by Lynsay Sands
“Then again it might not,” Conn commented, his head popping into view on the other side of Alick as he sat up. Voice a soft rumble, the big man stood up, saying, “I’ll keep Donnghail company.”
Rory watched the man go, debating whether he should stay up to stand watch too, but then Inan commented, “No sense all of us losing sleep. Especially since it could have been a harmless stag.”
“Aye,” Rory agreed, and saw Inan’s eyes close, but noted the warrior’s hand also gripped his sword now.
Sighing, Rory shifted onto his back and glanced toward Tom and Fearghas on the other side of Elysande. Both men’s eyes were open and looking around the clearing suspiciously, and both had their hands on their swords. Rory turned his gaze to the dark night sky then. He suspected none of them were going to get any sleep that evening. While Conn and Donnghail sat up guarding them, and Elysande slept, he and the rest of the men would probably lie there awake until the sun began to rise. Just in case it wasn’t a stag. He’d barely had that thought when Elysande murmured sleepily, shifted closer and cuddled up to his chest, her arm and leg snaking over his body possessively.
Glancing down, he stared at the top of her head and found himself smiling faintly. Sleep was valued too highly, he decided. Sometimes going without was worth it.
Elysande woke to a lovely almost springlike morning, and eight grumpy men. Truly, the lot of them were all red eyed with weariness and cranky as her father on the rare morning after partaking of too much whiskey. They were also strangely reluctant to let her leave the clearing on her own.
“I do not need even one of you to accompany me, let alone three,” she repeated with frustration for about the tenth time.
“We will no’ look,” Rory growled for the tenth time in response. “Tom, Simon and I will stand with our backs to ye while ye . . . attend to matters,” he finished delicately.
The very idea of them standing around her while she squatted and watered the grass was unbearable even to consider. “Why?” she asked finally with desperation. “I have attended the matter on my own before without difficulty. Why are you insisting on my having a guard now?”
That brought about an exchange of glances among the three men confronting her. It made Elysande’s eyes narrow. “What has happened?”
“Nothing,” Rory responded sharply.
Tom rolled his eyes, and answered more honestly. “We are concerned about de Buci’s men. They no doubt would have finished their search of Carlisle by midmorn yesterday—”
“Or sooner if someone gave us up for coin,” Rory put in on a mutter.
“Either way,” Tom continued, “they obviously know we are headed for Scotland and would have crossed the border shortly after us. If they rode past sunset, they could be close.”
“But they only reached Carlisle at dawn,” she pointed out. “Surely their horses would have needed rest and prevented their leaving again so quickly.”
“They could have traded their mounts for fresh ones from the garrison in Carlisle,” Tom said gently.
Elysande’s eyes widened at the suggestion. She hadn’t thought of that. But it still didn’t explain why the men were suddenly so worried about her finding a spot to relieve herself alone. She pondered that briefly and then stilled and glanced sharply at Rory. “The sounds in the woods last night. You said a rabbit probably caused the breaking branches.”
He flinched at her accusatory tone, but said defensively, “It may have been.”
“I have yet to see a rabbit so big it would break a branch large enough to make loud snapping sounds like the ones we heard,” Elysande said impatiently as she realized that truth. She must have been exhausted to have believed the line last night. Or still overset by the passion she’d experienced in his arms, she admitted to herself, and glanced worriedly toward the woods. “If they are out there, why are they not attacking?”
“It could have been a stag,” Rory pointed out, and then admitted reluctantly, “Or it could be that the men have split up into smaller groups of two or three to search a wider area, with the plan to fetch the others to them if one of the groups came across us.”
“We do not know if ’twas an animal or man,” Tom added. “But ’tis better to be cautious, and if a couple of de Buci’s men have found us and they catch you on your own . . .”
Shoulders sagging, Elysande turned to head into the woods, and this time didn’t protest when the three men followed her.
