Chapter Sixteen
Kailen’s mind was drawing a complete blank.
He knew Aurelia was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and an exquisite olive complexion. Her eyes are what drew him first, green eyes that seem to spit fire at him, gaze at him with a new challenge every day. It made his heart rate pick up. Not many women would dare look at him that way.
But seeing her now, washed and dressed as a Briton, it did something strange to his insides, made his brain sluggish and his skin feel too hot. It seems an odd thing to think about, but he thought she looked better dressed as a Briton than she did as a Roman.
He couldn’t help but smile inwardly, wandering what her reaction would be if he voiced his thoughts to her aloud.
Something scathing, he was sure.
He glanced at her sandal clad feet. “The sandals don’t really match the dress.” He forced himself to speak.
She followed his gaze down to her feet. “Your sister said someone would fit me for new shoes.”
He nodded, putting his sword back in its scabbard and the whetstone into the little pocket on the side of the sheath. “I will apply to our tailor today.” He promised. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet.” She answered, walking further into the hut.
“Renna brought over some bread to break our fast.” He said, gesturing to the pounded flat breads on an earthenware plate. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the space, making his stomach growl.
The smell seemed to have the same effect on Aurelia as her eyes brightened at the sight. “They smell good, she must be a wonderful cook.”
“She is.” He smiled, thinking of the gentle healer. “A lot better than anything I can do myself.”
He had grown up with her as she was only a year younger than he was. When his mother had died and his father disappeared, she had made it her mission to fill the gap by taking care of him and his brother. He used to wander if Trystin had thoughts of making her his wife, but nothing had come of it. Or rather, it was too little too late. Now, with no woman to look after him, she had made sure he was at least feeding himself properly.
“I don’t doubt it,” Aurelia said with a sardonic tilt to her lips. She took one of the flat breads from the pile and bit into it, the look of pure delight spreading across her face at the taste.
He caught himself staring again.
Snapping himself out of it, he stood beside her and took a flat bread for himself, his teeth sinking into the still warm dough. “She’s outdone herself today.”
“So she will be showing me what to do here?” Aurelia asked, licking her fingers clean.
Kailen cast his eyes elsewhere. “She’ll teach you everything you need to know about your place here.” He agreed. “I’ll take you to see her once you’re done with breakfast.”
She looked up at him. “And you? What are you going to do?”
Kailen grinned. “I’ve been away from the rest of my warrior for a while, so I expect they have slackened on their training in my absence. I’m going to remind them of their duties.”
“You sound positively gleeful about it,” Aurelia said, amused.
“Oh, I am.” He snatched another flat bread and took a massive bite out of it. “I am.”
~
After finishing their breakfast, Kailen showed her the way to a hut in the centre of the village where Renna, the medicine woman, lived. Despite having her relatives live close by, Renna chose to live by herself so those in need of her aid could come to her without any fears of being underfoot.
When they stepped inside, Aurelia was assaulted with the heady scent of herbs and spices. Dried bunches of every imaginable root was hanging up on wooden frames and the air was humid from a large fire that Renna was tending to.
She glances up as they entered and offered a smile and a greeting. Aurelia wasn’t sure what she was expecting from Renna when they would be introduced. Aurelia was technically sharing Kailen’s hut with him, the man Renna was obviously liked more than just a friend. Renna could receive her with open hostility, or a courteous but cold welcome or total indifference.
Instead, Renna stands up and nods her head to Aurelia with kindness. “Welcome! You must be Aurelia, Kailen’s War Prize.”
Aurelia cast a quick glance up at Kailen, almost like a knee jerk reaction, before looking back at Renna. “I am. And you are Renna.”
Renna nodded. “I am to help you settle into tribe life as easy as possible.”
Aurelia refrained from pointing out that, Gods be good, she won’t be here long enough to settle in. But it couldn’t hurt to know what would offend and insult those who held her life in their hands.
Enna turned to Kailen. “Will you stay for something to drink?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The training grounds are calling me and I dare not leave the men unsupervised any longer.”
“As you wish.”
They said their goodbyes before Kailen turned to Aurelia with a smirk. “I trust that you’ll behave for Renna, won’t you?”
She smirked back sarcastically. “I promise. Besides, it’s not Renna I have a deep seated mistrust of.”
Renna’s face was a picture of shock, obviously not used to anyone speaking to the warrior in such a manner.
Kailen just laughed. “Your words leave a glowing sensation in one’s heart.”
“I’m sure.” Aurelia drawled back.
His hand suddenly slid down her back, making her tense in surprise, before he pushed her towards Renna. “I’ll leave you two to bond in peace.” He turned and strode out of the hut without so much as a glance back at her.
Aurelia glared at his retreating back before turning to Renna, catching the wistful look on her face. She cleared her throat. “Uh, is he always like that?”
“Pretty much.” Renna said, seeming to rally her spirits in remarkable time.
Aurelia felt a pang of pity for her. Loving someone who saw you as only a friend must be very difficult. Aurelia wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even an enemy.
Renna glanced at her, cheeks reddening at being caught staring. “Kailen told me that you have sores on your wrists from the rope. I can take a look at it, if you like?”
Aurelia’s eyebrows rose in surprise. She had completely forgotten about them since arriving at the village.
But Kailen obviously hadn’t. She didn’t know what to make of that piece of information.
