She turned to look at him as if surprised by the question. “Of course it is.”
Gillywiss studied her a moment before cocking his head thoughtfully. “If you had a choice, what would you wish for most? To be returned to your warlord or to discover the fate of his wife?”
“To be returned to him.”
“You say that without hesitation.”
“I say it because I love him. As long as we are together, all else is secondary.”
Gillywiss could see she meant it. He found his gaze returning to his sister, who was cooing sweetly to her new son. One of the attending women opened the elaborate hut door and the woman’s husband came in, bursting into tears when he saw the healthy boy. Gillywiss watched the scene, the strong emotions involved, and could not help but be moved by it.
Gillywiss was an odd man and a very strong leader. He’d lead his little group of outlaws for quite some time, earning their respect as well as their fear. He was unpredictable and perhaps a little mad at times, but he was cunning and intelligent. He was also a man with a secret, something that had become evident as he had pawed through Cantia’s clothing.
In a world where men were defined by their behavior, demeanor and deeds, Gillywiss would spend hours alone and in hiding, dressing in women’s clothing and wondering if he looked beautiful. He felt far more comfortable with women than with men, which is why he felt much pity for the lady of Rochester. She was in love with a man she could never marry, a fine woman with a compassionate heart, and he instinctively felt pity for her. Much like him, she was suffering in silence.
“Paris,” he repeated, more to himself than to Cantia. “I have relatives in Paris. Perhaps I should send word to them to see if they have ever heard of this Louisa of Hesse.”
Cantia looked at him with surprise. “Why would you do such a thing?”
Gillywiss was looking at his sister as he spoke. “In truth, I do not know,” he suddenly grinned that wild toothy grin that Cantia had seen before. “Perhaps because you have saved my sister and my new nephew. Perhaps because you have shown me you are not the typical noble bitch we have all come to expect. You have paid us a good deed and perhaps I should show you one as well.”
Cantia could hardly dare to hope. “If that is true, then all I would wish for is to go home. Please, Gillywiss. It is all I could want.”
Gillywiss pulled his gaze off his sister and focused on Cantia, seeing the utter eagerness and faith in her eyes. He could feel himself relenting.
“We will discuss it in the morning,” he finally said. “Nothing can be done tonight. Perhaps I will send you home and send word to Paris anyway. My family lives in the crevices and underground of that great and dirty city. They know everything. Perhaps they will know.”
Cantia fought off tears of relief as she sighed heavily, a great release of fear and sorrow and anticipation. She wouldn’t push Gillywiss anymore this night. He had promised to speak on the matter more in the morning and she looked forward to that moment.
She was murmuring quiet prayers that she would see Tevin again very soon when distant shouts caught their attention. Gillywiss bolted from the stool and threw the door open, his sharp gaze moving over the darkened encampment. Cantia went to stand behind him, puzzled, as the cries of alarm grew louder. She could hear the thunder of horses and the screams of men. Before Gillywiss ran off, he told Cantia to go back inside and bolt the door. As he ran away, Cantia didn’t obey. She charged out into the darkness to see what was amiss.
After that, all dissolved into chaos.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tevin tore into the east side of the settlement wielding his broadsword. His men were plowing into the clusters of huts under orders to search every room, hearth, socket, and corner. No stone was to be left unturned. They took their command and their mission seriously. Tevin could hear the screams of the inhabitants as he barreled into a small group of huts and used his broadsword to slice off a corner of the nearest sod roof.
Three women huddled inside the hut, screaming when they saw a very big man in well-used armor hovering over them astride a fire-breathing charger. Tevin yelled at them, demanding to know of a stolen woman, girl and young boy in their midst, but the women were either too stupid or too terrified to answer him, so he chopped away more of the roof to get a good look at the interior of the hut.
Chunks of sod and pieces of wood rained down on the screaming women, but it didn’t take long for Tevin to see that no one else was inside the structure. Satisfied that Cantia or Arabel weren’t inside, he moved on to the next hut and did the exact same thing.
