Page 44 of Bride of Fire
Jenefer had to admire her cousin’s shrewdness. Sometimes Feiyan was right. Brainsweremore effective than brawn. With only a few innocent words, she’d discovered their enemy had a dozen knights and eight archers.
“Do you think we’ll have enough food for a siege?” Feiyan asked.
“Oh, aye,” Bethac assured her. “The laird has ordered the crops harvested, and we’ve got cattle and sheep enough for the winter, if need be.”
“The winter?” Feiyan exclaimed.
Jenefer pursed her lips. It had better not take that long for Creagor’s fate to be decided. She had no interest in being confined to this bedchamber for weeks on end, sparring with Feiyan and looking after a…
She glanced down at Miles. His head was turned toward her, and his eyes were closed in slumber. His soft, pink mouth made a perfect bow, and his tiny fist rested on her breast.
She supposed looking after Miles wasn’t so bad.
“Who do you think is attacking?” Feiyan asked. “Do you think it might be…” She clasped a trembling hand to her bosom. “…the English?” Damn, she was good. There wasn’t anything Feiyan feared. But the worried lines of her brow would have fooled even her parents.
“I don’t know,” Bethac admitted.
“But you’re sure they can’t get in? There are no gaps in the wall or…or hidden passageways or…”
Jenefer held her breath. If Feiyan could find a secret passageway, they could make their way out of the castle. Morgan would lose his leverage over Rivenloch. And Rivenloch could easily take Creagor.
“Oh nay, Miss,” Bethac said. “The keep is sealed tight as a beer cask. The laird himself inspected every inch.”
Jenefer feared as much.She’dinspected every inch and hadn’t found so much as a crack for a mouse to fit through.
“What about the archers?” Jenefer asked, attempting Feiyan’s more subtle approach. “Do they always sink their points into the butt, or is it mostly fishtailers and bouncers?”
Bethac only stared at her with an open mouth.
“What my cousin means to say is,” Feiyan interjected, widening her eyes at Jenefer in horror, “are they skilled enough to protect us?”
“Och aye,” Bethac replied.
Jenefer scowled. Wasn’t that what she’d asked?
Feiyan continued with her cagey interrogation.
“Do you know,” she asked, pressing her fingertips to her lips as if she feared the answer, “if they’ve found our cousin yet?”
“Your cousin?”
Jenefer nodded, but she let Feiyan speak. Feiyan was clearly more practiced at deceit.
“She was lost in the wood last night,” Feiyan blurted out, blinking back fake tears.
“Lost in the wood?” Bethac’s eyes went round.
“Aye, and the laird promised us—”
She didn’t get the chance to reveal what Morgan had promised. At that moment, the door burst open. There stood the man himself, wild-eyed and full of fury.
Chapter 23
Siege preparations had been well underway when Morgan finally received confirmation of Colban’s whereabouts. The watchman who’d relieved him last night said Colban had rushed off, claiming he’d seen a suspicious figure heading into the forest. According to the man, Colban had followed the figure and never returned.
Morgan was fairly certain that figure had been Hallie. And since his best tracker was already on her trail, Morgan could rest assured she’d be found, unless…
Unless she’d lured him all the way back to Rivenloch.
