Dream of Me/Believe in Me

you should work all the time?”
    Edythe cast her a glance from beneath sooty lashes. “Lord Hawk is a great and powerful noble. He has concerns far beyond here.”
    That told Krysta much. Understandably enough the Lord of Hawkforte left domestic matters to a woman. If he noticed at all that she was an extremely demanding person, he either did not care or saw no reason for change.
    Or did he? He had, for whatever reason, agreed to take a wife who would be expected to manage his household. Perhaps he would appreciate someone whose view of such matters was very different from that of the Lady Daria. Or perhaps not. One more thing for Krysta to discover.
    She would have sighed just then had not one of the children leaned over and whispered to Edythe, “She's going.”
    Following the direction of their collective gaze, Krysta observed Lady Daria departing Hawkforte in a lavishly appointed litter balanced between two pairs of horses. Several harried-looking servants followed on foot behind her. The lady was leaning out between the curtains, inciting the grooms to keep the horses under better control, complaining about the bumpiness of the road, and otherwise making her feelings known.
    “Gone to market,” Edythe explained. Quickly, she and the other children bundled up their carding. BeforeKrysta's eyes, their demeanor changed from solemnity to exuberance.
    “Now's our time to play,” Edythe said and grasped Krysta's hand, drawing her with them.
    They went, laughing and skipping, through the gates and down to the river that twined along the base of the hill. Krysta spared a quick glance at the moss-draped bridge that spanned the sparkling flow of water but chose not to inquire too deeply into what stirred beneath it.
    The children were tumbling over one another like puppies. She was delighted to see it, having sensed that their earlier constraint was unnatural. Did everyone at Hawkforte, or at least all those not under the lord's direct command, have to pretend they were something other than they were to appease Demanding Daria?
    At that irreverent thought, Krysta put a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle but could not hold it back entirely. Sprawled on the riverbank, her small fingers teasing a stone she looked about to toss, Edythe glanced at her with wisdom that belied her years. “My ma says we have more fun sneaking off than we would if we could just play whenever we want.”
    “Do you think that's true?” Krysta asked, settling herself beside the little girl. Edythe was about eight, slender without being thin, with alert, intelligent eyes and a firm set to her small chin. She seemed to have a mature way of looking at the world that belied her tender years.
    “I think my ma says it to make the best of things but that's all right, sometimes it's what you have to do.”
    Wisdom indeed, Krysta thought, yet did she dislike the idea that the good people of Hawkforte had to labor under such constraints. With all her heart, she hoped her husband would allow her to make such changes as would benefit them all.
    But first there was the river to play in and a happy afternoon to while away twining garlands of daisies, chasingbutterflies, and seeking out the tender raspberries the children knew well how to find. Krysta contented herself with listening as they talked among themselves, now at their ease.
    She had no preconceived notions of children, but these children were very wise and aware. She wondered if the adults of Hawkforte realized how much these young ones saw.
    “Fat Betty is with child again,” Edythe remarked as she popped a raspberry into her mouth.
    A little girl seated beside her made a small O with her mouth and opened her eyes very wide. “No! Is she really? My ma says she only has to look at a man to catch a baby.”
    “That's not how it's done,” a lad named Howard informed them. “Besides, Fat Betty's husband's off in Brittany. He went months ago on Master Tyler's ship. So what's she doin' breedin'?”
    Edythe sighed, rolled her eyes, and plucked another raspberry. “Goes to show, all those foreigners runnin' around town sure stir things up. Least that's what my da says.”
    “Good for business though,” Howard remarked. “My da says we're plumper than he ever dreamed we would be this side of paradise. Lord Hawk knows a sharp sword, a strong arm, and a good mind are what it takes to get ahead in this world.” He looked around proudly as he added, “That's why Da says I ought to be after