Tevin had several soldiers behind him, conducting a more thorough search of the properties he was tearing apart. The men were also confiscating anything of value and storing it on their horses, of which Tevin didn’t particularly care. If these people were outlaws, and it looked very much like they were all tucked away secretly in the forest, then whatever possessions they had were more than likely stolen anyway, so he took no issue with his men taking stolen goods from thieves.
As he finished with one group of shacks, he caught sight of another cluster of huts several dozen yards away and was intent to raid those next when he caught a glimpse of a very small hovel shoved back in a thick cluster of trees off to his right. The rear of the structure was backed up into a small rise or hill, in fact, nearly hidden from his view, so he took the time to spur his charger back into the darkened area. He wasn’t going to miss anything.
The trees were thick enough as he approached that he was forced to dismount and he did so, marching upon the hut and kicking the door in. Sword wielded defensively, he noted that the hut was very dark and presumably empty. He really couldn’t see anything at all and it was very still inside, seemingly unoccupied. He was about to turn away when something on the floor twitched.
He raised his sword as he moved into the hut, realizing that someone was lying on the ground all covered up. It was so dark that he couldn’t make anything out until he was nearly on top of the pile of quivering furs. He was about to bark at them when soft crying met with his ears. It took Tevin a moment to realize that it was, in fact, very familiar crying. His breath caught in his throat.
“Arabel!” he gasped.
Arabel had been lying on the ground with the musty furs up over her head, terrified at the sounds going on all around her. When someone kicked the door to the shack open, she was certain she was about to be killed. Her father’s voice was the last thing she expected to hear and the furs came away from her face, her eyes open wide in astonishment.
“Father!”
Tevin dropped his sword and swooped down on his daughter, picking her up and holding her tightly against him. Truth be told, there were tears in his eyes and a lump in his throat as he savored the feel of her. Even though he had hoped to find her, he could scarcely believe it.
“Sweetheart,” he breathed. “Are you well?”
Arabel had her father around the neck so tightly that she was nearly strangling him. She nodded fervently.
“I am,” she said. “I am fine. Oh, Father, how did you find us? Did Hunt send you?”
Tevin’s joy was tempered with confusion and apprehension. “He did not,” he said, pulling back so he could look her in the face and see for himself that she was well and whole. “Where is Hunt? And where is Cantia?”
Arabel was breathless. “Hunt went to find help,” she started to tear up as the situation overwhelmed her. “I told him to escape. I told him to go to Rochester to send you back to save us.”
Tevin didn’t like the sound of that at all, especially with his men raiding the settlement. A little boy could very well get swept up in the chaos, or worse.
“When did he leave, Arabel?” he asked, trepidation in his tone. “Which way did he go?”
Arabel was trying not to feel horrible and apprehensive, but she wasn’t doing a very good job. Her tears broke through. “He left only a short time ago,” she said, sniffling. “Father, I… I made him do it. I t
old him he had to find help for us and that we were all depending on him.”
She was starting to cry and Tevin soothed her as much as he could, although he was feeling much anxiety and panic.
“We will find him,” he assured her, collecting his sword and carrying her out of the hut just as several of his men rode up. He looked to the seasoned soldiers around him, men bearing weapons and torches. “Hunt Penden is around here somewhere, possibly hiding. Make all due haste to find the boy. I do not want him caught in the madness and injured.”
A few of the men tore off to search while one man, one of Penden’s men, dismounted his horse and began prowling the landscape on foot, calling Hunt’s name. As the search for Hunt commenced, Tevin turned to his daughter once more.
“Arabel,” he sounded as if he was begging. “Where is Cantia?”
Arabel shook her head, wiping tears off her cheeks. “She went away,” she said. “Someone needed help and some of the people took her away. I do not know where she has gone.”
Tevin fought down more panic, now for Cantia. “Is she gone from the camp?”
