Come Back to Me by Litton Josie

Author:Litton, Josie [Litton, Josie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780553581645
Google: uL8fNvCOGOMC
Amazon: 0553581643
Goodreads: 676565
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 2001-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

RYCCA WOKE TO SUNLIGHT PRYING BENEATH her closed eyelids. She stirred slowly, uncertain at first where she was. Her first awareness was that the steady rocking of the boat was missing. Perhaps they had docked?

They had… yesterday… Landsende… riding Grani… the feast… Dragon…

Dragon.

She sat up, threw back her hair, and looked around hastily. A sigh of relief escaped her when she saw she was alone, but hard on that came realization of the late hour. Her first full day in her husband's manor and she had slept most of it away. Already she risked losing the approval of his people, who would surely think his Saxon bride a sluggard for failing to rise long beyond the time when decent men and women had already done a full day's work.

Not that she would have been able to contribute much had she awakened earlier, but that was another problem and one she did not feel ready to deal with before she washed the sleep from her eyes and readied herself to face the day, however belatedly.

The water in the pitcher on the table beneath the windows was cool. How not when it must have been there for hours if not since the day before? She bathed with only brief notice of the discomfort, for hot water was a luxury with which she had little acquaintance.

Her stomach rumbled as she pulled clothes from a chest and dressed as swiftly as she dared. All the garments brought from Hawkforte were vastly more elaborate and delicate than the roughly woven shift she was used to. She managed well enough but felt very clumsy in the process. Would she ever become accustomed to wearing clothes that seemed fit for a princess in a bard's tale? Perhaps in a future too distant and precarious for her to waste any time thinking about.

For in truth she had no time to waste, having already squandered more than enough. Yet for all that, her courage wavered as she stepped out into the fair, sea-scented day. A brisk breeze blew off the water carrying with it the tang of salt and, closer in, the smell of fresh-turned earth. Sunlight danced off the western hills where she could just make out the shapes of fat sheep grazing. Closer in, the ripening heads of golden grain waved gently in well tended fields.

Far out over the water, fishing ships were making their way toward the harbor where several plumb merchant vessels rode at anchor. Surrounded by peace and security, Rycca felt the coil of tension within her lessen just enough to make her aware of its presence. She was so used to being wary, to guarding her every step and always looking over her shoulder that she seldom even noticed her own unease. But here, in this place, everything was new and different. The old ways she knew all too well ho longer fit and she felt cast adrift, unsure of where the next turn of the current would take her.

To the kitchens, first, she decided.

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