by Marie Hall
"Aye," Ian said and indicated they make their way back to camp. "Io collected the first two before the woman selling onions could beat them to death for stealing her rotten food. She could not stop yelling about how they were nothing but a dirty plague on the markets. Stealing from everyone, like their mother being dead was an excuse to not just starve. The littlest one didn't say anything, but the second one, might be seven, he told us his older brother was taken last night by men." He stopped to spit, either in disgust or to rid his mouth of dirt and blood. "He didn't know where they went, but it only took about an hour to find him behind the baths." He stopped then as did Xavier and Jon. "He looks to have put up a good fight but…" Ian didn't need to say more. They all knew what the boy suffered through the night and likely suffered more of it that morning. Xavier could feel shame now for never having put a stop to such things before. It never was his concern until Io.
"They just took him?" Jon asked as they started walking again.
"They tried to claim they were only helping. They were going to see the three of them fed and clothed. But when Lady Io insisted they hand him over for her to care for, they refused and then they thought to make threats."
"What kind of threats?" Xavier asked as they entered camp to see the men already had the boy laid out on a pile of furs and Io was wiping dirt and blood from his face. Beside her, two very small boys sat wailing."
"The kind they will never get to carry out," Ian said, moving to pick up the older boy and jostle him. "Hush with you now. Your brother is not going to want to wake up to all your noise."
"Io," Xavier called, trying to pull her attention from the boy long enough to assure himself she was well. He knelt beside her and tried again to gain her attention. "Io?"
"I can feel nothing broken, but he does not wake," her worry loud even if her voice wasn't.
Xavier used his finger to turn the boy's face toward him. The black circle forming around his eyes said enough. "He will, Io. He took a hard hit, but he will wake," Xavier said as he took it upon himself to confirm nothing on the boy was broken. "And judging by the way his bones stick out, he will wake and want to eat. Hopefully, he will do better at it than you ever do."
"Xavier, this is no time for teasing," she chided.
"Who is teasing?" he grumped and nudged her with his shoulder. She cast him a sideways look, but at least there was a hint of a smile on her face. He reached out and stayed her hand before she could wipe at the boy any more. "Let him rest." Xavier reached over and drew the edge of the furs around him. "When he wakes, we can find out if he is without means and protection."
It didn't take waiting for the oldest boy to wake up to find out their entire life story. The middle boy, who while hardly larger than a healthy five-year-old, claimed to be almost eight, told them everything they needed to know. The youngest of them, they were told, was almost four and said only one word—who. It was like he knew no other and most likely why his brothers called him Owl rather than his given name of Owen. The middle child said his name was Patrick, but he liked to be called Frog, and the oldest, Fitz, went by Fox. The three were on their own for more than a year, coming to the Forks with their mother in search of their father, but after only a week, their mother, too, vanished, leaving the children on their own.
That was all Io needed to know to start insisting the children stay with them and Xavier knew better than to argue, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. The two youngest were already attached to Io completely.
In only three days, she had them cleaned up, dressed, and eating consistently. They slept beside her every night and, usually by morning, were sharing her blankets rather than their own. It was the older one Xavier was concerned for.
He'd woken, not only scared but angry and combative. He'd tried that whole first day and night to run away with his brothers and but for his brothers being uncooperative, might have. Now, though, he'd spent two days sitting with his back against a tree, his knees pulled to his chest, his arms around those, and such hatred in his expression, Xavier could only shake his head and leave him be until now.
He could see the way the frail body stiffened at his approach, but tomorrow, they'd be back on the road and Xavier needed this child to understand how things would be. Stepping up, he leaned against the same tree and waited. It took a bit, but Fox finally turned and looked up at him, that same raging hate in his eyes.
"I see you didn't eat yet," Xavier started quietly, trying not to sound disapproving. "Perhaps, tonight, you will come join everyone at the fire. The meal will be better then as it will be the last we take here. Nothing eaten while we travel is ever as good."
Xavier had to wait a while again, but the boy finally spoke. "You cannot buy my brothers from me with scraps of bread and cheese," Fox snarled, picking up the very items named and violently throwing it away.
"I buy nothing at all with the offering," Xavier said, drawing on everything he ever learned from Io about the very desperate need for one like this boy, like her, at one time, to stay independent and therefore free. "You will need food to have strength to travel. I will not have everyone upset by your falling dead in the road. So you will eat."
"We are not going with you."
"You will; you cannot stay here. I can put out word to find your parents but until they—"
"They are dead, both of them," Fox said, and for the first time, something other than anger was in his voice.
"Frog said—"
"He said what I told him. I-I did not… could not." He stopped speaking to draw his arm under his nose and sniff. "He is just a little baby." Then as if he realized he was showing some vulnerability, he resumed his defensive posture and tone. "He cries all the time, already," Fox finished.
"I see," Xavier said as he slipped down to one knee. "I have younger brothers too. They are much trouble. You look to have them well managed, though."
"I can take care of my family. I am man enough."
