Free WinterofThorns by Charlotte Boyett-Compo Page B

though he did stop.
    “Aye, milady?”
    “May I speak with Lady Jana while I am
here?”
    “She is your daughter-in-law and that is
your right. She’s not a prisoner here.”
    “Is she not?” Millicent queried and watched
his shoulders tighten.
    “No, milady. She is not.” He continued on
his way.
    Millicent watched him as he strode briskly
from the Great Hall, concern tight on her face.
    * * * * *
     
    “Milady,” Jana said, sinking into a
graceful curtsy. “It is an honor.”
    Millicent was struck speechless by the
beauty whose face turned up to hers. The girl was the embodiment of young
womanhood, and if she were to handpick a wife for her son on looks alone, Jana
would be her choice.
    But it was the sad—yet hopeful—look in the
young woman’s gray eyes that set the odds in her favor. When next she spoke,
her words sealed the deal.
    “How is he? Is he well? Is he eating? Sleeping?
Has he had any more headaches?” Her eyes flared. “Is he in your dungeon still?”
    The words rushed over one another and came
from a chest that was heaving with worry, exhaled on breath that was ragged and
jittery, the questions punctuated by flying hands that trembled.
    Millicent laughed. “Sweeting, he was never
in our dungeon. He is under house arrest, which means he has run of the house
but isn’t allowed outside.”
    Jana closed her eyes and her lips moved as
though she were giving entreaty to some godly ear.
    “He is quite well though he misses you
dearly,” Millicent said. “Now, please rise. I am too old and too frail to pick
you up from the floor.”
    Jana’s lips quirked but Millicent knew it
wasn’t humor that had made them twitch but unsureness. “I miss him,” she said,
her voice breaking. “More than you know.”
    “I’ve some idea,” Millicent replied.
    “Please tell him I love him and that I am
heartsick not being with him,” Jana said then groaned. “Forgive me, milady. I should
not—”
    “Fiddlesticks! Yes you should and it
answers many questions I had concerning you, Lady Jana,” Millicent said.
    “Ask anything you like, milady, and I will
answer true,” Jana swore. She put a hand to her heart. “On my love for your
son, I will tell you whatever you wish to know.”
    Millicent smiled at her. “My son chose well
in his ladylove.”
    Jana’s eyebrows drew together much in the
same way Seyzon’s had before he had lost control of his emotions. “He knows,
doesn’t he?” she asked. “What transpired at Riverglade?”
    “Aye, dearling, he does and the knowing has
taken a terrible toll on him,” Millicent replied.
    Jana put her hands over her eyes. “Things
could not get worse,” she said with a hitch in her breath.
    “Aye, they could,” Millicent said, and when
the girl lowered her hands and she saw the moisture clinging to Jana’s lashes,
she nodded. “He could have annulled your Joining but he is not going to do
that.”
    “Are you sure?” Jana asked, putting out a
pleading hand. “Did he swear it to you?”
    Millicent frowned. “Has he not told you as
much?”
    “No, milady.” Jana shook her head. “He
barely speaks to me at all and then it is only in passing at table to include
me in the conversation.”
    “I see,” Millicent acknowledged. “So he has
said nothing to you of sending you to Lavenfeld when Seyzon’s punishment is
o’er?”
    “He has not, milady, and neither has he
told me how long that punishment will last.”
    “Nor has he told my son but have no fear, I
will pin him down,” Millicent stated. “Now, let’s you and I get to know one
another. I think Zonny would like that, don’t you?”

Chapter Four
     
    Vindan came awake with a gasp. He fought
with the covers as though they were attacking him until he had pushed them from
the bed. The sounds that were coming from his throat as he battled shamed him
and he had to clamp his jaw tight to stop them from pouring out of him. Soaking
wet with sweat—his hair plastered to his forehead—he