The Legend of Rosewood House

He made his way down to the main hall and over to the table where Morroy was the only one still eating, the others were all done and readying their gear. Aeren sliced off a hard wedge of cheese and some of the fresh bread and he was thankful that all of the meat seemed to have been eaten already. Something about the smell of it just put him off of his breakfast. He ate anyway, knowing that he would need the food before he had the chance to eat again, and he turned to where the others were waiting. He gave out their orders and Benich and Vabris nodded and saluted before they turned to the doors that led out of the hall. Then Aeren turned to Eoin.

"The way was dark last night and we were hurrying. Could you show us the way back to the coach so I can check on my men there?" He asked and the stablemaster nodded.

"Aye melaird, I know the land well'nough." The stout man said and Aeren nodded.

"You've my thanks, but I'm not lord, just a soldier. You can call me Aeren, or sir if you've need of a title." He said, remaining friendly. Like the stablemaster, he was a working man of common birth and there was no cause to make himself feel superior.

"Aye then, sar." Eoin said, knuckling his forehead. "Let me saddle me mount and we can be off 's soon as ye like." He left when Aeren nodded and the captain turned to Edra.

"Keep an eye the lads upstairs for me, will you?" He said and the footman nodded. "It's not that I don't trust them, but I was their age around pretty girls once too."

"Aye, I will." He said with a grin, understanding just what Aeren meant. "But can ye trust me with the pair of em? Tain't often a man my age gets a chance to see tits like those." He said and Aeren knew him well enough to see the jest, smiling along with him.

"Isn't often a man of any age gets to see tits like those, and twins no less." He said, seeing the grin that came over Stefend's face. The breasts of the two handmaidens was the most talked about subject around the fire during this trek, even the beauty of the Lady Ailianor wasn't as interesting a topic for they all knew that they stood as much chance of catching a star fallen from the heavens as they did of seeing more of the Lady than they already had, though Iavris had tried.

"Aye, I'll watch em then." Edra said with a nod and Aeren thanked him then he and Stefend went to ready their mounts.

They made it out to the stables just as Benich and Vabris were leading their horses out of the stables and Eoin was just tossing a saddle across his own stout animal.

"Straight down and straight back." Aeren called after the pair of guardsmen.

"Aye sir." Benich said, raising a hand in acknowledgement. "An with a 'wright we can trust, I hopes." He said and the pair mounted up and headed off down the road in the direction of town.

"Alright lad." Aeren said to Stefend. "Soonest begun, soonest done."

"Aye sir." The guard said and they got to work.

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Enaia was sad to see the door shut on Aeren; after her dreams she needed the comfort he could give her. But they both had duties to attend to and Enaia turned away from the door and directed the cook and her quiet daughter in setting out the morning repast. Once the pair had gone, she went to the bedroom and the two maids were just finishing with helping Ailianor into her dress.

"Leave my hair down, if you could." Ailianor said, glancing at the maids. "It feels good to not have it so tight." They curtsied in acquiescence and turned to help Enaia dress. She felt strange as they helped her into her clothing, like her body was too... too awake, as it had been when she had been with Aeren at the Springday festival. Their tryst had been ill-advised but she had needed him so badly, needed him to banish the only other memory of the touch of a man that she had; from when Ledan had raped her. That thought was all it took to bring the memories crashing back again.

He had been so furious when she had scratched his face. He had called her names she had never heard before or since and he had beat her, bruising her face and leaving one eye swollen shut, he had left bruises on her throat where he had choked her and cracked two of her ribs but the worst was the way he had twisted and mauled her breasts as he finished raping her. He had been like an animal, biting and squeezing, twisting with his hands and she still bore the scars from his teeth to this day.

He had left her barely conscious in the bath chamber and one of the maids had found her and run to fetch the Mistress of Servants. Olvia had gone to Lord and Lady Sangray and Lord Devron had been dismissive to say the least. He had tried to blame Enaia for the incident.

"There is no smoke without a fire." He had said. "The boy can hardly be blamed for chasing a skirt that was lifted for him."

