Hannah Howell Read online

  “Give me but a moment or two of privacy, and I will be.”

  He kissed her cheek and started out of the door, taking their saddle packs with him. “I will meet you in the stables.”

  Revan made his cautious way through the dark keep. Only a few watchfires burned outside, and he was careful to remain in the shadows as he hurried to the stables. He found the horses already saddled and Thorson and Nairn waiting for him.

  “Where is Tess?” asked Nairn as Revan put his saddle packs on his mount.

  “She will be along in a moment.” He briefly rested his hand on the packs flung over the mare’s back. “Supplies?”

  “Aye, enough to last ye until ye reach Donnbraigh and beyond, if the need arises. Are ye sure the lass will stay to the shadows? They could catch sight of her if she doesna move cautiously.”

  “She will be careful. Only once did she give us away, and that was unavoidable. I am more concerned about getting these beasts out of here without being seen. I have never seen Tess ride, so I would prefer not risking a chase just yet.”

  “The moon has set. That will work to your advantage. We will open the barnkin gates only enough to let ye lead the animals out. I think that ’tis best if ye lead the horses until ye are within the wood to the north of us. If those hounds catch your scent too soon, we will do what we can to slow them down and gain you some lead.”

  “I would rather you didna get caught up in this at all.”

  “So would I.” Nairn smiled briefly. “But, I was caught in the midst of it all the moment I made my allegiance to James clear. I am but too small for the Douglas to trouble himself with at the moment.”

  “Let us pray that it remains so. Ah, Tessa,” Revan murmured as she slipped into the stables. Once she reached his side, he related the plan for sneaking away from the keep.

  “I begin to feel like a thief,” she drawled as she took up the mare’s reins. “Ye must be well accustomed to this sort of thing, though,” she added, looking at Revan.

  “Why would ye think that I would be accustomed to such subterfuge?” Revan frowned, mistrusting her faint smile.

  “Well, I always saw the courtiers who tiptoed to and from the regal Brenda’s scented bedchambers. And though ye sighed and dribbled about her for so long, I never saw you. So ye must be well trained in it.”

  Revan took a moment to glare at Nairn and Thorson, who were badly muffling their laughter, then scowled at Tess. “I didna sigh and dribble, and I didna tiptoe about, either. Why mention Brenda now? Ye havena spoken of the cursed woman for days.”

  “How remiss of me.”

  “Tessa, God alone kens why ye should speak of this now. Did ye forget about the twenty or so men looking for us?”

  “Not at all. I was but waiting for you to lead us on.”

  “Are ye always so irritating in the morning?”

  “ ’Tisna morning yet.”

  “I dinna ken how ye can feel so pert when there are a score of men prepared to murder us at first sight.” Revan began to lead his horse out of the stables.

  Tess quickly moved to follow him. “I begin to think that having a sword constantly at one’s throat, having death nipping at one’s heels day after day after day, can put one into a very odd humor.”

  “Aye,” murmured Nairn. “I can understand that.”

  “Dinna encourage the lass,” said Revan, his voice barely above a whisper as he took his first step out of the stables.

  They wound their way toward the gates by staying close to the walls. The shadows were the deepest there. Tess kept as close to Revan as she dared, knowing he would speak softly if he spoke at all, and she was afraid she might miss some important command. Fear twisted her insides. She knew that prompted her irreverence. Such nonsense or sarcasm had always been her way of hiding her fears and, at times, easing it. She was also simply tired of it all, weary of constantly running or hiding. Tess hoped that weariness continued to put her into an odd humor. It was preferable to resignation or a dangerous loss of caution.

  As they neared the gates, Nairn and Thorson slipped ahead of her and Revan to open them. Tess waited in the shadows behind Revan. She could almost look forward to reaching her father’s kinsmen despite the fact that she would then lose Revan. Wrapped within the boisterous protection of the Comyns and Delgados, she would no longer suffer the constant fear she did now, would no longer have to keep running until she sometimes thought she would never rest again.

  “Ye can come ahead now.” Nairn’s voice was a soft interruption in the predawn silence.

