Free Margaret Moore - [Warrior 14] by In The Kings Service

to Lord Throckton.
    “Eh?” The man looked taken aback, until he followed Blaidd’s glance. “Oh, she is, is she?” he said, sounding neither pleased nor otherwise. “She’ll probably not stay with us for more than a little while. She’ll go galloping off and return when she wills.”
    The man’s matter-of-fact tone prompted Blaidd to say, “With an escort, I assume.”
    Lord Throckton frowned and shook his head. “She’ll lose ’em before they know she’s gone. Always has, always will.”
    “But surely, my lord, even if your lands are safe, a lone woman shouldn’t—”
    “She’ll be safe,” his host interrupted in a tone of finality. “She’s been doing this for years, and there’s not an outlaw who could catch her, anyway.”
    “My lord, surely there must be a soldier or two who could keep up with her,” Blaidd persisted, appalled to think the man had so little concern for a daughter’s safety.
    “And I told you, she’s been giving us the slip since she was a little girl,” Lord Throckton replied, smiling but clearly losing his patience. “I’ve tried warning her, ordering her, frightening her, and she still won’tlisten. Short of tying her to her bed, I’ve run out of ideas. If you have any, young man, I’ll listen—but I won’t guarantee they’ll work.”
    Blaidd realized he’d protested too much, and sought to lessen the damage. After all, Lady Rebecca was her father’s responsibility, not his. “I’m sorry, my lord.”
    Lord Throckton’s annoyance fled as quickly as it had arisen, and he clapped Blaidd companionably on the shoulder. “Well, in most cases, you’d be right about the risk, but this is the exception. Still, it says a lot that you felt concerned enough to speak out. Spare me the spineless stripling who says only what he thinks I want to hear.” His hand fell as he turned. “Now where in the name of the saints is Laelia? It’ll be noon before we’re gone at this rate. Laelia! ” he bellowed, the name echoing off the walls and drawing everyone’s attention.
    “Here, Father! There’s no need to shout,” the lady said as she appeared at the entrance to the hall, blushing and looking prettily upset. “I was just putting on my cloak.”
    And a beautiful cloak it was, of soft, dark blue wool trimmed with fox, with a hood that framed her beautiful face. Beneath the cloak, Blaidd spied a skirt of lighter blue wool.
    The groom holding the white mare led it forward.
    Blaidd immediately offered to help Lady Laelia, an offer she didn’t decline.
    As he held his hands for her to step into, he glancedtoward the gate again, to see Lady Rebecca swing into the saddle unaided.
    He could just imagine the look she’d give him if he’d offered to assist her.
    The pressure of Lady Laelia’s foot in his palms reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing.
    And that he should pay attention to her, not her sister.

Chapter Six
    T here was one good thing about the delay leaving Throckton Castle that morning: the road was much less muddy than it would have been earlier. Although there were plenty of puddles, the higher ground was quite dry.
    It was damper in the wood the hunting party entered. The hounds sniffed at nearly everything, and the horses’ hooves squelched in the mud. Several startled sparrows flew up into the cloudless sky and scattered. Occasionally a squirrel paused as it ran by on a branch, and stared at them as if wondering what they were doing there.
    The beaters had gone on ahead, and the other servants, whose tasks were to transport the weapons, tend to the hounds and carry home the game, came behind, their voices hushed as they whispered together. Occasionally some of them laughed, and often in that burst of laughter, Blaidd distinguished the musical merriment of Lady Rebecca. She seemed to behaving a wonderful time. He, meanwhile, was riding between a silent Lady Laelia, who looked a little pale as she gripped her reins, and her father.
    Another burst of