Page 34 of Lord of Misrule

The sound of the door opening made her freeze.

“Kit? Are you in here?” It was Tolin. He had followed her to the room and entered without bothering to knock first. “It is dark in here. I can’t see a thing.”

“This is my private room. Please leave,” she told him.

“I can tell you are upset. I won’t leave you while you are feeling this way.”

A soft light illuminated the small room as he lit a candle that was on a table near the door. Kit slowly sat up to face him.

“Egads, this is a small room.” He looked around. “Didn’t you say your son and sister are staying in here with you?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Where do you all sleep?”

“On the blankets on the floor,” she told him.

“I had no idea that you didn’t have pallets.”

“It is more than Oliver has in the stable. I gave up my blanket to let him have it to keep him from the cold.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Was there something you wanted, Lord Tolin?”

He ran a hand through his long black hair in thought. “I’d like you to stop despising me. Tell me what I can do to make you like me and to be my friend.”

“Friendship and respect are earned, not demanded, my lord.” Slowly, she stood up to face him.

“Well, then. What can I do to earn your friendship and respect?”

“There might be one thing.” Hugging her arms around her, she decided to just come out and tell him what she was feeling.

“What’s that?”

“You could let a member of my family be the Lord or Lady of Misrule until Twelfth Night.”

“Oh. I see.” His penetrating eyes perused her. “So you were trying to cheat where the bean in the cake is concerned. I must say I am disappointed in you, Kit. You didn’t strike me as a liar and a cheat. Even if your son is a thief.”

“You know none of that is true! I am only trying to protect and take care of my family in the only way I can.”

“There are other things you could have done. Like ask me for what it is you wanted, instead of trying to cheat and get it for yourself.”

“Quit calling me a cheater. You are the cheater by taking the title of Lord of Misrule when it was meant for a commoner. This is the only time of year when the poor peasants have a hope and a chance to be something more than a slave and pitifully poor. You, Lord Tolin, took that hope from every peasant when you decided to keep the title of Bean King for yourself.”

“Lord of Misrule,” he told her, seeming aggravated and irritated by the way she was talking to him. But since Kit was so upset she pushed all her anxiety away and stood up to this arrogant man. She might be punished for it, but how could her life possibly get worse than it was right now? He turned to leave and she called out to stop him.

“Give me the bean. Let me be Lady of Misrule. Then, my lord, I promise I will respect you.”

“Nay,” he answered talking over his shoulder to her. “Because the day I let a commoner tell me what to do is the day I lose all respect for myself. And I assure you, Kit Baker, that will never happen to me.”

He left the room and closed the door behind him. Kit’s body shook like a leaf in the wind now, because she was sure her words upset him so much that she just doomed herself and her family. Forever.