A/N: Apologies for the lateness! End AN has details!
Thank you so much Readerfreak10, SasoLOVE111, Lady Marek and Griffinesque for the reviews :)
And as always, thank you x a million princesspomegranate for BETA-ing (:
Enjoy!
Chapter 8
Beatrice was the sort of woman who could kill something by feeding it too much.
Ella had the time of her life convincing the heavy-set, force-to-be-reckoned-with that she couldn't eat anymore then the two bowls of steaming broth she had already devoured. She hadn't realised how hungry she'd been until the bowl had first been placed in front of her. But she was still human, not a horse.
"You're far too skinny." Beatrice exclaimed as she poked Ella in the ribs. "Need more meat on those bones."
For a brief moment, all Ella could think of was the story of Hansel and Gretel. Shaking her head to clear it of that very unlikely situation, she pushed the re-filled wooden bowl back towards the woman before her.
"No, thank you, I…"
"How do you expect to produce healthy sons in your condition, hmm?" she demanded.
Ella blinked.
"S-sons?"
"Yes, girl, sons. Every woman should be able to birth good, strong, sons. It's what husbands look for."
Ella stared at her in horror and replied, "Uh, no, no, no. I'm not having any children any time soon. I'm not married and…"
"Pah," Beatrice waved a hand dismissively. "You'll be married soon enough. To some high ranking officer no doubt; and he'll be wanting sons. Strong, worthy heirs. So eat yer broth."
"I-I don't know about that…but, really, I couldn't possibly eat anymore without exploding," she said, patting her stomach as if to prove the point. "It was delicious, though, thank you very much."
"Such an odd one," the older woman said after a moment's pause.
She sighed- Ella hoped in defeat.
"Very well, I'll have one of my girls show you to your room. Your bath should be about ready by now."
The teenager got to her feet as quickly as her skirts would allow.
"Thank you."
Muttering to herself, Beatrice took the bowl and disappeared through a door behind what Ella supposed was the bar. Tavern meant bar, didn't it? She suspected there were two floors. This ground floor seemed to be one large room, with tables and chairs laid out along either wall and into the centre, leaving only a small open space. There were windows along the front and side, and at the back of the room were a set of not so stable-looking stairs she supposed led up to where all the rooms would be. Whatever it was, it was empty apart from herself and the family.
Alban had left his wife and their guest pretty much as soon as the Knights had gone. She reasoned that this sort of thing was left to women to handle anyway. The man, tall, willowy and greying, would have other, better things to do then feed and settle a Roman lady.
"Janice!"
The bellow made Ella jump, her hand flying to her pounding heart as she recognised the voice to be Beatrice's.
"Where are you? Get your backside down here!"
Running footsteps above Ella's head made dust fall from the ceiling boards like golden glitter. She watched warily as the footsteps raced across the roof and then started down the set of stairs to her right. A girl emerged, looking to be fifteen or sixteen. She was thin, with fine dirty-blonde hair that was pulled back into a long plait. She wore a simple brown dress that was at least size too big for her and appeared to be shoe-less.
She halted when she caught sight of Ella, brown eyes wide in surprise, but then she darted behind the bar and through the door.
Ella could hear their voices, but wasn't able to make out what they were saying.
Not long after though, the girl slipped back through the door and tentatively crept over to where she stood. Wringing her hands nervously, she pushed back strands of that corn-coloured hair behind her ear.
"M'lady," she said, doing an awkward sort-of curtsy, not looking the older girl in the face. "Ma says I'm t' take you t' yer room, now."
Ella smiled, and held out her hand, "Thank you, I appreciate that. I'm El-uh, Ariella." Formality, she reminded herself.
The girl stared at her hand like she didn't know what to do with it. Blushing slightly at her mistake, Ella retracted it.
"What's yours?"
"My what, M'lady?" the girl gawked, still looking supremely confused.
"Your name…"
"Oh! I'm Janice. If you'd follow me, Ma says I'm t' help with your bath…"
Ella chuckled nervously, "Right, almost forgot about that."
Berating herself for being as un-Roman-like as possible, she followed Janice up the stairs, which creaked and even moved under each step. At the top, there were two hallways- one to the left and one going back to the front of the building.
Janice took the one to the left and they passed several doors until she halted in front of one on the left.
Swinging it open revealed a very simple bedroom. A single sized bed on a well-worn bed frame at one end, a small table beside the bed and another with a chair at the base of a window completed the furnishings. What did surprise her was the large bath standing filled and steaming at the other end of the room.
