Chains of Fate

Chapter Fourteen

As a result of running around in the cold, Daisy wound up in bed with a fever. On the run and desperate for a hiding place, she had left herself in the care of the two fugitives she had pursued after escaping from the palace. Weary from her late night activities, Daisy fell into a long, dreamless slumber. She woke several hours later when the sun was high in the sky and the islanders hard at work. She spent her first day of freedom huddled under a thin blanket. Her fever rose periodically, making her too sick to care about the precarious situation she'd ended up in. By the next day, however, that began to change.

Below the hill, the heart of the island breathed life into every corner of the village. Full of noise, the chatter of free folk, and the good smells emanating from the market, the atmosphere differed from that which suffocated her former household. Beyond the thatched house the smell of smoked crab wafted through the air. Daisy's mouth watered when she got a whiff of it. The only thing she'd been given to eat in between resting had been hard loaves of bread and water that tasted somehow salty, like the ocean. Eventually, a plate of unseasoned cod and a mug of ale were delivered to her to help satiate her recovering appetite. The fillet had a tender-firm texture, which Daisy had eagerly chewed her way through, but the ale in her cup had been a tad too bitter for her liking. She made do nonetheless, her dry throat appreciating every swallow.

To her unending surprise, the house she shared with Kyle and his companion appeared to be lived in. But in spite of that, its size gave her a cozy feel. What with being so close to the sea and having one too many holes in the walls, Daisy assumed that it would be drafty. But a small fire burned within the hearth, keeping them warm. It filled the house with the scent of roasted palms. The solar she had taken over was furnished with a round table, two long benches, and a casement of leather bound books. This last discovery made Daisy wonder all the more who owned the place and how Kyle had come to be living in it.

She tried her best not to think the worst, but she kept reminding herself that she didn't know a thing about the man. Secluded for a large part of her younger life and waited on hand and foot, Daisy had not truly experienced being independent. She had never had to think about who it was that she could trust because her brother had made certain that only trustworthy people had surrounded her. But in this situation, drained of energy, she was forced to look to Kyle as an ally. Whatever his intentions were, they had nothing to do with her. Having landed on his doorstep, so to speak, she'd been powerless to refuse his offer to house her for the time being. It had been that or spend the night in the wintery cold. Her resolve would not have survived long in such harsh conditions.

Desiring to stretch her legs and be of some use, she rose from the straw sack mattress she'd been resting on and made her way to the kitchen, which had been portioned off from the solar by a stone wall. Being quite small, it fit one person, maybe two if they squeezed in side by side. There was a stone oven built into the wall, a deep sink for washing, and some shelves held together by bricks stacked on top of each other. Various items adorned them - jars of herbs, a mortar and pestle, pots, pans, ladles, a kettle, a meat fork, three large knives, and cooking oil. Daisy stared in awe. This house clearly did not belong to any ordinary villager, but one with a great deal of money and perhaps influence. Her hands twitched, wanting to touch and test her skills. Despite being a princess, Daisy did know a thing or two about food and what to do with it. Her former handmaid, Rei, had often schooled her on the art of cooking - although not once had she put Daisy to the test.

Around mid-afternoon the seagulls began to cry out to one another in their shrill, loud tongue. Daisy had to cover her ears to shut them out. She hadn't seen Kyle since the early morning. He left the hut at daybreak, while Daisy had still been drowsy with sleep. She never saw him go. She'd only heard the front door open and close behind him. When he returned, Daisy had a full operation going on inside the kitchen. She had set the kettle over the fire to boil water for tea and had a pot of stew in the works alongside it.