There Your Heart Will Be Also (8 page)

****

Sarra picked up her skirts and headed for the garden.
The afternoon air was cool and goose bumps soon dotted her flesh.
Picking up her
pace
,
she
found shelter from the wind under a
nearby
tree.
Sir Henry followed along more slowly, barely seeming to notice the cold.

“Sir Henry
,
have you noticed anything unusual in your patrols?”

“Nay, we have not.
All is well.”

“
It
worries me.”

“Pardon, mistress?”

“Sir Henry, have you seen the Scotsman
who
arrived a few days
hence
.
His name is Cedric MacNeil.”

“Aye, I have.
He is staying at Mege
a
n's
p
lace.
He's taken her spare room
,
I believe.”

“Do you know anything about him?”

“Nay.
Nothing save he is a decent swordsm
a
n and
h
a
s
dealt
fair
ly with all those in the village
.
Should I be concerned?
”

“Nay,” she said.
Perhaps
she
was worrying needlessly.
If the
head
of her guard saw no call for concern, why should she
?

“Very well.
Thank you.
That'
s all.”

Sir Henry bowed
at
the
dismissal
and left her standing in the garden
alone
.
Who was
Cedric
?
What was he doing here?
What did he want?
W
hy did she feel like he was dancing around the real reason?
Why did no one else share her concerns?

She
paced under the hanging foliage,
rubb
ing
her arms to stave off the cold
.
A
t the sound of an unexpected
voice
from behind she leapt off the ground
.

“
I
s that y
e, Sarra
?”

Swinging around in an arc,
she
came face to face with
the object of her thoughts
.
He was lounging on a tree opposite her own.
“Where did you come from?”

“Scotland.”

She huffed out an impatient breath
at the man's insolent answer.
“No
,
I mean now.
Have you been here the whole time?”

“I guess
it
depends.
Where is here?”

His casual pose only irritate
d
her more.
“Please don't patronize me.
You know very well what I mean.”

“Oh, ye mean here in the garden.
Well I was walking by and I saw ye shivering and I thought
ye
might need this.”

Cedric's
hand shot forward
, extending her
his
jacket.
Sarra's jaw
relaxed
and
she
moved
to take
article of clothing from him
,
but he resisted.
With one step he was in front of her.
The material flared out over her head and
the
rough wool
settling
down
over her shoulders.

“Would ye like to take a walk with me?”

Alarm rose within
her and her
heart beat increas
ed
.
“Walk with you
?
W
here?”

“
Here in t
he garden, perhaps.”

“Very well
,
”
she
answered
.

Cedric
offered his
arm and she
hesitated. Lines of worry crinkled at the corners of his eyes as Sarra finally accepted, wrapping her arm around his.

T
hey walked
together
,
their steps matching
each other
,
as she
huddled deep
er
within
the
warm
cloak
.
The
coarse
woolen
fabric smelled of
musk
. It was the scent of the Scotsman. Th
e
thought
of being so close to something that had once caressed his flesh
caused
her
to blush.

An awkward silence pervaded as they followed the garden's manicured path.
M
ist fell
and
coated the
greenery
with wetness
.
S
arra
shivered and Cedric placed his arm around her shoulders
,
pull
ing
her into his side
.
She didn't move
or protest
, enjoying the
extra
warmth he provided.

“I hope ye don't mind me touch.
My gentlemanly ways won't allow a lovely young lass to freeze.”

Without warning, Cedric turned her to face him.
Sarra was not a short woman
—
the top of her head reaching his chin
.
Tilting her head back
her gaze met his.
Sh
e couldn't help but be drawn in by the
blue
depth of
his
eyes.

His hand rose unbidden toward her face. His thumb found her jaw and caressed the silken skin. Slowly his hand slipped to the back of her neck, his fingers becoming tangled in her hair. His mouth descended
.

Before their lips met he stopped.
When she didn't move away he brushed her lips lightly with his, like the caress of butterfly wings.
The touch was imperceptible and Sarra wondered if it had been imagined.

