Queen (Regency Refuge 3) by Heather Gray Read Free Book Online Page B

hide in plain sight, or to live any kind of life resembling ordinary."
    "Iola it is, then. Your secret is safe with me. I'm sorry you had to go through any of that. I tried to find your family. Their execution must have been a well-hidden secret. Nobody I spoke to knew anything."
    "What?" The corner of Isabel's mouth tilted up in a way both haughty and seductive. "You never thought to look in the Queen's court?"
    Owen's deep chuckle echoed in the small room before quiet once again settled around them, a comfortable shroud in the darkness. "Thank you for telling me the truth. I don't take lightly the trust you've placed in me this night."
    Isabel's mouth dipped down at the corners, and Owen longed for her smile once again. She deserved a life full of wide-mouthed, bright-eyed, worry-free smiles.
    He stood from his chair and held out a hand to help her up off the ground. "It's time you show me back to my cleft in the rock. I need to find my bed sometime before the sun rises, and you've got a long day of work ahead of you."
    "Aye, that I have."
    "I think I got the easier of our two assignments."
    She pushed him playfully out the door. "A woman's work is never done. Even God talks about how painful her labor will be."
    Owen was about to correct her when the hint of humor in her voice penetrated his mind. He decided to play along. "You speak truth. God himself says women must work from before sunup till after sundown. They shan't ever have rest, and misery is to be heaped up on their heads daily. It's a shameful thing, being a woman."
    Owen's foot, with perfect timing, caught on a rock. He lost his balance and tumbled face-first into the fragrant loamy dirt.
    Isabel's chuckle reached him before he regained his feet. Rubbing his shin, he asked, "You saw that rock, didn't you?"
    "I'm sorry, kind sir. I was so busy toiling away, I forgot to mention it."
    Owen tugged on a strand of the faux red hair she'd put back into place. He unsettled her cap enough to gain him a light rap on the arm. She had to know, but he needed to make sure. "That part about a woman's labor is talking about birthing pains."
    "Of course it is, you addlepated ninny. I learned more about childbearing as a lady-in-waiting than I ever wanted to know. One thing's for sure."
    "Oh, what's that?"
    "I'll never find myself with child."
    The image of Isabel holding a babe of her own filled Owen's mind and warmed him. He couldn't let the picture go. "Why not?"
    "You learn a few things at court. For example, women who aren't supposed to be with child end up with child all the time. Sometimes of their own doing, and sometimes against their will. Women who are desperate will do anything, no matter how foolish or dangerous. Some women would take a holiday or claim poor health and retire to the country for an extended stay. Others would try to conceal their pregnancy. Those who succeeded in keeping their condition hidden usually tried to smuggle the baby out to a nunnery or orphanage. A few women tried to end their pregnancy. I held the hand of one such woman as she slipped from this earth. The amount of blood should have been terrifying to a child, but by then I don't think I was much of a child anymore."
    Isabel shuddered as she said, "One woman delivered her baby in silence. How she held back the screams I'll never know. Most of the women made enough noise to ensure their secret could not be kept. None of us were aware of this one, however, which is how she wanted it. She killed the babe, but the guilt tore away at her soul until she went mad."
    It was no secret that ugliness existed in the world and people were often the source of it. Nevertheless, anger bubbled up inside him at the minister who'd recruited Isabel into such a life. If he weren't already dead, I'd be visiting him. She should have been protected and sheltered, no matter what her parents had done.
    The irony of it struck Owen, and he stopped walking. Isabel paused a few paces ahead of him. "Is everything all