“The ceremony and celebration must wait,” Purity said, the more they talked the more worried she was for her husband. She feared what may happen and hearing it only made it more real to her.
“That’s not your decision, daughter,” Galvin admonished. “Besides, if we cower in fear, we give the man what he wants and that I refuse to do. The ceremony and celebration continues. We’ll simply be more cautious. Now go and talk with Iona while I see that the Abbott is shown to his room to rest, then I will speak with Arran.”
She was being dismissed and she didn’t like it. She stayed put as her father walked off with Abbott Thomas.
“Go,” Arran urged, his hand at her waist to move her along. Her reluctance to leave him was obvious in the way her feet barely moved and her look that threatened she wasn’t going anywhere. He tried to reassure her. “I’m in no danger presently. Brynjar returns to his camp to make plans.”
“What if he has already made them and waits for you?”
“Observant point,” he acknowledged. “Though, Freen is seeing that he leaves. But so you don’t worry, what say we both agree to remain in the keep.”
Relief hurried a smile to her face. “I’ll wait in the Great Hall for you, since no doubt I will be done before you.”
She gave him a quick kiss before heading to the kitchen and she wondered if he thought the same as she did. How was it that Brynjar knew that the Abbott was here? Her father hadn’t sent word, yet Brynjar had arrived.
That could mean only one thing, Brynjar had kept watch on them and that could explain the warrior’s death. He’d caught Brynjar’s warrior spying and was killed for the discovery.
The question was—how many of Brynjar’s warriors were watching them?
Chapter 21
Arran woke the next morning and sprang up in bed when he turned to wrap himself around his wife and found she wasn’t there. He looked around and neither she nor the animals were to be seen. How had he not heard her leave the room?
Granted they had exhausted themselves making love last night and he had woken later hungry for her again and she didn’t deny him, her desire matching his own. She should have slept more soundly than he had and he should have woken before her. Instead, she was gone.
He donned his garments in no time, finger-combed his hair roughly, and chewed on some withered mint leaves that had been left on the chest by the side of the bed and tossed them in the hearth before he left the room. He wasn’t as frantic as the last time he had found her gone from their bed in the morning. She had given her word about letting him know where she’d be and had kept it. He was certain it wouldn’t take long to locate her.
A chill permeated the air as he took the stairs down and hurried into the Great Hall.
Raised voices caught his attention when he entered the Great Hall. They came from the passageway that connected the kitchen to the keep and a couple of servants, busy seeing to the care of the Great Hall, had stopped their work to listen. Though, they got busy fast enough when they spotted Arran.
“Have any of you seen my wife?” he asked.
The two servant lasses shook their heads.
“I’VE WARNED YOU TO LEAVE HER ALONE!”
Surprised to hear it was Quiver, having never heard him raise his voice, Arran hurried to the passageway.
“SHE ANSWERS TO ME!”
“NOT ANY LONGER!” Quiver yelled.
“ENOUGH!” Arran ordered and silence followed. “What goes on here?” Arran demanded, ignoring the man, Orvin, who once was the keep’s cook and looked to Quiver.
“Orvin thinks he can still order Iona about, tell her what she must do,” Quiver said. “He can’t accept that he is no longer in command of the kitchen.”
Arran glared at Orvin who tried to avert his eyes. “I believe my wife made it clear that you no longer have any authority in the keep’s kitchen. Iona is now in charge and a far better cook from what I hear. Do not let me see you in the keep again and don’t dare bother Iona in or out of the kitchen or you will not like the punishment I order on you.”
Orvin hurried off with barely a respectable bob of his head to Arran.
Arran noticed then that Iona and Quiver were holding hands and when they saw that he spotted it, they quickly let go. He almost chuckled. Instead, he turned a serious expression on Quiver. “Keep a close watch on Iona so that Orvin doesn’t bother her.”
Quiver couldn’t keep his delight from showing. “Aye, sir. Aye, I’ll make sure Iona is kept safe.”
“Good. Now have either of you seen my wife?” he asked, concerned since she’d been his shadow yesterday and he assumed she’d do the same today. He also didn’t like that she had gone off on her own. There was no telling what Brynjar might do.