Castles in the Air by Christina Dodd Read Free Book Online Page A

outside, but two more stable hands ran forward, and their jubilant cries gladdened Raymond’s heart. So they liked their lady, did they? He watched as they piled their own blankets on Juliana, and listened as the almost frozen woman thanked them in their own English tongue. So she’d troubled to learn the language of her servants, had she?
    They, too, watched him with such intense curiosity he found himself wondering what reception they gave their guests when unaccompanied by the chatelaine. Raymond would have been happy to remain in the stables, but because of the hay, no fire was allowed, and only the animals’ warmth kept it above freezing. “We must get to a fire, my lady,” he warned.
    “Is your steed settled to your satisfaction?” She hardly waited to hear his reply. “Then let us go.”
    Without hesitation, she plunged out the door, and as Raymond followed her, he discovered why. Two forms struggled down the ladder from the open upper door of the keep. Shrieking wildly, they flew lightly toward Juliana. Juliana threw out her hands, and raced toward them.
    Her daughters.
    They met in a mighty clash, falling in the drifts, wrestling, kissing. Halting at a respectful distance, Raymond couldn’t see their faces, but implicit in the gestures was a frantic concern. Love shone around their little group like the rays of a star.
    Amazed, he stared, his eyes smarting, his feet hurting from the cold. He’d heard stories of affection between mother and child, but he’d discounted it as a romantic tale, or a reality only for peasants. As Juliana and her daughters stood and walked, clasped in each other’s arms, toward the ladder, he made a resolution. He resolved he would be part of that magic circle one day. One day, Juliana and her daughters would run to him when he returned to them.
    First the girls, then Juliana hitched up their skirts and crawled up the ladder. Raymond followed close behind, to guard against a slip, he told himself. In sooth, he wanted to examine this bond between mother and daughters, and see if there were rivals for the affection he coveted.
    A young man-at-arms stood in the entrance, shouting, “M’lady? M’lady, ’tis glad I am t’ see ye, but how came ye here in this weather?” His exultation died when his gaze met Raymond’s. The same curiosity that waylaid the stable hands seemed intensified in this youth, with the added fillip of hostility.
    Juliana and her children went into the dark passage, and Raymond elbowed the soldier aside to follow them. But the soldier closed in behind, following on Raymond’s heels as they climbed a short stair. Raymond noted and approved the narrow turns that gave all advantage to a defender, but he didn’t linger. Ahead of him, the door burst open and light streamed out.
    Inquisitiveness and a bump from behind drove him into the great hall, and he squinted against the smoke generated by the roaring fire. After his isolation of the past weeks, the room seemed to be overflowing with humanity. Squeals of maidservants mingled with the deeper shouts of men as they all milled in excited circles around their mistress.
    Through breaks in the crowd, he could see two caped figures clinging to Juliana, one a child’s size, one almost the size of her mother. That gave him pause, for although she’d said her elder was eleven, he hadn’t realized that daughter would be a woman. Juliana had an arm around each one, not releasing them as the maids fluttered around her. Her cape, her hat, her gloves were pulled from her while she kept hold of her children.
    “Are you both well? Have you kept warm?” With a smile, Juliana turned to the younger child. “Are you wearing shoes, Ella?”
    With a pout, Ella stuck out her shod foot.
    “Good girl,” Juliana praised.
    “And you, Margery? Did you—”
    “Mama, I hurt myself,” Ella interrupted.
    Juliana didn’t seem truly concerned, but she asked, “How did you hurt yourself?”
    “I hurt my finger.” Ella held