Hello my lovely readers!

How are you?

I have my beta back! She was just in pure stress and I reacted too rash! -.- So the last chapter is corrected and replaced!

Unfortunately, as ff.net doesn't allow author's notes as individual chapters anymore I had to delete my A/N-chapter so I have one chapter less and some of the reviews (and my referrings) don't fit anymore with their number...-.-°°°

New Maureen-pics on my homepage.

A remark about Kate: I don't know her eye-colour but out of the movie I guessed it as brown-green. Can anybody tell definitely?

@aspara: Oh hey! Thanks about the remark about the f-word. I'm not really good in history, so… Yeah, I know that Geoff was in the service of John of Gaunt and so probably wasn't on very good terms with his brother but for the sake of my story I changed it! I mean the whole thing about becoming member of the royal staff that late was totally invented so I don't care too much. So many details of my story (and the movie that is to say, for example Prince Edward didn't look too ill, did he? Or was that still his pre-illness-time? I think the movie plays around 1370.) diverge from historical reality that it doesn't really matter, does it? I'm interested in your honest opinion! Oh and about the Black Prince thingy: I know it was about his armour but I read that expression in a chronicle book of mine under the date 1372, too, so I didn't worry too much about using it...-.-° I think another correcting of my story needs to be done... *sigh*

@Lily Ophelia: *sigh* I know what you mean! But don't worry, everything is important and has a meaning! This chapter for example means a development in their relaionship and clears up something important at the end. Additionally it's pretty short.

@Harry Hippie: As I said to Lily Ophelia: I know it's taking too long but I thought too much about too many details to leave them out... I already cut out a few minor things which would have been fun to write and took some time of research but would have made the story even longer. For example in the next chapter...ah no, I won't say no more... And you wanna know how old I am? Y'know, there's this interesting thing in my profile called bio! Oh, and I read the Canterbury Tales in German, not English, so it was way of easy...

Soooo, I have a dedication again! And again it's the same person: my dear Quetzal, I want to thank you again for that great present!!! The video inspired me to get my lazy butt up from the sofa and finally finish this chapter. It's not that I didn't know what to write, it was more a question of doing it at long last!

And the usual:

Feel free to review.

Enjoy.

~*~

*Maureen woke up from the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched. When she opened her eyes she looked into the peacefully smiling face of a sleeping Geoffrey Chaucer. They both lay at the slope cuddled together to warm each other. Maureen smiled and just had closed her eyes and wanted to lean in a little closer when she noticed she still felt the prickle of being watched in her neck. Somebody cleared their throat. Maureen craned her neck to look up. Over them towered Kate eyeing them both with a funny expression on her face.*

~When Geoffrey woke up he found himself alone. Where was Ryan? Hadn't they been lying here together? Or had it only been a bitter-sweet dream? But on his clothes he still could smell the fresh scent of mint which always seemed to surround the boy. He was disappointed. Had he scared him away? It had been a wonderful night, he had felt so close to Ryan – not only physically. Them lying so close together was only a secondary detail, a sign for the inward touch of their souls. Sighing he got up and slowly trudged back to the camp where the rest of the little team was preparing the start of another day. Well, the rest except Kate. Roland greeted him.

"There you are! Had Kate found you two?" Geoff looked around. Some distance away he could make out Kate, next to her he saw the small figure he had held in his arms during the last night. Geoff simply pointed. "Over there!"

He felt a bit grumpy that morning, the more as Kate seemed a little suspicious and her private talk with Ryan made him nervous. He sighed then turned back to the others to help them get the cart ready.~

*Maureen and Kate walked along the edge of a little wood nearby the camp. They were out of earshot but still close enough to see the three men packing. The silence weighed heavily on Maureen. She frowned and watched the woman: she had slightly unruly brown hair and a fair skin though her hands were callused and showed spots of burnt skin. Her brown-green eyes were intent - and fixed on Maureen. The girl shifted her shoulders uncomfortably and looked away. Kate kept on looking at her as if trying to motivate Maureen to talk about what weighed her down. But Maureen was determined not to let her win though the expectant silence more and more seemed like a pressure begging her to stand up and break through it.

