nearby.
"Where did you go last eve?" John grabbed the woman's arm and spun her around.
"Nowhere," Cook's wife gasped, stunned by the sudden attack.
"What goes here?" Cook bellowed. He jerked John's hand from his wife's arm. "What…" He steadied the pale gatekeeper by the shoulders. "Are you aright? Ye're the color of wax, man."
"Your wife did not leave the castle last eve?" John whispered hopefully. Cook shook his head. "Is there another of her size in the castle?"
"Me wife's one of a kind. A man in my position can afford a well-fed woman. She's—"
"Oh, God," John wailed. "I am a dead man."
"What are you talking about? Why—"
"The b-baron," John stuttered. "Where is the baron?"
"The stables, last I heard."
The gatekeeper disappeared through the kitchen door faster than he had ever moved before.
John searched frantically for his overlord, and finally spotted him near the gate to the outer bailey. He rushed forward, but the soldiers surrounding their baron acted instinctively to protect the warlord from this unknown threat. John soon found himself facedown in the dirt with three swords at his neck.
"The mistress," John croaked. "I must tell the baron—"
He was suddenly hauled up by the collar, his feet dangling in the air.
"Where is she?" Kenric roared.
"I swore it was Cook's wife," John blurted out, inspired to new terror by the look on Baron Montague's face. "Huge as a horse, she was—"
"Answer!"
John tried twice before he could get the words past the baron's new hold on his throat. "Family," he gasped. "Said she was going back—"
Kenric tossed the man aside like an old rag, already turning toward the stables. Fury hastened his steps, for his worst fears were confirmed. Tess was outside the walls. The chit could be frozen already, or the meal of any number of dangerous creatures who lurked in the woods. A woman alone would not last a day in the frigid wilderness, especially a woman weakened by a fever. If he found her alive, she would wish for death before he was done with her.
Less than a quarter hour later, Kenric's warhorse thundered through the gates with fifty others, their riders hastily armed yet ready to face any danger. The group stayed on the main road until they entered the forest, then Kenric began dispatching men every quarter mile to search the woods. A half hour later they drew to a halt.
"She is on foot," Kenric told Fitz Alan, though he spoke more to himself than to his friend. "She could not have journeyed this far."
" 'Tis unlikely," Fitz Alan agreed.
"Tess knew that Ian Duncan could not give her sanctuary. And she had no wish to return to the MacLeiths." Kenric frowned, realizing his thinking was clear for the first time since discovering Tess had left the castle. He cursed himself again for sleeping in the hall last night, for thinking he could face his wife's injuries with a calmer head in the morning.
"Where else would she go?" Fitz Alan asked. "A convent?"
"The king." Kenric wheeled his horse around, his expression grim. "There is nowhere else for her to turn. She's taken the road to London."
The men backtracked to the castle, then began searching to the south. The lane was frozen solid, rutted and packed down by carts and horses, which made tracking nearly impossible. They kept their eyes to the sides of the road instead, searching for any unusual tracks in the light cover of snow.
"There!" Kenric pointed to a break in the frozen brush to one side of the road. Following the small set of footprints into the forest, they eventually came to a small clearing bordered on three sides by steep hills and littered with enormous boulders. Kenric scanned the open field, then nudged his horse forward to follow the tracks to a rocky outcropping flanked by two boulders.
"Stay where you are," a small voice called out. Tess slipped from her hiding place behind one of the huge rocks to face her husband. The arrow aimed at Kenric's chest added enough weight to her command that his men
"Where did you go last eve?" John grabbed the woman's arm and spun her around.
"Nowhere," Cook's wife gasped, stunned by the sudden attack.
"What goes here?" Cook bellowed. He jerked John's hand from his wife's arm. "What…" He steadied the pale gatekeeper by the shoulders. "Are you aright? Ye're the color of wax, man."
"Your wife did not leave the castle last eve?" John whispered hopefully. Cook shook his head. "Is there another of her size in the castle?"
"Me wife's one of a kind. A man in my position can afford a well-fed woman. She's—"
"Oh, God," John wailed. "I am a dead man."
"What are you talking about? Why—"
"The b-baron," John stuttered. "Where is the baron?"
"The stables, last I heard."
The gatekeeper disappeared through the kitchen door faster than he had ever moved before.
John searched frantically for his overlord, and finally spotted him near the gate to the outer bailey. He rushed forward, but the soldiers surrounding their baron acted instinctively to protect the warlord from this unknown threat. John soon found himself facedown in the dirt with three swords at his neck.
"The mistress," John croaked. "I must tell the baron—"
He was suddenly hauled up by the collar, his feet dangling in the air.
"Where is she?" Kenric roared.
"I swore it was Cook's wife," John blurted out, inspired to new terror by the look on Baron Montague's face. "Huge as a horse, she was—"
"Answer!"
John tried twice before he could get the words past the baron's new hold on his throat. "Family," he gasped. "Said she was going back—"
Kenric tossed the man aside like an old rag, already turning toward the stables. Fury hastened his steps, for his worst fears were confirmed. Tess was outside the walls. The chit could be frozen already, or the meal of any number of dangerous creatures who lurked in the woods. A woman alone would not last a day in the frigid wilderness, especially a woman weakened by a fever. If he found her alive, she would wish for death before he was done with her.
Less than a quarter hour later, Kenric's warhorse thundered through the gates with fifty others, their riders hastily armed yet ready to face any danger. The group stayed on the main road until they entered the forest, then Kenric began dispatching men every quarter mile to search the woods. A half hour later they drew to a halt.
"She is on foot," Kenric told Fitz Alan, though he spoke more to himself than to his friend. "She could not have journeyed this far."
" 'Tis unlikely," Fitz Alan agreed.
"Tess knew that Ian Duncan could not give her sanctuary. And she had no wish to return to the MacLeiths." Kenric frowned, realizing his thinking was clear for the first time since discovering Tess had left the castle. He cursed himself again for sleeping in the hall last night, for thinking he could face his wife's injuries with a calmer head in the morning.
"Where else would she go?" Fitz Alan asked. "A convent?"
"The king." Kenric wheeled his horse around, his expression grim. "There is nowhere else for her to turn. She's taken the road to London."
The men backtracked to the castle, then began searching to the south. The lane was frozen solid, rutted and packed down by carts and horses, which made tracking nearly impossible. They kept their eyes to the sides of the road instead, searching for any unusual tracks in the light cover of snow.
"There!" Kenric pointed to a break in the frozen brush to one side of the road. Following the small set of footprints into the forest, they eventually came to a small clearing bordered on three sides by steep hills and littered with enormous boulders. Kenric scanned the open field, then nudged his horse forward to follow the tracks to a rocky outcropping flanked by two boulders.
"Stay where you are," a small voice called out. Tess slipped from her hiding place behind one of the huge rocks to face her husband. The arrow aimed at Kenric's chest added enough weight to her command that his men
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