"This is more than chasing a skirt, Devron." Lady Cassaia had said as her personal physician had cleaned and dressed the wounds that Enaia had taken. "It looks like he tried to kill the child. Were she looking smug, or even indifferent then I might be inclined to lay some of the blame with her, but this..." She had sighed as she looked Enaia over, her face grim and serious.

"Tell me what happened, child." She had commanded, sitting on the seat next to Enaia and taking her hand. "Tell me the truth and leave out nothing." So Enaia had told her, from the long looks and suggestive things that Ledan had been saying to her for months now, to him coming into her bath and what he had done.

"...and that is the last I remember, your Grace." She had said, her voice slurred through swollen lips, the pain and humiliation of having to tell what he had done to her was worse, in some ways, than experiencing it the first time. It was being forced to remember, to stain it across her memory forever.

"And what did you do that made him want to beat you?" Lord Devron had asked, clearly uncomfortable, but scornful as well.

"I... I don't know, your Grace." She had said, tears streaming from her one open eye. The world looked pink to her, she remembered, from the blood that had stained the white of her eye. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember that." Lady Cassaia had taken her hand soothingly and comforted her but it was clear to see that she was angry... no, worse than angry; she was furious.

And her fury was terrible to see. She had sent guards to fetch her son and his steward without delay, meaning that both young men were brought as they were into the room. Ledan had been in trousers and a loose shirt while his steward was fully dressed but shocked at having been dragged from his toilet. They stood in silence, Ledan brooding as he stared murder at Enaia while more guards searched his quarters and returned with his blood-stained clothing, which his steward had been trying to dispose of in the privy. The evidence was laid out on a table and Cassaia had stood and looked it all over before turning her cold, hard gaze on her son and asked, quite calmly, for his version of the story.

"It was a dalliance, mother, nothing more." He had said, his voice whiny as he scowled sidelong at Enaia.

"I see... a 'Dalliance'. And the reason you beat her so badly that the blood has stained not just your shirt but also the chemise beneath?"

"He had whined something, but Enaia hadn't heard what, her head was ringing and the room was spinning as she looked at his clothing. All of that blood was hers?! It was a shocking amount.

"Speak up, boy." Cassaia said, her voice dangerously calm and level, her back to her son and her eyes on her husband in an expression that made the Lord of the house squirm uncomfortably. Even he could not deny that the blood on his son's clothing was proof that things had gone too far.

"She scratched my face!" Ledan had said, surging to his feet in anger. His mother turned and slapped him so hard that he lost his feet and fell back into his chair. She had stood over him like a thunderhead as he stared up at her in shock.

"For three scratches on your face, three scratches... you beat this girl nearly to death!" She had practically screamed. "You beat her so badly that you have bruises on your hands... for three scratches?!" Even Lord Devron had kept his silence in fear of her.

"But she marked me, mother." Ledan had said, surging to his feet again only for the guardsman behind him to slam him back down without hesitation. He had tried to scowl at the man, but the house guards did not answer to him and were loyal to his parents completely

"And did you have her consent for what you did to her?" Cassaia had asked. "I saw the blood on her thighs, the marks you have left on her body." She had to pause to take breath her fury was so great. "Do you know what the penalty is for rape, Ledan? Do you know what would happen to you were you anything less than the heir to the name of this house? Do you even understand what would happen to you were you even the second son?"

"Mother, I..." He stammered and she sighed and turned her back on him.

"Take him to the west tower." She had said without even looking at him again, her arms crossed in a posture even her husband did not dare to challenge. "Selden, you are to pack clothing and essentials for Ledan. I am sending him to our estate in Eastbrook. He can remain there until I am able to think of him with less than rage. When that is done, you are to return to your house, I will pen a letter to your father explaining exactly why."

"Your Grace!" The steward had said, his face pale with shock at the words.

"You assisted my son in attempting to hide the rape and brutal treatment of this young woman when instead you should have come to me immediately." She said, her voice flat as she rounded on him and Enaia could see the tears on his face. "And rest assured that if I hear of this spoken again outside of this room, by anyone, I will see to it that your father cannot find work pushing a gong scourer's cart. Am I absolutely clear?" Poor Selden bobbed his head and mumbled something that might have been a 'Yes your Grace', but his voice was too thick for words.

