Chapter Thirty-Four

                                    

                                          
Ayo's eyes blinked open to a sunlit room. Light danced playfully off the crystal chandelier, cascading in a brilliant array of colors. She did not recognize the room she was in. It was much fancier than any she'd seen before. She tried sitting up when a hand stilled her.
                          
"Forgive me yer Highness, but yer are still weak and must rest." She did not recognize the voice either. There was a strange woman in the room with her. She was a middle-aged white woman dressed in a nursing uniform. She must have been keeping vigil at her bedside.
                          
She cleared her throat several times before attempting to speak. Her voice came out in a hoarse croak. How long must she have been asleep?
                          
"How...long?" She strained.
                          
"Princess, ye've been abed for near a month now." She answered, her heavy British accent becoming more pronounced with each word.
                          
"I'm Bertie, I've been hired to care for ya by the British Ambassador to Spain, Marco Delrina. I'm told he's a good friend to yer father. Apparently, yer father sent him to fetch ye. Ye was fair knackered when I first seen ya and the doctor said we couldn't risk moving ya." She nodded at the end of her speech as if to punctuate her point.
                          
"Where...am?" Ayo managed.
                          
"Yer at the Governor's mansion, sweet Princess. Nothing but the best for ye." Bertie offered a genuine smile as patted Ayo's hand.
                          
"Elijah St. John..." she tried one last time to use her voice which was now barely audible.
                          
"I'm afraid the young laird is no longer able to see ya, upon yer father's order."
                          
Ayo's tears streaked wordlessly down her bruised face. Damn her father's interference to the deepest ring of the nine circles of hell. She needed to see him. She needed him to know everything before she lost him to time and distance.
                          
"There... there, Miss, it's not so bad ye'll see. I'll go fetch the Ambassador and bring you a cuppa. That should make yer feel right as the mail." She exited the room with her voluminous black skirts swaying rhythmically.
                          
She returned steadying a tray in hand followed by a man she remembered briefly meeting back home. Bertie placed the tray on her nightstand and promptly left the room.
                          
Her father's friend Marco, had not aged much since last they met. Time had been kind. His olive skin in contrast with his pitch-black shoulder-length hair and mustache made him a striking figure, indeed. His hazel eyes sparkled as he regarded her. The only true mark of his age were deep laugh lines around his eyes and forehead.
                          
He gave a low bow over her hand, "Infanta (Princess), it gives my heart such joy to see you so well and on the road to recovery."
                          
"Lord Delrina." She said in a hoarse voice attempting to right her posture.
                          
"Please try not to strain yourself, Infanta. I was almost too late to save you from the clutches of the Morgan family. We found you hanging by your neck in their barn. Thanks to God, you are still alive. I have written to your father about these events. He replies with his wishes that you to be escorted to England at the earliest possible opportunity, " He said sitting near her in the vacant chaise.
                          
She shook her head in refusal and mouthed to him, 'No'.
                          
"Infanta, you must not refuse, else, you risk severe punishment not only from your father but from his host King William. Arrangements have been made for you to stay in England to convalesce."
                          
"No." She persisted.
                          
Marco could not fathom the reason for her obstinacy. "After all you have suffered, you would stay in this backwater and be seen as less than human, less than what you are, the heir to a vast kingdom. You must return. Your father has given me the authority to use any means necessary to get you home. This I mean to do," He said resolutely.
                          
"Elijah" she responded weakly.
                          
Marco sighed, that was the issue. She had taken up with the young upstart Lord and now wanted to be by his side.
                          
"My dear, your father has also been made aware of the predicament between you and the young Lord. When it was suggested, he has refused a match between you. He does not like the manner in which you have been handled and feels it an insult that your hand should be had by anything less than a royal."
                          
Ayo folded her arms petulantly across her chest and turned away from Marco in a huff.
                          
"Be stubborn if you like, Infanta. Your father is like a brother to me and therefore you a daughter. I will not see you remain in this country out of blind devotion to a man who you can not marry." He stood gave a genuflect and walked out of the room.
                          
Bertie scuttled in looking stunned. "Oh Miss, I saw that Spanish Laird stomping down the hallway. He looked fair gobsmacked. Did ye have a pleasant chinwag?" Ayo gave her a stern flat stare.
                          
"Right! Begging ya pardon Miss. It's not my place. Just that I have seen him and now ye looking madder than a wet hen. Ye ain't been allowed many visitors accepted from 'im and me. I thought ye could use a friend is all." She shrugged her down sloped shoulders.
                          
Ayo gave her a tight-lipped smile and patted the bed next to her with a wave. Bertie giggled excitedly over the invitation and squeezed in on the bed next to her.
                          
"Forgive me Miss but I'm a bit of a hugger. With your permission." She asked not wanting to offer insult to a high born. Ayo nodded and she put her arms around Ayo's shoulders and gently but reassuringly embraced her.
                          
Ayo did not realize how burdened her heart had been until she felt Bertie's arms fold around her. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding then the tears came. Bertie hummed a lullaby as she soothed her lovingly as she sobbed.