Knowing Yourself - A Medieval Romance

Chapter 16

Chapter 16  

Kay and Em kept attentive watch at the central window in the late afternoon sunlight, sitting on a low bench which had been dragged up against it. They strained for the slightest movement, the merest hint of approaching riders coming from the east road. They had not moved from their location for the past hour. Kay glanced at her sister for what must have been the fiftieth time.

“Em, really, please lie down on the couch. There is no need for both of us to be on lookout. I will let you know the moment I see anything.”

Em shook her head resolutely, her eyes pinned to the narrow ribbon of dusty brown. “Eric is coming for me,” she repeated quietly, a mantra almost, a fervent hope and wish. “He will be crazed with worry when he reaches those gates and hears what has happened. I will be here, in the window, to at least reassure him with my presence that things will be all right.”

Kay patted her hand and looked back out toward the rolling hills, toward the swells of moss green and doe brown and twisting scrub. The sunlight’s strength created sharp shadows for every tree, every hillock. Their shadows slowly migrated across the earth, drifting like clouds, reminding her that time did indeed progress outside their room. For some reason she almost felt as if the world were holding its breath …

“There -” she whispered, almost afraid to shatter the moment. She had seen a kick of dust, a drifting of something at the far edge of her vision. Em leant forward, and Kay could almost feel her sister’s heart thundering as the two strained, searched …

Yes, it was a lone horseman. The steed was black, large, and it was only a few seconds before Em relaxed against her sister, breathing out the name in shaky relief.

“Eric.”

A cheer went up from the soldiers gathered along the tree ring as he thundered toward the keep, and then over the rise the rest of the force slowly came into view. Kay estimated that her father had brought perhaps fifty men – a healthy contingent to witness his daughter’s marriage and to restock the keep under its new master. Kay’s heart skipped a beat. It was all upside down now. The new master could very well be a traitor, a man who had deceived them all.

The horse faltered for a moment, as if reined in, and then it reset to gallop at top speed toward the group of men waiting in the clearing. Kay watched as Eric pulled to a hard stop, looking around in confusion at the collection of men camped out there. Leland ran over to him at once, talking with him urgently, while Reese paced the sidelines.

Kay shook her head in frustration, her eyes scanning the scene. “They haven’t told Reese yet,” she muttered under her breath. “Leland is keeping him in the dark. Surely by now he can be trusted?”

Em squeezed Kay’s hand gently in sympathy, her eyes not leaving her husband’s form. “Trust in what they are doing, sis,” she whispered. “They are going to get us out of this. We have to trust them.”

Suddenly Eric was standing in his stirrups, turning in shock, staring up at them. Em stood at once, leaning her head out the window, and even though clearly her voice would not carry at this distance, she called out with all her might, “Eric!”

Her husband’s anguish was clear, and he spun his mount in a frustrated circle, his eyes going to the main keep gates and then back up to his captured wife. Then, with one more glance at Leland, he turned his steed again and rode back down the road, at a hard gallop, moving to rejoin the main party.

Kay gave her sister a gentle hug. “He has gone to tell father,” she reassured Em. “Soon they will all be gathered, and then the negotiations will begin. You and I must prepare.”