A Lily on the Heath 4 (28 page)

“Let us away from here,” she replied from between lips that hardly moved.

Her husband fell into step with her, taming his usually long strides to match hers. As soon as they were out of earshot of the men-at-arms, he demanded, “What did she do?”

Judith looked up at him, a tremor of warmth rushing through her at the knowledge that whatever she now faced, she no longer faced alone. She had a powerful husband to help and support her. “She sent me away. We’re to leave as soon as possible, and never to be seen by her again.”

An expression of obvious relief crossed his face. “I could not have asked for a better punishment. ’Twas my intent to leave this very day, as soon as I could extricate you from her—whether she allowed it or nay. The sooner we are away from here, the happier I shall be.” He glanced down at her, his happiness seeming to falter. “Did she strike you?”

“Nay, she did not.”

“Do you…do you not
wish
to leave Clarendon?” His lips flattened unhappily, as if he actually believed she’d
want
to stay.

“Oh, my lord, you know I wish to leave! More than nearly anything I want to see Lilyfare again,” Judith told him, forcing her lips into a smile. “Indeed, I am well ready to be quit of this place. But, Mal, she was…she….” Judith stopped there in the corridor and looked up at him, unable to form the words to explain how badly she’d handled the whole mess. She shook her head; she could never explain her confusion. Nor did she wish to speak of Eleanor’s dire predictions about love, for that would mean admitting to Malcolm how much she cared for him. “The queen…she was…overset.”

“Of course the queen is overset,” he said, looking at her as if she’d confessed that the sky was blue. “And ’tis why we must leave anon. Come. We have privacy in the chamber to discuss your conversation. And I have more preparations before we leave.”

“Aye, of course. But I do not have a mount,” she said, suddenly remembering her other loss. “And I’ve not packed, and—”

“Your maid is packing for you and I will soon introduce you to a very sweet-tempered but strong and brisk mare by the name of Socha. She is your new horse.”

“Oh!” she said with great delight, stopping again in the corridor after only two steps to look up at him. “Thank you, Malcolm.”

“She’s gray and has a white forelock,” he said, almost smiling now. “I hope she will suit you.”

“If you have chosen her, I’m certain she will suit me well,” Judith told him as they started off once again. “Will we truly leave this day?” Hope colored her voice.

“Aye,” he told her as they reached the chamber. “I shall come for you in an hour. Take only what you will need, for we travel with speed. I will not be at ease until we are safely behind the walls of Lilyfare. Your maid and the rest of my men will follow with the remainder of your possessions. I trust you will be comfortable traveling without your maid?” he added, opening the door. “We will likely be on pallets in an abbey or monastery during our journey, or if we are fortunate, one or two nights in a friendly keep.”

“Aye,” she replied, understanding his meaning. They would have no privacy and little comfort for the journey. But she cared not, for she was going home! “I can easily manage without Tabby for a se’ennight or more. And my men? Do you wish for them to stay or accompany us?” she asked, looking up at him from just inside the chamber. “I will order them accordingly.”

Malcolm hesitated. When he spoke, he seemed to choose his words carefully. “We travel lightly and with speed. ’Tis best to have a small but well-armed group for our purposes.”

Judith’s heavy heart lightened even further. Her husband was allowing her to make her own decisions about her men and give her opinions about their journey. “Of course, my lord. I will leave it to you to determine which of my men should travel with us, and which should come with Tabby and the others. Send Holbert to me and I will give him this direction.”

Her husband’s expression relaxed. “Very well. I will return in an hour, Judith. Do not delay.” His eyes flitted over her, and for a moment, Judith thought he might kiss her…but then he turned abruptly and strode down the hall.

She closed the door behind him and turned to find the chamber in disarray, for Tabatha seemed to have upended every one of her trunks into piles on the bed. It took nearly the full allotted hour for Judith and her maid to determine what should leave immediately and what should come later, during which time Holbert arrived as directed. Judith gave him instruction that he was to obey any orders from her husband on this day, and then further direction about how to help Tessing prepare Hecate and the other raptors for travel.

