Page 16 of Always
Lance had said the Saracens were excellent trackers, which meant the princess would be in danger anywhere in the palace or even in Everly. “There is no hiding place here safe enough, and I need to take her away now.” I held out my hand to the little girl. “Come, Connie,”
The princess hesitated, looking between Dot and me.
“I shall take you to your new sisters.” I spoke more to reassure Dot than Princess Constance.
“You have the babes?” the old nursemaid asked, a light finally starting to glow in her eyes. The pressure of the daughter’s knife against my spine eased.
“The less you know,” I replied, “the safer for us all.” I refused to think what King Ethelwulf might do to this old woman once he learned she was connected to Princess Constance. He’d surely torture her to wrest every bit of information out of her regarding the princess’s whereabouts.
“I’ll die before I betray the princesses,” Dot said in a wobbly voice, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Even so, I must say no more.”
Resignation settled within the lines of her face. She had no other choice but to entrust the princess to me, and she knew it.
Dot and her daughter helped me ready the princess for the journey, changing her into the plain clothes I’d brought along, packing a bag of food and supplies as well as goat’s milk for the babes. Finally, they said their good-byes to the princess. Thankfully, Princess Constance appeared to sense the gravity of the situation, obeying Dot’s instructions to remain strong and brave.
“Keep this for the princess, my lady,” Dot said once we were ready to go. She pressed something solid into my hand. It was a ring. And not just an ordinary ring. It was the king’s signet ring containing the royal emblem of Mercia—two golden lions standing rampant, their paws touching the ruby at the center.
“King Francis sent it with the princess when she came to Everly,” Dot explained. “Now you must take it and make sure it stays with her wherever God may lead her.”
“I shall endeavor to do so,” I said, sensing the importance of the ring—that perhaps the princess would one day need it to prove she was the heir to the throne. I tucked the piece into my pouch next to the two rubies that had come from the queen’s crown. The weight of such precious gems weighed on my heart as heavily as my responsibility to the royal children now depending on me for their lives.
“You must show this kind lady the quickest way out of the castle,” Dot instructed her daughter as she retook the comfortable chair in front of the hearth fire where I suspected she spent most of her time.
The daughter hesitated and glanced warily at Dot.
“Go on with you now.” Dot patted the knife on her lap. “I’ll be just fine, that I will.”
It wasn’t until I was out of the castle and running toward the city gate with Constance in tow that it dawned on me what Dot had planned to do once we’d left her alone. She’d wanted to make sure King Ethelwulf wouldn’t capture her and that her daughter would no longer have a reason to stay behind.
An ache swelled in my chest, and tears stung my eyes. I paused for only a second to look back at the tall tower where we’d left her, the sky darkening around it, the night beginning to fall. And I silently wept for the woman who’d sacrificed her life for me, for the princess, and for her daughter.
Chapter
6
Lance
Every muscle inmy body twitched with the need to race to the royal residence and find Felicia. A thousand scenarios played through my mind—all the terrible things that could have happened to her, a young noblewoman, alone amid a city in chaos.
The sight of leather satchels wedged in the hay in the back of the wagon kept me from going after her as I wanted to do. But they didn’t keep me from mentally flogging myself. If Felicia didn’t make an appearance by the time the city gates closed, I’d have no choice but to continue without her. Saving the princesses was my number one duty.
Yet the thought of letting harm befall Felicia was tearing me apart. For as much as I’d silently complained about the inconvenience she was to my efforts to fulfill my vow to the king, I didn’t understand why I was so concerned about her. Now would have been the perfect opportunity to leave her behind.
I told myself I only wanted to protect the young woman from harm because she was attempting to rescue the crown princess. And I told myself I wanted to join her in that endeavor. But even as I tried to convince myself of noble motives, my thoughts tumbled together in a frenzied cyclone, and my mind filled with images of Felicia from the past twenty-four hours.
She’d been so brave and strong running behind me through the woods. She’d kept going even though I’d sensed she’d been ready to give up. And she’d set aside her own exhaustion on numerous occasions to care for the babes. Even now, she was putting herself at great risk to rescue the heir to the throne. My admiration had swelled with each passing hour of knowing her, and I was beginning to understand why the queen had entrusted this mission to Felicia.
I couldn’t shake the picture of her sleeping in the hull. While rowing, I’d had too much time to study her features without her realizing I was doing so. Even though I’d tried to keep my attention from straying to her, it had, more oft than I cared to admit. Now the vision of her beautiful heart-shaped face with lovely lips and her long thick lashes fanned against her high cheeks was forever embedded into my memory.
I had the terrible premonition I was letting her penetrate my inner armor, and that I needed to fight harder to keep her out. Yet somehow, no matter how severely I chastised myself, I couldn’t shut the door of my emotions now that it had cracked open.
Giving myself a mental shake, I narrowed my sights on a distant bend in the river, hardly visible from this eastern rise beyond Everly. But something in my warrior instincts warned me Ethelwulf’s army was not far away now. If we had any hope of remaining out of his grip, we’d have to mask our scent and hopefully send his men in the wrong direction.
From Everly, the trip to the northeastern end of the Iron Hills was at least two days’ hard ride on horseback. With a wagon, three infants, and a woman, I couldn’t predict how long the journey would take. Accustomed to having everything under my control at every moment, I was frustrated at not being able to plan each detail.
I shot a look heavenward. Did I dare offer a prayer for direction? When I’d been but a boy, my father had taught me to rely upon God for guidance and sustenance. He’d modeled a life of dependence upon the Almighty, and I’d tried to imitate my father’s devotion. But after I entered my training, and especially once I began to prove myself, I valued my own strength of mind and body so much that I no longer needed God.
