Lords of Honor (57 page)

“And you will do as they say
, Owen
?” Harry asked
pointedly
.

“Maybe, m
aybe not
.
But I will come out of there with my sister.”

“I was not going to
allow
you go,” Harry’s
gaze
hardened as he
met
Owen
’s
.

“I promised Micah I would
go
.
Libby is my sister
;
I will go
.
And that is the end of this
conversation, Harry
.”
Owen crossed his arms defiantly
.
He
continued to
stare at Harry with hard blue eyes.

“It is not a good idea
.
Y
ou are too emotionally involved,
”
Harry posed.

“I’m going
.”
Owen declared
.
H
e moved to
ward the door
.
He
stopped
to look down
at Micah
t
hen
headed for
the door
.
He paused
only
to
turn and
glare at Harry on his way out
.

Harry looked to Wyldhurst after
he heard the sound of
Owen’s bedchamber door slam
shut
.
“Lock him up somewhere before nightfall, would you, Luc?”

Wyldhurst nodded then asked Harry, “We
are
going up to Cadbury tonight aren’t we
?
We all want to get Lady Elizabeth back
as soon as can be
.
”

“Yes
, w
e are going
.
Owen is not
.
Once we
reach the hill,
he’ll go on
up
.
He won’t wait
for the order
.
That could get a lot of us killed.”

“He might not, Harry
.”
Lachlan
said
pointedly
.
“Owen is steady, a man you can count on
.
He’s a senior member after all.
”

“Th
is is his sister, Lachlan
.
I doubt they’ll let her live when the melee of attack starts
.
She’ll be the first to go
;
Owen knows it
.
Do you truly trust him not to go in before it’s time.”

Lachlan
raise
d both
his arms in surrender
.
“I don’t know
, Harry
.
We’ll lock him up
as you wish
.
I still feel he should be there
.
Micah can’t
be
.
”

“We need a diversi
on,”
Wyldhurst thought aloud
, “something strange and eerie, s
o they don’t think they’re under attack until it’s too late and they are.”

“Ah, something paranormal
like
.
Good idea
.
Get Owen
.
Let’s get to the library and
see what we can come up with
.
Send Charlie and Sinclair up to sit with the ladies
.
I’ll stay until they arrive
.
If
we can come up with a diversion
Owen can go, and we won’t have to lock hi
m up
.
Otherwise, we’ll have to. Understood?
”

Wyldhurst and
Lachlan
nodded.

Matthias Halfknight
, Lord Sinclair,
was
a handsome man for his
forty
years
.
He was an extremely
amiable
and
polite man
.
Neither Rowena
nor Sophia knew him well
.
A
s they talked and he spoke to them of his beloved daughter, Rachel, whom he raised from birth after his wife died bringing her into the world, they both became forever endeared to
him
.
A man who could love his child so much, and be such a large part of her life, was the best of m
e
n
.

“I cannot wait to meet your
little
Rachel someday,” Rowena smiled at the
dark
haired man
.

“Perhaps
you shall meet her
in September
i
f our
Brown Coat
trouble has died down
.
Rachel loves to travel with me
.
She loves Cornwall, and the Chynoweths
.
They are family personified
.”

“I
am very eager
to
visit the Chynoweths in
Cornwall
.
It will be my first visit to Menadue
.
You will come too, Sophia
, w
ith Lyon
.
You will come to Glastonbury
from Wiltshire
.
We will travel together
.
We’ll stop
at
Templecombe and
collect
Libby and Micah
.
We will be a merry party on our two day journey to Bodmin!” Rowena
spoke in an uplifting tone.

Sophia tried to smile
.
She wanted Lyon
to return safely
.
How she w
ished he
was not so far away in
London
.
She prayed Micah and Libby would both live to join them in September
.
She felt so alone
, even though
all
currently
in
residence at Horethorne Hall
were
kind to her.
In a very short amount of time she
became
used to her husband’s company
.
It felt odd for him not to be with her
.

