The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

Author:Julie Berry
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-03-14T04:00:00+00:00

That afternoon a groggy and awkward Martin stumbled next door to collect his little Ava, and he disappeared before we could ask him how Lisette and the baby fared.

Plazensa and Sazia spent the day doting on Dolssa as though she were comtessa of all Provensa. They bathed her nicely mending feet and rubbed them with olive oil and lavender. Dolssa seemed embarrassed at the attention, but also pleased.

The sun had just begun to set in glorious pink and violet behind Bajas when Plazi summoned us to follow her into Dolssa’s room. “I want you to try something on,” she told Dolssa. She helped her out of her nightshirt, then pulled a gown from her basket. “From Sapdalina.” She draped it long for us both to see. Together we helped Dolssa feed her arms into the sleeves and button it up.

The linen fabric was a rich woad-dyed blue. The bell-shaped sleeves fluttered gracefully past Dolssa’s hands, and the yellow sash we tied around her waist bunched up excess fabric.

Plazi frowned. “We must feed you more and fatten you up,” she said, “but I’ll still need to tell Sapdalina to take these seams in before she finishes the trim. You’re too thin by half.”

I patted Dolssa’s shoulder. “You look beautiful.”

Sazia chimed in. “Don’t let Plazensa make you feel bad.”

Dolssa smiled and ran her hands over the gown. “It’s fine, indeed,” she said, “though here in my little cell, I have no need for clothing this fine.”

Plazensa took a step back for a better look and sighed. “Ah, such a dress,” she said. “You could get married in a dress such as this.”

Dolssa’s eyebrows rose. “Is this . . . is that why you’ve had this dress made?”

“No!” said Plazensa, then quailed under Dolssa’s gaze. “Well, it was.”

Sazia and I gaped at each other. Was this our Plazensa, cowering at Dolssa?

“When you first arrived,” Plazi pleaded, “we thought marriage was your best safety. And Botille, she is good at finding husbands for young femnas.”

Not lately. I kept my thoughts to myself.

“We thought you might be a fit for our Senhor Guilhem.” Plazi was actually squirming.

Senhor Guilhem!

Santa Sara, Dieu help me, but I had never sent word to Bajas’s lord that the fabled lady would not be coming to Bajas tonight! A thousand curses on my sorry head!

“But now,” Plazensa went on, “we vow not to speak of it again. Our home is humble, but you are welcome here forever.”

Sazia poked me with her elbow. What’s the matter? her eyes asked.

“After what you’ve done for us . . .” Plazi wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

Dolssa blushed at my sister’s gratitude. She squeezed Plazi’s hands. “Grácia.”

“Then you’ll stay?” asked Plazensa. I’d never seen her so eager, so nervous. I confess, I felt the same.

Dolssa smiled. “For as long as it pleases God.”

Plazensa let out a squeal and threw her arms around Dolssa. We all joined in, encircling the girl who lived in Jhesus’s embrace, who, with her beloved, had saved our sister.

Down the corridor we heard the tavern door bang, and footsteps on the floor.

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