Wendell went home to gather some clothes before leaving for Harris and his Mom saw how excited he was. He quickly explained he had another courier duty finally.
His Mom listened carefully and frowned, "Wendell, I'm not sure I trust the Master at Arms. He might be setting you up to fail. When has a message not been important and needed to be there as soon as possible? No, you should go straight to Scorpion Keep to deliver the message. You could come back by way of Harris to get the jam for the Lord."
Wendell looked worried, "Are you sure Mother? I don't want to get fired again."
"I'm quite sure Wendell, last time the Master at Arms took you back he was emphatic that you not be late again," she reminded him.
Lord Beyon stood brooding in his study by the fireplace. He had filled a new mug with ale after having thrown his favorite stein at the serving maid who had come for the third time at his wife's insistence about dinner.
His door opened yet again as Lady Juniper stepped within, "My husband, enough of this, what is going on?"
Lord Beyon glared at her.
Lady Juniper's eyebrow shot up, "You best wipe that look off your face before I wipe it off you. I may have stepped away from the temple when I became your wife but I promise you, I can still wield the power the wise Lady granted me."
Lord Beyon grunted as he turned his head to look back into the fire, "I'm sure you have heard what has happened."
Lady Juniper stepped up behind him, "Just because I have heard the rumors, it does not mean I have heard my husband's own words. And since when don't you come greet me after you return from someplace?"
Lord Beyon's head hung down, "I couldn't find the nerve. I have disgraced myself."
Lady Juniper reached out and applied gentle pressure and slowly Lord Beyon turned and she saw the anguish in his face before he fell to his knees before her crying.
Lady Juniper knelt down and took him in her arms as he sobbed and confessed his transgressions.
Lord Walter lay sleeping lightly, "My Lord, it is time," Toby whispered through the side of the tent.
Lord Walter sighed, "Thank you Toby." His eyes opened. The subdue light from the single candle burning was still a little harsh to his eyes. He looked down and saw Paige as she slept half atop of him and he smiled. He gently slid to the side while pulling his pillow down trying carefully not to wake her while replacing his chest with his pillow. Finally out from under her he bent over and kissed her cheek before standing and pulling on his leathers. As he buckled his sword on he took a moment to look back at Paige and he wondered how he ever rated her love.
He lit a new candle and extinguished the old one and replaced it before he stepped out and saw Toby and Kaylee sitting at the fire. He took a moment to stretch, "I've got the watch, you both can get some sleep now."
They both looked at him and back at his tent, "Is our Lady unwell?" Toby became concerned.
Lord Walter shook his head, "Allie doesn't want her standing the mid or third watch anymore to keep her strength up."
Kaylee looked at him, "As part elf I really don't need as much sleep, would you like me to stand watch with you my Lord?"
Lord Walter smiled, "Thank you Kaylee, but it is fine, sleep well."
Kaylee nodded before she walked over and enter the tent she shared with Happy. Toby held up the coffee pot and Walter shook his head as he looked around the campsite. "Has Allie got you on a coffee restriction as well? Sir Cabe made it before they went to bed if you are worried," Toby told him with a smile.
Lord Walter laughed lightly as he sat down, "No, but since Paige can't have any I won't tease her by drinking it so she has to smell it on me."
Toby nodded, "I have to ask you something my Lord. I understand our Lady wanting to utilize Allie to care for her. Clearly what she is going through is far beyond my knowledge, but am I being replaced?"
Lord Walter picked up a small twig and pushed it into the fire, "My lady has made it clear she wants Allie to care for us. But that doesn't mean you are being replaced completely. There are plenty of people at the Keep who need you if you are willing to continue serving. Plus what would we do if Allie was incapacitated or if she was busy with someone but others needed aid? You also possess knowledge of various antidotes and healing potions and salves. You have much value to the Keep and myself. But if you feel that you aren't being respected because of Allie and want to move on, I will understand and I will release you from our contract to seek out other adventures."
Toby shook his head, "It might sting a little, but if I am still welcomed and considered an asset I would be happy to remain and serve."
