Stealing Thy Heart

I was watching my father and Lady Finn argue over what to name their second child. Hugo was starting to turn bright red in the face from yelling so much and Finnula eyes were flashing dangerously. I didn't see what the big deal what about the child's name should be.

"I am not naming my child George! It is too closely related to your father's name!" Finn snapped angrily. Hugo huffed and yelled something else back at her.

I watched curiously for a while before leaving the corner that I was standing in to go find my half brother, Marcus. He was very easy to find, all I had to do was follow Mistress Laver's cooing. Marcus was seated in her lap while getting feed his dinner. His face was smeared with food.

"Hullo, I was wondering if you could pack me a bundle of food. I have some errands to do run in the village for Lord Hugo and I will be gone all day," I said, trying to sound as proper as I could. My tutor says speech can be such a powerful weapon against someone.

"Of course, dear Jamie. Just let me clean little Marcus up first. I swear this child will be a handful just like his mother," Mistress Laver exclaimed. After my brother was cleaned he was set down on the kitchen floor and started to wobble around me.

I smiled fondly at him and Marcus giggled back. He was nearing his second birthday and already everyone in the village was talking about him becoming the next earl of the estate. I was glad he'd be getting the responsibility instead of me.

Marcus had Lord Hugo's blond hair but sometimes if you looked at it in a certain light his hair was streaked with red. He had Lady Finn's stormy gray eyes that showed his emotions clearly.

Mistress Laver handed me my bundle before scooping up Marcus and carrying him up to his room for his morning nap. I went out through the kitchen and headed towards the gates and the few miles to the village.

I lifted my face to the fresh breeze that swept over the land, letting us know that spring time was just a few weeks away. The air was clean and had an earthy smell to it that I greatly enjoyed. Time seemed to slip away and suddenly I was standing in the middle of the village, people bustling around me.

I headed to the millhouse first to let Robert Crais know that Lady Finnula and Lord Hugo needed flour so Mistress Laver could begin to start making breads for a festival that would be happening in two days time. Robert and Rosamund greeted me and made me eat breakfast with them before allowing me to leave to the rest of my errands.

I visited the blacksmith to order two dozen horseshoes for the stallions that Lord Hugo had bought just the other day then headed to the butcher to buy some meat for our household since Finnula wasn't allowed to hunt while pregnant. The butcher sent his assistant to deliver the meat for me. I made a few more stops before resting under an old oak tree to eat my lunch that Mistress Laver had packed for me.

I was halfway through my piece of cheese when I heard a twig snap behind me. I peeked around the tree silently to see who had bothered my peaceful meal. A girl, younger than me by a few years, was trying to pick berries from a bush but kept getting pricked by thorns. She'd yelp every time and suck on her finger before trying again.

"What are you doing?" I asked, stepping out from my hiding stop. The girl jumped, dropping the few berries that she had managed to get from the biting bush. I waited for her to answer me.

"I am picking my lunch of course. What are you doing hiding?" the girl exclaimed curiously, eyeing me carefully. She started to pick up her berries from the ground, her long black hair falling around her face.

"I was eating my lunch before continuing my errands," I explained to her. The girl's head snapped up. I noticed the hungry look she had in bright blue eyes and how gaunt her face really was when it wasn't hidden by her hair. I felt pity for her.

"Do you want some?" I asked. She nodded eagerly and followed me under to the tree. We ate the bread, cheese and the few berries in just a few minutes but I could tell this was the most the girl had had in weeks.

"What is your name?" the girl asked, licking her fingers clean of crumbles.

"Jamie, son of Lord Hugo," I answered simply, picking up my bundle and standing up. She looked up at me in awe and immediately tried to control her wild, black nest of hair.

"I did not know, sir, that you were the son of the great earl!" she squeaked out, her pale skin turning pink in the cheeks. I scrunched up my nose. I have never had someone call me sir before and I felt like the title did not fit me because of my age. I was only a few years older than her.

"Who are you?" I asked, ignoring her mutterings and squeaking. She turned even red and let her hair fall in front of her flaming face.