Ledan had been sent away two days later to the estate in Eastbrook and his mother had ensured that there were no female servants anywhere in the house and had even left orders that no females were allowed past the walls on pain of dismissal for whoever allowed it. He was gone for more than two years, and had only been allowed to return twice for royal visitations and he had stayed not in the main house but in the all but abandoned west tower where the house guards had the charge of him and he was not allowed to set one toe out of line. The maid who had found her, as well as several others she was suspected of talking to, were all dismissed and shipped off to the far reaches of the kingdom, their words discredited and their families paid for the inconvenience.

Enaia had been placed in seclusion for several months as well; ostensibly to heal but in reality to allow the healers to ensure that her menses would return and that she would not be saddled with a bastard child. She had no illusion that any of this was done to comfort her; it was done to protect the betrothal between Ledan and Elisee Ashwillow, the younger and favourite daughter of the king. If word had gotten out that Ledan had raped and beat Enaia, the king would undoubtedly cancel the betrothal and House Sangray would fall out of favour.

And Enaia had known without being told that she was to remain silent about what had happened. Not that she had any desire to speak of it ever again, but she also had no desire to be dismissed from the service of the house and banished to some outlying province, likely after being married off to some old guard or retainer who could keep an eye on her. She had been allowed to heal and returned to service with Ailianor while being carefully watched by Olvia.

The house quietly returned to normal and Enaia had lived with the scars of what Ledan had done to her, both those on her skin and the worse ones; the ones on the inside that no one else ever saw. She had lost sleep on many nights to nightmares of what he had done to her, of the face she had seen in the mirror as the bruises had slowly faded and the wounds had healed and just when she was to the point when she was past it enough to move on with her life, Ledan had returned and she was forced to remember it all again every time she saw him, every time he glanced at her with seething hatred in his eyes. It was the same look he had given his mother on the day she had announced his exile. Enaia knew that Cassaia was the root of his hatred, the core of why Ledan treated women the way he did. But there was nothing else to do about it, nothing she could even say to anyone. All that was important to House Sangray was the betrothal, Enaia's own pain and suffering meant nothing.

Then she had met Aeren. He was older than her by some eight years but he had seen her and asked if he could court her in the same day. She had been reluctant at first and had given him no answer for months. But he had been patient and caring and he had shown that he was a good man and when she had given her permission, he had gone to Lady Cassaia and asked formally to court her. The lady had given her permission and placed him among the guards for the daughter of the house and the two of them had grown closer and more affectionate as the months turned to a year and the time for Ailianor to move to Braidor had been announced.

That had been the Springday Festival, just three months past. She had already shared what Ledan had done to her, the first time she had spoken of it to anyone since the day it had happened. Aeren had been furious, but he also knew that he could do nothing about it. They had gotten drunk and danced, uncaring of social boundaries as was normal for Springday, and they had slipped away into a servants alcove where he had made love to her for the first and only time. She had not thought or dreamed about Ledan and what he had done to her since... not until last night. And now her hands trembled and her heart raced and Ailianor did not miss the signs of it. She reached out and took Enaia's hand, startling her lady in waiting.

"I want you to rest today." Ailianor said quietly. "We've a stopover here for a day, perhaps more from what Captain Aeren said about the damage to the wheels."

"My lady..." Enaia began but Ailianor shook her head.

"No, Ennie, I will not hear of you continuing your duties. We can rest in this house, it is safe enough I think, and I will have Ellie with me as well as one of the guards. You need sleep and you need rest. Once we arrive in Braidor you will have your hands full until the wedding and then I intend to see you and Aeren wedded before you become my Mistress of Servants. Take the time you can get to rest, I won't allow anything else." She was firm in her words and Enaia sighed in defeat.