Matthias
detected
Lady Glaston’s
unease
, even through her smile
.
He added,
“We will enjoy ourselves immensely in Cornwall
.
It shall be a holiday for us all
.
Rachel and I, and her
governess,
Miss Hastings, of course, will travel with Charlie and Owen, I am certain
.
We may even
,
all of us
,
meet somewhere in Devon and make a large
r
traveling party.
” Matthias
smiled,
as he tried
to help Lady Glaston cheer Lady Amesbury
.

“Yes
.
That sounds delightful
.”
Rowena went to sit at Micah’s bedside again
.
Her hand rested on his
.
She gave it a squeeze
.
She made a small surprised cry when he squeezed it back
.
“I think he feels cooler now, Sophia, what do you think
?
He squeezed my hand
.
Surely that’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“He does feel a little cooler
, Rowena
.
Maybe he can hear us?
”
Sophia said as she came to Micah’s bed
side.

“Micah?” Rowena called his name
.
“Can you hear me
?”

He squeezed her hand.

“I think he can hear me,” Rowena
exhaled in relief
.
“Micah, they are going to rescue Libby tonight as soon as it is dark
.
Can you tell her in your dreams
?
So she will be ready?”

Micah squeezed her hand again.

She whispered to him as she smoothed a lock of dark brown hair from his forehead, “Micah you must get well
.
You must come back to us
.
Libby will need you and I still need my dear friend, Micah
.”
Her eyes watered
.

Micah’s eyelids fluttered open
.
“Not going anywhere, Rowena.”
His voice was weak
and hoarse
.

He spoke again
.
“Do
something for me
?”

“Anything, Micah.”
Rowena
smiled
as she
clutched
his hand
and leaned over to
better see his face
.

“Call your Angel for u
s
, f
or
me and Libby
.
A
nd
for
the others who
go
to
bring
her
back
.
”

“I already have
.
You must call him too
.
And tell Libby to as well when you next see her in your dreams.”

His eyes closed again.

He was in Glastonbury, on the
Tor, in the Tower of St. Michael
.
He was alone
, u
ntil the Archangel came
.
Brilliant light surrounded the golden haired angel
.
His blue eyes were crystalline
, warm and filled with kindness
.
They held
the strength of pure
love
.
His robes of red and indigo flapped in the breeze, vivid against the snow white of his large wings
.
His breastplate of gold shone brilliant in the light
.

“Continue your faith, Micah
.
You and your lady are under my protection
.
You must tell them she is near the well
.
I will help
her brother
get to her
.
Tell them to
watch
for my signal
.
Believe, Micah
, and all will be well
.
”

Micah was
left
alone
in the tower with white feathers blowing all around him
.

He felt himself falling deep
er
into the depths
of
the obsidian gloom
.
He
stopped himself and
struggled to fly
upward
.
He r
ealized he was awake
.
He f
elt someone holding his hand
.
“Rowena?”

“It’s me, Gabriel
.
Dusk is upon us, and I came to connect with you and Libby before I leave.”

“Archangel Michael said she is near Arthur’s well on the hill
.
He will help you get to her in time
.
He said to watch for his signal
.
There is a map of Cadbury in my study
, o
n the wall
.
You’ll know where the well is when you
see the map
.
”

Gabriel smiled and nodded
.
“Good
.
We needed an ally
.
We could hope for none better than Archangel Michael
.
Close your eyes, Micah
.
I need to find Libby one more time.”

Micah closed his eyes
.
He s
aw his Libby inside a light colored tent
.
The canvas flapped and cracked in the wind
.
She lay still and silent.
She
was so pale he feared she
might be
dead
.
H
e saw the man
come out of the shadows
.
The man’s p
ale yellow hair
glowed eerily
.
His
l
ight green eyes
gleamed with
evil in the scant light
.
It was
Percy Davitt
!
He held a knife in his hand
;
Micah’s own knife that he
threw
into Davitt’s shoulder in Glastonbury!