“As for the the two eyases,” she said in hard voice. “I do not believe they will travel well. Make a gift of them to de Rigonier from me.” Better that she never again see the birds which would remind her not only of Piall’s death, but also her ill-fated relationships with Henry and Eleanor.

“Aye, my lady,” Holbert said with a bow, then left.
 

“Tabatha,” Judith added, turning to her maid, “go you to Lady Maris and return this to her. I am no longer in need of it.” The pouch she handed her maid still contained a fortnight’s supply of the special tea Maris had given her. “And bid my friend farewell, for I do not know whether I will have time to say goodbye before we leave.”

After Tabatha had gone, leaving Judith alone, she surveyed her chamber one last time. Though the court had been here at Clarendon for only six months at this time, the contents of her chamber—which followed her from place to place—had made each location seem the same. Now, she would bid farewell not only to this room, but also her nomadic life of following the queen on her many travels.

Alone and unseen, Judith fairly danced about the chamber, whirling from fireplace to window to bed, and back again. She was going
home
. She was
married
. A whole new life was about to begin. She hugged herself, spinning around like a small wooden top as tears of joy and relief filled her eyes.
I cannot say farewell to this place soon enough.

When the door opened, she was startled and turned quickly, mortified to be caught in such a ridiculous activity.

Of course it was Malcolm who had to find her thus, and Judith immediately stilled and tried to appear more decorous, surreptitiously wiping at one of the tear streaks on her cheek. But his attention swept over her, and his expression changed from questioning to a dark, irritated one.
 

“More tears, my lady?” he said enigmatically. “Regardless—your hour is up, my lady,” he continued in a flat voice, as if preparing himself for some argument. “We leave now.”

“Of course,” she said, keeping her voice modulated. He was likely as embarrassed as she at finding his wife dancing and leaping about like a child. After all, had he not mentioned—more than once—of his desire for a meek and mild wife?
Oh dear.
Under the guise of pointing in the general vicinity of her maid’s whereabouts, she managed to stifle a giggle by half turning away and covering her mouth. “Tabatha should return in a moment.”

“As your maid is not leaving with us, it matters not to me when she returns.” He strode into the chamber, once again making it seem smaller and closer. “Where is your baggage? I warn you, it must be small and able to fit on the back of your horse. And if you are not yet ready, we shall leave it all behind.”

“’Tis only this packet here,” Judith told him mildly. “I am ready to leave.”

Malcolm nodded, then swung up the large cloth bundle. “Let us quit this place.”

Judith very nearly held her breath during the last few moments of preparation. She had no opportunity to bid her friends or acquaintances farewell, and though it saddened her, she knew she could write to them. But, just as Malcolm seemed to be tense about their departure, so she understood his worries. Until they were out of the walls of Clarendon and well on their way to Lilyfare, she would feel a prickling on the back of her neck as if someone waited to stop them.

But when, only a quarter of an hour after leaving her chamber for the last time, Judith and Malcolm rode beneath the portcullis and onto the road, surrounded by their men, she could nearly believe they were free.

THIRTEEN

Malcolm wasn’t certain when
to expect it, but he knew it would come. And it did, just as twilight fell on the second day of their journey.

He rode next to Judith, who had disdained traveling in an enclosed cart in favor of a saddle on her new mare Socha.
 

“I’ve traveled with Eleanor for years. I ride on horseback,” she had informed Malcolm pertly, just as they started out from Clarendon.

He had no issue with this decision, for that meant they journeyed faster and more efficiently. At the front of the party were his man Lelan and five other men-at-arms, and at the rear were another four, including the trusty Holbert. These were men Mal had chosen for their intelligence and prowess with a sword, as well as their ability to follow orders. Five were his own, and the others were from Lilyfare—picked with just as much care by Holbert.

