Dark Age Maiden

The price for his help

She knew Count Giancarlo was reputed to be a skilled tactician and an unparalleled swordsman. She had also heard he had a way with women, but she had no idea of his wealth and sophistication.

        She walked to the bath, noted the clear, flowing water, and after checking the lock on the door, decided to bathe. Finding towels and soap at hand, she removed her clothes and climbed the stairs at the side to reach the top.  Then she let herself down and found she was up to her bosom in water. It was cool though not cold, and she found it wonderfully refreshing. As she washed her hair and body her thoughts returned to the plight of her embattled family. When she was done, she dried off, and putting a towel around her, she decided to look in the closets. 

        She tried the nearest one. It was locked. She tried the next and the next, all locked. In frustration, she cast her eyes about the room. Next to the bowl of fruit, she saw a key. She inserted it into the lock of the first closet and it opened easily. With amazement she looked at its contents.

Pulling one garment after another out of the closet, she saw the plunging necklines, the thin straps and the thigh high slits in the gowns. There was not a single one she would feel any modesty wearing. She went to the second closet, opening it with the same key. Here she found clothes more to her liking. Her skilled hands moved across a variety of dazzling fabrics noting their texture, and then she held each one to the light to appraise their color.

They were exquisite, made of wool, linen, and strange fabrics she didn't know, and even silk. They would cost a fortune. Some might be for traveling, and other finer, more colorful apparel she could imagine wearing in a regal setting. Even though she was herself a weaver, she realized she had little experience with clothing such as this. She tried on different garments in front of a large mirror. It was huge in comparison with her mother's small one with the ornate handle. She still remembered her mother's sudden cry of delight when she opened the gift from her father.

        She sat down on the bed, thinking about what she knew of  Count Giancarlo. Now that she had met him, she recalled some things. Things she had heard her father or his sister, Dora, say. She knew Giancarlo's faithful wife had died years ago. Since then he had caused a scandal by his liaisons with a number of the town's most desirable women. She heard the bishop had chastised him and had tried to put the fear of God in him, to no avail.  Carina could see how women might come under his spell. His personal magnetism was enough, in itself, and besides he was wealthy, a count, and in charge of the garrison protecting the city.

Carina couldn't fail to notice how he had looked at her. She remembered he had said she could ring the small bell if she needed anything in the night. She was not so naive as to not understand what he was offering. Had he found her attractive so quickly, clad in her rough traveling garments? Or was there a temporary lull in his engagements such that by happenstance she would be one to fill the opening? She found her speculations about Giancarlo distasteful. Rising from the bed, she vowed she would not be one of his conquests.

         Nevertheless, Carina wanted to wear something feminine when she met him in the morning. She thought if her father's gold was not enough, perhaps he might come to their rescue to help a lady. Yawning, she opened the last closet. There she found more clothes and among them sleeping gowns. Choosing one of a light tangerine hue, she put it on and then took a pear from the bowl. It was delicious. As she was quickly growing sleepy, she extinguished all the candles but one, rechecked to make sure the door was locked, and pulled back the covers on the bed. She stopped to pray, asking God's help for her besieged family and asking that Giancarlo be moved to come to their aid. Then she slipped under the lighter of the two blankets and was soon asleep.

Chapter Two

        She could tell by the sun streaming through the small overhead window that she had slept for a long time. She splashed her face with water, and then removed her nightgown and put on the kirtle she would wear when she faced Giancarlo. She arranged her hair in the mirror and chewed a mint leaf. Unlocking the door, she stepped outside and cautiously looked around. Light and many voices came from the right. She walked toward them.