"I hope it's t' yer liking, m'lady. Just let someone know if yer need anything," Janice said quickly, like they were lines she had rehearsed for a play that she didn't want to be in.
"It's fine, thank you," Ella smiled, stepping in and running her eyes over the bed and its faded covers.
Made of wool, most probably. It was so… different, from what she knew, so foreign. Though she knew she was the foreign one here. A fact she also knew would do her the world of good to always keep in mind.
Ella hadn't realised she'd just been standing there, staring into nothing, until Janice cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Would ye like t' have yer bath now, or…?"
"Oh! Yes, I'm sorry, I…I'm just tired, I guess," Ella said, moving over to the tub to dip her fingers into the water.
It was warm… perfect.
"Thank you for showing me up, Janice. Would it be too much trouble to bother you for some clothes? I… lost all mine when… when we were attacked."
Ella really, really hoped that that was the same tale Arthur had told them.
"And this is shockingly filthy," she added as she fingered the stained skirts absentmindedly, fleetingly wondering how much trouble she'd have been in if her drama teacher had seen the dress now. Tones, I suspect.
"O' course, m'lady. I'll get ye something real quick."
And with that, the girl was gone, the door closing firmly after her.
"Okay, then," Ella mumbled, slowly beginning to strip herself out of her dress.
Ridiculous thing, she thought disdainfully as it pooled at her feet and she stepped out of it. And dresses are the thing for women, here. Fantastic.
Sliding her underwear, phone and iPod under the mattress, she slipped into the welcoming warmth with a thankful sigh.
There was nothing better than a bath to ease away the worries.
oOo
She wasn't quite sure how long she'd been in the water, slowly turning herself in a prune, but Ella was jolted back into the real world when there was a knock at the door.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she sank as low into the water as possible. "Uh, uh… I'm not decent!"
Mentally slapping herself at how ridiculous that sentence was, she held her breath.
"It's me, m'lady. Janice.," came the familiar and slightly muffled voice from behind the barrier. "I've got your clothes…"
"Oh. Well… uh…"
But before she could think of a way to reply to that, or even work out the situation, the door opened and the girl slipped inside.
Ella let out a little squeak and shrunk even further into the water.
"S-sorry, m'lady. I didn't mean to startle you…" Janice said quickly, setting down a bundle of cloth and several other items on the bed. "Are you alright?"
"I… uh… um… well…"
"Your blushing an awful lot, your face is redder then a tomato!"
Horror flashed across Ella's dirt-streaked face.
"M-m'lady, I-I didn't m-m-ean…"
"Janice, really, it's okay," Ella said, the younger girl's panic making her feel horrible. "You've done nothing wrong… I'm just not used to… to…"
She slipped one hand out of the water to gesture around before quickly sliding it back in, cheeks heating again. Understanding dawned across Janice's face, only to be quickly replaced by confusion.
"I thought Ladies always had maids an' such t' help them bathe."
"Well… yes, usually. But I'm… different."
Yes, Ella, she thought dryly. They get that you're different. You're digging your own grave, stupid!
"It's alright, though," she added, hoping that she sounded more confident then she felt. "What else do you have there?"
"Ma said t' bring you these."
She held up small glass vials filled with some sort of liquid.
"Soaps t' wash your hair. Real fancy stuff, flowery smellin'. Dad brought it back with him from his last trip to the sea. We weren't allowed to use any, too expensive for us. But Nellie snuck a little anyways," the girl babbled, moving to kneel beside the tub and uncork the vials, holding them up one at a time for Ella to sniff.
The strength of the first one nearly made her eyes water, but the second wasn't as bad. When she pointed to it, Janice beamed.
"Lavender. Tha's my favourite, too."
Ella smiled at her, then tried to relax as Janice urged her to lean back and tilt her head back further. She stood and retrieved a small jug, filled it with water from the bath and poured it over Ella's head, being very careful to keep it out of her eyes.
"Who's Nellie?" Ella asked after a moments silence as Janice began to message the medieval shampoo into her hair.
"Me sister," was the soft reply. "One of."
"How many do you have?"
"Three, and two brothers. I'm the youngest girl, but I've got a lil' brother. Ma says I shoulda been a boy."
Ella chuckled, feeling herself relax under the message.
"Why's that?"
The fingers paused, then resumed like they hadn't stopped, "I ain't girly enough, Ma says. Like runnin' around and bein' outside too much."
