Page 89 of Waking Roslyn

I blinked in stunned surprise. “You live in a castle?”

She looked over at me, and this time her smile was real. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

“Well,” I said, helping her up into the carriage. “Very good then.”

Her little smirk lifted my spirits even as I reeled a bit at the idea that Rose’s—Lady Roslyn’s—home was a castle. I tried to clear the thoughts from my mind as I climbed onto my horse. I couldn’t be distracted by feelings of inadequacy. Not when she was relying on me to keep her safe.

The next few hours passed quickly, and I was grateful that our journey had not been delayed by rain. I could only imagine the soupy quagmire the roads would have been if we’d had a downpour.

Then we arrived. It was good that she’d told me ahead of time that we were going to a castle, so I was able to keep my gawking to myself. As we started to slow in front of the building, a footman stepped forward to open her door.

She didn’t wait for the footman though. In fact, she didn’t even wait for the carriage to come to a full stop. She had the door open and was halfway out before the carriage halted. Pulling my horse to a stop, I watched as she ran toward the front steps. At the same moment, the doors flew open and a well-dressed couple came hurrying out.

“Rose!” the woman cried as she ran ahead of her husband. She and Rose met halfway up the steps and threw their arms around each other.

The way that Rose said “Mama” was a wail as she burrowed into her mother’s arms.

Her father approached more slowly, a hand pressed to his mouth, like he couldn’t believe it was real. His hand was tentative as he reached out and touched Rose’s shoulder. Then he engulfed both women in his arms, his face turned to the sky as tears poured down his cheeks.

I handed my horse off to a groom and waited at a distance, watching as Rose’s shoulders shook violently as she let out heaving sobs. I tried to imagine what it might be like if I had been forced away from my family for years. Rose’s strength and resilience were truly admirable. The strain would have been incredible, and the weight of knowing that others in her country wished her harm must have been heavy.

As much as I wanted to rejoice with her in these moments, I was practical enough, and skeptical enough, to know that letting my guard down would be foolish indeed. I knew her parents believed the threat had passed, but I didn’t. Call it intuition, or maybe it was just Falstone’s training, but I could feel that there was something more going on here.

Once Rose had calmed down a little, her parents led her inside, the doors firmly closing after them. I didn’t begrudge them their privacy, not a bit. Instead, I happily made myself useful by assisting the footman in unloading Rose’s belongings so they could be brought into the castle.

Yes, castle. Rose lived in a castle. I knew it wasn’t a royal residence, but it certainly felt like it.

Once everything had been taken away, I turned my attention to the butler, trying to convey a confidence I didn’t feel. “Lady Roslyn said I should ask about temporary lodging.”

“You can stay the night, of course,” he said, then turned to the coachman. “As can you.”

The coachman tipped his hat. “Much obliged.”

“You both can take dinner and breakfast in the kitchen, and I’m certain the cook will send some food with you when you go on your way in the morning.”

He turned to go, but I stopped him. “I’m sorry, sir. You misunderstand. I’ll be staying as long as Lady Roslyn has need of me.”

He looked baffled. “You plan to stay?”

“I am Lady Roslyn’s guard,” I said with more confidence than I felt. There was no question of me staying with her, but saying as much to a butler who managed a castle took a fair bit of courage. “Of course I am staying.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “The duke’s guard is more than capable.”

“I have no doubt,” I said with a little bow. “And if Lady Roslyn sees fit to dismiss me, then I’ll be on my way. But I cannot take that order from anyone else.”

He looked down his nose at me, which was only possible because he stood several steps above me. “Well, I’m certain we’ll have everything sorted out by morning.”

I was given a bed in the soldiers’ barracks that were attached to the back of the castle, and by morning, things were worked out just as the butler had suggested. Roslyn had made it clear that I was staying, and while that raised a few eyebrows, the only stipulation of my staying was that I would meet with the captain to be sure I deserved the position.

Captain Sterling turned out to be a firm but kind man who seemed to take a genuine interest in me. He tested my fighting abilities first, which left him impressed, and then moved on to general protocols and routines. How to stand, salute, walk. When to talk and when not to. I was eager to learn all of it. If it could help me protect Roslyn, I wanted to know it all. He seemed happy with my progress, and I was welcomed among the other soldiers more easily than I would have expected. Apparently, all that training that I’d done with Falstone and Marcus had paid off.

Over the next several days, I barely managed a few glimpses of Rose. And while I absolutely understood her need and desire to spend all her time with her parents, and while I was grateful for the instruction I was receiving, I still missed her. And in my more uncertain moments, I couldn’t help doubting that she missed me.

Roslyn

My breathing was shallow as I stood just inside the doorway of my old room. It was just how I had left it, though it had clearly been cleaned and cared for regularly. Everything in this space was so familiar. The trunk sitting at the end of my bed that I knew held mounds of embroidery and lace. The ornate wardrobe that was beautiful, but that always tried my patience because one door always stuck. The piles of books and art supplies.

I went further into the room, letting my fingers trail over the collections of dried flowers, the vials filled with perfumes that my father had liked to buy me, and the quilt that my mother had sewn.