"No doubt, and I do not plan to change that. I only plan to change the location in which you do it. The three of you will come with us. And when we return home, you will take your place there and care for your brothers behind the safety of my walls."
"I have nothing to give you, and I will not—"
Xavier held up his hand. "Already, you give enough, and once home, you will have the chance to become more."
This time, when Fox turned to look at him, the suspicion was in his eyes but also a bit of curiosity. "More?"
Xavier shifted and dropped to his arse next to the boy, doing his best to refrain from pulling him into his embrace and telling him everything would be all right. "Yes, more. You will not need to choose in a day, but you will be asked to try several crafts. See which you like the most, and once you do pick, you will be trained at that work."
Xavier watched from the corner of his eye, not wanting to make the boy feel threatened. It seemed to work, for the child dropped his arms to his sides and let one leg stretch out. "I have no skill at any craft."
Xavier laughed softly. "No one does until they learn it. You will learn it. You will learn one, hopefully one you can also enjoy, then you will earn your way through life. You will have as much as you can earn, and that will be enough to take care of your brothers until they, too, can earn their way."
"I do not understand."
"What do you not understand?" Xavier knew what had Fox both afraid and excited. He'd already seen it several times in the other desperate little children now under his roof and protection.
"Why do you do this? What are you going to do to me that you—"
"No one will do anything to you again, son. At least not anything wicked. You will be safe with us. You will be expected to work, in time, and to be respectful of those around you. But failures are not corrected in my house with cruelty, and as long as you give loyalty and do as well as you are able, you will always have food, shelter, and protection. Do not act the criminal, and you will never face any hardship alone."
"I am already
a criminal," he said, turning away. Maybe to hide shame, but more likely to hide fear.
"You are not one today; you were not one yesterday," Xavier said, reaching over to take hold of his chin and bring his eyes back to his. "I do not worry too much you will be one tomorrow. Everyone has a past, Fox. But it is past and need not be the whole of your life. I am giving you the chance now to be more than you were. You only need take it."
"Why?"
"Why?" Xavier looked around, but then he nodded in the direction of Io. She sat on a log, rocking Owl in her arms as she read from the open book between her and Frog. The little boy was in rapture. Perhaps the only time he was in any way still. "Do you see that woman?" Xavier asked and Fox nodded. "What do you notice about her right now?"
"She is pretty?"
Xavier chuckled. "Yes, she is that. What else? Perhaps look at her face."
He looked quite a bit then. "She smiles; she looks happy."
"Yes, she is happy. And she has not been for some time. You and your brothers have made her happy."
"Why was she not happy?"
"I made her unhappy, bringing her on this journey. She did not want to leave home, but we were called to the king, and we had to leave."
"She is not happy to get to see the king?" The boy sounded as disbelieving as so many others did when they heard Io had no desire at all to have a presence at court.
"No, she wants only to be at home."
"So how are we making her happy?" Xavier knew that tone, too. He might not have if he'd never met Io, but he could catch it every time now. The sound that someone had when they thought they had found a purpose.
"Lady Io is very desperate to save every lonely child in the world. She now has three to care for."
"Why does she care?" Fox asked again, suspicion in his tone.
"Because she was once like you. No, I take that back. She was once worse than you, for she had no one to call family at all. She was alone in the world, with no home and means."
"She is a lady. Ladies always have—"
"She did not; she was fending for herself for a very long time. I am rather certain had we not crossed paths, she'd have died." Xavier shook his head at the memory of that boney, screeching, fighting harpy he was given barely more than two years ago. Not all of who that woman was, was gone, but the woman he knew now was better at fighting the battles before her. This time, he leaned in and nudged the boy with his elbow. "And I might advise you to not call her a lady; she disapproves. She thinks ladies are weak and mindless."
He heard the boy snort and mutter that he agreed with her about that. "So we will only be allowed to stay as long as we make her happy?"
"No," Xavier said and, laughing, took the risk and put an arm around the boy. "Not at all. Io is very easy to please, she is content with little, but she can become cross in moments over nothing," Xavier said and laughed again as he squeezed the boy and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "None of us would be around long if we could only be around when Io is pleased with us. No, if she becomes displeased, you will do as everyone else does and wait it out. She only ever stays displeased with me for long periods."
"That doesn't seem wise," Fox remarked with a bit of awe.
"No, it does not, and yet there she is, being unwise," Xavier said and felt his chest tighten when the boy giggled. "Perhaps you will give her your advice and she will start being nicer to me," Xavier said as he took his arm from around the boy and stood. "We will eat a little bit after sundown. I will see you at the fire then." Xavier said and, without forcing a commitment from the child, walked away.
Fox did come to eat with them, staying at first on the very edges of the glow cast by the fire, but Frog dragged him closer, and Gerald and Lucas made room for him. No one pushed him to speak. If he didn't respond to something said, they moved on, but they came back often to give him the chance. The break in his defenses came when he was asked if he could ride, and he answered he didn't have a horse, to which everyone responded with a laugh.
