“Isn’t it great? Come on. Your room is this way.” Darius tugged at her hand.
Instead of a door between the child’s room and the nanny’s quarters, there was a curtain pulled across. She supposed that in caring for an infant, there would be no need for an actual door. A door would block out a crying child and negate the nanny’s purpose. Then it suddenly occurred to her that the duke would have a crying child as far from him as possible, wouldn’t he? “Does your father live in this wing?”
Darius yawned again and shook his head as he covered his mouth. “No. This is the west wing. The entire third floor is mine. The second floor of this wing is for guests, and the first floor is where the servant’s quarters are.”
“So your father is in the east wing?”
He shook his head again and blinked tiredly. “No. The east wing is where the guard resides. Second and third floors anyway. The first floor is where the kitchens are.”
“There’s a third wing then?”
“Yes. The north wing is where the family stays. It only has two stories.”
Raven’s heart sank at the thought. Didn’t Darius miss staying with the rest of his family? “Do you mind living alone?”
He shrugged. “I’m not really alone. Reginald has always been here for me if I need him. And Mrs. Hyacinth was my nanny until I turned seven and didn’t need one anymore.”
His blinking slowed until his tired lids closed for a full three seconds.
With as cheery a voice as she could muster, she shuffled him back towards his bed. “All right. I’ve seen enough. Time for you to take that nap. And don’t fret. I’ll be right here if you need me.”
He smiled and snuggled under the white down duvet. “I’m so glad you found me.”
“I’m glad, too.” The words barely made it past her constricted throat.
Never allow the routine of daily life to dull one's senses.
A GENTLE KNOCK sounded against Darius’s door, waking Raven from her shallow sleep. She bolted upright on the bay window settee. Her eyes immediately darted toward the young baron, who still slept soundly in the same position he’d fallen asleep in.
Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword she’d retrieved from the luggage in her room. She pulled it from the magnets on her back. It felt good to be back in her normal reaper’s breeches. The high collars of her dresses stifled her, and the puffed sleeves constricted her movements. She darted toward the door on the balls of her feet and glanced at the timepiece over the mantle. She’d only dozed a quarter hour. She seethed through her clenched teeth. “Who is it?”
“I’ve brought the doctor to see Baron Darius.” Reginald’s high-pitched whine rankled Raven’s nerves, but she replaced the sword to her back.
She tugged the door open a bit and looked through the crack she’d made. Behind Reginald stood Gregory, his eyes as wide as hers felt. Her heart leapt. Words escaped her.
The tutor’s frowning face suddenly blocked her view. “Will you allow us entry, or do you intend to leave us in the hall?”
Raven shook her head to snap out of it and pushed the door open wide to allow the two men entry. Her heart thumped wildly. Gregory’s eyes remained on hers. Her doctor. No, he wasn’t hers. The pieces of her heart that had started to mend together again fell apart and sank deep into her stomach. His voice broke the silence. “Are you well, Raven?”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. Had her voice box frozen?
He nodded and gave her a smile but tripped as he stepped over the threshold into the room. One of her arms darted out automatically to catch him. He gave her an awkward grin, and she released her grip on his bicep.
Reginald cleared his throat, a confused sneer lighting upon his face. “Do you two know one another?”
Heat rose to her cheeks and her gaze dropped to the floor momentarily.
Gregory answered, “Yes, we do.”
Raven couldn’t help but smirk at his short answer and raised her gaze to meet his. Gregory knew when to give answers and when to withhold information. Why did he have to be so perfect? His dimples made an appearance as he smiled at her and started for the bed. He knelt beside the young baron and pulled Darius’s hand into his. His voice was quiet but strong. “Baron Darius. Could you wake so I can examine you?”
The young baron’s eyelids fluttered open and a look of surprise replaced his peaceful repose. “Dr. Gregory? What are you doing here?” Darius’s wide eyes darted toward Raven.
She nodded to reassure him.