Lord Walter smiled as he reached his hand out, "You might be a little annoying at times but you are a friend are welcomed to remain and serve."
Toby grinned and shook his hand before going to the tent he shared with Sylvester.
Time was crawling, Walter's mind felt like it was short circuiting and he hadn't felt this bored in ages. Ever since that first night leaving Oxinaer, having Paige to talk with day or night had become an addiction. He hadn't realized until this moment how much he craved her companionship. He heard a rustling and he looked over and saw the tent flap for Toby's tent move and a moment later Ralph stepped out wrapped in his blanket. Walter smiled, "What are you doing up son?"
Ralph stepped over to Walter, "I had a bad dream, can I sleep out here by the fire Dad?"
Walter smiled and reached over and lifted him up and set him on his thigh as he hugged Ralph to him as he began to gently rock him back and forth. Walter's strong embrace and the predictable rhythm of his movement soon caused Ralph to fall back to sleep.
The distraction of comforting Ralph as he slept eased Walter's discomfort of missing Paige considerably. The last three hours of his watch passed without incident and he carefully stood and carried Ralph into the tent he shared with Toby and Sylvester and put him back down before gently shaking Sylvester's shoulder, "It's time Sylvester."
Sylvester jumped at first but quickly recovered and nodded. Walter stepped out and walked over to the women's tent and scratched at the material, "Happy, its time."
Walter smiled as he heard her grumble and he walked away. There was just a hint of light from the morning sun as Sylvester stepped out of his tent and then a few moments later Happy came out.
Walter stepped into his tent and as he looked at Paige laying there asleep his heart skipped a beat. How many years he had just been going through life unhappy, the loss of his family when he was nine had seemed to set the whole course of his life. He began removing his leathers as he continued to remember how much anger and sadness he felt even after he was taken in by Lord Weir. The mistreatment he felt at the hands of everyone at Lord Weir's keep just reinforced his pain.
Even though he was years and many experiences from those days, how much they had weighed on him. He crawled back under the blanket with Paige and she quickly moved back to be half upon him. Even the happiness he felt with the guys was so short lived it didn't really feel like it touched him. But now with Paige, he could look back at his life and still smile through every heart break, every disappointment. He hugged her tightly to him and saw her lips curl into a smile.
She stretched slightly, "Is it time to stand watch my love?"
Walter half laughed, "No my love, the watch is over. It is time for a few more hours sleep."
Paige frowned and her eyes opened as she leaned back and looked down at him, "What do you mean the watch is over?"
"Happy and Sylvester just relieved me," Walter told her as he pulled gently against her back trying to get her to lie back down.
Paige's frown changed to irritation, "Why didn't you wake me so I could stand watch with you?"
Walter rolled onto his left side as he looked at her, "Because, Allie said no more second or third watch for you."
Her expression went back to a frown as she tried to remember, "I don't recall her saying anything."
Walter frowned, "It was right after we had our dance when she told me. I just assumed she had already discussed it with you. Had I known, I would have said something. She wants you to get at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep a night."
As Paige slowly nodded she smiled a little. Walter lay back down and she lay down on top of the left side of him. He enjoyed the soft feel of her naked flesh against his. His left hand slowly caressed her back as he slid it down and over her butt cheek to rest there. Paige grinned as she pushed her hips back just a bit into his hand. As they slowly started to drift off to sleep Paige tilted her head up towards Walter's face and she sniffed. She frowned so she scooted up higher and got her nose right next to his mouth as she sniffed again. Walter's eyes opened as he looked at her, "Paige?"
"Wasn't there any coffee while you were on watch?" Paige asked as she pouted.
Walter nodded, "There was a little left from what Sir Cabe made, but I didn't drink any so there wouldn't be a smell to tease you."
Paige continued to pout, "While in principle I think I appreciate that, I think I would have liked at least smelling it a little. Or maybe not, thank you for thinking about me."
Walter smiled as he brought his right hand up and kind of flipped her lower lip down with his finger and they both laughed.
