The Lady Quill Chronicles - The Promise

The Lady Quill Chronicles - The Promise - Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Rafe reined in as dusk approached at a place he thought suitable for camp and, having hobbled his horse, approached Lady Adele and Eda with the obvious intention of helping them to dismount.

“Had we best not continue?” Adele looked up at the darkening sky. “It will be night soon and we have not arrived at our lodging place…is it far from here?”

Rafe gazed up at her in faint amusement.

“We have arrived, lady Adele.” he answered reaching up and lifting her, with an ease she found she rather liked, and depositing her gently on the floor before turning to lift Eda off after her. Adele was grateful for the care with which he had set her down, for her feet were numbed with cold and even standing was uncomfortable.

 Adele looked around; she took in the huge trees, nothing more than dark shadows against the sky and the small clearing. She could see no habitation and although sheltered, Adele was conscious of the cold seeping through her clothes. She pulled her cloak around her more closely.

“I don’t see a dwelling,” she observed.

Rafe laughed, an explosion of sound that made her jump, she felt Eda grip her arm with a start.

“Do you not, my lady?” he asked quizzically, “but we have wooden walls and a roof of stars and if my lady will wait but a moment we shall have a fire to warm us too!”

He was smiling again as he looked down upon her, teasing her for her lack of understanding. Her eyes calm and clear, were regarding him steadily.

“You mean we are to sleep outside.” she stated quietly.

“Correct.” Rafe turned away, despite his smile he had been nervous thinking that she might indulge in hysterics, her calm acceptance was a blessed relief.

“Outside!” Eda looked over her shoulder and all around. “We can’t, you can’t expect us to!”

Rafe began to drag wood together, ignoring Eda’s outburst.

“It will be fine, Eda.” Adele’s voice was comforting, she was sitting on the blanket Rafe had taken from the horse with her cloak folded around her. Her voice seemed to calm Eda.

“But…Adele!”

“It will be fine, Eda, can you not see that Finn is making a fire for us?”

Eda drifted over to where Adele was sitting and Adele slipped her hand into her friend’s, squeezing it slightly.

“Just think Eda, what an adventure it will be!”

“A very cold adventure.” muttered Eda with a sniff.

Adele smiled softly, bringing Eda’s hand to her cheek and resting her face against it.

Rafe watched them out of the corner of his eye as he carefully coaxed a flame to the wood, which he fed until he had a roaring fire, with a sigh of relief he realized that neither lady was going to indulge in tears.

Eda moved towards the flames instantly, drawn by the promise of warmth, but Adele hung back, still sitting on the blanket he had removed from Charger’s back and watching in growing admiration as, under his ministrations, the fire took hold, casting a warm light over his features.

A smile was playing about the corners of his mouth, softening the harshness that she viewed as habitual but which in truth had only plagued him for the last few days. He was, she could see, enjoying the task and in return the task seemed to be melting the tension from him. He sat staring into the flames for a long while after he had finished building it up, as though he had forgotten them, his task, even the surroundings.