  Revan moved ahead, pausing only to briefly clasp Nairn’s and Thorson’s hands and exchange hurried wishes for good luck. He then edged out of the narrowly opened gates. Tess crept after him and stopped in front of Nairn.

  “I thank ye for your hospitality and the clothes. Please tell the woman who so kindly allowed me the use of them that I was most grateful.” To her utter surprise Nairn kissed her full on the mouth.

  “Take care of yourself, Tessa, and of my foolish brother.”

  Before she could make any reply, she heard Revan sharply whisper her name. She quickly smiled a farewell to Nairn and his sergeant-of-arms before leading her horse through the partly opened gates. Barely three steps outside of them she bumped into Revan on his way back.

  “What was the delay?” he asked even as he turned and strode back to his patiently waiting horse.

  “I wished to say thank ye and fare-thee-well to your brother.”

  “Ye must have been fulsome in expressing your gratitude for it to have taken so long.” He took up his mount’s reins and started on his way.

  Tess quickly fell into step behind Revan as he started leading his horse toward the distant trees. “I suspect ’twas not the talking but the kissing that took up all the time.” She was not sure, because the deep shadows they huddled in obscured her sight a little, but it looked as if Revan stumbled slightly.

  “Nairn kissed you?”

  “Aye.”

  “I see. Well, a brief peck upon the cheek shouldna have taken so long, either.”

  “Very true, but this was no light touch upon my cheek. Nairn kissed me full upon the mouth.”

  This time Revan stopped and stood very still for a moment. She waited for more, but he neither spoke nor acted. When he started walking again, she inwardly sighed and followed. She should have waited to tell him about the kiss until she could have seen him clearly, could have read his reaction in his expression. Without words and without seeing him as any more than one shadow amongst many, she could only guess at how he felt. That did her no good at all. In truth, she wondered why she even troubled herself. He intended to leave her behind.

  And yet, she mused as she kept pace with him, she did want something, some hint of emotion. She decided that she was searching for some sign that she was more to him than a partner in danger and a warm bed partner. It might prove some comfort after he had left her behind. And that, Contessa Comyn Delgado, she told herself, was the very height of foolishness.

  Revan halted, drawing her out of her introspection. They were far enough within the trees to be hidden by them. He walked toward her, halted in front of her, and stared at her. Just as she was about to ask him what was the matter, he pulled her into his arms and heartily kissed her. The moment he ended the kiss, he hoisted her up onto the mare’s back. Tess sat, dazed, and watched him return to his own horse, mount it, and nudge it into motion.

  “And men have the gall to complain about a woman’s odd humors,” she grumbled as she urged the mare to follow him.

  “Did ye say something?”

  “Nothing of any importance.” She noticed with some relief that the mare needed little direction or urging to follow Revan’s horse carefully as well as closely.

  “ ’Tis best if we keep as silent as possible. Those fools hunting us could have had the wit to set spies within these woods. Aye, and at every other route leading away from Nairn’s. We shall move slowly until dawn breaks and we have the light
to see our path more clearly. Then we shall ride faster and harder. We must put some distance between us and those carrion.”

  “Ye think they will soon follow us?” She could not resist a quick but fruitless look behind her.

  “Aye, I believe so. Once there is no sign of us leaving come the dawn, they will probably approach Nairn to demand that he hand us over to them. As soon as they are sure we arena there, they will be hunting us again.”

  “Are ye sure they willna harm your brother?”

  “Aye, as certain as one can be. Nairn can be clever with words. And he will give them no cause to strike at him. He would dearly like to stand against them, but he has the wit to ken that now is not the time for foolish lance-tilting. That we draw so near to the king also works in Nairn’s favor. Those hounds willna wish to waste any time in setting out after us. Aye, they may well promise retribution when they find us gone, but they willna pause to deliver it now.”

  Tess nodded, even though she knew he could not see her, and hoped that he was right. Thus far they had been hounded, deprived of comfort, and given little chance to rest, but no one had yet lost his life or even been badly injured. She took one last look behind her and prayed that that good fortune would continue to follow them.