They were trotting along in the falling darkness, another hour from the hidden Lock Rose Abbey where they intended to stop for the night. On either side was deep, heavy forest—the perfect place for an ambush. Thankfully, Judith was becoming tired after her first full day of travel, and she had lapsed into a stretch of silence. This allowed Mal to focus on their surroundings while attempting to ignore his other dark, guilt-ridden thoughts.

The only sound was the clip-clop rhythm of hooves along the beaten-dirt road, and in the distance, the hoot of an owl. Though Malcolm watched, listened and even sniffed the air, ’twas Alpha’s ears going sharply forward that called the warning. Then the destrier snorted, and Malcolm needed no other signal to draw his sword.
 

“To arms!” he cried, just as a group of shadowy figures on horseback emerged from the thick forest in front and behind them. Another cluster of silhouettes dropped from overhanging branches.

All at once, the still night was filled with action and sound: shouts, whinnies, metal clashing and sliding, grunts and groans and one female cry.

One of the silhouettes had landed on the back of Mal’s horse, and even as Mal drew his sword to fight off a mounted attacker at the fore, he swung his shield around sharply. It connected with the man behind him, who’d gripped the back of Mal’s hauberk as Alpha reared and snorted at the unexpected weight.

With a shout of fury and effort, Mal slashed down with his blade at the man at his front, and slammed his head back into the face of his rear attacker. At the same time, he whirled to look at Judith, who was the single unarmed, unprotected person in the group, even as he slammed his shield into the stunned man behind him. “Ride!” he shouted. “Judith,
ride! Lelan!
To her!”

She was holding onto her reins, bent over Socha’s neck and gripping tightly as the mare reared then kicked, sidestepping and rearing again. But the horse was penned in by the wild melee and had nowhere to go. Socha screamed and whinnied in terror, for she was not a warhorse and was unused to such activity. Mal watched in terror as he fought off another attacker, praying Judith would hold her seat and keep from tumbling beneath the group of furious, lethal hooves and that a stray blade wouldn’t strike her, even as he fought to get near enough to strike Socha on the flank and set her off.

“The woman! No harm to the woman!” cried a male voice in front of Malcolm. One of the attackers.
 

“Seize the lady!” cried another.

That was when his worst fears were confirmed, and a red haze settled over Mal’s vision.
The king’s revenge.
He struck out blindly, his sword slamming broadside against a mailed torso, sending the man flying from his saddle. Rage drove Malcolm—rage and fear—as he fought through the assailants, his mind blank as he focused on the fury.

Though there were nearly two dozen attackers, they were not as well-armed nor as practiced of fighters as the men from Warwick and Lilyfare. Still, it was a well-matched battle.

Malcolm slammed the flat side of his sword against someone’s skull, and the man fell away…and suddenly, Judith was there.

“Mal!” she cried, and all at once, she seemed to be scrambling through the air toward him.

He cursed at her disobedience, but snatched her up in mid-launch as she flung herself from Socha’s saddle toward Alpha’s. Slamming her into position in front of him, he curled his shield arm around her. “Stay down!” he ordered, spinning to greet another flash of sword. It whaled into his shoulder and bicep enough to send a shuddering pain through him. Mal grunted, but he didn’t hesitate as he brought his agonized arm up and out with a strong return blow.

The man cried out when the tip of Mal’s sword found the unprotected spot beneath his arm. With a sharp jerk, Mal thrust his opponent away and the man tumbled off his horse.
 

And then, just as quickly as it had begun, all was quiet again except for the whuffling and agitated dance of hooves of their horses, and the gasps of exertion and pain from those men left standing or mounted.

“Judith. Are you hurt?” Mal asked, pulling his shield away from where he’d crushed her between it and his body.
 

“Nay,” she said, her eyes wide and her breathing rapid as she came out of the safe cocoon of arm and metal. “But you—”