Finally she mustered the courage to ask "What do you want to talk about?"

Kate heaved a sigh before she averted her eyes and answered "Don't you know yourself? I found you in the arms of your former master..." Maureen suddenly explored a profound interest in a red-and-golden butterfly fluttering over a field of flowers they were passsing but Kate didn't fulfill Maureen's silent wish she would stop with that topic "...is there something you would like to tell me?"

Yeah: sod off and leave me alone! Maureen was a little shocked about that thought. The Ryan-part of herself which had been so active in London had barely shown through in Cowfield but now it was trying to get at the surface again. She pressed it down and answered hardly convincing "It was cold." then shrugged.

Kate hesitated "Did ... did you do something you ... eh ... did not want to ...?" Maureen stopped short. "What do you want to imply?" She once had learnt that word from Geoff and hoped she used it right.

Kate switched her tactics "You are lonely, aren't you?" Maureen's brown furrowed deeply "What?" Kate's eyes smiled warmly. "Must be really hard for a young lad like you to be so far and long away from home. Is it the first time you're away from your mother?"

Maureen felt disapproval steaming up from her stomach. "I never got to know her. She is dead." She simply answered but anger lurked under her voice. And after a moment of thinking she added "Geoffrey's my home now."

"And before? Where was your home before Geoffrey?"

Maureen watched Kate warily. She could see honesty in her eyes and slowly and very carefully she began to tell about Jane. It was a nice feeling to talk to a woman again, one that was older than her. When she finished they weren't walking anymore but stood by a rock. What Kate did then was a big surprise: she wrapped Maureen in her strong arms and held her close. Such closeness made Maureen uneasy but nevertheless she felt very touched.

When they walked back to the camp Maureen felt like she had gained a new friend. She noticed Geoffrey was back, too, and he laid such thoughtful warm eyes on her that she felt happy and suspicious at the same time.

+++

~It was late afternoon and Geoff and Ryan were sitting on the loading surface while the cart under them rattled rhythmically along. Geoff was eating an apple but out of the corner of his eye he surveyed Ryan who seemed rather thoughtful.

"So, what wheighs your young heart down, my friend?" he tried in a cheerful tone - and flinched when the deep black eyes of the boy hit him with their full strength. Did he blush?

"Well...um...I'd like to ask you something. But...um...please promise me not to laugh, alright?" Ryan's voice seemed to shake a little. Much too often he was so serious Geoffrey mused silently then answered earnestly "I promise by my favourite quill that I won't ever laugh about whatever you want to ask me." It earned him a little smile which made his heart decide for a faster pace.

"So...what does 'I'll be waiting for you' mean?"

Geoffrey was a bit startled, he hadn't been expecting something like THAT. Against his inner mix of feelings he smiled "It can mean simple or special waiting. I think you mean special waiting, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think so..."

"Did somebody say that to you recently?"

"Well...Sarah did when we left. You know that young maiden in Sir William's household." Ryan didn't grace him with his eyes now. He was fixing his hands which wrang each other nervously. Sarah...Geoffrey should have known. Now his feelings went berserk. Nevertheless he answered straight.

"So...in this case it means she will wait for your return whenever this might be. It means she won't give her love to anybody else until you come back for she wants to give it only to you."

"But I don't want her to!" Ryan's reaction was a great relief to Geoff. He sighed comfortably and even could mount up a little understanding for poor little Sarah.

"I guess she can't help." He nugded Ryan amicably. "You're a Lady's Hero, you know." And again he was stroken deeply by Ryan's dark eyes which he thought now bore a distant hint of shock and a profound amount of thoughtfulness. Had he said the wrong thing?

To distract he quickly changed the subject. "Now I want to ask you a thing or two." Ryan only nodded but a suspicious glance seemed to creep quickly over his shadowed face "You remember that day I brought you to Will? There you said something I couldn't quite forget. You said Sometimes life forces you to take on another idendity. How did you mean that?"~

*Maureen blushed. Had she said such a thing to him? Well, it was possible, she usually was like an open book when she was around him. A thoughtful silence went by only disturbed by Geoffs munching then snatching a new apple and beginning to peel it in one piece, just as he had done with the first one.