Never having left Kynardersley with its privy chamber ere this trip, Elysande had found relieving herself in the woods something of an ordeal to begin with. But doing so with three men standing point around her had to be the most humiliating experience of her life to date. She’d never noticed it being a particularly loud maneuver before, but in the silent woods, with the men still and unspeaking around her, she was aware of every telltale sound she made, from the rustle of her clothing to the duty itself . . . and good Lord wasn’t that loud, Elysande noted with dismay, feeling her face heat up with a blush.
By the time she had finished and put her clothes back in order, Elysande was as grumpy as the men.
“Let us go,” she growled, moving past Rory to head for camp. “And you had best do what you can to lose our followers if we have any, because I am not doing that with an accompaniment of men next time,” she warned.
Whether because of her words, or not, Elysande didn’t know, but they rode hard through the first part of the morning. Then they slowed to a trot and veered off the trail to travel through the woods when they came to a thick stand of trees that offered cover. They traveled through it and onto another trail and then picked up speed again.
With the weather much warmer, the snow had completely melted away, leaving mud in its wake. Elysande hoped that didn’t make it easy to follow them, but suspected it would. Perhaps that was why Rory didn’t call a halt for the nooning meal. Instead, Alick dropped back briefly to pass out oatcakes to each of them that they ate in the saddle.
Determined not to have to relieve herself with a guard, Elysande refused to drink anything when they passed the ale skin around. Still, by midafternoon her “teeth were floating” as she’d once heard one of her father’s soldiers say. Even worse though, the liniment was wearing off and her back was starting to pain her again.
Elysande did her best to ignore it, but was relieved beyond measure when Rory apparently noticed the way she was shifting repeatedly in the saddle trying to ease her discomfort, and called out to Conn to halt. She agreed at once when he rode up beside her to suggest he apply more liniment to her back, and Rory escorted her alone into the trees to perform the task. Unlike the night before, he was quick and efficient without the least hint of impropriety. Elysande didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed at that. She was very aware that the men weren’t far away, waiting, but she had enjoyed his kisses and would have liked more.
Despite what she’d said that morning, when Rory finished and suggested she take the opportunity to relieve herself while he stood guard, Elysande did. It was still embarrassing, but much less embarrassing than wetting herself in the saddle would have been.
The moment they returned to the men, they set off again. They rode through the afternoon and continued on even after the sun set this night. But the moon was high and the sky was clear, leaving the trail easy to see.
While Elysande suspected she was the only one who had got a proper night’s sleep, she was the first to flag and actually began to nod off in the saddle. The first time was an hour or so after darkness fell, but she caught herself and sat up abruptly, giving her head a shake in an effort to make herself more alert. However, moments later Elysande found her eyes sliding closed again and her head lowering and then was startled awake when Rory caught her around the waist and drew her into his lap.
She heard him order someone to take the reins of her horse, and considered telling him she was fine and insisting he put her back on her mare, but was just too tired to bother. She was across his lap, her good s
ide against his chest, and the liniment was still working so that his arm around her back wasn’t bothering her, so Elysande simply gave in to the inevitable and curled up against his chest to sleep.
When next she opened her eyes, snow was falling and they were moving through a street lined with the dark hulking shapes of buildings. Blinking away a snowflake that had landed on her eyelashes, she sat up a little straighter to look around.
“Where are we?”
“Ayr,” Rory answered.
Elysande nodded, but had no idea where that was, except that it was obviously somewhere in Scotland.
“I thought ye might enjoy a bath and a night in a bed rather than out in the cold.”
“A bath?” She breathed with happy wonder and peered at him through the darkness, able to just make out his features enough to see the smile that spread his lips.
“I thought ye’d like that idea.” Rory sounded amused.
“Very much.” Elysande usually bathed every day or two depending on the time of year. It was something she’d done since childhood because her mother insisted it was good for her health. But she hadn’t bathed since the night before de Buci had shown up at Kynardersley, and none of the men had bathed since joining ranks in the clearing at Monmouth. But there hadn’t been a thing anyone could do about it, so she’d simply done her best to ignore their stench and her own.
