Chapter 13
“Where is she?” Alex asked Lora. He had searched the archery field, Merewyn’s chamber and the stable. Finally, more than a little annoyed, he had come to the hall. Though it would be hours before the evening meal, he was nearly frenetic.
Lora returned his gaze. In her eyes, he detected unease. “Welcome home, Sir Alex.” Then, lowering her eyes, in a soft voice she said, “Merewyn is not here.”
His blood began to boil. “What do you mean, ‘not here’? Where is she?” he demanded.
She raised her head, her dark eyes full of regret. “She left Talisand yesterday, we believe with Owain. I did not see her go.”
It was not a name Alex knew, but it sounded Welsh. “Who is this Owain and why would Merewyn leave Talisand with him?”
Lora’s attention shifted to the few servants who were cleaning the tables.
“Come,” he said, “we can speak outside.” In the bailey, he urged Lora to a more secluded place, scattering chickens as he strode across the hard earth. “Now, tell me who Owain is and what happened.”
Brushing a strand of dark hair from her face, Lora took a deep breath and let it out before responding. “While you and the others were gone, a man from Wales came to see Merewyn. Owain is a prince of Powys and nephew to Rhodri. She and Owain were friends in Wales.”
“She left with this Owain?”
Lora nodded.
How could she leave me? Did my love mean nothing? He had promised to return, assuming he survived. Why would she not wait for him? Given what they had shared, what they had vowed, he could not understand how she would leave and with another man.
“Tell me about this Welshman. I would know more.”
As he and Lora left the bailey and walked toward the river, the wind stirred the dry leaves that had fallen to the path. The days of autumn were dwindling.
He listened as Merewyn’s friend described the archer, Rhodri’s nephew, who had taught her to shoot from her pony.
“Did she have tender feelings for him?” He had to know but he dreaded the answer.
“As far as I could tell, she considered him only a friend. But I think he would have her be more. I could see it in the way he looked at her. Some of the men believed him a spy for the Welsh, but he asked no questions about the men, where you had gone or the king’s plans.
He spent all of his time with Merewyn, even helping her teach the children archery. ”
“She said nothing to you about leaving?”
Lora shook her head. “Nay.”
“But you are her good friend!”
“I do not understand it myself, Alex. It came as a complete surprise. You might ask Jamie about Owain. I think they had a conversation or two. In your absence, Jamie was very protective of Merewyn. He was not pleased when he discovered she was gone.”
Alex took his mail to the armory and washed the dirt from his face.
He’d been covered with more dirt than he realized.
Donning a fresh tunic, he went looking for his father’s captain.
He found him in the practice yard sparring with one of the house knights.
When the match ended, Alex signaled to Jamie, who sheathed his sword and came toward him.
Jamie ran his fingers through his curly hair and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I had heard you and the men were back and the king has made peace with the Scots. A good result.”
“ ’Tis true, but not why I have sought you out.” Alex was impatient to glean as much information as he could about the woman he had thought of every day he was gone. “Lora said Merewyn has left with some Welshman. Do you know anything of it?”
He hesitated before answering. “A bit.” Folding his arms over his chest, Jamie said, “He arrived one day about a fortnight after you left. I am certain Merewyn did not expect him, but she seemed quite happy to see him. She knew him from her time in Wales.”
“That much I have already ascertained.”
Jamie’s blue eyes were in earnest. “He said he came for her. Told me that when I questioned his purpose in being here.”
“And while he was among you… What passed between them?”
The captain uncrossed his arms and again ran his hand through his hair. “They practiced archery in the afternoons, played chess in the evenings and I occasionally saw them riding their ponies together. He has one much like hers, only gray.”
“Did she say anything about leaving with him?”
“I do not think so. Certainly not to me. Last night at the evening meal, your lady mother noted Merewyn’s absence and asked about her.
No one knew where Merewyn was and a search disclosed she was not among us.
Then we realized Owain was gone, too, and both their ponies were missing from the stable. ”
Alex frowned, speaking his thoughts aloud. “I cannot believe she would leave without saying goodbye to my mother and her friend, Lora.” Or to me. “Merewyn has made a life here. Why would she go back to Wales?”
“I doubt she would want me to tell you, but I believe she left for you.”
