Carry On by Celia Lake

Author:Celia Lake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Celia Lake

Chapter 23

Saturday, April 24th, the garden shrine

The next afternoon, thankfully, was sunny again, and once Elen had wheeled him out to the shrine to Sirona, Roland looked her up and down. “You owe me a trip to the temple proper.”

It wasn’t what she was expecting. Frankly, it wasn’t where he’d been expecting to start, so that was fair. She looked startled, for a moment, like a doe caught in the moment before she fled, but then there was a flash of a smile. “I suppose I do, yes. How was it, in the baths?”

“You didn’t ask before.” He couldn’t decide if he was relieved she hadn’t, or annoyed.

Elen shook her head. “I didn’t. I wasn’t.” She stopped, then she looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”

Roland pushed himself up a bit on his elbows, and then peered at her. Something was not quite right, and the hints of annoyance faded. “I’m not sure what you’re apologising for?”

“For not asking you. And you were so careful about it. Not sure what you thought.”

He waved a hand. “I was, but Harry was in and out. And then Cadwell. And you were rather quiet. Are you all right?” He suddenly was more sure something was decidedly odd. Certainly, she seemed more than a little distracted.

Elen let out a long breath, then she stood, pacing to the end of the paved space and back, then again, looking around. “I, I did something that would get me thrown out, as a nurse. If anyone found out about it.”

That was not at all what he was expecting, either the admission, or how serious it was. She had seemed, to him, entirely rule-abiding. The kind of woman, if she had been a man in his cohort, who could be relied upon absolutely to follow orders once given, even if she disagreed. Even when she’d disapproved of his treatment, she hadn’t more than gestured at it, or offered to do more than hide a destroyed chair.

“I won’t tell anyone.” And then he added, “And I don’t think I’m talking in my sleep anymore.”

As he’d hoped, that made her turn back, and smile. She settled down on the bench again, closer to him. “Tell me if anyone’s coming. Twenty feet away.”

“Of course.” He was entirely distracted now, from his own desire to talk about the bath. It was clear to him, though, this was gnawing at her, and in some complex way he couldn’t sort out.

“I broke into Sister Almeda’s office and looked at your file.” When she said it, it took him a moment to realise what she meant. He hadn’t expected her to take the suggestion that seriously. Certainly, he had no idea she’d risk everything for him. He wanted to take the blame, knew it was his.

What came out of his mouth though, was a question. “You - wait. You broke into Sister Almeda’s office?”

“Yes.” Elen glanced at him, and then looked down at the ground again.

“Did you see the file?” He was tremendously curious about the file, of course, but he was even more intrigued by the idea she’d broken in.

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