied. “Her name is Molly and she sleeps a lot.”

      Candis giggled again. “She keeps wine hidden in her room and drinks it during the day. We wait until she’s snoring and then we sneak out. But it was hard to wait today, because we wanted to see the witch.”