  Nairn watched Tess and Revan walk away until they faded into the shadows. With a sigh he started to close the gates. Thorson moved to his side to help him.

  “ ’Tis very difficult to send them off as if they are ill-approved guests one must hide from one’s mother.”

  Thorson nodded as they bolted the gates. “True, but such stealth must be used. These troubled times demand it.”

  “Aye. Curse the Douglas and his treasonous plots.” Nairn slumped against the cold damp stone of the wall. “There is more to do before the dawn. The corbies upon the border are certain to come banging at our gates when they catch no sight of their prey. I am sure they expect Revan and Tess to ride out of here at dawn or soon after.”

  “Then we are left with little time to clear away all sign of your brother and his lady.”

  “Best to set about it, then.” Nairn stood up straight.

  “The sooner we finish that chore, the more time we shall have to prepare ourselves.”

  “Prepare ourselves? For what? Do ye think they will fight us?”

  “Nay. I speak of preparing ourselves to appear properly astounded when the Douglas’s and Thurkettle’s lapdogs come yapping after Revan and Tess.” He and Thorson exchanged a grin.

  Morning was half gone when the small force on the Douglas border finally rode down to Nairn’s tower house. Nairn sat at his table in his great hall and sipped his wine, smiling faintly over their bellowed demands to be let inside. They echoed the arrogance of their liege, the Douglas. It was past time the great earl was brought down. Nairn hoped the king did not falter or forgive this time.

  It was several minutes before anyone appeared in the great hall. Nairn was certain that Thorson had delayed and been as obstructive as possible. When Thorson entered, followed almost too closely by the Douglas’s and Thurkettle’s men, Nairn offered the intruders a sweet smile. Inside he seethed, frustrated by the need to do nothing at all when he ached to act.

  A bulky man of medium height, wearing the Douglas’s colors, pushed by Thorson and strode over to the table. “Where is your brother?” he demanded as he halted inches from Nairn.

  “I believe he is with our father. That is correct, is it not, Thorson? Colin rides with my father?”

  “Aye.” Thorson moved to stand at Nairn’s side, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.

  “Dinna play games with me. I am sergeant-at-arms to the earl of Douglas. I seek Sir Revan Halyard. We ken very well that he is—or was—here!”

  “Thorson, ye never told me that Revan had come by.” Nairn affected a look of surprise as he turned to Thorson.

  “Mayhaps I never told you because he never passed by.”

  “Ah, I see.” Nairn turned back to the Douglas man. “I fear ye are mistaken, sir.”

  “Ye willna succeed in keeping him safe from punishment for his crimes.”

  “Crimes? What crimes?”

  “All of Scotland has heard of his black deeds.”

  “Not all. I have had no word of Revan being cried an outlaw.”

  “He isna outlawed yet, but he is guilty of kidnapping Sir Fergus Thurkettle’s niece, of rape, and mayhaps even murder by now. Aye, and there is talk of treason.”

  It was very hard not to strike the man, but Nairn took a slow drink of wine to soothe his rage. “Ah, the lass. I have heard of a lass. Mayhaps, sir, they but ran away together. Revan always has had a way with the lasses.”

  “ ’Twas kidnapping!” The man banged his fist upon the table. “Now, cease this play and give me Sir Revan.”

  “I fear I dinna have him to give. He isna here.”

  “He is. His horse was seen. One of your people was hiding it.”

  “There are many horses that look like my brother’s. Seeing a horse tells you little or nothing when no one has seen the man who was riding it. I havena seen Revan for several months. Nor has anyone here. Ask about if ye have a mind to.”

  “I mean to do more than ask. I will search this place—now.”

  “Well, if ye feel ye must,” Nairn murmured, affecting a languid, bored attitude.

  The moment Douglas’s sergeant and his men had left the great hall, Nairn asked Thorson, “Are our people readied to play the game? Do they understand what must be done?”

