His next came in a mutter. "Not gonna argue that."
"Are we done speaking on this topic?" I queried.
"You don"t fight me on goin" with you to your parents, then yeah."
"I"m not in the mood to argue. I"m in the mood to read," I lied about the latter.
I was in the mood to brood, something I wasn"t going to do in front of him, and I was a.s.suming whatever came next for me would be done with him at least in the room.
"I take that back," he stated strangely. "One more thing on that topic."
"Yes?" I prompted.
"Why don"t you ask Frey yourself?"
"When I"m around him he"s friendly and sociable."
Noc stared at me for some time after I finished speaking before he asked, "And?"
"I find it nauseating."
He burst out laughing.
I rolled my eyes.
When he was controlling his mirth, I was done rolling my eyes.
He caught them and declared, "You"re so full of s.h.i.t."
"What an offensive thing to say," I snapped.
"It"s slang too, babe, as you know. But yeah. I just essentially called you a liar. Though, in a teasing way."
With nothing else for it, I looked to the ceiling and begged of the G.o.ds who had abandoned me, "Deliver me."
"You gonna read?" he asked.
I turned my attention to him. "The next item on my day"s agenda is practicing my skill at ignoring you. So yes, Master Noc, I"m going to read."
"Great, I"ll go get a book," he muttered, pushed out of his seat and came to me.
He then bent close in order to kiss the top of my hair.
Kiss the top of my hair!
Like he was a doting uncle.
The gall!
Even as the aristocrat in me was insulted beyond measure, I felt a shiver glide down my spine and it was the first thing that felt good in that area for three days.
"Be back," he said.
Deciding to put my plan into action, I didn"t respond.
I simply opened my book, removed the ribbon and pretended to read.
Late that evening, after dinner, I sat on the chaise in the dressing room next to the bedroom (both decidedly masculine, but then Noc and I had exchanged rooms due to my situation), bent slightly forward for comfort. My robe was draped low at the back but I held the edges of it up in front to cover me.
Josette was sitting behind me, attending my wounds.
After a day I"d spent completely in the company of others (Noc, reading, Noc, lunch, Noc and Finnie, afternoon chat, Circe and Cora joining us for afternoon tea-we"ll just say it was a great relief when they were away to prepare for dinner), we"d just completed my evening bath.
"The physician wants the lavender and honey on them tonight, milady, but he spoke to me and believes you should do your best to leave them to the air tomorrow. The moistness isn"t allowing scabs to form. We can dress them prior to bed, but during the day leave them. Do you think you can do that?"
As I"d never sustained a beating from my father in my life where anyone attended my wounds, I had a feeling I could.
These were not the words I used to answer my maid.
I stated, "We"ll try it, Josette."
"Good," she mumbled.
I sat, feeling the restfulness of her ministrations, and seemingly unable to stop my mouth from speaking that day, more words poured forth.
"There are matters of our future to discuss," I informed her.
"Our future?" she asked.
"Indeed," I replied. "Losing Master Antoine, the situation as it stands here, things are quite up in the air."
Her voice sounded surprised. "Won"t we return to Fleuridia?"
Fleuridia was her home.
I knew from her curriculum vitae she"d been in service in both Hawkvale and Lunwyn prior to coming to being in my employ, which was why I a.s.sumed the lovely lilt of her Fleuridian accent was not p.r.o.nounced and her Valerian was superb.
It had not occurred to me, uncomfortably, but she might be wishing to return home.
"Will this be a problem for you?" I asked.
"I...well, I go where you go, milady."
She did indeed.
But that had never been across the Green Sea.
"Can you sit up?" she requested. "I need to wrap the dressings around."
I did as she asked, dropping my arms to give her the access she needed.
"Josette?" I called.
"Right here, Lady Franka."
"You do know..." By the G.o.ds, how did one go about doing such things? "That your service...the way you perform your duties...that I quite...value that."
There was a pause in her movements before she answered me, her voice lower, not with emotion, or at least not soft emotion.
She sounded like she wished to be laughing.
"I do get that impression, milady."
"Excellent," I stated brusquely. "In understanding that, you can imagine in future I"d like to keep you in my employ."
She wound the gauze around my front and back as I spoke and continued to do so as she did the same. "I would hope so."
