Page 20 of The Protector’s Promise

“I am nothing. Just a simple knight following orders.”

When she continued to watch him, Court’s heart picked up its pace. It was as if she tried to look beyond his words. As if she could see him.

“Tell me something of Richard Caiser,” she said as she walked back toward the horse and mounted for the last time. He raised himself up behind her, prepared for another torturous ride with Marion so close he could feel her, smell her . . . Without the mail and surcoat he’d left behind that morning escaping the reivers, precious little separated them, which would make this day an even more difficult one than the last.

“He was the most honorable man I’d ever known.”

Court told her of how he came to squire for Richard Caiser. Of his childhood at Kenshire and of his desire to please the man who’d felt like another father.

“You speak little of the daughter.”

With good reason.

“Sara and I were . . . are . . . quite close.”

“What is she like?”

He conjured her in his mind, the girl who’d become a woman right before his eyes.

“She is like you in many ways,” he said, realizing the truth of his words. “Strong-willed and resilient. She’d have been a great warrior if she had been born a man.”

“You don’t believe a woman could be a great warrior?”

Court imagined Sara in the boys’ breeches she’d worn so often when they were growing up. In fact, the last time he’d visited Kenshire, the countess greeted him dressed that way.

“I don’t doubt one could,” he amended. “But few are trained for it.”

Then he remembered the dagger he’d taken from Marion yesterday. The one she wore on her hip even now.

“You know how to use that,” he said, patting her hip and wishing he had not.

“I do,” she said. “Though a dagger is of little enough help when a great oak is holding a sword to your throat.”

“A great oak?”

“Your arm,” she said as the sun began to fade away. “I’ve never seen an arm so thick and . . .”

Unfortunately, she stopped. Court would very much like to know what she would have said next.

“I am sorry for that,” he said finally. “I’m sorry for all of it. Marion, if I could give you the stone right now, I would. I do not want to cause you any further pain or distress.”

She didn’t answer, but her back, so stiff and straight yesterday, leaned casually against his chest. At least part of her trusted him, a boon he hardly deserved. He gently pulled her head toward his shoulder, and she accepted his invitation. Shifting a bit, she found a comfortable position and settled against him. Court resisted the impulse to lean down and kiss her head. Instead, he lifted his chin and stared ahead. Waiting and watching until it finally came into view ahead in the darkness.

Camburg Castle.

6

At first Marion didn’t know where she was. Waking abruptly, she sat up in a large, canopied bed and looked at the light streaming through the one lonely arrow slit above her. She jumped from the bed and made her way toward the door. Nearly stumbling on something, Marion looked down and almost squealed with delight. How had her belongings come to be here?

A knock at the door had her running back to the bed. Lucky thing since the maid who entered the room was followed by four young male servants carrying . . . a tub! Pulling the coverlet over her, Marion watched as they carried it to the center of the room.

“My lord thought you’d be wanting a bath, my lady.”

The maid, a girl of no more than ten and nine, stooped to open Marion’s bag. Pulling out the nicest of the two dresses Marion had brought along, the maid held it high in the air.

“’Tis lovely,” she said, and Marion silently agreed. She’d planned on wearing this dress for her first meeting with the priestess. Though it was sturdy enough for riding, its crimson coloring and gold inlays caught the eye. But when Marion had spied the mountain they were to climb to reach the pools, she’d decided against wearing it. It was, after all, not a banquet, and though more practical than most, the gown was still unsuitable for her purpose that day.

But judging from what she’d seen of Camburg Castle last eve, it would do well here. She had been given the impression Camburg was a modest estate, but the sprawling square fortress was anything but. Had she asked after her men? Everything was hazy after Court shook her awake on his mount, but the memories of last eve slowly came back to her. Her men had not yet been spotted.