Gaetan nodded, looking up to the height of the trees. “That was my thinking exactly.”
He spurred his horse down the road towards the trees they were discussing and his men followed. St. Hèver and de Moray entered the tree line to both the north and south side of the road, inspecting what was back in the forest, as the rest of them came to a halt about midway down a particularly dense line of trees. They were all looking about, inspecting it, noting the visibility from the road among other things. Satisfied, Gaetan was the first one to speak.
“Bartholomew and Kye will head to Kidderminster now,” he said, motioning both men out of the trees and addressing them when they came near. “Remember your instructions; you are to remain out of sight. Do not let Alary or any of his men catch sight of you or we may have serious problems. Once you sight them, come back to us as quickly as you can. We will need time to prepare for their approach.”
Wellesbourne and St. Hèver nodded sharply, goring their steeds forward and tearing off down the road, eastward bound for Kidderminster. As the two of them took off, Gaetan turned to Aramis and Lance.
“You two head out to scout Tenebris,” he said. “Careful you are not sighted. We do not want to alert them to our presence.”
Aramis nodded. “We will be cautious.”
Gaetan watched them go, thundering down the road and disappearing from view when the road curved. Now, it was him, Téo, de Moray, de Winter, and de Lara. Gaetan turned to the remaining knights.
“It will be up to us to determine the best place for an attack,” he said. “Go now and mark your spots. Come to me when you are ready and we shall put this plan into action.”
With confidence, the others began to spread out, searching for the best place from which to launch an ambush. As Gaetan watched them go, his attention inevitably turned to the east. He wished very much that he had his entire army with him, but there was no time to spend on regrets. Nine Norman knights had to fend off two hundred Saxon soldiers and pray the Saxons didn’t kill Kristoph before the knights could rescue him. That was the gist of the situation and everyone knew it. Gaetan wasn’t quite sure what he would do if he saw Kristoph murdered before his eyes, before he was able to get to him.
A praying man, he began to pray very hard that it wouldn’t happen.
Please, God… just give me the chance to get to him. That is all I ask….
Ghislaine only woke up because the dog had left her bed, jostling her when it did so. Then, he scratched at the door, wanting to be let out, so she sat up and tried to collect her wits before staggering over to the door and opening it for the dog to go out and do his doggy business. As she opened the door, however, she saw Jathan sitting against the wall of the cottage, sharpening a small dagger with a stone.
Jathan looked up, surprised, when the door opened and the dog ran past. Ghislaine smiled sleepily at him, yawning.
“Good morn,” she said.
Jathan put the stone and dagger in his lap. “Good morn, my lady,” he said. “Why are you awake?”
Ghislaine yawned again, looking out over the pond and the canopy above, with streams of light coming through the leaves and reaching to the earth. There were only a few people around the pond now, washing or simply sitting. In all, it was a graceful and serene scene.
“The dog awoke me,” she said. “I feel as if I have been asleep for one hundred years. What day is it?”
Jathan sat forward on his stool, looking over the pond and the trees just as she was. “It is the day after your arrival here in the village,” he said. “You have only been asleep seven or eight hours since last night. I thought you would sleep all day.”
Ghislaine couldn’t stop yawning. “Whatever that old woman gave me for the pain made me sleep.” She touched her right thigh, moving it around a little. “It does not feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. There is pain, but it is not terrible. I suppose it will heal in spite of my repeated attempts to re-injure it.”
She grinned and so did Jathan. “That is good to hear,” he said. “Resting for the past several hours has undoubtedly helped.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Shall I call Lygia and her sisters for you?”
Ghislaine shook her head, smoothing down her hair which, in spite of having slept on it, was still in a relatively neat braid. “I do not believe so,” she said. “I believe I can fend for myself but I would like something to eat. Is it near the nooning meal? Mayhap I shall be in time to join Gaetan and the knights for the meal.”
Jathan’s smile faded. This was the moment he’d been dreading but he didn’t think it would come this soon. He’d expected the lady to sleep much longer so he wasn’t particularly prepared to tell her what he must. Still, she had to know. It wasn’t as if he could keep it from her. Taking a deep breath, he summoned his courage.
“You cannot,” he told her, seeing her turn to him curiously. “Gaetan and his men have gone on to intercept your brother. Gaetan came to tell you himself this morning, very early, but you were sleeping so peacefully that he did not want to wake you. He told me to tell you to remain here and that he would return for you as soon as he can.”
Ghislaine’s eyes widened as the smile vanished from her face. “He is gone?” she repeated. Then, it was as if the news hit her a second time and she suddenly grabbed Jathan’s arm, squeezing it. “He left?”
Jathan knew this would be her reaction but, to be truthful, it frightened him. Gaetan was the only one who could control the woman and, sometimes, even he couldn’t override her powerful sense of independence. He stood up even as she dug her fingers into his arm.
“He will return,” he stressed. “You needn’t worry. They shall find Kristoph and then they shall all return. You will see.”
Ghislaine couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sleepy anymore. She was shocked, appalled, and bordering on panic.
“Nay,” she hissed, shaking her head as she released Jathan. “They cannot go without me. They will not survive!”
She was backing away from him, heading into the tiny cottage. Jathan followed. “Why do you say that?” he asked. “My lady, I have known Gaetan de Wolfe for many years. He is quite capable of surviving a battle, I assure you. He did it for many years before he met you.”
Ghislaine yanked on the little doe-skin slippers that Lygia had given her. “Of course he did,” she snapped. “But he has not survived here, in Mercia.”
Slippers on, she pushed past him and began heading towards the convening house. Jathan scurried after her, doing exactly what he had been dreading – he grabbed her by the arm to physically stop her.
“My lady, wait,” he said. “You cannot go after them. Gaetan gave me a direct command and if you disobey, he will punish us both. You must remain here.”
Ghislaine snatched her arm away from him. “I will not remain here,” she said. “I must go after him.”
“You cannot!”