Page 73 of Stay with Me

“Well now, we can’t be certain. But it seems Lord Worth has eyes and ears in the Canterbury market and got word about our dear Nicholas taking himself this bab as his bride.”

She exchanged a glance with Ralph. Eric had headed off to the market today. Had he said something then?

In her professional assessment of Eric, she didn’t think he’d resort to outright betrayal, even in his anger and hurt. He was a deeply wounded man, but he wasn’t vicious and wouldn’t willingly put this village in danger, not after the outlaws had become his family.

However, it was likely he’d said something inadvertently, something that had gotten back to Simon. And this time, in pursuit of Nicholas, Simon had pushed his men onward through the Weald, not giving them a choice to retreat when faced with the thick, haunted portion of the deep forest.

“I’ll need to slay Lord Worth,” Ralph whispered, having picked up his bow and brought it with him. “And then take out as many of his knights as I can before they harm anyone else.”

Father Fritz shook his head, the tears welling again. “If anyone attempts to fight, Simon’s threatened to start using the women for target practice.”

Ralph spat into the dirt, disgust etched into his face.

Sybil’s mind spun with options, but none were safe. “He has to realize the people don’t know where Nicholas is, or someone would have revealed it by now.”

The sadness in Father Fritz’s eyes flipped Sybil’s heart over and flattened it at the bottom of her stomach. Suddenly she knew exactly why Simon had come to Devil’s Bend...

Father Fritz nodded as though to confirm her conclusion. “He’s not waiting on Nicholas to return. He be waiting for—”

“No,” Ralph said harshly, shaking his head at Father Fritz. “Don’t say it.”

“Say what? That Lord Worth’s after this sweet bab?” Father Fritz patted Sybil’s cheek.

Ralph muttered several more colorful curses.

He had to know even if Father Fritz hadn’t revealed the truth, she was smart and had already figured out what Simon wanted.

“I’m guessing he’s been here for about four hours?” Her mind went to work putting the rest of the details together.

Father Fritz nodded, opened his mouth to say more, but upon glimpsing the fury darkening Ralph’s face, he clamped his lips together.

“Four hours,” Sybil whispered. “Four dead men.”

Again, Father Fritz nodded but pressed his mouth closed, using his hands to mime his words. But from the way he flapped his hands around and waggled his fingers, Sybil would have guessed he was talking about chickens and geese rather than people.

How much longer before he drew new men to the targets? Probably not long.

As she glanced at the children nearby, she knew what she needed to do. She had no choice. In fact, she had to act before Ralph could stop her. Because stop her he would... out of loyalty and devotion to Nicholas.

She gathered up her skirt so she wouldn’t trip over it. Then she rose and sprinted forward, needing to get away from Ralph as well as the children before she revealed her identity.

Behind her, she could feel Ralph lunging for her. She spun and delivered a spinning hook kick to his shoulder, one with enough power that it sent him over backward, landing him and knocking the breath from him in one move.

With him disabled, she continued until she was well away from the hedge and out in the open. “I’m Sybil. Nicholas’s wife. If you release these people, I’ll hand myself over to you.”

“No!” came Ralph’s breathless call.

A glance over her shoulder told her that Ralph was already scrambling to his feet and had no intention of letting her give herself over to Simon so easily. “Take me in her stead, my lord.”

Simon had lowered his bow and was staring at her with a calculation that didn’t frighten her. Even so, she had to be careful. Displaying too much bravado with men like this only angered them. They needed to feel in control and thrived on seeing fear in the faces of their victims.

At the same time, she had to make sure Ralph didn’t get ahold of her.

She picked up her pace and saw Simon exchange a glance with one of his knights—Potter, the older knight who had been guarding Nicholas the eve of his escape from prison, the knight whose hand Nicholas had impaled to a door.

As the knight nodded, Simon turned his gaze upon her with more interest. “Get her.” His terse command rang out over the butts.

Above, the sky was painted with beautiful streaks of rose and gold as the last rays of the setting sun made its mark before darkness settled. Was that what her life here with Nicholas had been? The gloriousness of a sunset before the coming night?

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