Page 64 of The Earl

No Terric yet.

“They greet you properly,” Sarnac said as they approached. “As I am wont to do for the man who set this upon our heads.” He gestured back outside the gates from which they’d just entered. “Welcome to Heath Castle.”

Their host shifted toward her.

“Greetings, Lady Cait. And welcome.”

She answered in kind, startled he knew her name. Which meant . . .

“So they are here?” Conrad asked.

“Aye, just inside the keep. Though I wish I could give you a better greeting, I am actually preparing for a ride among the men. But my squire here will lead you inside.”

Ah, so the mount was a show of force for those who would soon be following him into battle.

“Many thanks, Lord Sarnac. For your welcome. And your hospitality.”

Just then two men on horseback rode up to their lord, prepared to flank him, no doubt.

“Arnie, see to our guests, lad.”

The boy next to Sarnac nodded to them, then kicked his mount and turned toward the inner gatehouse. With a final farewell, their host headed out just as she, Conrad, and the boy made their way inside. By the time they made it up the stone steps of the keep, Cait’s heartbeat had nearly returned to normal—until the maid who’d greeted them asked if they would prefer to be “seen to their rooms, or to the hall with the others.”

The others.

Meaning her brother.

“The . . .” Conrad stopped, gesturing for her to answer. Cait’s entire body warmed as she realized why he failed to respond.

“The hall, if you please,” she said. Part of her wished to put the confrontation off indefinitely, yet she also wished to get it out of the way.

“My lord will return before the evening meal,” the maid said, leading the way.

Neither she nor Conrad corrected her assumption that they had not yet been greeted by Lord Sarnac. Did Conrad feel as nervous as she did? Likely not.

They’d been spotted.

She could not tell from whom the shriek originated, but there, in the corner of the hall, sat all of them. With the exception of Roysa, who was nearly running toward them. The others stood, the hall mostly empty with the exception of servants beginning to move the tables toward the center of the room for the midday meal.

Roysa rushed right past Conrad to wrap Cait in a hug. She squeezed the other woman back, grateful for such a welcome.

“We’ve been expecting you.”

She glanced over her sister-in-law’s shoulder and caught Terric’s gaze. As expected, he did not appear very pleased.

“Is he angry?”

Roysa twisted her mouth, as she often did, but gave no other answer. Which meant, aye, he was angry, but she did not wish to say it aloud.

“With me, I hope, and not Conrad,” she whispered as Conrad walked toward the rest of the group.

They sat next to a fireplace that crept up the entire wall. Intricate carvings began close to the floor. The stonework was as fine as any Cait had ever seen. She spied a dragon, two actually, one on each side.

“He is better . . . now,” Roysa whispered.

Cait didn’t have time to ask about that before she was engulfed in another hug, this time by Idalia and then Sabine. The somber mood that had consumed her began to lift, despite the circumstances. Namely, her brother, and his likely disapproval of her presence here.

“I’d have a word with you both,” he said, his voice booming as he approached them.