"I am Evolet. My father works at the mill and my mother works as a seamstress," she answered automatically, keeping her eyes on the ground where a few blades of green grass were poking up from the ground.

After all our proper introductions were made I headed back into the village to go to Sheriff de Brissac home to ask him to come to dinner tonight. Lord Hugo and he had become great friends since my father's return from the Holy Land.

Evolet trailed after me, mumbling things to herself while glancing over at me every once in a while. She was very tall for a nine year old, almost taller than I, who was twelve years old.

Mellana, the sheriff's young wife, spotted me through the window coming towards her home. She waved at me before rushing off to find her husband, Sheriff de Brissac. He met me out front, accepted Hugo's offer for dinner.

"Who is your young friend, Jamie?" the sheriff asked, finally spotting Evolet standing behind me, who was trying to comb her hair with her fingers. I glanced back at her.

"Her name is Evolet but she's not my friend," I replied. Evolet suddenly got quiet behind me. Her face was back to its pale shade and she was glaring at me. She didn't wait another moment and stalked back the way we had come before disappearing.

"Who was that adorable little girl you were with Jamie?" Mellana asked, coming out of the house. I shrugged.

The day of the festival I saw Evolet again and she was with her parents as they drank beer and ate some of Mistress Laver's bread. She had a red welt on the side of her face and her chin was a dark blue color from a bash. Evolet's arms were an angry red color like she had just taken a beaten, which she probably did.

No one around spared her a second glance but I could not make myself look away from her. It reminded me of when my father's cousin, Reginald Laroche, and his daughter, Isabella, had beaten me when I had gotten in their way. It made me angry just looking at her swollen face.

Evolet's blue eyes flickered over to mine before she looked away again. She stared down at the ground until her father ordered her to get him more beer.

I saw Evolet again and again over the years. Sometimes she was bruised and bloody and other times she was gaunt and sick looking. I couldn't stand to look at her for long periods of time. She never bothered to look at me either.

When I was fifteen was the first time I saw her, I mean really saw her in her altogether. I had finished some errands for Lady Finnula and was heading back to the manor when I caught a snippet of a group of men's conversation about sneaking down to the creek of watch a few girls wash. I was appalled and decided to follow them so I could catch them before they looked at some poor innocent girl's body.

I took a different route to the creek and got there before the men. I waited in the protection of the trees, keeping my eyes peeled for the rogues.

Movement to my left caught my attention. I turned to the source of the movement and saw Evolet wading in the water, hugging herself against the cold before she plunged herself under the water. My eyes stayed locked at where she disappeared and I waited for her to reappear.

She broke through the water gracefully when she came back up. This time she didn't cover herself and my eyes flickered down to look at her good sized breasts before I blushed and stumbled away from creek.

I was as bad as those men! Ugh, her body wouldn't leave my mind and I saw her full breasts every time I blinked. I shuddered and suddenly my leather braies felt too tight around me. I groaned in frustration but continued on home, trying to ignore my problem.

Once I was back inside the manor I made my way to the kitchen was so I could talk to Mistress Laver, who always listened to me when I wished to talk about anything that was on my mind.

Mistress Laver was not pleased with me in the least when I told her about my visit to the creek and swatted me with her wooden spoon a few times before actually listening to my problems.

She laughed. "My, my, my, you are just like your father, I swear it!" she hooted. I glared but waited for her to regain her composure.

"'Tis not funny! I feel horrid about it!" I exclaimed finally after she had quit laughing at me.

"I am not the right person to ask about such things. Ask our Lordship Hugo, he will know," she said, a smile still on her face.

I did ask my father but he just guffawed and told me not to worry about it. Lady Finn just pursed her lips but didn't say anything on the matter. I didn't even bother to ask Marcus, he was too little to understand.

What did all of this mean?!

Author's Note: I couldn't help but write this. I've read the book a few times and I kept wondering about our little Jamie so this is what I came up with. Not very good but whatever! ^_^