The Heart of a Queen (A Historical Romance)

Chapter 21

The next day was a market day in the village and Isobel, Brienna, and their entourage went to the clearing near the church to pick up everything they needed from the local vendors. Brienna had never seen such a wealth of cloth, and food, and herbs, and tools for sale in all her lifetime, and she went from stall to stall exhilarated with the sights and sounds and scents around her.

She came upon a table of tapestries, small ones that could be fashioned into purses or slippers as suited the buyer, and found herself caught up in an overwhelming feeling of familiarity. They looked so much like the ones she was used to seeing at home. In fact, she thought as she studied one familiar scene of a hunter chasing a doe, some of them looked exactly like the ones that hung in her childhood bedroom.

"Lasair!" Brienna exclaimed, looking up into the face of the stall's vendor, who was her own long-lost nursemaid.

"My daughter!" Lasair cried, her cheeks rounded in joy and wonder as she realized it was Brienna. She scooted around the table and grasped Brienna close. Brienna laughed, so overjoyed was she at seeing the woman after hearing the news from Ruarc that she'd never returned to Connaught.

"What are you doing here?" Brienna asked her, looking down at Lasair's kind face. For the first time she noticed that she was taller than her beloved maid, who'd always seemed larger than life in her eyes. How long have I towered over her, she wondered.

"Oh, I couldn't leave you here in a foreign land all on your own," Lasair said. "Ulf took me to the landing as he was ordered, but I never left the shore. Not knowing what to do, I tarried there until I met Madoc."

She pointed to a man who was negotiating with a vendor nearby for an enormous quarter of lamb. As if he sensed that Lasair was speaking of him, he turned and waved his hand at the two women in acknowledgement, and Brienna could tell from that one gesture that he was kind, lively, and smitten with Lasair.

"Have you taken up with him?" Brienna asked, stern. She would be hurt if Lasair had entered into any contract without letting her know, but Lasair laughed off her concerns.

"Goodness, no. He doesn't keep a home here, running up an down the coast on the shipping trade. He gave me a place to stay with his mother, who's too old to ply her sewing trade anymore. I'm earning my keep with what I know," she said, nudging her chin at the tapestries.

"They're beautiful," Brienna commented. "It's so good to see you," she impulsively bent and kissed Lasair on the cheek. "Why did you not send me some word that you were here? It's been months. I could have visited."

"I wanted to, but I worried it would drive you to do something rash, like run away from the castle again," Lasair said. "Besides, I was hoping that when I did send you a message, it would be with an invitation to the ceremony," she confided, lowering her voice and pointing discreetly over at where Madoc stood.

So Lasair had taken up with a sailor, Brienna thought. Ruarc had been right.

She was so glad to see Lasair again that she'd nearly forgotten her own reasons for being in the town. She told Lasair about everything that had happened since she'd left, about the battle against the English in which her father was injured, the upcoming gathering, and the imminent occasion of her own wedding.

"Please say you'll come," she begged her.

"You won't be able to keep me away," Lasair promised, then rolled off on a tangent about all the things she would have to start making for Brienna's trousseau with as much excitement as if it was her own wedding.

"There's barely any time," she declared, and then stopped herself short, reading the expression on Brienna's face. "What's wrong girl? You look as though you'd just found out you were marrying Madoc, and not a prince of Ireland," Lasair scolded.

"No," Brienna brushed her off. "It just saddens me that my father won't be there to witness it. But now that you're coming, I can start to feel better again."

Lasair accepted the compliment but still watched Brienna askance as they settled on plans for Lasair to join her soon at the castle. Then Brienna went back through the market to find Isobel, who was directing the servants in loading up everything they'd bought onto the horses.

"Aren't we staying another night?" Brienna asked, reluctant to leave the village where she was free to believe that her fiancé was still across the sea, even though he wasn't. She didn't want to have to go back to the castle and be faced with his undeniable presence.

"I'm sending the horses ahead. The men don't mind camping, but we can spend one more night in the comfort of the croft and set out refreshed in the morning," Isobel said. "I see you've been reunited with your companion," she observed.

Brienna glanced back to where Lasair was engaged in vigorous haggling with a young woman who wanted one of the tapestries. She looked like she was a part of the scenery, and Brienna felt a twinge of loss. Her nursemaid had found a place where she was fulfilled, wanted and valued, and Brienna couldn't resent her that, especially since she recognized that she didn't really need her the way she used to. She no longer needed someone to dry her tears when things weren't going her way, or to comfort her when she had to do something she didn't want to; it was time to do that on her own.