Chapter Seven
He was still nauseated.
Athdara’s blow didn’t knock Tay out, but it was only by sheer willpower that it hadn’t.
It was a fair strike, since he’d told the recruits that nothing was off-limits.
She’d moved in to disable him immediately, using his most obvious weakness, so he couldn’t fault her for that.
He wasn’t angry about it. But he was vastly surprised at the strength behind the blow and the skill with which she had delivered it.
That was no timid woman.
But she’d run off, perhaps fearful of his reaction. Not that he blamed her. He’d sent Bowen after her because he couldn’t very well chase her down himself. Moreover, he had a class of recruits and wasn’t about to go running after a distressed woman.
Recruit. He had to remind himself that she was a recruit. He wouldn’t go chasing after any other recruit, so he wasn’t going to run after her.
But it was difficult not to.
Bowen returned sometime later to tell him that the woman had packed her belongings and left through the north gate.
From that point on, Tay was distracted. The more the hours passed, the farther away she was getting, and he had to resist the urge to leave his recruits to follow.
At one point, St. Gerard showed up and wanted to speak with him, but he pretended to be busy, so the man wandered away.
Even so, Tay struggled through the remainder of his class, which manifested itself in an unusually short temper and harsh actions.
Out of nearly forty recruits, he’d lost ten by the end of the day.
As dusk approached, he finally dismissed the men, watching them limp, drag, or stumble off the field. It had been a brutal day.
For him as well.
His privates still hadn’t recovered completely from the blow.
They were sore, but not terribly swollen, thankfully.
He’d tried to piss about midday, and there had been a little blood, so he knew there might be some damage.
He could only hope everything would heal properly, or his chance to have any sons had just been lost. By the woman he more than likely wanted to bear them, no less.
But it didn’t take any great intellect to know he had to go after her.
Something in him just couldn’t let her go, not like that.
He had to find her.
The only thing in his favor was that he could travel by horse, and she’d been on foot.
He knew the land around Blackchurch intimately, and he knew that she couldn’t have gone too far.
There was a lodge at the edge of the Exmoor forest about twelve miles to the north, so it was possible she would stop there for the night.
Otherwise, she’d be sleeping in the forest, and that wasn’t safe.
Not even for a woman as brave as Athdara.
His horse was a big, muscular warhorse that he’d had since he was a squire.
The animal wasn’t built for speed, but he did have endless stamina.
Trying to keep his sore privates from being pinched in the saddle, Tay kept a steady pace heading north, undoubtedly covering the distance far quicker than Athdara had.
It wasn’t a well-traveled road, so it was in good shape as he continued on.
To the south, his right, were fields and dales, but to his left was a dense forest. This close to Blackchurch, it wasn’t known for harboring many thieves because, on occasion, Lord Exmoor would gather his trainers, soldiers, and recruits and clean out all of the forests within a ten-mile radius of Blackchurch.
The outlaws had learned that over the years, so no one set up a base in Exmoor within a day’s ride of Blackchurch because of it.
St. Denis may have a relationship with pirates and taught knights unorthodox methods, but that was where his lawlessness ended. He didn’t tolerate criminals.
Therefore, Tay wasn’t concerned with the rabble as he made his way to the only lodge he knew within a day’s ride to the north.
He was fairly confident he would find her there, because there weren’t any other roads to travel, nor were there any farmhouses to use as shelter. The wilds of Exmoor could be desolate.
Night fell.
The three-quarter moon shone upon the landscape, enough to see by.
The land was bathed in a ghostly glow as Tay continued north.
He estimated he would be within sight of the lodge in the next hour, and he wasn’t wrong.
Eventually, he could see lights in the distance and knew that the big braziers had been lit.
That was traditional in the Exmoor forest, in some remote places, to have enormous iron braziers lit up against the night sky.
They were beacons, but they were also warning systems, depending on the situation. Tonight, they were lit and welcoming.
Tay headed for the light.
The Rook’s Nest, they called it. A low, squat lodge that had once been only three rooms and had since grown to seven or eight, including a dormitory-style chamber for sleeping travelers.
