“What happened?” Harcourt demanded the moment Nicolas entered the room. “And what took ye so long to get here?”
“I had to put Biddy in a cell,” replied Nicolas, watching as Harcourt carefully sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Lady Annys is naught but a bit bruised so ye dinnae need to leap up and rip out your stitches in some mad rush to get to her side.”
“The stitching is to be taken out tomorrow anyway.”
“Taken out, nay ripped out.”
“Verra weel then. Help me get my clothes back on. This is what happens when a mon lets a woman fuss o’er him. Come up here like a weel-behaved child to have my stitching peered and poked at and the moment I do, that fool lass goes wandering about outside the safety of these walls.” He ignored the way Nicolas just grinned as he helped him get dressed. “What happened to Annys then? All I could hear in here is that she was hurt and almost grabbed by Sir Adam’s men.”
“Annys was watching Biddy, saw the maid steal some bread, and followed her as she slipped out of the kitchens. Kept following her and saw her meet with Sir Adam’s men. Then she was seen by the ones she was watching and they gave chase. That could have ended verra badly as she had gone beyond the sight of the men on the walls. She proved to be a verra fast runner though, and would have made it back to the keep unharmed save that she tripped on some uneven ground.”
“She didnae break anything, did she?”
“Nay. Twisted her leg, got a wee bit bruised in the tumble she took, but by then the men on the walls had seen her and were calling out the alarm. Sir Adam’s men ran off. Think one of them was Clyde. A shame we didnae get our hands on him.”
“How did ye catch Biddy? Alive, I pray.”
“Ah, aye, she is alive. It appears Benet’s Roberta probably has more wit than Biddy. She ran back to the kitchens but, as Lady Annys said, the hooded cloak the woman wore wasnae enough to hide who she was. Also m’lady had seen the woman earlier so kenned just what she was wearing.”
“Jesu, are ye telling me that all this trouble was caused by some lack-witted cook’s assistant?” Dressed now, Harcourt stood up and grabbed the walking stick he had reluctantly agreed to use.
Nicolas laughed. “Weel, ye could choose to look at it that way. Nay, she was but the tool and ’tis the one who wields the tool that has the skill.”
“True enough. ’Tis good news to have that weakness ended.” He paused at the door. “It will be hard on the people here when she is judged and punished for the murder of their laird.”
Opening the door for him, Nicolas said, “For her close kin, aye, it will be verra hard indeed. For the rest? I dinnae think so. I was lucky to get her out of that kitchen alive once the women kenned why I was taking her.”
“Poor Nicolas stuck in a kitchen with angry women and a lot of knives. Aye, ye are lucky.”
Harcourt moved as fast as he dared and reached the door to Annys’s bedchamber just as it opened and Joan stepped out. Two young maids slipped around the woman, gave him a brief curtsey, and hurried away. He almost stepped back a little when he saw the anger on the woman’s face.
“Nicolas should have let the women in the kitchens have Biddy,” Joan said before striding off down the hall.
Shaking his head, Harcourt decided Nicolas was right. There would be few tears shed for Biddy when she met her fate. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Annys lay on her bed in her linen night dress, salve smeared on several scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, and a tightly bandaged ankle and foot resting on top of several cushions.
Relief swept over him. He had been told she was not badly hurt, but now knew he had had to see that for himself before his concern eased. It all looked a bit painful but he knew her injuries were all small ones that would heal quickly. Soon only the bruises would linger as they would take a longer time to fade. He gently lowered himself to sit down on the side of her bed, smiling when she looked at him.
“We are a fine pair,” he said.
“At least I didnae have to be sewn back together.”
Harcourt laughed. “True.” He glanced at her ankle. “I think your bandage is bigger than mine was though.”