“Aye, so will I,” Rory said, his smile widening. “That is the one thing I dislike most about travel in the winter, no’ being able to bathe every day.”
“You bathe every day?” she asked with interest.
“I do in the summer when I can just walk down to the loch to take a dip. But usually only every other day or so in the winter. The loch is too cold then, and I do no’ like to trouble the servants to heat the water and carry up the tub nightly.”
Elysande smiled with understanding. “I usually bathe in the kitchens in the winter to save them the trouble.”
Rory nodded, and then said, “’Twill be good for the men to be able to sleep the night through without worry of someone attacking too.”
His words made her glance around at the other men. If they had been flagging while she slept, they were all alert and appeared happy at the moment. No doubt they too were looking forward to sleeping in a bed, if not the prospect of a bath.
Recalling the fact that they hadn’t been able to stay at an inn in Carlisle, she asked with concern, “Will an inn take us?”
“O’ course, lass. We’re in Scotland now. They’d no’ turn us away,” he said with a grin.
“Aye, but what about Tom, Simon and I?” she asked with concern.
“Ye’re all wearing the plaid, lass. They’ll take ye,” he assured her.
Their reception at the inn was nothing like their experience at the alehouse in Carlisle their first night. They’d obviously dragged the innkeeper from his bed, but once he heard they had nine horses that needed stabling, and wanted four rooms, as well as food and drink for nine, the man perked right up. Suddenly beaming and full of good cheer, he ushered them into a large front room with three long trestle tables in it. While they seated themselves at the center table, he rushed off, disappearing through a door at the back of the room, promising to return quickly.
Weary smiles were shared around the table as they heard the man bellowing for everyone to get up. “We have guests!”
“Definitely a friendlier reception than in Carlisle,” Tom said with a wry smile.
“Aye,” Elysande agreed, thinking this made her even more embarrassed by how Rory and his men had at first been treated in the English city.
Sighing, she glanced around at the men, and then stopped and looked them over again. “Where are Simon and Fearghas?”
“They waited with the horses for the stable lad to come take them,” Rory answered. “They’ll be along shortly.”
“Oh.” Elysande nodded and relaxed. Rory and Alick had ushered her inside with most of the men following. She hadn’t noticed that anyone had remained behind, but should have realized they would.
The innkeeper returned then, followed by a young woman, both of them bearing ale and assuring them food would follow quickly. Surprisingly it wasn’t long after that before food actually did start arriving: bread, cheese, sausages, pottage and even warmed-up cottage pie, followed by pear and custard tarts, gingerbread, crispels, which were round pastries basted with honey, as well as an almond-filled pastry baked in honey and wine that made Elysande moan when she tasted it.
“The sweets are the reason we come here,” Rory said with amusement as he watched her try one after the other.
“I can see why. I think I should like to live here forever,” she announced.
The men chuckled at the claim, but were too busy gobbling up the delicious desserts to comment.
As they were finishing their meal, the innkeeper appeared and moved to Rory to bend and whisper in his ear. Elysande heard him murmur his thanks and saw him slip the man a couple of coins and wondered what it was about. It wasn’t long after that though that he asked if everyone had had their fill and was ready to retire. Elysande wasn’t surprised by the round of ayes in answer. They’d ridden hard all day and part of the night, and now that they’d eaten, the men were no doubt beginning to feel their lack of sleep from the night before.
Rory escorted her from the room and up a set of stairs to the second floor. He stopped at the third door along the narrow hall, and opened it, announcing, “Fearghas and Donnghail, ye’re in here.”
Elysande glimpsed a double bed and a table with a water basin and ewer on it and then Rory urged her along as Fearghas and Donnghail went into their room.
