Fleeing Haven by Tia Fanning

Author:Tia Fanning [Fanning, Tia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fanning, Mason & McKee, LLC
Published: 2022-04-16T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Haven

Ea Castle

Aodha Province, Middle Eu

Ishka felt very much like a child again, or rather, how she imagined childhood would have been like if her father had been a doting parent. After dinner, she and Gil retired to the library, a large yet cozy room with cushioned furniture and an uncountable number of books.

Beside a hearth fire, she and Gil shared a pot of warm milk sweetened with honey and a dash of spices she could not identify. She reclined on a lounge, absorbing the heat from both cup and fire, and listened to Gil read her a story—an absurd thing at her age, she thought, but he insisted on reading to her, and she did not want to hurt his feelings.

She placed her cup on a side table and settled more into the cushion, then drew a draped blanket from the back of the furniture over her body, a woven covering that was not there initially. In her mind, she thanked Gil for it, though she was not sure if he heard her, or if he was even the one that produced the blanket. The castle was odd in its ability to make things happen.

She laid her head on the cushioned rest, and the illumination in the room dimmed except for the lantern closest to Gil. She stifled a yawn and wondered how much longer he intended to entertain her. She’d had a very long, very hard day, and while she appreciated his kindness, the only kindness she had received that day in her mind, she was exhausted.

However, every time she thought to retire to her room, her heart pounded, and her stomach twisted into knots as she remembered that she now shared it with a husband…one she might have to bed this night. That horrible possibility kept her rear pasted on the lounge, if only to delay the inevitable.

Ishka smiled at a humorous part in the story that had the manservant changing his voice to fit the character. Gil was not young, and nor was he old, but she thought it sad that he did not have children yet. He would make a great father, she imagined, and a kind husband. If only the Creator had gifted her with a husband like him.

Unable to help it, she closed her eyes and thought of her friend, Kay, the only other man she ever had the opportunity to converse with at length. But he was a man she was forbidden to see now, and thus she was friendless once again.

As much as she liked Gil, she found it odd that he was the only servant at Ea castle to attend her. He was male after all. Not that she personally minded, but most on Haven would. It was taboo for males and females to interact alone unless blood related. Ishka thought it was an archaic rule for life. Imagine all that could be learned from each other if simply given the opportunity to meet and interact.

Strange that her new husband seemed open to breaking with tradition, if not law, in this way.

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