Page 72 of Veil of Winter

“Bertold?” Gerard saw it was indeed the man they had been searching for, but without his bushy beard and gruff, hostile demeanor. No wonder he didn’t recognize him. The man looked twenty years younger and... happy.

“It is I.”

“We were just going to search for you.”

“Let us go somewhere no one will overhear us.”

They walked out into the street of the town, and Bertold pulled his hood down to obscure most of his face. He led them behind the inn, into a small alleyway between the building and a rock wall.

As a few flakes of snow sifted down from the sky, they all kept their hoods on and huddled together to talk.

“Did you find Astrid?” Gerard said quietly.

“I did. I followed your directions to find the cottage in the forest. When I got there, I saw a woman walking near the house. My heart stopped. It was Astrid. She looked just the same, still as beautiful as ever.

“I stopped my horse, but when she turned her head and saw me, she practically ran away from me, into the cottage. I tied my horse to a tree limb and went and knocked on the door. An olderwoman answered. She stared at me but did not speak. I asked, ‘Are you Frau Ida, the aunt of Jacob, servant of the royal family of Montciel?’ She said she was and asked who I was. Before I could say my name, I heard a loud gasp coming from behind Frau Ida. Astrid came forward and stared at me, with eyes as blue as I remembered. Then she said, ‘Is it you? Are you Bertold?’

“‘Yes,’ I told her.

“Well, she started crying. I told her I was so sorry for believing my brother when he said she had died, and I was so sorry I didn’t know the terrible thing he had done to her. She forgave me and said she was sorry she believed Claude’s report that I was dead. I told her about meeting Princess Elyce and finding out she was still alive and learning where she was.”

“She must have been so glad to see you,” Gerard said, marveling that Bertold had just spoken so many words in one long string.

“She was very glad. I had thought my heart was cold and dead, but she has revived me. She is the only woman I’ve ever loved. I thought she betrayed me with my brother, but I was the faithless one. When Claude told me they were in love, that they were getting married, I believed him. And when Claude said that Astrid had died of a fever, I believed him again. I ran away to the mountains, determined never to love, never to trust another human being again.” He paused, running a hand through his hair beneath his hood.

“How foolish I had been to take my brother at his word. Claude was the evil one. And Astrid was the kind, generous, devoted girl I’d once believed her to be. As long as I have thestrength to protect her, no one will harm her again. And I will not rest until I confront my brother and tell him to his face that I know what he did to her.”

“Where is Astrid now?”

“She is with me—nearby, that is. I don’t trust her to be safe anywhere else. And did you get help from King Wenceslaus?”

“We did, but Count Eberhard betrayed us to King Claude. He captured Princess Elyce and is taking her back to Montciel to marry your nephew, Rodrigo. We came looking for you to help us rescue her.”

“Three dozen of King Wenceslaus’s men would certainly be helpful in defeating Claude,” Bertold said.

“How did you know? That is the number of men King Wenceslaus gave us, but King Claude sent them away.”

“They are here, buying supplies. They said they were on their way back to Prague. I saw them in theMarktplatz.”

Gerard’s heart beat fast, his thoughts racing as he looked at Oswalt. “Do you think they would join back up with us?”

Bertold squared his shoulders. “Let’s go and ask them.”

The three of them hurried toward the town center, Bertold in the lead, as he knew the place well.

Gerard still had many more questions to ask Bertold, but he felt more hopeful than at any other time so far.

***

As they rode toward Montciel, Elyce was consumed with the thought that she still did not know if Sir Gerard and Sir Oswaltwere alive. She did her best to tell herself that King Claude was keeping them safe and unharmed while he petitioned King Richard to pay him a ransom. But her heart still ached with the desire to know for certain.

Claude had agreed to go to Montciel, to allow her to prepare for the wedding. But he had informed her that she should “take a good look at it, because you will not be going back there for a long time, possibly never. Your place is with your husband.”

His words had felt like a boulder landing on her shoulders. Would she truly be forced to marry Rodrigo? Would her people’s cause be lost, after all she had done to try to prevent this wrong from occurring?

But she had to remember that she had a plan.God, please let this plan work.

Two and a half days later, they arrived in Montciel, and Elyce was greeted by her father and the servants. She gave her father a cold greeting to match his, as he did not embrace her or kiss her cheek, as he often did when he returned after a journey.