In Which Aldhein Meets an Angel

November 14, 1157

"No, don't cry..." Aldhein urged his baby daughter, biting his lip in frustration. He was not cut out for this sort of thing--he loved the little girl to death, but for the Christ's sake, he just could not take care of her on his own! If the king was planning on sending the child away with Aldhein whenever a new steward could be found, then the poor baby had absolutely no chance at a decent life at all.

But how could Roderick be so cruel? It wasn't as if it was Eilyssa's fault, how she was made. Sure, the king could punish Aldhein as he pleased--and, Aldhein himself had to admit, rightfully so--but must he make the baby suffer in the name of her parents' sin?

But really... how would she have a future? She was the bastard child of a disgraced queen and a dishonorable steward, and her stepfather--the only party involved equipped to raise the girl--wanted nothing to do with her.

And other than simply being born, she had done nothing.

Maybe he could find someone to raise her. Perhaps a lonely young widow, or a woman who had birthed a stillborn. If he searched long and hard enough, surely he could find someone...

No. Eilyssa was the daughter of a queen, and the niece of both an earl and a future duchess; she could not be raised by just anyone.

Oh, but what to do! Maybe he was better off just getting a new job and finding a wife...

"Well, Aldhein, I had no idea you liked to spend your days in the kitchen."

Startled, he looked up to see none other than the duchess herself--the highest-ranking woman in the kingdom, now that Geneva had vanished--make her way into the kitchen.

"Your grace," muttered Aldhein after a moment of shock. "I, uh... this is the one room the king never sets foot in."

A hint of understanding in her brown eyes, she nodded. "Is that Geneva's baby?"

"Why... yes," he answered hesitantly--how would she react to seeing the child she had feared might have been her own husband's? "This is Eilyssa."

"That's a pretty name," Celina mused. "May I see her?"

"Uh... if your grace insists, I suppose..."

To his great surprise, however, she greeted the baby with a smile--and Eilyssa beamed right back at her. "Hello, Eilyssa. Don't you have the prettiest pair of emerald eyes I ever saw?"

Eilyssa giggled happily as Celina gently tickled her stomach; Aldhein was suddenly very aware that the girl hadn't smiled since before her mother had left.

"I think she likes you, your grace," Aldhein informed her.

Celina's smile widened. "I like you too, Angel," she told the baby. "Such a sweet little baby!"

"She is," he agreed somberly, "poor child."

The grin on the duchess's face vanished. "Sorry?"

"Well... I can't provide for her once Roderick throws me out."

There--he had said it aloud. He'd imagined he would have been able to come to terms with the situation more easily once he'd voiced it, but now that he had, it only seemed all the more real, all the more urgent.

"Aldhein, surely with a steward's wage, you must have a little bit of money set aside," Celina tried to assure him, but he could only shake his head.

"My father spent most of his adult life sitting at a bar," he sighed. "I'm up to my neck in debt to almost every tavern-keeper back in Dovia. All I can give this girl is love, and we all know love doesn't feed a mouth or keep a roof over a head."

But surely she would not understand this--a duchess, and the niece of King Farilon! She had never been deprived of anything in her life--and yet, she nodded, gazing upon the child with pure, undiluted empathy. "May I hold her?"

"Of course, your grace," answered Aldhein, gently placing Eilyssa in the duchess's arms. "She seems to like you well enough."

In fact, she seemed more at ease with this stranger than she did with her own father--he had to admit, he was rather jealous.

"She's going to be a beautiful woman one day," sighed Celina. "If you want to ward off all her future suitors, you're going to have to start training any day now."

Aldhein nodded, smiling slightly despite himself. "I already have."

"The poor dear," she whispered as she held the baby close. "My own mother died giving birth to me--perhaps you knew that?"

"The king told me that, your grace. My mother died giving birth to me as well."

"At least we know that our mothers loved us," voiced the duchess thoughtfully. "Little Eilyssa here will never know if Geneva cared about her at all."

It was true--her mother had abandoned her, and her father could do nothing for her. Wherever, she ended up, the girl would know neither comfort nor love.

"I only hope that she will know that I care," he breathed at last. "She will probably end up in the orphanage, or a nunnery, or..."

"Aldhein, if you can't raise her yourself," began the duchess, dismissing his thought entirely, "perhaps I can raise her for you? I have a daughter only a few months older than she is--I'm sure they will be fine friends."

Aldhein blinked. Several times. "You... you'd do that?" he finally choked, completely caught off-guard. This woman was the one person in the world who had any reason to hate little Eilyssa--how could she possibly be so kind, so selfless?

"I would be honored," she insisted, "and you may visit any time you like. In fact... Dalston is thinking about firing his steward--perhaps you'd be interested in the job?"

There were many things he could have said. Perhaps, if he were a more poetic man, he would have said something handsome, the sort of thing that the occasion merited. But at that moment, all he could muster was a simple "Thank you, your grace."

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