Goddess Born by Kari Edgren Page B

of his wife’s delicious pies. While searching for these plants, I also stumbled on a cluster of catnip to aid with fevers and headaches and some fine looking sumac leaves for poultices. My basket brimmed full when I returned home in the afternoon.
    Subsisting on nothing more than two eggs and cider since morning, I left the basket on the wooden table in my apothecary and went into the kitchen, drawn by the smell of freshly baked bread. Karta looked up from chopping onions when I entered. Evie stood with her back to me, pumping a small bellows into the oven.
    “Good day,” I said. Loaves of bread rested on the table and I cut a piece along with a thick slice of cheese.
    “Good day, Mistress,” Karta said, but in such an odd tone it caught my attention at once.
    Evie only peeped at me nervously before turning back to her work.
    “Is there something the matter?” I asked.
    Just then Alice came in with a bundle of laundry on her way to the washroom. “Oh, goodness,” she said, coming to a halt, her voice sounding as queer as Karta’s had the moment before.
    I looked between the two of them, their eyes gone wide as they exchanged glances and tried to communicate without actually speaking. “It’s none of our concern,” Karta said at last, so quietly the words almost went unheard. She pursed her mouth and continued chopping onions.
    “Good gracious! Whatever is the matter?” I asked, exasperated by the scene. “Has something happened in my absence?”
    Alice shuffled her feet. “Well, Mistress” she said, looking down at the floor rather than at me. “We were wondering if ye would be letting Master Kilbrid out of his chamber today? I imagine he’s hungry, missing two meals already, and may need to take a trip to the privy. There’s a chamber pot under the bed mind ye, but this may not hold too much longer.”
    She could have slapped me, the words had the same effect. “Ballocks!” I cried, the bread and cheese all but forgotten. Alice gasped and Karta’s knife clattered to the floor as I bolted from the kitchen. Taking the stairs two at a time, I dashed into my room and retrieved the key from its hiding place deep inside a drawer. Across the hall my hand shook so badly that it took several tries to unfasten the lock. Pushing open the door, I saw him at once, seated in a chair by the hearth reading a book.
    “Henry...” I started, ready with an apology for forgetting him, but the look on his face stopped me cold.
    Closing the book, he placed it on the side table and stood up. “Good day, Selah,” he said, his voice surprisingly calm. “Do you intend to keep me locked up for the duration of my contract?”
    I shook my head, having already resolved to never lock his door again after today. “No...of course not.”
    Narrowing his eyes, he took a step toward me. “Have you had a pleasant day?”
    Very pleasant indeed , until about five minutes ago , I thought, but didn’t dare admit outright.
    “As for myself,” he continued, “I’ve spent a good deal of time wondering why you would feel so inclined to lock me in my room. Were you more concerned for your knickknacks or your virtue if I were not appropriately restrained?”
    “That’s not...I didn’t mean...” I stammered, unable to complete the sentence as he drew nearer.
    He placed one hand on the wall near my head and leaned so close I could see the pulse jump in his throat. My own heart beat erratically as I dragged my attention upward to meet his eyes, and found two emerald daggers staring back at me. Tremors ran pell-mell through my legs, and I pressed my back against the wall to keep from falling.
    A small, sardonic smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Rest assured, madam,” he said, in a soft, mocking voice. “You will find they are both safe, for neither are to my liking.”
    A rush of hot blood stained my cheeks, and my mouth opened and closed wordlessly at the cruelty of his words. Pinned against the wall, I thought of pushing