“When your brother’s ailment grew worse, your father sent for every physician within and about New Haven, which included me. Once I arrived, I changed your brother’s medication and found that he’d been taking two drugs which reacted harshly with one another. Your father rewarded me by making me your family’s new physician.” The smile Gregory gave Darius looked strained, and he refused to meet Raven’s eyes.
The country doctor working in the Duke’s Court? She knew he had no desire for such a position. The thought that he could be unhappy here in this form of prisonhood made her ache to free him.
He sighed. “Well, my wife saw this as the opportunity she’s always sought for me, so we accepted.”
His wife. The two words gagged Raven. She’d forgotten the woman for a moment. Of course Amelia was happy. And that was what a husband should do, right? Make his wife happy. Shouldn’t that be his foremost concern?
She swooned but caught herself and sat on the window settee unnoticed. From this perch she watched the boy and Gregory laugh and joke with one another while the doctor’s long, slender fingers probed over Darius’s body. Gregory listened to his chest and then took his temperature. After a few more jokes which left the boy giggling, the doctor finally stood.
He nodded in Raven’s direction and she leapt to her feet, following him and the tutor toward the door. He leaned in toward both of them conspiratorially. “The boy has pneumonia. It’s not too serious, but I’ll need to start him on antibiotics immediately. In the meantime, can we keep the boy on liquids and lots of them? He’s a wee bit dehydrated and it has elevated his fever.”
Raven gulped. She should have been more aware of Darius’s lack of fluids. His intake of sustenance, whether food or drink, had been greatly reduced since they’d reacquired him from the Wood Witch. He’d had no appetite at all.
“Dr. Gregory?” Darius asked shyly. “Could you by chance bring me some of those cookies the next time you come?”
Gregory’s eyes met hers and they both laughed.
“What does he mean…cookies?” Reginald asked.
Of course this only made it harder for either of their laughter to stop.
Instead of meeting Solomon in the dining room for a formal meal, Raven and Darius took supper in Darius’s room. He had a small table at which they dined together on soups, stews, and fruit juices. The maid brought a pitcher to the room at regular intervals so that the glass beside his bed remained full at all times. Raven mothered him a bit by making sure he drank often. The young baron had her read to him to pass the time. By the next morning, Raven grew restless and stifled in the room. She didn’t quite feel imprisoned, but she would have enjoyed a walk in the fresh air. Because time had not afforded her the luxury as yet, she spent most of her time peering out the picture window to the courtyard.
Darius spent much of his time asleep, but he seemed brighter whenever he woke. He took his meals with her at the small table in his room and chattered constantly through them. Gregory came twice a day to administer medication, remaining formal and bringing a cookie as a reward for taking the bitter pill each time. But he had to hide the treats within his jacket pocket from Reginald who had forbid them from the baron because he considered all sweets to be an unhealthy indulgence for children.
On the third morning, Gregory arrived with Amelia. Although the woman was nice enough, depression still slunk over Raven like a dark cloud. She did her best to shake herself from it.
“Are the chick
ens well?” Darius asked, bouncing on his bed. He was happy to see the woman he’d spent so much time with at the farm.
Amelia tucked an amber tendril behind her ear and smiled sweetly. Her cream-colored skin wrinkled a bit at the corners of her green eyes. “Of course. They are much quieter now that Nikki isn’t there to intimidate them.”
Darius smiled even wider, his hopeful eyes shooting toward Gregory. “I miss Nikki so much. Do you think I’m well enough to see her? Can I go out to the kennel today?”
Gregory bit his bottom lip, his eyes toward the ceiling in thought. “Well, your fever has receded and your lungs sound clearer. I suppose a short trip outside wouldn’t do any harm. But wait until after lunch and allow the day to warm a bit.”
Sensible. Practical. Things Gregory had always been and Raven had never. The reasons she’d always loved him.
“I could take you if you’d like?” Amelia offered.
