Chapter Eleven #2
De Lara grabbed him by the arm and began yanking him towards the keep.
“We stand here chewing words as if we have all the time in the world when the truth is that time is slipping through our fingers,” he said urgently.
“You must leave immediately and take your lady with you. There is no time to waste with Buckland’s men on my tail.
No wonder de Lohr sent me ahead to warn you. ”
Gart let him pull. “We have nowhere to go.”
“Ridiculous,” de Lara spat. “You will go to my father in Wales until you decide what needs to be done. You will be safe there.”
Gart was greatly relieved yet greatly concerned. “You should not involve yourself in this, Kevin. If you send me to your father, you involve him as well.”
Kevin didn’t seem particularly concerned.
“My father hates John, Isabella and everything about them,” he said.
“He is an old man with a good deal of power. He will consider assisting you a victory against the king and his vile queen. You have heard of the Trinity Castles on the Welsh Marches, have you not?”
Gart nodded as they mounted the steps to the keep. “Trelystan, Hyssington and Caradoc Castles. They are great Marcher castles.”
“They are my father’s holdings as Viscount Trelystan.”
“I recall,” Gart said thoughtfully. “But I had nearly forgotten. You do not speak much of your father.”
Kevin shrugged. “I do not speak much of my family in general,” he replied as he pulled Gart to the top of the stairs. “Gather the lady and your possessions. Meet me in the bailey as quickly as you can.”
Gart just stared at him, having one of the weakest and most indecisive moments of his life.
He was so grateful for the help but he didn’t want to involve Kevin and his family in something so serious.
The consequences, for the de Laras, could be as bad as the consequences for Gart.
He looked helplessly at his friend. It was clear he didn’t know what to say.
“And then what?” he asked quietly. “It will not end there, Kevin. I must still….”
Kevin waved a big hand towards the keep. “It will end right here if you do not get moving,” he told him. “You can make decisions once you reach my father’s castle, but until then, you can….”
He was cut off by a shout from the wall. Both Kevin and Gart strained to catch a glimpse of what the sentries were pointing at. From their vantage point at the top of the stairs, they could see some of the countryside beyond the walls but not much. Gart shouted up to the battlement.
“What do you see?”
One of his men answered. “Buckland colors, my lord!”
Gart and Kevin looked at each other, stricken. “He is already here,” Kevin hissed. “You must go now if there is any hope for survival. Go to Trelystan Castle near Welshpool and I will meet you there.”
Gart didn’t waste any time. He raced into the keep and on into the great hall, watching as Emberley and the children looked up from their meal at him. He was barreling at frightening speed and Emberley shot to her feet, immediately on her guard.
“What is wrong?” she asked. “Why are you…?”
He grabbed her by the arms, pulling her away from the table so the children couldn’t hear him.
But the children were sharp and they could see his agitated manner.
Gart was a man always in control, especially around them, and his demeanor roused their concern.
Gart didn’t look at the children as he focused on Emberley, taking a deep breath and struggling for calm.
“Buckland has come to escort you to London,” he told her quietly, quickly. “We must escape now or all will be lost.”
Emberley’s eyes widened with shock. “Julian is here?”
He shook his head. There was no time for explanations. “Please,” he begged softly. “Just do as I say. We must escape. You know this castle – how may we escape unseen?”
Emberley’s big eyes filled with tears, overflowing as he watched. She was struggling not to fly into full-blown panic. “There… there is a postern gate by the kitchen yard.”
“Is it locked?”
She shook her head. “During the day it remains unlocked for those who would pass through to do business with the cook.”
“Is that the only way out?”
“Other than the gatehouse, it is the only gate in the wall.”
Gart nodded swiftly. “Then we take the gate,” he went to the table, scooping Lacy into his arms. The little girl threw his head in a bear hug and began to slobber on his cheek. “Get the boys and follow me.”
Terrified, Emberley did as she was told, grabbing little hands and pulling them along.
But the boys didn’t understand and they began whining for their toy swords.
Just as Gart reached the narrow stairs that led down to the kitchen on the floor below them, Kevin darted in through the keep entry.
Gart threw open the door to the stairs as Kevin raced into the great hall.
“Gart,” he was trying not to shout. “Buckland’s men are upon us, at least sixty or seventy of them. They are spreading out around the fortress wall as a small party approaches the gate. You cannot make it out of here in time with all of this baggage.”
He was referring to the children, who were already dragging their feet and complaining loudly.
Emberley looked at the strange knight, confused by his appearance, and then to Gart with such fear that he could physically feel it like knives stabbing his heart.
He didn’t want to acknowledge that de Lara was right but he knew, deep down, that the man had a point.
They could not escape with four screaming children.
They would be a target, and a very slow one at that.
“If they find you here, they will kill you,” Emberley whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Those men are loyal to Julian and if they see you….”
He cut her off, his face a mask of anguish. “I will not let them take you to London.”
She grabbed his arm. “And I cannot stand by while they kill you,” she begged, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Gart. Hide somewhere. I have faith that you will come for us but for now, my priority is keeping you safe from Julian’s men. Please.”
He stared at her, torn and in agony, as Kevin agreed with Emberley. “She is right, Gart,” he told him. “You must hide. Let the escort take her out of here and we will follow. It will be a simple thing to steal them once they are upon the road.”
Gart sighed heavily, raggedly. “What about my men? They are on the walls.”
“I have already told them to scatter and regroup in the town,” he told them. “They are clearing out and so should we.”
