The Beauty Bride (The Jewels of Kinfairlie) by Delacroix Claire Page B

well.
    “Tarascon,
make not a sound! All of you be still, for I have brought you treats from the
hall.” Madeline’s fingers fumbled with the latch and she hastened into the
shadowed stall, intent only on reassuring the horses before the ostler
awakened.
    They
immediately surrounded her, nuzzling her cloak, seeking any treat. Tarascon
nipped Madeline’s braid with affection and nigh flattened her against the wall
of the stalls. Madeline laughed beneath her breath, and offered the trio of
apples that she had seized from the food yet littering the hall. So concerned
was she in finding Tarascon’s saddle that Madeline did not realize that she was
no longer alone.
    Not
until the man cleared his throat.
     
    * * *
     
    At
the sound, Madeline jumped and bit back a scream.
    A
fair-haired man smiled amiably as he leaned upon the door of the stall. “Is it
customary to feed Ravensmuir’s horses in the night? And that without the
ostler’s awareness?”
    “Kerr!”
Madeline whispered, her knees weak in her relief. Kerr was a man-at-arms who
had served at Kinfairlie for as long as she could remember. “You frightened me
beyond belief!”

He
scowled with the affection of an older brother. “There should be some soul
watching over you, Lady Madeline, for it is not fitting for you to be about the
keep while it is filled with fighting men.” He shook his head. “Even worse,
they are fighting men who have had their fill of drink and then some.” He shook
a finger at her. “You should be locked in your chamber with your sisters.”
    Madeline
chose to confide him. “I must flee, Kerr, and I must flee this night.”
    He
pursed his lips. “You mean to avoid your nuptials.” It was not a question,
though Madeline nodded quickly. She would have explained but Kerr held up his
hand. “You need not tell me more of it, Lady Madeline. I have always thought
you to be a sensible lass, and in this, you show me to be right. Rhys FitzHenry
is a dangerous man, one with a price upon his head for treason. No woman could
be blamed for trying to avoid a match with him.”
    “Indeed,
Kerr...”
    He
shook that finger again, his manner scolding. “But you are a fool and then some
to consider departing alone. You cannot know what or who you will meet upon the
road, nor what dangers you will face. No lady should travel alone in these
times.”
    “But
Kerr, I could not ask a maid or one of my sisters to accompany me and Rosamunde
would not have agreed to do so.” Madeline sighed. “She seems to have an
affection for Rhys, which I cannot explain.”
    “Birds
of a feather, no doubt, my lady,” Kerr said darkly. “Your aunt has lived
outside the bounds of law for so long, if you will forgive my speaking bluntly,
that she sees only good in a fellow rogue and not his wickedness.”
    Madeline
turned back to her steed, glad that she was familiar with saddling it herself.
“I thank you for your counsel, Kerr, but I must leave afore my absence is
noted.”
    “But
you will not go alone,” the burly Scotsman insisted.
    Madeline
glanced up, surprised at his tone.
    “If
you insist upon going, my lady, then I will escort you to a safe haven. I owe
your father’s memory that much, at least.”
    Madeline
smiled, relieved by his offer. “My uncle and brother will not be pleased with
you, Kerr.”
    He
shrugged. “They are not the only lairds in Christendom with coin to hire a
fighting man.” He sobered and granted her a level glance. “And there are times,
my lady, when a man must do what he must do, and let the consequences be as
they will be.”
    “I
thank you, Kerr.”
    “Hasten
yourself,” he said gruffly, glancing over his shoulder with the manner of one
uncomfortable with a lady’s gratitude. “There are many at Ravensmuir who sleep
lightly this night.”
     
    * * *
     
    Dawn
touched the eastern sky before Kerr finally called a halt. Madeline was
exhausted, so unaccustomed was she to missing a night of sleep. At least the
rain had halted