Free Sir Rowan and the Camerian Conquest by Chuck Black

replied.
    The door opened. “Come in quickly,” the old woman said. Her countenance was serious but not unkind. The creases around her eyes and lips told of tense and anxious days.
    Mariah helped Rowan stumble through the door.
    “I’m Zetta,” the old woman said, quickly closing the door behind them.
    “Thank you, Madam Zetta,” Mariah said. “He needs to lie down.”
    “This way.” The woman picked up a lantern and led them down a hallway into a bedchamber. Rowan fell upon the bed and didn’t move.
    “There’s another chamber just down the hall for you, young lady,” he heard the elderly woman say.
    “Thank you, madam,” Mariah replied. “I’m going to make sure he’s all right before I …”
    The words faded away as Rowan drifted to something much deeper than mere sleep.
    When Rowan awoke, his body felt pinned to the bed, and he had to look to see if his shackles had reappeared on his ankles and wrists. With each passing moment, however, he started to feel better. He brought himself to a sitting position just as someone knocked on the door.
    “Come in,” he called.
    “Well, that’s an improvement,” Mariah said as she entered the room. “Are you able to eat something? Zetta has made a delicious breakfast.”
    Rowan managed a smile. “That would be wonderful.”
    “Shall I bring it to you, or can you make it to the table?”
    “I think I can get to the table … with a little help,” he said.
    She helped him to his feet, but before they took their first step together, Rowan hesitated. “Mariah, I’ve never needed help from anyone, and I’ve never had anyone take care of me before.”
    Mariah looked up at him as if she were waiting for the punch line, but Rowan just gazed gently into her eyes. “Thank you,” he said and felt her arm soften around his waist as they began their careful walk down the hallway and into the kitchen.
    At the breakfast table, Rowan felt some of his strength returning. “Madam Zetta, thank you for allowing us into your home.”
    “You are welcome, but it is not my home,” Zetta replied. “It is Sir Aldwyn’s.”
    “I thought you said—”
    “I said he is not here … but the home is still his. He’s asked me to stay behind and help people like you … Resolutes.”
    “So, it’s true after all.” Mariah stared at Zetta.
    Rowan looked at Mariah, perplexed. “What’s true?”
    “My father heard rumors that Kroywen had a new prefect who had dissolved many of the people’s freedoms,” she said. “I had no idea Laos had fallen to the same fate,” Mariah said.
    “Yes,” Zetta replied. “Only just recently, though. Sir Aldwyn saw it coming and began preparing. Resolutes began to gather. We must be very careful.”
    Rowan stared at Mariah, amazed by something even deeper in her character than he expected. “You knew the pass code,” he said.
    Mariah nodded. “From my father. My mother died years ago. Six months ago, when my father and my brother heard what was happening at Kroywen, they went to join the Resolutes—to try to stop the takeover of Cameria.” Mariah stared down at the table. “My father loves this land and the freedom it stands for. He served in the Camerian army before he was a farmer. Nothing could keep him from joining the Resolutes.”
    “He left you alone?” Rowan asked bewildered.
    “No. Palson and I were to farm the land until my father and brotherreturned, but …” Mariah hesitated. “Just two months after my father and brother left, Palson was bitten by a mountain asp. I … I couldn’t save him.”
    Zetta reached over and took Mariah’s hands in hers. “I’m so sorry, child.”
    Mariah accepted the consolation gratefully. “I have to keep the farm going until they return.” Mariah looked over at Rowan. “When you wanted to go to Laos to recover your estate, I thought it would be an opportunity to see for myself what was really happening.” Mariah shook her head. “It’s much worse than I