Because of the Night Ch. 03

When Taylor's eyes opened to the white ceiling above her masked by a white gauze canopy, she wondered for a brief instant where she was. But the musky male odor reminded her of the previous night.

She looked at him nearly sprawled over the remaining bed, his back slashed with faint scars of careless companions. Taylor looked his back over wantonly, wishing he were awake so she could ask him how he gained such lasting scars. She shivered knowing that he must have suffered painful nights and days to recover from such a harsh punishment. She sat up partially to kiss one particularly vivid scar that wrapped around his shoulder, hinting that it crossed his chest when she heard the door open. She turned and saw Laurie and obediently she slipped out of the bed, gathering the clothes that Mr. Leif had hastily discarded last night while muttering something about unnecessary garments.

"When did he finally sleep?" she asked in a hush whisper reaching up on the bed to pull his covers about him giving Taylor a moment to dress.

"Sometime after dawn. He paced nearly the whole night." she replied equally quiet wondering how Laurie knew that Mr. Leif barely slept.

"Do you need anything?" Taylor shook her head.

"He's a good man, despite what he thinks of himself and what some may think of him. With a little time he'll be a rival to even Sir Glen." Laurie's foreboding words shocked Taylor and she looked back at the man who lay in the bed.

"So the 'wine accident' is a true tale and not lore to amuse the novices?" she asked playfully.

Laurie smirked. "I even helped him." She admitted sheepishly it was then she noticed the pendant that Taylor had been given last night by Leif.

-He has exquisite taste. I've got to give him that.-

"You have a choice to make, if you wear the pendant for the rest of his stay, you'll be expected to attend to him. If you leave it here on his bed stand, he'll know he can count on you."

Taylor froze not knowing the depth of significance when he had given her the pendant. Her fingers lay on the metallic disk hovering slightly over her breasts.

-He had said it would just keep others away.- The implication that the simple silver pendant was more than only a deterrent meant to give him some privacy placed her nearly speechless. "Those are my only choices?"

Laurie looked at Taylor and offered up the third choice unhappily, wondering if Taylor had found misery in Leif's company. "Leaving it with a servant to return will mean you will not see him again. The choice is yours."

Taylor looked at Leif sleeping peacefully remembering the highlights of the previous evening. She had not expected to find pleasure in dressing him, or his laughter. His fingers when they were in her mouth had aroused new interests that she wished dearly to explore. –With him.- The self-admission took her by surprise, yet it settled into anticipation. "I think I would like to attend him for as long as he is willing to have me and Sir Glen does not mind." She stammered. Embarrassed, she turned away.

Laurie hugged the novice, a gesture rarely given in the house. "Then you have a lot to do before he wakes, come with me." Laurie's heart soared hopefully as she escorted Taylor out from his room.

Taylor took a deep breath. Having now been enlightened to the expectations of her as a regular companion, it was nearly too much. Locating Mr. Leif's scant wardrobe options and then assessing what he had to wear was actually the easiest task she had completed nearly eight hours after having left his bed. She didn't see him at breakfast or lunch, much to her dismay.

"Sir Glen is keeping Mr. Leif busy with preparations. You'll see him soon enough." Laurie teased in a private moment. Embarrassed by her lack of attention to the work at hand, Taylor returned quickly to reviewing the schedule for the next two days.

As a novice, she never once considered anything beyond remembering all she had been taught. As a companion, even a temporary one, she realized that there was more work involved particularly in a house as formal as Sir Glen's. Dinner attire, evening attire, then clothing for the dungeons and on top of that yet, she had to find some way to find something appropriate for him to wear to officiate at the formal ceremony slated for next week. And it wasn't just making sure Mr. Leif was appropriately dressed.

They both had been amused to see the few toys Mr. Leif had brought along in a battered knapsack as they searched his clothing. While nothing that would necessarily arouse suspicion, for Taylor they did raise a crimson flush whenever she thought of using them with Mr. Leif.