Maureen watched his elegant hands while answering "Well...sometimes life forces its own means onto you. And there is only the choice between giving up or stand up and fight. And when you aren't the fighting type yourself you need a new idendity to weather through..." She wrinkled her nose then shrugged "Something like that I'd say..."

Geoffrey nodded slowly. He seemed to understand what she had tried to explain. He sighed "You're too young for such serious thoughts…" Then he, too, stared at the apple and paring in his hands. He smiled again "But it's like peeling apples. You can skin two apples exactly the same way then switch the parings – they won't fit exactly." He took the paring of the first apple and demonstrated it, then thrust the naked apple into her hands "Think about it." and grinned broadly obviously satisfied with him and the world.

Suddenly his pale blue eyes which had been pleasantly locked with hers jerked away staring into the distance. "A rider is coming."

Now Maureen saw it, too. The rider was advancing quickly and it looked like he was heading directly to them. Geoff seemed to know him.

"Ho, Will, Roland! Make a stop. A rider is coming. It's Samuel, King's Messenger! I thought he was going to escort Prince Edward to France..." the last thing he mumbled more to himself and only Maureen could hear it. She loved such moments. It was like sharing a secret with him...

The same moment the rider called Samuel reached the little gang.*

+++

~"A trip to France to join Prince Edward's private tournament! Isn't that exciting?" Wat jabbered while they were pushing their way through the masses in Brighton.

"Oh yes, Master Fowlehurst, and guess what? I think he's arranging this only for you! Even dishwashers need some excitement in their poor lives..." Geoffrey answered coolly. He was in the mood for some decent friendly quarrel but Wat was much too occupied by his surroundings to respond to his teasing. He laid his arm around Ryan's shoulders which made Geoff straighten his back and watch them warily.

"So, Ryan. What about getting pierced?"

Ryan looked horrorstruck "What? You suggest me getting wounded?"

Wat rolled his eyes. "I mean getting your earlobe pierced – for putting a little ring into it. It's the latest fashion, brought by the sailors. You could really impress the chicks with such a thing!"

"Why would I want to impress an animal?" was Ryan's earnest answer. Wat first shot the boy then Geoff a startled look which seemed to ask How can one person be that naive?

Geoffrey shrugged then clapped Ryan's back smiling encouragingly.

"That's my boy. You have enough time for girls when you're older."

That earned him two thoughtful glances: from Ryan and Kate...~

*Maureen was highly impressed. Was she really going to cross the ocean - in one of those huge ships? She had no idea where France was and how to get there but that didn't matter much now. Even that her opinion about the French was anything but friendly (Jaques and his mum didn't count...) was not important. All that mattered was the ship infront of her. In awe she watched the workers in their harmonised movements. Everybody seemd to know exactly what to do when and where. They left their goods and horses to the workers to stow them on the ship then went to stroll around the haven as they weren't the only English who where invited to come. All except for one knight and his attendance were there. Lord Burton was expected for this evening.

They soon split up and Maureen found herself happily alone with Geoffrey. She shoved the unpleasant thought away that he apparantly only saw her as a little boy but rather decided to enjoy the time with him - and his attention. He showed and explained her a lot of things and she asked even more. Pure happiness flew through her body - until it turned into ice when they rounded a corner and her sparkling eyes fell upon two familiar figures standing by a stack of barrels some distance away. Quickly she turned back around the corner and pressed herself flat against the wall they had been passing. The solid stone under her cramped fingers didn't spend any consolation.

Geoff eyed her with a worried expression on his fair features. "What's wrong?"

Maureen panted heavily. "Over there...by the barrels...are Cole Slawn...and - and my father!"

~*~

HA! You didn't see that coming did you? I waited for writing this scene ever since the first chapter. Well, Maureen's father dead – that was her POV. Actually he only was deeply knocked out. And now he's out looking for her. I know it's rather questionable that Slawn and her father would still be out looking for her after such a long time but I WANTED that scene in and at first hadn't planned to let go by so much time. But this story often forces its own means onto me and I have to follow then...

Little hint: the next chapter will be called Confession.