Holding her arms out, Aurelia let Renna pull back the sleeves of her dress from her wrists to examine them. The skin didn’t look as bad as it did before, but the skin was still red and scabbed in some places.
Renna nodded to herself. “I have something to put on it to help the healing process and stop the skin from itching.”
“I would appreciate it,” Aurelia replied and followed Renna to the other side of the hut where Renna proceeded to collect herbs that Aurelia didn’t know the name of.
Aurelia sat by the fire and watched the young woman, fascinated, as Renna pulled out a stone mortar and pestle and began grinding the herbs together. She added once boiled water to it until it formed a thick gloopy paste that resembled porridge.
“You watch me as if you have never seen anyone do this before.” Renna commented as she worked.
Aurelia blinked, coming out of her concentrated daze. “I haven’t seen anyone do this before.” She answered.
Renna sent her a questioning look. “How could you not? Your mother never did this? She never taught you?”
Aurelia shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s something that isn’t passed on from mother and daughters in noble families. We have physicians that do this type of thing for us, but the preparation of tonics and creams was never done in front of us.”
Renna went back to her word. “How odd.”
Aurelia smiled at her incomprehension. “I’m sure it was meant to add an air of mysticism to their work. The stranger the tonic, the more money people are willing to pay for it.”
“Is it something you would like to learn?” Renna asked as she picked up the mortar and brought it to Aurelia’s side.
Aurelia held her arms out again and Renna smeared the paste over her wrists and then wrapped it with clean strips of fabric.
“You would teach me?” Aurelia asked after she was done binding them, excited at the thought. It looked like rewarding work.
“I would, if you’re interested. It would b nice to have someone to work with.” She smiled again, putting her tools away.
Aurelia looked around her with new eyes. She supposed the life of a healer was a lonely one. Staying separate from your family for the needs of a tribe, without a husband or any children, it must be taxing. Aurelia was beginning to really like this woman. “I would be delighted. But be patient with me, I think my spoiled Roman ways will make me a very slow and frustrating student.”
Renna was about to answer when she was interrupted by a loud female voice speaking in their language as another woman entered the hut.
She was an incredibly short woman, only coming to Aurelia’s chest, with a comely figure and a face made for laughter. She was perhaps a decade older than Aurelia, but she had that wonderful smooth skin that made it difficult to pinpoint her exact age.
She said something again, gesturing to Aurelia, and Aurelia looked to the other woman with a lost look.
Renna hurried to explain. “She wants an introduction with you.”
“Uh...” Aurelia said eloquently. “She does?” Aurelia stood up, feeling like it was impolite to meet a new acquaintance sitting down.
The woman said something again and Renna laughed. “Ah, now it makes sense. Elsa is Bran’s wife and she was curious about the War Prize that Bran helped to bring home to the tribe.”
Aurelia was astonished, to say the least. Of all the women she could have pictured to be Bran’s wife, Elsa was certainly not it. Bran had to be well over six feet tall and as broad as a doorway. Their body types were so at odds with each other that it actually made them a rather endearing couple.
“She doesn’t speak any Latin,” Renna said to Aurelia. “Not all of our tribe do. They have no wish to learn the language of the usurpers.” Renna gave her an apologetic shrug, as if Aurelia would find their reasons insulting.
“But Kailen and you do. Why did you learn it in the first place?” Aurelia asked, genuinely curious.
“Mainly for trade and custom.” Renna said simply. “Romans buy our food, our iron and craft work. Even in war, we have to keep links of communication open.”
That made sense. And British traders that ventured across the seas to areas of the Roman Empire had to learn the language in order to sell their goods in the first place. It was only natural that they would teach this skill with their families.
Aurelia nodded. “It is something I wish to learn. Your language, I mean. I feel out of my depth when I have no idea what is being said around me.”
Elsa asked Renna a question and Renna replied. Elsa beamed with joy and took Aurelia’s hand in her own, speaking rapidly.
Aurelia looked at Renna helplessly. “What did she say?”
“I told her you wanted to learn our language and she said she wanted to be the one to teach you. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, of course! If she doesn’t mind that.”
Renna smiled. “She certainly has her hands full with eight children, but I’m sure she will find the time to teach you.”
Aurelia’s eyes widened comically. “Eight children?”
Renna grinned. “Elsa and Bran are a very loving couple.”
“Oh my.”
~
Later that day, when Aurelia was back with Kailen in the hut, she asked the question that had been burning in her mind all day.
“Are British families on the numerous side?”
“Numerous?” Kailen asked, blinking at her in confusion.
“Yes,” Aurelia said, eyes shifting away. “Are there always a lot of children?”
Kailen smirked and looked back down at his food. “Ah, you must have met Bran’s woman.”
“Eight children.” Aurelia said with awe.
“It’s not common but it’s not unheard of.” Kailen answered. “Their reunions is often rewarded with another child.” Laughter coloured his words.
Aurelia choked on a large inhale.
“When I marry, I would like a large family. Perhaps the same amount of children.” Kailen said softly, almost to himself.
Aurelia stopped herself from asking him more questions. She saw in her mind’s eye Kailen surrounded by children with dark hair and grey eyes, and his British wife who would bear him these children.
It left a heavy feeling in her stomach and she didn’t have the courage to analyse why