Page 66 of The Mercenary

She didn’t need to ask for clarification. He had been watching her, and must have noticed her far-off look.

“I wasn’t thinking of Guy, but of my parents.”

Conrad’s sigh spoke of both sadness and understanding. She wanted to ask more about the circumstances surrounding his own parents’ deaths, but it would feel wrong to pry. Instead, she asked another question that had been on her mind for some time.

“The day you met.” She looked out at the heathland’s purple and yellow flowers, knowing they would soon be gone for the season. “The day you all met, Terric’s sister . . .”

Sabine stopped. She was unsure how to ask the question. Even though she and Conrad had shared confidences, it was still a very personal question. And certainly they had more important matters to attend to with the archbishop of Canterbury on the way.

But she could not banish the image of a young girl quailing from an older man’s violent attack. Her father had warned her about the possibility of being taken advantage of . . . but she’d never truly considered it until the safety of her home had been taken from her. Then, it had seemed an ever-present concern. And while she trusted Roger, those first few nights traveling here with Eric . . .

She shuddered at the direction of her thoughts.

Conrad was watching her.

“Cait.”

They’d become friends, brothers, defending this woman’s honor, but Guy rarely spoke of her.

“’Tis the first I’ve heard her name.”

Sabine had not meant to stare at Conrad’s scar. He touched it with the tips of his fingers. It happened so quickly, she wondered if he even realized he’d done it.

Sabine forced herself to look elsewhere.

“I’ve not seen her since that day.”

“Did she ever marry?”

Conrad shook his head. “Nay.”

They fell into an easy silence then, Sabine thinking of her own marriage. Though Conrad had insisted she remain at Licheford for the interim, she refused to stay indefinitely. But as Conrad had said, the future was as uncertain for every single member of the order. He’d convinced her to think only of the present, an easy task with Guy’s whereabouts still unknown.

“We should return to the keep.”

“Of course.”

He would want to prepare for what promised to be an interesting meeting. Stephen Langton had been exiled to France years earlier by King John, who’d refused to recognize his appointment. Langton had been allowed to return to England after a bitter negotiation, and John’s relationship with the pope had suffered because of it.

Some said the archbishop, despite his public declaration in support of the king, privately held a grudge against him. If he was coming here after speaking to Salerno, it would appear those rumors were true.

Which meant more people were learning of the rebellion. They needed the support, of course, but the more people who learned about the order, the more dangerous their position became. Each of them, Sabine included, would become a target. Of course, she’d been one already, and her husband with her.

Urging her mount to a gallop, Sabine caught up with Conrad just as she saw the riders approaching.

* * *

“I’ve never seen such tapestries before.”

Sabine still had difficulty believing she sat one seat away from Stephen Langton, the famed archbishop of Canterbury. Some called him one of the first rebels to King John’s rule. Others argued his beliefs were too radical, even among those who despised the current king’s practices.

“’Tis good to be back.”

“His Grace has been in Burgundy these past years, am I correct?” Conrad said, a rather polite way of asking about his brief banishment.

The meal long since over, they still sat at the high table. Sweetmeats had been brought and placed before them, but none indulged. The hall had remained bustling for a time, due to the earl’s continued presence, but Conrad had dismissed his retainer. And then he’d dismissed the servants too.

Sabine had thought the men would retire to a more private chamber, perhaps the solar, but neither seemed inclined to do so. Which was just as well for her as Sabine very much wanted to be a part of this discussion.