It had a heavily thatched roof that was several feet thick and an old, weathered door that Tay had to bend over in order to enter through.
Leaving his horse in the livery yard to be tended, that was exactly what he did.
Smoke and heat hit him in the face the moment he set foot in the common room.
That blast of heat was followed by the stench of people.
The place wasn’t packed because of the remote location, but it had all of the sights and smells of a tavern.
As Tay entered, he lowered the hood on his cloak and moved to pull off his gloves, looking around the common room for Athdara.
When he didn’t see her immediately, he went on the hunt.
The second and third rooms were smaller and contained just a few people drinking the night away, but no Athdara. As he doubled back to search other chambers, he caught sight of a man wiping down a table. He looked as if he might work there by the clothing he wore, so Tay approached him.
“You there,” he said with quiet authority. “I’m looking for a woman.”
The old man, with a hook nose and scabs on his lips, looked puzzled for a moment before shaking his head. “We don’t have that kind of woman here, my lord.”
Tay quickly realized what he meant. “Nay,” he said. “Not that kind of woman. A traveler. Tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. Beautiful. Have you seen her?”
The man paused. “Here?”
“Here.”
“Why are you looking for her?”
“That’s my business. Have you seen her or not?”
The man looked at him. Then he cocked his head in an appraising manner. “I might.”
Tay grunted with displeasure, knowing what the man was leading to.
“You take your life in your hands with your foolish games, old man,” he said as he dug into his coin purse.
Pulling out a silver coin, he tossed it to the man, who caught it deftly.
“Now, I will ask you one more time before I start tearing this place apart. Have you seen the woman I described?”
The old man dropped his rag on the table and crooked a finger. “Come with me, my lord.”
Tay followed him through two low-ceilinged chambers and into a third one, where the man abruptly stopped and pointed.
“This one?” he asked.
It was a tiny chamber, windowless, and Tay stuck his head in through the doorway, coming face to face with Athdara as she was mid-plucking the feathers from a chicken. She froze, looking at him with big eyes, as the old man snorted.
“She came here looking for a place to stay for the night,” he said. “She has no money, so she’s working for her bed. If she doesn’t finish what she’s doing, she’ll get no supper and no bed.”
Tay lashed out his massive hand and grabbed the old man by the neck, slamming him against the wall. It was a startling, brutal gesture implying great danger for the old man.
And Tay meant it that way.
“You’ll not see morning if you do not feed her and give her the finest bedchamber in this establishment,” he growled. “I will burn it over your head if I am not completely satisfied that you have done your very best to tend to her every need. Do you understand me?”
The old man, who had been so confident and even arrogant throughout the entire exchange, nodded quickly. “Aye, my lord,” he said, terrified. “I meant no disrespect, but everyone must pay for their food and shelter here. I don’t give it away.”
Tay glared at the old man a few moments longer to ensure his point was made before he released him and stood back. “I have already paid you with the coin I just gave you,” he said. “I want a room for me and a room for the lady. And all of the food you can bring. Do it now.”
The old man fled. Tay’s focus turned to Athdara, who was still sitting there in mid-pluck. Truthfully, he was riveted to her. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he couldn’t quite find the words. Everything was a jumble.
He said the first thing that came to mind.
“Why did you run?” he finally asked. “I sent Bowen to bring you back, but he said you would not come. Why not?”
Nervously, and clearly in shock at his appearance, Athdara tore her eyes away from him and returned to the chicken in her hand.
“I am certain you already know the answer to that question,” she said, her voice trembling as she ripped at the feathers.
“I am sorry you felt that you had to follow me. That was not my intent.”
“I know it wasn’t,” he said, stepping into the chamber. “Put the chicken down. I want to talk to you.”
She wouldn’t put it down. She kept stripping the feathers off it in harsh, jerky movements.
“There is no need, my lord,” she said. “I know what you are going to say. What I did to you was terrible. It was the most terrible thing I’ve ever done to anyone, but I knew that if I didn’t, the next strike you delivered would have knocked me senseless.
The exercise was about survival, was it not? ”
“It was about endurance.”