There was some back and forth teasing between Io and the men as she tried to convince them everyone could get on in the world without such an ability. She'd no success, and eventually Xavier saved the boy from his confusion when he said that he would teach him and then get him his own horse, to which Frog instantly announced he, too, wanted a horse to ride. There was some bickering between the brothers until Xavier said he could learn to ride but needed to wait for his own horse.
Io did try to insist they were both too young and too small for such activities, but she gave up quickly, rather turning her attention to Owl, cooing at him that he didn't want to learn to ride. He was the smartest of all the males in the group.
"Who?" the baby asked.
"You silly," Io cooed at him more.
"Who?" again, like it was the only word he knew.
Xavier watched a long while, her with the child, through that night and through the next several days. She was ever patient, ever willing to help them, willing always to go behind them and clean up any messes they made. She found different ways to entertain them, corrected them when needed without harshness or criticism. She saw to their needs before her own and never did he see her do anything without a smile gracing her lips. She would, when they were again so blessed, be the kind of mother to her own children, every child dreamed of having as his own. And he knew these three boys dreamed that very thing. To be hers. More than dream, though, Fox quickly became committed to become someone special to her and then to becoming special to every man he was with.
Chapter 7
Io shifted the sleeping baby to her other shoulder and then pulled the fur up around Frog before brushing the hair from his sleep relaxed face. The last two days of travel were long, making up for the time spent at the Forks finding things the children needed to be able to travel with them to court. The constant protesting from the other lords wore on everyone, and several times one of the men had to step in to defend Fox, who was ever ready to come to his little brothers' defense.
Even now, she felt the oldest boy push in closer. He reached up and set his hand on the baby's back as if the act protected him from the man glaring at him across the fire.
"Should I take him, my lady?" Fox asked. He'd quickly figured out when it was and wasn't appropriate to address her with formality. Though how he came to know this, she wasn't entirely sure. Only when they were either completely alone or with only men from their house did he call her Io, all other times… she didn't bother to correct him. He gained some odd confidence in saying 'my lady' in the presence of Balbroke and Whitby.
"No, I will put him in the wagon in a bit. Then all of you can rest." Poor little Owl, he'd grown more and more fussy as they rode, often pulling on his ear and clenching his jaw until his face reddened to a frightful color. Io would've given her right arm to have her friends with her at this moment. They all seemed born with the knowledge of how to care for children. Io was an utter failure at it. Sarah and Kate, Jude and Ann could soothe any child with nothing more than a touch. All Io could do was try not to cry herself when Owl woke up screaming then squirmed and kicked and flailed all day long until he passed out from exhaustion.
No one who saw her with this child would ever see her as fit. Perhaps even God knew she wasn't, and that was why she hadn't give Xavier his own son. She didn't look up when Xavier moved to stand in front of her. She didn't want him to see the tears that threatened.
"Come, Io," he said, bending down to collect Frog, who seemed able to sleep through anything. Io pretended to snuggle Owl to wipe her face. "All of you could use some good sleep." He settled the boy on his shoulder and offered his free hand to Io so she could stand.
"It is early," Fox whined, even as he stood. "I am not tired yet."
Io was searching for something to say when Roth stepped up, lifted the boy high then set him on a shoulder. "Good, then you will come and practice with the staff."
Io saw the child's face light up like the sky at dawn but then shift to cautious
as he asked for Xavier's consent, "May I, my lord?"
"The staff? Not archery?" Xavier asked, shooing Io towards the wagon.
"He is more than proficient there," Ian said, approaching with the weapon to be learned. Io had to bite her tongue not to protest such a small boy battling, even for training with these men. Fox hadn't exactly escaped each turn unscathed. "We will tire him for you, my lady; he will sleep through the night."
Io nodded and made her way toward her bed with a bit more enthusiasm. At the wagon, Xavier handed up Frog to Jon who carried him back to the pallet as Xavier took Owl and allowed her to climb inside before she took the boy to the trunk he slept in. The lid was removed and the bedding well lined with oilskin, to accommodate the child's needs. From somewhere, a ragdoll had appeared. More than a toy to keep him busy, it became something he clutched through the night.
Io waited until Jon bade her goodnight and jumped out before she started to undress, and not until she turned to hang her gown on one of the hooks she now had, did she even notice Xavier was sitting on her bed unlacing his boots. He undid them both before sitting back and toeing them off. She watched a smile curve his lips then watched as he held out his hand and motioned her closer. She didn't remember moving into the circle of his arms or being folded against him so his warmth spread through her. She did remember to seek that feeling of complete comfort and safety, and without effort, she found it.
"My poor heart," Xavier cooed, his hand brushing up her side, over her breast, then around to the neck of her shift. "I think you might be too tired for me to try to please you." His fingers worked their way over her shoulder, under the dress, causing the sleeve to slip down to her elbow. His lips found their way to her collarbone as he worked off the other side so the material fell low enough to expose her breasts. Tiny, soft kisses trailed up her neck, under her chin then along her jaw. The coarse, rough pad of his thumb brushed over her nipple, which peaked and pulled in response.