Paige's eyes opened as her nose smelled the coffee. She looked at Walter as he was still asleep. She quickly rolled off of him and out from under the blanket. She got dressed quickly and left the tent sniffing the air hard.
"Good morning my Lady," Sir Cabe was quick to greet her as he sat drinking a cup of coffee.
Allie looked up from cooking and smiled, "Good morning my Lady, how are you feeling and did you sleep well?"
Paige smiled as she moved quickly to the campfire, "Good morning, I'm feeling pretty good." She grabbed a mug and went to get the coffee pot and Allie put her hand up.
Allie tried to smile, "Paige, I'm sorry, you can't have any."
Paige pouted, "I just want to sit and smell it, please?"
Allie looked at her, "You promise not to drink it?"
Paige nodded, "I promise, I'll even sit next to Sir Cabe."
Allie smiled as she nodded.
Paige sat down beside Sir Cabe and he poured the coffee for her and she closed her eyes and smiled as she smelled it. "Walter was being so sweet to me last night by not drinking any while on watch so I wouldn't be teased by the smell," she told them. Paige looked at Allie, "Speaking of which, did you forget to tell me something last night Allie?"
Allie looked puzzled, "Oh, I forgot to tell you I only want you standing first or fourth watch from now on."
Paige laughed.
Toby slowly came out of his tent and walked over to the campfire. Allie looked at him, "Good morning Toby, how are you?"
Toby laughed, "You mean my cells aren't telling you how I am?"
Paige and Sir Cabe both looked up with irritation on their faces. Allie ignored his snark, "Of course they are Toby. But wouldn't you rather I at least ask? Wouldn't that make you feel more like I care about you?"
Toby blushed, "Oh, that's a good point. I'm sorry."
Ralph slowly came out of the tent and smiled as he saw his Mom and ran over and hugged her. He looked around, "Where's Dad?"
Paige smiled, "He's still asleep baby. How did you sleep?"
Ralph nodded, "I had a bad dream last night sometime after Dad took over the watch. He held me and rocked me back to sleep though."
Paige had thought her heart was completely full of love already for Walter but Ralph just caused it to grow and fill with more.
Walter slowly stirred, by the sounds he heard everyone else was up. He lay there stretching and thinking about the day. It was only about one hundred yards back to the mining camp. He wondered would they really need to ride back. And where would they keep all the horses if they did. As Walter emerged from his tent he saw everyone already halfway through breakfast and he just smiled.
After a quick roundabout of hellos he sat next to Paige and kissed her as Allie fixed him a plate of food.
When Toby learned Lord Walter wanted them all to walk back to the mining camp and leave the horses with a couple of people to watch over the camp he quickly volunteered to stay. Happy wasn't as quick but when Lord Walter finally asked a second time and no one else volunteered she did. Ralph wasn't happy when Lord Walter told them to watch over Ralph too. Ralph was looking forward to exploring the mine as he was sure that was where they were going to end up.
While everyone went about getting ready to head to the mining camp Walter gestured to Ralph, "Come over here lad."
Ralph walked over and sat down next to his Dad as he indicated. Walter pulled out a soft leather tool pouch that he had the rose oil among other things in. "Let me see your long dagger," Walter told him.
Ralph carefully pulled it out and handed it over to him. Walter sat there with him pointing out the small nicks and blemishes that had marred the blade since he had used it on Bethany. Walter took his time showing him how to fix one of the blemishes as he explained every step of the process to correct what had been done to it.
Ralph nodded as he took the long dagger back and began working on the next blemish. Walter smiled at how quickly and well his mind had grasped the process. He reached over and mussed his hair with a smile, "Very good Ralph, if you have any questions Happy will be able to answer them. I know you were looking forward to exploring the mine, but there are going to be a lot of things your young eyes don't need to see yet. Once we have buried all the dead I'll come back and get you and we'll explore the mine together. Is that acceptable?"
Ralph smiled as he nodded, "Thank you Dad."
Allie stood over by the packs and was mixing up a solution. Cabe walked over after putting on his armor and frowned, "What is this?"
Allie smiled, "This is to help protect our Lady. I need some light cloth I can cut up in strips wide enough to cover her mouth and nose and long enough to tie behind her head."