“I do not believe so. Someone was sick, I think. She went to help.”
“So she is here, somewhere?”
“I think so.”
“Is she well?”
“She is well, Father.”
The knowledge helped Tevin’s state of mind tremendously. She is well, Father. He found himself muttering a silent prayer but in the next breath, he was seized with the overwhelming desire to find her. She was here, somewhere, and he had to get to her. As he approached his charger, Myles came thundering up. His fair face slackened as he recognized Arabel.
“Lady Arabel,” he sounded relieved and surprised. He looked at Tevin. “Where did you find her?”
Tevin jerked his head in the direction of the darkened shack. “She was in there,” he said. “But Hunt is missing. Apparently, he ran off to find help. He is out here, somewhere, de Lohr. Find him.”
Myles was even more panic-stricken than Tevin was at the thought of Hunt wandering around the dangerous settlement. He bolted off, calling Hunt’s name, as Tevin mounted his daughter on his war horse and mounted behind her. He didn’t particularly want to take her with him as he hunted for Cantia but he had little choice. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.
The settlement was in complete bedlam by the time Tevin and Arabel rode into a clearing in the center of the encampment. There were two massive bonfires blazing with the remnants of supper cooking on them. Word had spread that Lady Arabel had been found, but Lady Cantia and her son were still missing. Three hundred armed men could do a lot of damage, and they certainly did as they ruthlessly searched for Lady Penden and her son.
Tevin stayed directly out of the search purely because of Arabel. He lingered near the bonfires as his men searched around him. He was joined periodically by his senior men, bringing him reports of sections searched that had turned up nothing. He tried not to let his apprehension get the better of him as time went along and still no Cantia or Hunt.
Eventually, he dismounted his charger and began to pace, watching his men rip the place apart in their quest. He wanted them to rip it apart even more. If Cantia and Hunt didn’t show up soon, he was going to have them burn it for good measure. Fury and fear were fully entrenched in his chest, like great claws, threatening to tear him asunder.
But those emotions were doused when he heard someone call his name. It was a female voice, a familiar call, and his panic evaporated.
Tevin spun around in the direction of the voice, so swiftly that he nearly lost his balance. His gaze found Cantia walking towards him out of the darkness, her beautiful face full of disbelief. Here they were, in the middle of madness, and she was walking towards him as easily as if she were out for an afternoon stroll. She was looking at him as if she could hardly believe her eyes and Tevin found that he couldn’t breathe. All he could do was run at her.
Cantia ran, too, and suddenly she was up in Tevin’s arms, sobs of relief and joy bursting out all over the place. She had her arms around his helmed head and somehow, he ripped his helmet off and still managed to hold her tightly, now kissing her furiously as she sobbed. His lips were all over her face, tasting the salt from her tears.
“Sweetheart,” he gasped in between kisses. “Are you well? Have they harmed you?”
Cantia shook her head, her hands in his long hair, returning his kisses. “Nay,” she wept, finally pulling away from his furious mouth so she could breathe. “I have not been harmed. I am well.”
Tevin couldn’t seem to stop kissing her but when his movements slowed, he hugged her so tightly that he heard her spine pop. He eventually set her to her feet, his enormous hands cupping her face simply so he could look at her. Heart pounding as he tried to calm himself down, his dark eyes drank in every beautiful line.
“You are sure you are well?” he asked, his voice trembling.
“I am sure.”
“Swear it?”
Cantia nodded, running her fingers across his lips and watching him eagerly kiss her flesh. “They did not harm us,” she stressed, becoming increasingly aware of the screams and shouts going on around them. “Please call your men off, Tevin. These people have not been cruel in the least.”
He was confused, suspicious. “But they abducted you and killed two of my knights,” he said. “How can you say they have not been cruel?”
Cantia’s features paled. He could see it even in the moonlight. “Dear God,” she breathed. “Val…?”
