Chapter 45: Chapter Four

ADA

I had fallen into such a deep sleep that I did not hear Myrna return ~or~ leave in the morning.

I heard someone moving about my room and picked my head up to see a young lady with long, beautiful, dark-red hair.

I was stunned, accustomed to being one of the only townspeople in Kilcoran to have a similar hair color. She wore a dark-gray dress that showed a great deal of skin on her chest.

It was a more progressive style for a servant, and frankly, for anyone. She pulled aside a huge tapestry and tied it back, revealing a rather large window.

I hadn’t even realized there were any windows in my room last night. She did this two more times until the room was completely flooded with light.

I sat up in bed and looked around the room. The decor was more ornate than I had initially observed, with Celtic symbols everywhere.

“Oh, good, you’re up! Myrna wished for you to sleep in as long as possible. It’s almost lunchtime, and I thought you would be rather hungry by now.

“I’ve taken the liberty of bringing a plate of food here and some tea, until we can get you properly dressed to eat in the hall,” the woman said.

She walked over to me and extended her hand to help me out of bed.

“Sable, I assume.” I looked at her, staring at an angelically pale face with tiny freckles, which appeared to cover her entire body.

“Yes, milady. I am honored to have been chosen to serve as a lady-in-waiting.” She gracefully curtsied. “I will be in your strict confidence.”

And serve me she did. She helped me prepare for the day as I nibbled on the plate of food. I felt completely useless as she carried out most of my personal tasks for me.

There was a knock at the door, and Myrna entered with another woman.

“Good afternoon, Lady Ada,” she addressed me, bowing in unison with the other woman. “This is the dressmaker, and she will need to take your measurements.

“I’m glad to see we caught you before you were fully dressed,” she said, gesturing for the other woman to approach.

“She assures me you will have a new dress by tomorrow, and the others will be done within the next few weeks.”

“There is no need to rush. I still have the one I came with,” I said timidly, thinking back to a time when I had only three dresses that I had worn for most of my adulthood.

The three women just looked at one another and went about their business. I looked at Myrna and the dressmaker, realizing that the dress I had come in did not compare in style.

Their dresses were much more elegant…royal, and these were the ones ~just~ for day-wear.

After the dressmaker finished her measurements, Sable helped me back into my old dress. It smelled so fresh, but I suddenly felt self-conscious in it.

It looked clearly Danish, with the fur collar and specific embroidery style. Knowing the tension between these two sets of people, would appearing as a Dane put me in danger?

Would it put my child in danger? Sable styled my hair similarly to hers, leaving most of it down with the sides pulled back from my face.

I stood in front of the mirror, examining my growing stomach for the first time. I rubbed it, thinking of Cayden, and sadness began to fill my insides.

I was beginning to feel that loss of control over my life again. I could feel myself slipping back into a submissive role. Letting myself return to that part of my mind would only lead to despair.

I needed to stay strong, find out as much as I could about why I was brought here, and begin forming a plan.

“Now that you have rested and eaten a little something, how about a tour of the castle?” Myrna asked, interrupting my thoughts. “Then tomorrow we shall take you on a tour of the town.”

I agreed and followed her out of the room with Sable close behind. As we walked through the many hallways and rooms, I lost all sense of direction, even in the daylight.

We ended in the dining hall, which was twice the size of Dundalk’s hall. This was no pagan hall. At one end of it, King Toren’s throne sat majestically with two other chairs beside it.

It was on a stone platform with a set of stairs leading up to it. A large tapestry of the king’s crest—my supposed family crest—hung behind it.

I looked around the room, noticing a balcony that wrapped around most of the hall. Flowers and garlands hung from the sides of the balcony, which brought a wonderful, fresh smell to the room.

This was all too much. Over the years with my mother and Lugh, I had become an expert at deceiving those around me. When I was angry or sad, I was able to paste a smile on my face.

This would be imperative to my survival here.

“You will sit here for each meal. Sable will help keep you on schedule once the king returns,” Myrna said, pointing to a chair at the end of the table. She pulled it out for me.

“Who usually joins us to eat?” I asked, hoping to find out as much as I could. Fear of the unknown was beginning to consume my mind.

“On special occasions, visitors and guests will join you. Sometimes, the king will request the steward’s presence. But for the majority of the time, it will be King Toren, Lord Silas, and yourself.”

“Lord Silas?” I asked. “I have a brother?”

“Yes. I’m afraid I will have to fill you in on your genealogy in private,” she said quietly so Sable could not hear.

I looked at her; she seemed to struggle about whether to continue. “It is necessary for you to know the difference between friend and foe.”

She instructed the servants to serve me a late lunch, leaving me by myself in the hall. After I finished eating, I requested to take a stroll outside before lying down.

I was still very sore from sitting in the carriage for the past several days. Myrna said she would take me to the top of the castle so I could walk along the guard tower and view the entire town.

We walked up a great circular staircase, which led to a very heavy wooden door. There were soldiers resting against the wall who immediately stood at attention when I appeared.

Myrna took my arm and we began walking the stone path toward the other tower. The fresh air felt amazing as it blew through my hair.

Leaning against the wall to look below, I closed my eyes after seeing it was a very long way down. With my eyes closed, I could hear the ocean from all the way up here, ever so slightly.

The waves broke on the shore as seagulls circled around in the distance.

“Have you ever seen the ocean before?”

“Yes,” I said, “my home borders the sea.”

“I thought Kilcoran was inland?”

“It is, but my ~real~ home is Dundalk. That is where my husband is from.” I looked at her with slight contempt. I had not realized last night just how much taller I was.

Myrna’s face was pleasant, though now it appeared conflicted. Her hair was styled in an updo.

Wiping a tear from my cheek, I turned back to the ocean and closed my eyes again, remembering my place on the log with Cayden next to me.

“You are so much like your mother,” Myrna said.

My eyes opened and met hers immediately. “You knew my mother?”

“Yes, how could I forget? I was the one who took her into the castle after your grandparents were killed,” she said, placing her hand on top of mine. “I was also the one who helped her escape.”

“I had kin here? Why were they killed?”

“Who knows the real reason? It could have been for money or simply because they were Danes. The roads are dangerous, even now,” she continued.

“I was traveling with the steward that day—we had only recently been married—when we came across their wagon. Everything had been destroyed. I could hear your mother crying and found her hiding behind a bush.

I asked Oisín if we could take her back to the castle with us. I promised to care for her. Something I failed at, I am afraid to say. She was the closest I ever got to having a child.”

She paused, wiping away the few tears running down her face. “Do you wish me to go on?”