She watched until he was out of sight. The ease with which he disappeared into the shadows of the scattered trees gave her even more confidence in his assurances that he and his kin had the skills she and the boys needed to stay alive. It was not easy to understand the life he had led for it was so vastly different from anything she had known, but she could see that he spoke the truth. MacFingals knew how to survive and treated a skill at stealth as just one more weapon. Although her family had known a reasonably peaceful life during much of her growing years, she suspected they had such skills as well.
Arianna turned her attention to the horses. It had been a long, long day of riding hard, taking tortuous routes, and hiding until it was safe to continue traveling. The time taken to send a message to her kin was dangerous as they could not be certain just how close their enemy was, but it was necessary. They were going to need all the help they could get to stop these men.
It appeared that Amiel and the DeVeaux had brought a small army to hunt down her and the boys. She should have known that but had never taken much notice of how many men Amiel had with him the few times she had seen them. Even if she and her allies were able to cull those numbers, Amiel and the DeVeaux had undoubtedly brought enough coin with them to pay others to fight for them. There were always plenty of men around with no loyalties and an eagerness for coin.
The fact that she had dragged the MacFingals into this battle made her feel so guilty it hurt, but she had had no choice. She believed Brian’s assurances but, even knowing that the men were more than willing to help, it did not ease the guilt by much. If not for the children, she would have just fled on her own to her family. Unfortunately, the boys were the very reason she was even in this fight.
She also knew that, if caught, she could be used in an attempt to draw the boys into Amiel’s hands. Everyone at Claud’s holdings had known that she was more of a mother to those two boys than Marie Anne had ever been, in the eyes of Michel and Adelar as well as her own. Amiel gained nothing from hunting her save to use her as bait to entrap the boys. She doubted that the fact that the DeVeaux wanted her to exact an old vengeance against her family would matter all that much to him. The way she had thwarted his plans to kill the boys from the very beginning undoubtedly had added her to his list of ones he wanted dead, however.
It was difficult to understand the man. If he had just had a little patience she was certain the elder Lucettes, his and Claud’s parents, would have succeeded in having the marriage of Claud and Marie Anne annulled, robbing the boys of all chance of inheriting anything. They just needed to pay the right people to see it done. The distaste many of the aristocracy would have for heirs who carried such common blood would also aid them. All Amiel had had to do was wait.
Unless, she mused, the man could not afford to wait. It all came back to whether or not Amiel was in debt to the DeVeaux. Those men could well have pushed him to act immediately once Claud was dead. That was somewhat reckless of the DeVeaux, who usually preferred more subtle, and deadly, ways of gaining what they wanted. Hunting two boys and a woman like hounds after a rabbit was not very subtle.
None of that mattered, she decided with a sigh. Once the game had begun it could not be ended. The crimes of Amiel and his DeVeaux allies were rapidly adding up. It was not easy to gain any justice when one accused a highborn man or woman of a crime, but the DeVeaux were no favorites if the king and the murder of a comte, an heir to even higher titles, was involved. Accusations, especially one of the murder of a very highborn Lucette, could prove costly to them. There was also the matter of sinking a ship.
Arianna cursed softly and rubbed her fingers over her temples. Just attempting to puzzle it all out was enough to make her head throb. Even though she saw it all as senseless, needless, and reckless, there could be any number of reasons for their actions, which Amiel and the DeVeaux would consider quite reasonable. In the end it did not truly matter why they were so intent upon killing two innocent children, just that they were. Every thought she had about being the DeVeaux’s latest prey should only concern how to keep Michel and Adelar safe, as well as all of those who sought to help them.
Sitting on the ground near the horses, she decided that Brian’s forays to look for the enemy or do something that might turn them off their trail were becoming more difficult to endure. Arianna did not like being left behind with the horses. She did not like being left alone while Brian was slipping about through the wood or creeping through villages doing what was needed to keep her alive and get her to a safe place. Arianna was not accustomed to feeling so helpless, so much like some useless, delicate maiden who could do no more than sit and wait for a man to save her. Or so much like a burden, she thought, wincing.