Chapter 36: Finding a place to live

When we got back to Miss Lori's inn, I made sure that Chandra had plenty of water. I had her sit, and made her stretch. While she was doing that, I begged some ice from the kitchen and I rubbed her leg down before I carried her to her room.

I wrapped the ice in a towel. "Keep the ice on your leg and flex it occasionally. If it gets uncomfortable, remove it and flex it. I want you to stay off of the leg until morning. Understood?" She nodded tiredly. "Good, I'll see you in the morning."

"Don't you ever get tired?" she mumbled.

"Oh, I'm tired too, it's just that you come first. I plan on washing up and crashing as soon as I get to my room."

"You talk funny," she mumbled, and promptly fell asleep. I went to find Gail. She was in her room in the stable. I woke her and gave her instructions for Chandra's care, and then I took a quick wash and went to bed myself.

The dawn came all too quickly for my tastes, but I arose anyway. One of these days I was going to kill that bird that made its nest outside the window. After a quick refreshment from Miss Lori's table, which was as wonderful and varied as always, I went to check up on Chandra. She too was up, albeit moving slowly.

"How's the leg?"

"It feels fine, Milord," she responded tiredly.

"Glad to hear it. Have you had breakfast?" To which she affirmed that she did.

After we stretched, we ran three laps around the third tier. It was a hot sunny morning, and we were both sticky when we returned to the inn to wind down and clean up.

I let her tell me about yesterday's efforts on procuring a new residence. When she was finished with that, I informed her that I was under arrest for kidnapping. She was appalled at Steven's efforts to get Megan back, and I asked her why she was so surprised.

We had a lengthy discussion during our workout about rights versus privileges regarding the nobility. It seemed that since Lady Megan was a noble, that all I had to do was get her to court and have her tell the king that she was with me of her own free will. I just had to make sure that I stopped Steven from blackmailing her into lying.

Steven's reprisals did not seem to concern Chandra. He would not bother her family. I figured that each duchy was its own little world, and since Chandra's family was not from the same area as Steven that they were safe from the bastard's attentions.

I know that she is still hiding too much from me about who she is.

It ended up that we wouldn't have to worry about my court date with the king. It seemed that the duke had withdrawn the charges against me. Allard informed us during our morning exercises. I'd wager that Steven made someone's life miserable when he found that I wasn't in jail. That meant the bastard couldn't bribe a jailor to poison me or whatever he had in mind.

One of his older cousins had wisely had the charges dropped since Steven didn't have a leg to stand on. I wouldn't find out until much later that Allard vouched for me, and that was the reason that the king let me be.

Allard told us the good news while he watched me put Chandra through her paces. I didn't want another pupil just yet, so instead of inviting him to join us I let her break earlier than I wanted. I told them to have fun and go play, I would see them in a few hours.

To say that Chandra was startled would be an understatement. I had been working her hard all morning and she didn't see any signs of me slowing down or stopping. I could tell that she didn't have many friends, and I figured Allard would be a good friend for her.

I left them to their own devices and went to wash up. Before I made it into the main room, Miss Lori informed me that Lady Megan's clothes were in transit and that I had a few messages waiting for me. I thanked her and sat in front of the fire to open up my letters. They were all the same. Each of them contained congratulations on my win and two gold to pay off their debt. I found it strange that the debt was not paid in person but attributed it to cultural differences.

I found a book that Megan was reading and picked it up. I figured that I would sit and relax today. I deserved a rest. The book was actually a treatise on infrastructure. It discussed the importance of roads, irrigation, and the public works that supported them. The treatise went into marvelous detail and gave me a good grasp on how a medieval system works as a whole.

I was unfortunately derailed from my reading a few hours later when an arguing couple came through the door. It seemed that Chandra said something to get under Allard's skin. From the gist of it, he was considering her as a prospective mate, and she wasn't having any of it.

I told them to both be quiet and to sit. I pointed at the love seat next to me.

"Allard, she has obligations to her Goddess. Chandra is not even a full sister yet, so she does not have a say in the matter." Chandra was half irritated, half pouting.

"I didn't know that," he started, but I interrupted.

"She is my student, I gave her permission to see you, and I've even encouraged it. I think that you are a good man, and even if she does not marry you, keeping you as a friend is important to her."

Chandra went to say something and I shushed her. I could see the fire that was burning in her, and I didn't want her to say anything stupid.

"There's a war coming, and I plan on training her to go beyond merely surviving, I want her to be able to flourish. Regardless, the decision is out of her hands until after she graduates and becomes a full sister. After that it will be between Chandra and Kassandra whether or not Chandra ever decides to settle down and marry anyone.

"Lord Allard, it could take years before she is ready to settle down or it could be seasons. Until she decides what her place is going to be the two of you can only friends."

I looked at both of them. "Understood?" He looked miserable and she looked defiant.

They both admitted that they did. I could tell that she wanted to add something; so I nodded permission.

"Alley, I do like you, I just can't marry. I'm pledged to Kassandra."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He still looked like someone stole his dog, and went to get up.

"Allard. Feel free to come and spend time with us, your friendship and your company will always be welcome." He stood to go.

I offered my hand which he accepted. "Oh, and Allard?" I stopped him before he left.

"Yes, Lord Charles?"

"If you come again during training, I will put you through your paces too." He looked gratified that he would be welcome, but left with a despondent, 'Bye, Chandra.' on the way out. Once he left Chandra did not look all that happy either.