"And for your loyalty and level of performance," I persevered, feeling drattedly awkward, "which has always been at a high standard, I shall be giving you a rise in pay."
"That"d be lovely, thank you," she said quietly from behind me, still wrapping my naked front with gauze, but sounding like she meant those words.
The intimacy of our situation was not lost on me.
The fact that I"d not once considered how I"d entrusted such intimacies to Josette without thought (until then) was also not lost on me.
I struggled with feelings of shame and hoped Antoine"s voice didn"t sound in my head as I persisted.
"I"m also in a position to add to our numbers. However, if you agree to accompany me as I carry out my plans for the future, then I"d like you not only to see to employing someone you feel you"ll work well with, but overseeing that someone once I"ve hired them."
"Help with my duties?" she asked, the pitch of her voice rising in surprise.
"You"ve worked diligently for some time. I"m in a position to remunerate you to show you my appreciation as well as retain some help for you with said duties."
"I would...that would...I would be grateful for that, Lady Franka."
"Excellent," I murmured as I felt her tying the dressing in place.
"I"m done," she announced.
I carefully pulled my robe up my back, closed it at the front and cinched it loosely at the waist before turning to sit properly on the chaise.
Josette had already bustled away and was dealing with wet bathing cloths, organizing jars and bottles and gathering my spent clothing.
I"d never once observed her in these duties. I actually didn"t know what became of my attire and items of my toilette after I"d swanned from the bathing room. But now I saw the end of my toilette, as the duration of it, not to mention the time prior to it, heralded nothing but work for Josette.
"Josette," I said softly and her eyes darted to me as she stopped moving. "Come sit with me, please," I requested.
Having said "please," I felt that was enough of a kindness and stopped myself from patting the cushion beside me, which was a bizarre urge I had in that moment.
She threw my clothing over a beautifully-appointed clotheshorse and moved my way. Her step was tentative but her gaze held mine.
She sat next to me, and in deference to my wounds I turned carefully to her.
"I"ve made a decision about what"s next for me and our earlier discourse was done in order for me to share that, in what I"ve decided, I"d like you to remain with me. However, I"ll say what"s next, what I have planned, is most unusual, and of course your life is your own so your decision to accompany me, or not, is also your own."
"All right, Lady Franka," she said hesitantly.
"And obviously, from what I"ve already shared, I"ll give you an excellent reference and a healthy stipend should you decide against continuing with me. Enough that perhaps you can take some time to yourself. Travel or..." I flipped a hand, "whatever you enjoy doing. Or you may wish to learn an additional trade. It will be your coin to do with as you wish. But regardless, there will be no need to fret if you don"t find alternate employment immediately. You"ll be safe."
As I spoke, I ignored her mouth falling open.
I continued to ignore it as I prompted, "Do you understand that?"
She nodded slowly and said, "Yes, milady."
"Good," I replied, shifting in my seat, ready to get on with it. "Now I"ll share that I"ve had time to reconsider the plans I had prior to my parents being incarcerated, and even though this means my options for my future are now more extensive in the Northlands..."
Her look turned from astonished to confused, but I ignored that too and carried on.
"I still feel an adventure would be just the thing. With the loss of Master Antoine, Fleuridia-"
Josette didn"t make me utter it, saying swiftly, "I understand, Lady Franka."
I nodded smartly and declared, "So I"ve decided to cross the Green Sea."
At this, not only did her mouth drop open but her eyes grew large.
"That"s quite an adventure for anyone," I went on, even though her expression shared she knew that and then some. "So I do understand if you"d rather not. If you have ties to Fleuridia, family or..." I shook my head, having no idea what she had, "acquaintances you"d not like to be that far away from."
"My family"s dead, milady."
That was when I finally shut my mouth and stared at her.
I stopped doing that to inquire, "All of them?"
She nodded. "Mother, father, sister."
b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l.
"I...well," I stammered, pulled myself together and asked, "If you wish to share, would you like to tell me how such a thing came about?"
"A bridge crumbled under their sleigh," she informed me readily. "The sleigh fell through and somehow flipped as it descended. My father got free, but my mother and sister were trapped under it at the bottom of the river." She shrugged as if this mattered little to her, but I could see the pink in her cheeks that seemed p.r.o.nounced due to the sudden pallor of her skin. "My father died because he stayed in the water trying to pull them free."
This was...
Well...