"It's healthier for you, being outside."
"It's not where a woman should be, though. Ma says I've gotta clean meself up if I'm t' get a husband."
Ella frowned, "How old are you?"
"I'll be sixteen summers soon."
"That's awfully young to be worried about a husband, isn't it?"
"Not really. Me oldest sister, Alice, she was married to the baker's boy when she was fifteen. She's twenty now, and has a babe."
"Oh…"
"Surely the Roman ways are not so different, m'lady?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"No… I suppose not. Just, personally, I do not believe in marriage so young."
Janice sniffed, "I don't see why I needs a husband so bad either. But Ma says I do, so…"
"Yes, your mother does seem fixed on the idea of husbands and sons," Ella giggled softly.
"She would be, she still has three daughters to marry off," Janice replied dryly, rinsing the shampoo out with clean water. "Nellie will be next. She's real pretty and good with the lads. I see 'em watch her, everyone loves her."
"What about you? Do you fancy any of the lads?" she watched the younger girl stand and fetch a large towel.
She smiled when it was held out to her and Janice turned her head. Accepting it, she quickly stepped out of the tub and wrapped it around herself. Janice's cheeks coloured a dusty pink.
"Well… there is one, but he doesn't… notice me."
"What's his name?" Ella asked gently, securing the towel and wringing the excess water from her lavender-smelling tresses.
Girls have always had boy problems, how'd you figure.
"Naval," she whispered, smiling to herself.
Definitely crushing, Ella thought, grinning.
"He's the middle son of the farrier, eighteen summers, tall… green eyed… He doesn't look at me though, and anyways Ma says that middle sons won't do. The oldest gets the business see? And she wants us well cared for."
She seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts and picked up a brush, gesturing for Ella to sit on the bed.
"Why should it matter? The middle son might be a better man then the first. Don't forget that you will have to live with the man you marry," Ella teased, hoping to bring the bubbly side of her back.
She liked the girl, liked the liveliness of her.
"Maybe…" she whispered. "It doesn't matter though. Look at me, tellin' you all my problems! I beg your forgiveness, m'lady-"
"I promise you I don't mind, Janice," Ella interrupted, sighing in contentment as the brush flowed through her damp curls. "And please, for the love of all that's holy, call me Ella. m'lady is just so… blah."
"Ye know," Janice said after a pause. "I've heard lots o' bad things about Roman nobility. But you are nothin' like what they say."
"Is that a good thing?" she asked, half amused, half serious.
She didn't think she could act like a bitch to people who didn't deserve it.
"Yes," Janice replied straight away. "Yes, it's a good thing…Thank you for listening to me babble on."
Ella could hear the embarrassment in the words.
"Would you like your hair braided?"
"You're welcome, and no, thank you. I think I'm just going to lie down for a while. I didn't realise I was tired until that bath," she chuckled softly.
"O' course," Janice picked up the other items she had brought in and paused at the door to look back at her. "If you need anything…"
"I'll call you, I promise." Ella smiled, feeling her eyelids grow heavier.
The girl smiled and went to leave.
"Janice!"
She looked back, blinking those big eyes. "Yes?"
"Do you think, tomorrow, that you could show me around? I think that by then I could do with a walk."
Those brown eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes, o' course! I can show you my favourite place down at the river, if you'd like."
Ella smiled. "I'd like that."
"Great! Well… I'll wake you for supper then?"
"Please, or even just leave it on one of the tables in here. I'll probably be so out to it that I won't hear you." she chuckled, rubbing at her eyes.
"Very well. Sleep well… Ella," she said closing the door softly behind her.
Now in the silence of the room, Ella heaved a weary sigh and fell backwards, her body moulding into the mattress, as sleep claimed her.
A/N: Apologies again for being late! But yeah, circumstances took a turn and I didn't end up with as much free time as I'd originally thought. My Grandpa is currently sick and in hospital, so we were down visiting him for 3 days, then we've had our shearing here to do, and we've also been getting ready to go to work tomorrow. Have to leave by lunch time. Busy busy.
Also, the next update will be a while off, sorry guys! Where I thought I'd have next weekend off, I've just agreed to work it 'cause my boss was short of people, and I am the fill in. So…yes, I won't be home for 16 days…. I promise the next chapter will be up as soon as I can manage.
I really hoped you enjoyed this one, please let me know what you thought!
~Meg xx