  “Aye.” Thorson helped himself to a goblet of wine and sat down at the table. “There will be people everywhere those fools look. When I finally let those strutting curs into the bailey, it was full of folk and the walls looked to be well staffed with men-at-arms. ’Tis good that they didna look too closely at our soldiers. A sword and doublet canna hide everything. I think I would rather be seen to be undermanned than have it kenned that we had lasses and old men standing guard.” He grinned when Nairn laughed.

  “Rest easy, Thorson. ’Tis clear that they didna see the trick. Let us pray that they continue to be so blind. One of them might have wit enough to realize that he has seen that man or that lass before. Then our deceit will be uncovered.”

  “As young Meg assured me, these soldiers will only take a look at the lasses and they willna be allowed to linger at it. She says a change of kerchief, of apron, or of bonnet should be enough. And if one of those men does say that he has seen her before, she can say she has finished that chore and moved onto this one or that the one he saw was her cousin or her sister. Dinna worry on it. Our folk will do very well. In truth, they were eager for the chance to dupe these men. We have suffered this annoyance for too long. Aye, and the threat of their presence all around us.”

  Nairn gave a faint nod of agreement and prayed that Thorson was right, that their ploy would work and Douglas’s minions would leave thinking that his keep was fully staffed. If he could emerge from these troubled times with his lands unscathed and his people unhurt, it would be some recompense for the need to be so meek and nearly servile toward his arrogant neighbors. Douglas’s downfall would not be quite so satisfying if he returned from fighting for the king to find his lands devastated and his people suffering.

  As soon as he finished his wine, Nairn strolled out into the bailey, Thorson quietly following him. He watched the number of guards upon his walls begin to increase and knew Douglas’s men would soon leave. It was only a few moments later when Douglas’s men began to gather in the bailey and the sergeant marched over to him. Nairn could tell by the expression upon the man’s face that no sign of Revan or Tess had been discovered. That allowed him the strength to meet the man’s insolence with a semblance of calm. He just hoped God would grant him the chance to meet the man on the battlefield later.

  “I dinna ken how ye did it, but they arena here,” the man grumbled. “We found naught.” His gruff voice was weighted with accusation.

  “Mayhaps that is because ye were mistaken.”


  “Nay, I think not. We will find them. Mount up, men,” he bellowed. “We set out upon a hunt.” He glared at Nairn. “Your brother shall not escape justice and punishment for his crimes, Sir Nairn.”

  “There is no proof that he has committed any crimes.”

  “Enough. Mayhaps he didna kill that king’s man. Mayhaps that fool niece of Thurkettle’s did run off with him willingly. It doesna matter. He has taken the wife of one of the earl’s nephews. ’Tis an insult that must be paid for.”

  “The lass is wed to a Douglas?” Nairn made no attempt to hide his shock.

  “Betrothed. ’Tis much the same. Best ye prepare his winding sheets, for Sir Revan Halyard willna see another summer through.” He strode over to his horse, mounted, and led his men out of Nairn’s bailey.

  The minute the gates were shut behind the men, Nairn looked at Thorson, whose weatherbeaten face was wrinkled in a frown. “Revan never said the lass was betrothed or wed.”

  “Mayhaps she didna tell him.”

  “Aye, and mayhaps she didna ken it herself.”

  “I am inclined to believe that possibility. She didna strike me as a lass who would keep such a thing secret.”

  “Nay. When one considers all she has told Revan, it becomes even more unbelievable. ’Tis possible this betrothal was arranged and she wasna told about it. ’Tis also possible that it was settled only after she left with Revan. Even if all else they charge Revan with is disbelieved, they can still hold that against him. It canna be proved or disproved, yet it gives them the right to pursue Revan, even kill him. Curse it, Revan should be told, but there is no way for me to reach him with this news.”

  “It doesna matter. He has enough threats against him. A new one willna make him any more wary than he is now. The moment he reaches Donnbraigh, it willna matter any longer. The Comyns and the Delgados would vigorously fight such a marriage. In truth, soon such a marriage will be impossible anyways. Douglas and all of his allies will be dead or fighting for their lives, if they arena running to cower in some hole.”