“And what about you?”
“I am a visitor passing through on my way to London. They will not know or care who I am, but they will care about you.”
“Go,” Emberley reached up to pull Lacy from his arms and the little girl screamed unhappily. “Please go, Gart. We will wait for you to come for us before we reach London. I have faith in you.”
Gart stared at her, truly concerned that he was going to burst into tears. He’d never felt so much pain in his life. There wasn’t time to argue. He threw his arms around her, kissing both her and the unhappy baby.
“I love you,” he murmured. “I will see you all again, very soon.”
“Gart?” Romney was pulling on his leg. “Can I come with you? I can help you.”
Gart felt more pain at the boy’s brave offer. He touched the lad on the head affectionately. “I know you can,” he said quietly. “But it is more important that you stay with your mother. She will need your protection.”
“She has Orin and Brendt. She does not need me, but you do. Who will help you?”
Gart sighed faintly, so deeply touched by the boy’s earnest question. Before he could answer, Kevin spoke.
“I will help him, lad,” he gave Gart a tug, hissing at him. “We must leave. Now.”
Romney eyed Gart before looking to his mother, seeing her eyes full of tears and her lower lip trembling.
As young as he was, he wasn’t stupid. He could see that something was happening between his mother and the knight.
He’d seen Gart steal kisses from her and since his father had left for London, he’d never seen his mother smile so much.
She was happy and he didn’t have to buy her any more gifts to please her.
Gart made her happy and made her smile. But he also knew that his father must never know how happy Gart had made his mother or terrible things would happen.
Gart had to leave. He slipped his hand into his mother’s elbow.
“Come on, Mama,” he pulled at her. “Gart must go before Father’s men come.”
Romney’s gentle encouragement was all Emberley needed to hear for her composure to leave her.
She broke down into soft sobs as Gart kissed her again, murmuring of his love for her, before being pulled away by Kevin.
It was a painful parting. Emberley’s last glimpse of Gart was as he and Kevin disappeared down the stairs to the kitchen, her heart breaking into a million pieces when he vanished from sight.
Next to her, Romney was pulling on his mother insistently.
“Come along, Mama,” he told her. “Sit down.”
Weeping pitifully, something Gart had said to her suddenly rang true in her head.
He wants so much to be a man. She looked at Romney’s serious face and already, she could see Gart’s influence on the boy.
He’d grown up sometime during the past seven weeks and she hadn’t even noticed. Her tears ran fresh.
“You are a good boy, Rom,” she kissed his forehead. “You will be a fine man someday. I am very proud of you.”
Romney regarded his mother a moment. “Why did Father send his men from London?”
Emberley wiped at her eyes. “Because… because it would seem that he wants us to go to him in London.”
“I do not want to go.”
“We do not have a choice.”
Romney wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.
He was proud that his mother recognized his strength but very concerned that Gart had fled and his father’s men were about the castle.
He liked Gart a great deal, feeling guilty because he liked him more than his father.
He didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Romney looked at Orin, who was standing with Brendt, wide-eyed as they watched the situation unfold.
“Get Mama some wine,” he told Orin. “Hurry up. And do not spill it.”
Orin nodded his blond head emphatically and rushed to the alcove of the hall where the wine and ale were usually stored. Brendt came to sit next to his mother on the bench, gazing up at her with frightened, blue eyes, and Emberley put an arm around her son’s shoulder and hugged him gently.
“Everything will be all right,” she promised softly. “But we must never mention Gart to Father or to his men, ever. It is a serious secret we must keep or else your father will become very angry. Do you understand?”
Romney and Brendt nodded seriously as Orin returned with a full cup of wine, struggling not to spill a drop.
He carefully extended it to his mother, who smiled as she took it from him.
She wiped the remaining moisture from her eyes, trying not to think about Gart and his safety as she took a healthy swallow of the tart, red wine.
To dwell on Gart would only drive her mad.
She could hear men outside, shouting in the bailey.
She knew that Julian had left behind a few men to man the walls and they would undoubtedly speak of Gart Forbes’ men.
It was something she couldn’t get around, but she wasn’t particularly concerned for herself at the moment.
She could make up an excuse and say they were de Lohr’s men.
Gart was out there, somewhere, trying to find a safe haven to hide from Buckland’s party.
The more she thought on it, the more fearful she became.
She was compelled to do something to help him.
“Rom,” she set the wine down on the well-scrubbed table surface.
“Follow the path that Gart took down the stairs and into the kitchen. Find him and help him find a place to hide. We know this place better than he does, do we not? Make sure you keep him out of sight. I will distract your father’s men as much as I can, but you must help Gart.
If they find him, they will kill him. Do you understand? ”
Romney nodded seriously. “Aye, Mama.”
Emberley touched his cheek sweetly. “Good lad,” she whispered. “Hurry, now. Find him and help him.”
Romney was off, sprinting to the stairs that led down to the kitchen as Emberley rose from the bench and set the baby to her feet.
She smoothed her surcoat, composing herself, preparing to do what she must to keep both her and Gart alive.
She knew all of Julian’s men on sight and was preparing what she would say to them.
They had come to take her to London and she would know why.
She was quite concerned, in truth, because any reason she could come up with was not a good one. With Brendt in one hand and Orin carrying Lacy, she made her way to the keep entry just in time to see one of Julian’s senior sergeants mount the stairs.
She couldn’t keep the dread from her heart as she watched the man approach.