He shook his head. “Val is alive,” he assured her. “I was referring to Dagan and Gavril. Val made it back to Rochester to tell us what happened. She is injured but she will survive.”
Cantia breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Praise God,” she said sincerely. “I was so worried about her. Dagan hit her very hard.”
Tevin’s brow furrowed. “Dagan hit her?” he repeated. “What do you mean?”
Cantia’s features hardened with anger and disgust. “Exactly that,” she said. “It was Dagan who betrayed us, Tevin. He hit Val on the head and then killed his own cousin so they could not interfere with his plans. It would seem that Charles promised the knight my hand in marriage. He was planning on taking me to the nearest church to be married and then he was going to ransom Arabel to you in exchange for Charles’ freedom. He had all manner of grand and terrible plans to marry me and become a wealthy man, all thanks to Charles’ scheming.”
Tevin stared at her. “What madness is this?” he could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You are certain that is what Dagan told you?”
Cantia nodded. “He threatened to hurt Hunt if I did not comply,” she said, thinking back on that horrible moment in time. “Just as he was preparing to take us away, Gillywiss and his people came out of the woods and put an arrow in him. Then they spirited us away so, in a sense, they really saved us. You owe them much.”
Tevin was furious, confused and overwhelmed by the entire story. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned to a couple of soldiers standing nearby and barked orders for them to cease the raid. Those two men disbursed, calling out commands to the group as a whole, and the entire force began to wind down their assault.
Tevin watched his men for a moment to make sure they were obeying before returning his attention to Cantia.
“Who is Gillywiss?” he asked. “Is he the leader?”
Cantia nodded. “These people are all homeless, as you can see,” she gestured to the upended camp. “Some are outlaws, but some have simply been displaced. They live here because they have nowhere else to go and they were indeed following us with the intention of robbing us as we rode south to Darland. When Dagan attacked, they killed him and took Hunt, Arabel and I back to their settlement. Even if they are thieves, they saved us that day. They truly did.”
Tevin was astonished. He stared at Cantia for several long moments, digesting her story, before feeling the familiar fury again. Only this time, it was at Charles.
/> “Penden,” he growled. “Damn him… I can only imagine what tales he fed Sutton. But I simply cannot believe the man was fool enough to believe him.”
Cantia sighed faintly, squeezing his hand. “He can be rather persuasive,” she said quietly. “Who knows why men do what they do? Perhaps Dagan saw an easy way to riches. Charles has a great deal of personal wealth as the Steward of Rochester. He must have promised Dagan a great deal.”
Tevin shook his head, frustrated. “Sutton and de Reigate were bachelor knights when they came to me, but they had served the Earl of Essex for some time prior and the man gave them a strong recommendation.” His thoughts lingered on the rogue knight a moment. “It would seem that Charles Penden and I have much to discuss upon my return to Rochester. In fact, it makes me wonder who else the man has poisoned with his lies. I do not want to spend my time at Rochester looking over my shoulder or worrying over your safety.”
Cantia watched him carefully. “What do you intend to do?”
Tevin merely lifted an eyebrow but he would not look at her. His gaze moved out over the compound, now settling into a brittle and harsh state of existence now that his men had backed off from their raid.
“I would speak with de Lohr and see what his thoughts are on the matter,” he replied. “He knows Penden as well as anyone. I will speak with Myles and make my decision.”
Cantia wasn’t sure what more she could say. She was afraid of what Charles was capable of, too, so she wrapped her arms around Tevin’s waist and hugged him tightly. Tevin swallowed her up in his big arms, his face buried in the top of her head as he relished the feel of her. She was safe, and alive, and he was deeply thankful, but the information regarding Charles and Dagan had him gravely concerned.
His thoughts were still lingering on Penden when Cantia lifted her head and caught sight of Arabel upon her father’s charger. She smiled thankfully at the young woman, who smiled timidly in return, and then glanced around as if looking for something more. It didn’t take a great intellect to figure out what she was searching for.