“No!” Raven said overloud. She blinked hard, not having meant to be so forceful. “I mean…don’t trouble yourself. I’m more than happy to go for a walk with the boy, as his personal guard of course.”
Amelia’s face brightened. “Of course. You likely want to be out of this room as much as the young baron does. Of course you should take him.”
Beautiful. Understanding. More traits Raven had never possessed. No wonder Gregory loved Amelia. Raven’s chest ached and unshed tears stung the backs of her eyes.
Jack shivered in the shade of the main house and eyed the guards-in-training while Rupert guided them through sword forms. The grassy yard afforded the young combatants to spar or practice their forms with plenty of room to prevent injury. Over twenty pledged recruits worked in the field. Their eager young faces beaded with sweat in the afternoon sun. That was the sort of day it was. Cool in the shade, but hot in the sun.
Across the field, a black feminine form caught his eye. Raven Steele walked hand in hand with the young baron. From this distance, her graceful, catlike, movements enraptured him. She continued to scan the area on high alert. If she were a cat, he was certain her hackles would be raised. Did the woman ever relax?
They moved in the direction of the kennel and the stables. Jack nodded toward Rupert and pushed off into the afternoon sun. Rupert nodded in return, too focused in his task to have noticed the two visitors. Jack started off in the direction the two had gone, coming at the kennel from a different angle so as to meet them there at about the same time.
His plan worked perfectly, and he arrived just as the two reached the kennel where Nikki resided. He smiled at how Raven’s eyes were already watching for his approach before he’d even turned the corner. Was her hearing really so keen?
“Hello, young Baron Darius. It’s good to see you out and about.” Jack smiled in greeting.
The young boy beamed in return.
The woman stiffened, her eyes shifting behind Jack as though waiting for someone else. It forced him to look behind himself as well. When no one came, he returned his attention to the couple, but her eyes had already returned to the boy and his dog.
Young Darius cooed to his Great Dane in unintelligible tones. He opened the kennel gate and released the dog. Her whole body wiggled with her tail as she bounded around the child, keeping her head near the boy and her tongue in constant use. The sight brought a rarely seen smile to Raven’s lips.
She had backed up into the shade of the tree and allowed the moment of revelry to be between the boy and his dog alone. Jack slid up next to her and watched the boy as well. “How long will you be staying with us?”
Her brows furrowed. “When I am certain the young boy is safe, I’ll go.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t mean to say that your company is unwelcome. I just didn’t know if you’d be leaving now that Darius is well.”
She shrugged. “I am no doctor. Although it is good to see his health improve, it is not a danger I could protect him from.”
“That’s true. But there are guardsmen about the Duke’s Court. Surely his safety isn’t threatened as much here as you imply.”
Her spine straightened as she tensed. “The guardsmen are the duke’s to command and control. The safety of this child is of less concern than following his orders.”
Jack flushed. This argument again? He stood in silence, feeling the electricity between the two of them trying to push him away. But he refused to yield to it. A breeze stirred the air about them and Jack shivered again.
Raven took that opportunity to step out of the shade and back into the sun of the small kennel yard. The boy sat in the gravel, the dog lying with her head upon his lap. Darius had changed so much. He’d become less baron and more boy in Raven’s care. Without Reginald to scold him for getting his clothing dirty or behaving in a common manner, Darius behaved as any boy would with his dog. He seemed happier with her here. That fact made the dull ache at the thought of her departure multiply.
He caught himself in a sigh and turned it into a cough. Raven eyed him suspiciously, and then her eyes darted back through the alley which he had come.
A page turned the corner, jogging and out of breath. When he arrived, his cheeks were flushed from the exertion. “His Highness, the Duke of New Haven, is pleased to hear of his younger son’s recovery and requests his audience at supper tonight with his attendant in accompaniment.”
The young baron hastened to his feet and dusted his trousers. His spine stiffened once more, and his chin rose. “Of course. We shall be in attendance.”
