Tesnim looked at Karyn with horror. “How dare you speak like this? Madam is in mourning. We must keep her merry for the Duke. We want to keep our own heads do we not Karyn?”

  Lot shushed the both of them with her hands raised. “Enough. For now, tell me what happened in the morning court session.”

  Karyn looked at Tesnim annoyed. “The bishop was killed for using the charity funds for making a new cathedral instead of feeding the populace. His head is on a spike outside of the Spire. It’s quite a fright to look at.”

  Lot sighed. “That’s not good for the bishop, but that is good for timing. Without a bishop, there will be no one to marry the Duke in the house of God.”

  “Goodness mam, you cannot be happy about the death?”

  “I’m not happy about anyone or their death, Tesnim. But, no one to hold the married marriage means no consummation. No consummation means I only have one child to worry about and not another. Vows–”

  “But our marriages have no bishops only priests. They are minor in the eyes of the church. Now that your village is burned, there is no record to contest it as bigamy. You are single mam in the eyes of the law and you are in the castle of the man who is your carer.”

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  “My son is no bastard.”

  “By marrying the Duke it would legitimize him as heir.” Karyn said quickly. “There are many benefits. You should have his heart and his heir. What a lovely combination.”

  Lot looked from one to the other. The dresses were all pooled out before them until there was a white wood chest in the back. “Why would a castle have so many clothes? Who was here to enjoy this before me? I wonder if her head too ended up on a spike.”

  Tesnim reached for the wooden trunk and made a spot for it amidst the dresses. She dusted off the top and then opened the box. “The dowager always had women here to try to tempt the Duke during his injuries. He refused them all. The only one who has ever stayed was the one she did not pick.”

  Lot started putting dresses back into the stone cabinet, when Tesnim turned the box towards her. Inside the box was a gown that was made of silver ribbons and little else. Karyn gasped as she looked at it. She held it up as if Karyn thought it would slip away in a wisp of smoke.

  Lot felt herself blush as she looked at it.

  Karyn looked at her sizing her up with the dress. “You must try it on this moment. It’s like it’s waiting for you. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

  Lot scoffed. “The city is starving and if I indulge myself here with dresses, it will look poorly upon myself and the one who has taken my son hostage. You keep it, dear. I’m sure the one who put it there will want it back.”