The next room was for Conn and Inan, and Elysande watched them slip into the room with a small frown. There were only two rooms left and four men plus her still in need of a bed. Her frown only grew when Rory opened the third door and announced it was for Alick and Simon. But now Simon and Tom were frowning too.
“Er . . .” Elysande began, even as Simon asked with concern, “Where is my lady sleeping?”
“In the next room along the hall with Tom and I to guard her,” Rory answered.
Simon relaxed, but now Elysande was scowling. “There is no need to guard me here, my lord. I am sure I will be fine. You and Tom should not have to give up your chance to sleep in a bed just to guard me.”
“We’ll be sleeping too,” he assured her, urging her along the hall. “And I managed to convince the innkeeper to drag up his personal tub and have a bath prepared fer ye too, as I promised. ’Tis waiting.”
“Oh, aye, a bath.” She sighed the words, forgetting her worry about the men sleeping on a pallet for the moment at the thought of sinking into silky, hot water. “Oh!” She stopped and whirled suddenly to glance between Tom, who was a step behind her, and Simon, who was still loitering in the door to the room he was to share with Alick.
“My bags,” she said. “I will need clean clothes after I bathe.”
“I left them on the horse,” Simon realized, and headed for the stairs, saying, “I will go fetch them and bring them to you, m’lady.”
“Thank you,” Elysande called out, and then turned to Rory and allowed him to walk her to the next door. Her mind was already on the pleasure of a hot bath to wash away her stench, as well as clean, fresh-smelling clothes to wear after and a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in. It all sounded like heaven after sleeping on the cold, hard ground and in a stable. Although, to be fair, the stable hadn’t been that bad. The hay under the fur had made it quite comfortable, and with the body heat of the horses and men, it had actually been warm, or at least not cold.
Elysande’s thoughts fled when Rory opened the door and urged her into her room. Not only was a large tub full of steaming water waiting, but there was a hearth in this room that she was sure she hadn’t seen in the others, and a fire was burning merrily in it, making the room warm and cozy.
“Oh,” she breathed, moving quickly to the fire and sticking her hands out
to warm them.
“I thought ye’d like that,” Rory said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “’Tis the only bedchamber in the inn with its own hearth. It’s above the hearth in the taproom below, so shares the chimney.”
Elysande smiled and surveyed the room, noting that the bed was a little bigger than the ones she’d spotted through the doors of the other rooms, and the room itself seemed larger too. She suspected the bedchamber cost more than the others as well. And Rory had paid for it, she realized, as well as the other rooms.
“My mother sent coin with me. I can help pay for our stay here,” she offered.
“I do no’ need yer coin, lass,” he assured her solemnly, and then moved to the tub to test the temperature. Nodding with satisfaction, he straightened and said, “Tom and I’ll leave ye be to enjoy yer bath. We’ll collect the bags from Simon when he brings them and I’ll set them inside the door fer ye to fetch when ye’re done. Enjoy.”
Elysande was so eager to get in the bath that she was removing her cloak and plaid as Rory and Tom walked to the door. A bare moment after it closed behind them, the rest of her clothes lay in a haphazard mess on the floor and she was sinking into the tub. It wasn’t as large and deep as her own tub at Kynardersley, but was still lovely and Elysande leaned her head back on the rim and closed her eyes for several minutes, just enjoying the warmth enveloping her before sitting up to reach for the soap and small scrap of linen that had been left on a chair near the tub. She set to work at cleaning her hair and body.
Once she got to work, Elysande was quick about it. Not because she wouldn’t have liked to soak for a bit and let the water soothe her back muscles, but because she knew Rory and Tom were no doubt exhausted and desperate for sleep.
That thought made her glance around for the pallets they would need to sleep on, but she didn’t see any and supposed one of them was probably collecting them while the other stood in the hall and guarded the door. That thought made her worry that Rory intended for he and Tom to sleep out there in the hall outside the door to guard her, which wouldn’t do at all. They could sleep in front of the door if they liked, but it would be inside the room where they could at least enjoy the benefits of the fire.