She
didn't know how to respond.
The affection he showed was unexpected, but not unwelcome.
Lowering her chin, she moistened her lips. Expecting something to be said
,
she was surprised when he
crushed
her
to his side
and resumed walking.
Then h
is next words
caused her mouth to
fall
open
in a most undignified manner
.

“In the moonlight ye are a vision of loveliness.”

Pulling back,
she
gave him an incredulous look.
“Why are you doing this?”

“Doin' what, lass?”

“Attempting to court me.
Trying to gain my favor.
What is your motive?”

“Just being friendly.”

“I think you should leave.”

“I don't mind walking with ye.”

“Nay, I mean, leav
e
the keep.”
With
nimble fingers she held his jacket
out
to him.
But Cedric wouldn't take it.

Shaking his head, he said,
“I don't think so.”

“I'm afraid you must.
Because I'm ordering you to do so.”

“And by what authority do
ye
have to order me out of the Greenbriar keep?”

Sarra hesitated.
Cedric's motivations for coming to Greenbriar weren't yet clear.
If
he was given
the identity of
the true mistress
of the
keep
,
what would happen?
D
id she want to find out
?
With
another moment's
hesitation,
she
bow
ed
her head
and
answer
ed
,
“None.
I have no authority here
.
”

Focusing on the ground before her,
Sarra felt
a
sudden
lack of warmth
.
Cedric had left
,
taking his cloak with him
.

Cedric was disappointed.
Stalking angrily around the rent
ed
room in Megean's small home,
he
raked
a hand
through his hair.
What was wrong with him?
He was here for one purpose.
To find the mistress of the keep and marry her
,
with or without her consent.
The land was all that mattered. What had come over him?
How had he allowed this infatuation to
begin
?

Sarra.
She was like no other woman he'd met.
This
young lass was weaseling her way into mind, his thoughts
, his heart
.

Upon seeing
her
in the garden with
the
knight, Cedric had
snuck closer.
He'd heard very little of the actual conversation.
His thoughts and eyes were only for the vision before him.
Part of him entertained the
notion that
perhaps
Sarra
could be his
“m
istress
”
even after he was married.
But nay,
the lady
wasn't the type for such a thing.
In truth, the thought of her being such was disgusting to him.

Lying down upon the straw mattress and staring at the ceiling above, Cedric pulled a
wrinkled
parchment from his sporran.
This piece of paper gave him the rights to Greenbriar.
All of it.
Everything.
All he had to do was marry the lady of the keep.

He should ask Megean who the lady of the keep was.
Cedric
wasn't sure if he
had been in the village long enough to be trusted.
W
ould
she
even
answer his questions
?
But if he asked
and was given the answer
,
then his little trysts with Sarra would be over.
There would be no more getting to know the lass.
No more di
nn
ers.
No more walks in the garden.
Perhaps revealing his true identity
could
wait
, at least
a few more days.

He balled his hand into a fist and shoved it
under his head as he struggled to get comfortable.
Aye, his mission could wait.
He had nothing but time.

Cedric woke bright and early.
Trading in his breeks for his kilt
,
he headed
to the lists
.
Cedric found several of the knights
practicing their
sword play.
One pointed at him and asked, “How do you move like that?”

Cedric raised an eyebrow.
“I don't understand ye
r
question.”

“I meant, how do you work in a kilt?
I've always wondered how the Scots are able to fight under such exposure.
Your legs showing, no armor
, and the like
.”

“
I alway
s wondered how y
e
move in all the
mail, meself.
To move without i
t
i
s quite simple.
Ye just lift ye sword and sling it like ye do when y
er
wearing breeks.”

“Really?”

“Aye, really.”

The lad
asked his friend
, “Want to give it a try?”

“In a kilt?”

“Nay, let's wear our breeks and take off our armor.”

“
Gavin, Sir Henry won't like it.”

“What could it hurt?”

Cedric left the two men to their lessons.
Removing his shirt, he found a willing sparring partner and went to work.
Soon he was engrossed in his own fight and
oblivious
to the situation surrounding him.
Before long his partner tired of him and he found himself paired with the two young lads from earlier.
They were fighting in nothing but tunics and breeks and doing quite well
when t
hey asked to spar.

“Verra well.
Show me what a couple of young Englishmen can do.”