“Right.” The page nodded and trotted back down the alleyway.
Raven’s eye quirked. “I suppose I am your attendant?”
The young baron nodded and smirked. “Yes. You and Reginald, and whoever else I choose to invite.” His eyes darted toward Jack. “Would you like to come, Captain?”
A smirk rose on Jack’s lips as well, and he gave a short bow. “I believe I’ll already be in attendance as your father’s guard, young baron. But thank you for the invitation.”
Raven shook her head but couldn’t hide the smile that revealed itself on her lips. “Does a guard customarily sit at the table to dine, or stand behind his…or her…charge?”
Jack’s forehead scrunched. “I usually stand.”
Raven nodded and the mirth left her expression. “Then I shall do the same.”
“That sort of situation does not seem fitting. The barons do not need a guard against their father.”
“Then why does the duke need a guard against his sons?”
How did this woman always twist things around? “Out of formal courtesy, the guard captain stands with the duke when he sees guests at supper, no matter who they are.”
She set her shoulders and stepped closer. “A recent threat has been made against my charge’s life and I refuse to sit at a table in a dress and with limited armament. If it should arise that the baron needs protection—”
“Then I will be there in the capacity I was—”
“The limited capacity that you can provide against an attack alone would hardly—”
“It would be more than enough in the duke’s dining room. There are guards outside and within at all times during—”
“Not enough! My charge’s enemy in the past has been his closest family. Should the need arise—”
“It. Will. Not. Arise.”
“You cannot guarantee it.” Her head shook, but the fierce look she had before was lost. Her eyes became sad, pleading. “I cannot trust you. At his command you would kill us both no matter if you feel it’s wrong or right.”
Never in his life had he wanted so much to pull a woman into his arms as he did her at this moment. She left him breathless. A wordless, thrilling moment passed between them.
Then Darius took her hand in his and whispered quietly. “Come on, Raven. Let’s go. I’m tired.”
It broke the spell the moment had cast upon them both. She blinked hard, but her eyes still had that pleading appeal. Then she looked away. Darius had already returned the dog to the
kennel while they had argued. Jack’s concentration had been so completely on the woman that he hadn’t noticed. He wiped the sweat from his brow and watched the twosome as they rounded the corner and left the kennel area through the stables. His heart thumped in his chest, and he continued to pant as though he’d run a mile. Raven was infuriating. That woman’s passion was like a storm, and he could either cower from the lightning, or be brave and stand in the rain.
Remain calm. Fret only over the things one can change and never anything else.
THE DUKE WAS a striking man with a commanding presence in spite of his hunched shoulders and a bald head. His mechanical arms were overlarge for his body and made his head smaller still. His stubby legs brought him into the room, and Raven surveyed him, trying to discover why this man deserved any respect at all.
Behind him, Captain Grant wore his blue suit freshly pressed with exaggerated creases, and the brown coat he’d normally worn had been left behind. He had pinned the red band that usually went over his bicep to the front of his suit, over edge of his pocket. His square chin had been shaven clean, even since the afternoon they’d met in the courtyard.
Reginald had come into the nursery and fussed over the attire of both Darius and herself. She had refused to change at all. Her black reaper garb had been clean, and she declined to wear anything else. Well, except for her purple cropped jacket, since Reginald’s complaint was a lack of color. She stood over Darius at a respectful distance, and at his right shoulder, a mirror image of how Jack stood over the duke. Gregory sat at the table on the other side of Baron Solomon and kept eyeing Raven suspiciously.
The duke’s cold grey eyes swept over Raven the moment he walked in. She suspected he appraised her in her capacity as a warrior and as a woman. He licked his lips as he judged her body but met her glare with a mild flinch. Yes, she’d passed both his assessments.
He cleared his throat and turned his attention toward his guest. “So, Doctor Gregory Patrick. What have you accomplished concerning my two sons? Are they both well?”
Chronicles of Steele: Raven: The Complete Story Page 22
