Free Deirdre by Linda Windsor Page A

astonished that she didn’t know. “He is lord of all the land you see and more.”
    “So the captain is really a prince?”
    “More of a prince than Ricbert, I can tell you that.” Wimmer’s emphatic nod tolerated no doubt. “It’s to Galstead’s misfortune that the captain’s mother was a slave and Ricbert’s the queen. When her mother named her after a serpent, ’twas an omen.”
    “Praise God!” Scanlan’s chest swelled, most likely with a holy sense of purpose at the challenge that lay before him.
    Deirdre shivered, wondering if her fellow countryman had lost his mind. Only a few chosen were equipped to deal with a supernatural enemy. Was Scanlan one?
    Regardless, it explained Alric’s almost mystical nature. And if this Ricbert were any more dangerous than his illegitimate brother, heaven help them all.
    In the name of Christ, protect us from demons.
    Retreating before she babbled like Orna, Deirdre returned to the mystery of the cloak. More than likely it was stolen. But from whom? Deirdre watched the second mate make his way to the compartment where Alric stowed his belongings. Cairell had no such piece.
    “I had wondered last evening if we’d ever make landfall,” Father Scanlan remarked, drawing her from her ponderings. “And now God’s hand has been shown to us. It is only fit that we give God praise and glory for our deliverance. Will you join me, milady?”
    “We are delivered into the hands of our pagan enemies,” Deirdre reminded him.
    “But alive, milady, with a marvelous opportunity to spread the Word.”
    “Perhaps
you
have the opportunity, but I have been shown nothing of a kind.” Yet, she was alive, and that revealed a different opportunity. She might escape with Orna and the ransom. Perhaps, that was God’s purpose for her.
    “Aye, Father, I will join you in prayer and praise.” Deirdre turned to Orna. The ship’s stillness on shore seemed to have rid her complexion of the sickly green color. She would not be anxious to escape by boat, but the pampered lady-in-waiting was in no shape to affect a journey across a strange land.
    Orna nodded, misreading what was really on Deirdre’s mind, and bowed her head.
    “Father of all heaven and earth,” Scanlan began, already upon his knees in reverent fervor.
    Deirdre knelt beside him, echoing his words in her mind.
    “We thank Thee for our deliverance from the storm and for the civil treatment we have received from our enemies.”
    Civil?
She stumbled over the thought. Her skin still burned from the scorch of Alric’s unsolicited attention.
    “For You have seen to our needs in their midst.”
    Aye, they’d been nourished and protected as much as was possible in such foul weather.
    “We ask Your continued protection and strength as we struggle to do Thy will in this strange place.”
    Father, forgive me for my ingratitude. I don’t mean it. I do appreciate surviving and having our meager needs met.
The slit of her closed eye pried open by the distraction that too often frequented her prayers, and Deirdre spied the
Mell
docked near the village. If Alric intended to let her and Scanlan go as they will—
And forgive me, Lord, for my charade, but it’s to Your purpose of saving your children from slavery—
then the ransom needed to be retrieved before it was discovered.
    “Father, lead us as You did Your prophets of old, that we might reveal to the hearts of these people the light of Your Word and in it, the promise of salvation and hope in—”
    Deirdre discreetly opened her other eye. There appeared to be only two men on watch. Surely after the scarcity of sleep last night, they’d succumb to it once darkness set in.
    “—the precious blood of Your Son. We are not worthy, Lord, but we are willing.”
    Willing,
Deirdre prayed, catching up.
Father, I am willing to try. Go with me, please. I cannot do this without Your blessing.
Deirdre made the sign of the cross, sealing her commitment to Cairell and her mission for