“For me?” he asked, incredulous. “Why, when I want her to stay?”
“Because she believed you might be tempted to disobey King William if she stayed. The affection between you two was clear to all who had seen you together.”
“I will not wed the woman William has chosen for me,” Alex said forcefully.
“Would you defy your king to wed Merewyn, a Norman’s bastard?”
“Do not call her that! She had no choice in the matter of her birth. And, yes, I would defy William to have her.” I have defied my king to have her.
Jamie smiled. “The wolf defends his chosen mate. I am glad to see it.”
Alex scowled, impatient to be going. “I must find her.” The wind stirred in the trees, drawing his attention to the branches half-bared of leaves. Soon the coming winter would prevent him from crossing the mountains of Wales to find her.
“Take Rory and Guy with you,” Jamie counseled. “Wales has many archers.”
* * *
Jamie watched as Alex strode back to the hall, his long legs eating up the ground. It was at such moments the son reminded him of the father. He had no doubt Alex had gone to advise Talisand’s lord of his plans and would soon be summoning his two friends.
He had provoked Alex enough to reveal his possessive feelings toward Merewyn and yet preserved unbroken his promise to her to say nothing about the babe.
Alex was a strong knight who handled himself well in battle. Mayhap he could reclaim Merewyn without killing the Welsh prince. ’Twould be a good thing because to kill Rhodri’s nephew would be messy and neither Lady Serena nor Merewyn would like it.
Merewyn’s leaving without saying goodbye had dismayed Lora and concerned Lady Serena.
Both were women close to Jamie’s heart. One was like an older sister, having raised him after he’d lost both his parents.
And the other he intended to make his wife.
Merewyn loved both of them. Leaving Talisand without saying a word was not something she would have done, which caused him to wonder, had she gone willingly?
* * *
The day grew colder. The sky turned a pale gray, hovering, it seemed, just above her head as Merewyn reached up with both hands, her wrists still tied together, and pulled her hood down farther over her head.
She huddled beneath the woolen cloak, a gift from Lady Serena.
Made from the wool of Talisand’s sheep, it would keep her warm even in the snow she believed would fall before they arrived in Wales.
It was not unknown for snow to fall at the end of October. She remembered once when it had descended on Talisand at that time. The sheep had stood in the meadow looking perplexed, blinking the white flakes from their eyes, as she and Lora, then young girls, had erupted in laughter.
What must Lora think of her sudden departure?
And Lady Serena? Surely they knew her well enough to believe she would never leave without some word of explanation.
But they had seen her with Owain and must be wondering.
She did not want them to worry. And what would Alex think?
Had he returned by now? Was he hale and whole?
She had once thought to leave before he returned but now she saw how wrong that would have been.
She peeked out of her hood to see Owain riding in front of her on his gray pony. He, too, had donned a cloak, brown like his hair and most of his clothing.
She was relieved that he had not pressed her to ride long days or at a great pace.
She did not fear for the babe. Serena had always ridden into the early months of carrying a child, but in the afternoons, Merewyn sometimes felt queasy until she had nibbled on some bread.
The frequent stops Owain made had allowed her the time she needed to eat and relieve herself and, for that, she was grateful.
“You have been kind, Owain.”
He looked at her over his shoulder. “And why would I not be kind to the woman I expect to marry?”
“Owain…”
“I know what you have said, but the passage of time may change your thinking on the matter.”
When the path widened, he pulled Ceinder’s reins, drawing her nearer so that they rode abreast.
“We would do well together, you and I,” he said. “Rhodri and Fia would be pleased were I to take you as my wife. I would raise the child as my own, of that you need have no concern.”
She inclined her head to glimpse his mouth, twitching up in a grin.
“In time,” he said, “you might even learn to love me.”
Merewyn was not at all convinced one could “learn to love” someone, particularly when she had given her heart to another, but she was comforted in the knowledge that Owain did not mean her ill.
He might have forced her to leave Talisand, but she did not think he would force her to his bed.
He had not even tried to kiss her. But his long lingering looks told her he wanted to.
“Where will we seek shelter this night?” she asked. They had made camp in the woods the night before but the weather had been more favorable then.
“I know a place. ’Tis not far.”
* * *