"Of course, Milady." She said and Ailianor smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

"I haven't seen you this upset since..." She sighed and her voice grew quiet. "...since my brother." She knew in an instant that she had guessed correctly and she leaned over and hugged Enaia tightly. Ailianor had never once blamed Enaia for what had happened to her and she had been outraged that her brother had been treated so casually. She well knew the punishment for rape for any other man and death was preferable. "We'll be in Braidor soon enough and you'll never need to see him again. You'll be married to Aeren and Ledan will be married to Elisee and from what I have heard of her, the two of them deserve one another."

Enaia laughed at this. Elisee, as the favoured daughter of the king, was spoiled to the core and she had never once hesitated to use her position and her titles to get what she wanted. Ledan would be very busy keeping her happy, or at least placated, and with the royal guards as his stewards he would never be allowed to set a foot out of line again.

"That is the best I could ever hope for, Allie." She said with a genuine smile and the ghost of Ledan Sangray, and what he had done to her, faded a little in her memory. Then Enaia sat up and looked at Ailianor with a serious face.

"Why will you need Ellie and a guard?" She asked and Ailianor studiously attended to her breakfast.

"I am going to visit Master Lerient today." She said innocently. "To thank him for his hospitality and offer him the host's tithe."

"My Lady..." Enaia said, her voice firm and her face serious.

"I can attend to this by myself, Ennie." Ailianor said, still not looking at her lady in waiting. "Master Lerient is at least seventy and infirm besides. I will have Ellie and one of the guards there to keep an eye on things so you don't need to fret like an old hen with a new egg."

"I have to..." Enaia began but Ailianor looked at her with the same firm, stubborn eyes that her mother had.

"You are to rest Enaia, and that is the final word. I do not need a chaperon for this, I promise you." That tone said that the conversation was over and Ailianor would have her way, one way or the other. Enaia just sighed and shook her head as she looked to her own breakfast.

"As you wish, my lady." She said.

"Does this meat taste odd to you?" Ailianor asked a moment later, her brow wrinkled in distaste. She sniffed her plate as Enaia tasted it. It was heavily spiced, likely against spoilage, but there was an underlying oddness to the taste as well.

"It does." Enaia said, pushing her portion away.

"I think I will subsist on bread and cheese for now." Ailianor said, turning away from the meat.

"Yes. Hopefully Aeren will return with some venison." Enaia said and the two of them fell to discussing the guardsmen and the tasks that they were about that day and Enaia thought nothing more of Ailianor visiting the elderly Master Lerient.

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The three men rode through the forest at a careful but steady pace, with Eoin leading the way. The road that went this way was old and overgrown, washed out in places and difficult even for the horses, meaning many side-treks and detours. There was no way that the coach would ever make it along this way and Aeren swore. It meant that even once the wheel and axle were replaced, they would have to backtrack to the main road and circle around to the town and then go up to the manor, which would take at least two more days, probably three. He briefly entertained the idea of bringing the women back out this way on horses and taking the entire group around as one. But he knew that that wasn't reasonable. The coach would need to be as light as possible and the weight of the four women, while less than that of the baggage, was still enough to possibly cause another wheel-break or it could mire the wagon or any of a dozen other things. No, he would take some of the luggage back with him when he returned to the manor and lighten the load even more, then send the coach around the long way and wait at the manor for its arrival.

He sighed as he cast about and he saw Stefend with his bow across his lap, an arrow at the ready and eyes watching for game. They had already jumped a few ground-birds and he had seen deer tracks, but they had not seen any larger game at all. Still, this was better than nothing. It was what he didn't see that piqued his ire. He had thought by now to see smoke from a campfire. Iavris and Emain were well versed on trail camping and they would have made a fire if for nothing more than to dry out as soon as the rain had stopped. And with the woods so wet after the rain, he would have been seeing smoke by now. So where was the fire? Had the two of them managed to smuggle a flask along? Were they lying drunk still in their bedrolls? Or had something happened? Were there any bandits along this stretch of forest?

There were too many things he didn't know and he wouldn't be comfortable or able to relax until they were all in Braidor and the women in his charge were safely behind walls once again. He sighed heavily and cast about once more before he looked over to the stable-master.