Cabe thought about that for a moment and then he nodded as he turned to one of the packs and dug into it when he found a silk shirt inside and pulled it out. He held it up, "Will this work?"
Allie reached out and felt the material, "This would certainly work but that's expensive material."
Cabe laughed, "As expensive as our Lady getting sick or worse?"
Allie shook her head, "Not even close."
Lord Walter entered his tent and found Paige brushing her hair, "It's not going to work, you are still going to look gorgeous."
Paige smiled as she shook her head, "Thank you my love."
Walter hugged her from behind before he began putting on his armor, "I told Ralph once we'd dealt with all the bodies I would come back and get him so he can go into the mine with us. I would have just taken him with us but I didn't think he really needs to see what we will."
Paige nodded, "I agree with you and I am sure he was very happy to hear that."
As Walter and Paige left their tent they found Sir Cabe, Allie, Sylvester and Kaylee waiting on them. Allie stepped over and explained the solution in the flask, "Since you won't stay behind, this is more about the dead than the blight. But it isn't separate from the blight." She demonstrated how to apply the solution before she secured it around Paige's face.
She looked at Lord Walter, "My Lord, we need to erect another tent. We should put a fresh change of clothes in it for both of you. When we get back you both need to remove the leathers you are wearing and wash thoroughly before touching the clean clothes. After you are done I will collect your dirty leathers and clean them."
Lord Walter considered her words, "This is making me extremely uncomfortable my love. Perhaps you should remain here."
Just from her eyebrows he could tell she wasn't happy or going to comply. "That wouldn't matter a lot my Lord, you would still need to do this before you could be around our Lady. The four of us will have to keep our distance from both of you until we can properly bathe as well. So my Lady you will need to prepare dinner tonight. I wish we had more water to work with. You will need to keep wearing the cloth over your face as long as you are outside of your tent until the rest of us can bathe. Hopefully we can do everything we need to do over there today and not have to repeat all of this tomorrow."
Lord Walter nodded, "Happy, Toby, if you would, erect another tent. Love, let's select a change of clothes. Ralph, son, I'm sorry. With this level of contamination you won't be able to go to the mine. Your Mother's health is too important."
Ralph nodded sadly, "I understand Dad, I don't want Mom to get sick, especially because of me."
Allie looked at Happy, "If there is a partition cloth that can be used to separate the front half of the tent from the back half that would be best. Once it is done put the clean clothes in the back half. The four of us should select a change of clothes now so when we get to wash up we can change as well."
About a half hour later Lord Walter, Lady Paige and the others entered the mining camp.
Lady Juniper walked the halls of the castle on her way to the temple. She'd been stopped several times by different groups of the rear guard demanding what her business was but thanks to the warnings of the Mistress of the temple and her husband she tolerated their behavior while explaining she was going to the temple to give thanks.
Lady Juniper entered the temple and stepped up to the alter and offered up a simple prayer of thanks. Upon completion she walked to the office of the temple Mistress and knocked. One of the under clerics looked down the hall, "I'm sorry Lady Juniper, the Mistress is in the garden right now."
Lady Juniper smiled, "Thank you."
"Mistress, thank you for seeing me," Wendell's Mother told her.
The Mistress smiled, "Of course Sarah, is everything okay?"
Sarah shook her head, "I think the Master at Arms is trying to get Wendell fired."
The Mistress looked up, "What do you mean?"
"He gave Wendell a courier job to take a message to Scorpion Keep and even suggested there was no hurry. Told him to go by way of Harris of all things," Sarah told her in disgust.
With uneasiness rising within her the Mistress looked at her, "What did you do Sarah?"
"I told Wendell that all communications are important and he needed to go straight to Scorpion Keep to deliver the message," Sarah told her.
"You fool," the Mistress almost yelled at her. "Of all the times we were counting on your son to do what he does naturally."
Sarah was shocked, "Mistress?"
The Mistress shook her head and waved her hand, "Never mind, go home Sarah and repeat nothing about this to anyone."
