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СКАЧАТЬ skillful stealth she slipped out of the room. There was one thing she had to do before she left the inn. Cautiously, she made her way to Janet’s tiny alcove. It was easy enough to slip inside. She mused wryly that she could have slipped right into the bed Janet and Ligulf shared except that Ligulf was awake. By instinct, he grabbed for his sword, then gaped when he recognized her. She watched his surprise quickly alter to concern.

      “Does something ail Gamel?”

      “Nay.” She moved to the side of the bed, smiling faintly at Janet, who began to wake up. “He still sleeps.”

      “Then why are ye here?”

      “I hope to fend off his first unkind thoughts when he finds me gone. I wish to keep such bitter conclusions from settling in his mind, although in truth, he deserves little consideration from me.” She held out a medallion of finely wrought silver. “Will ye give this to him, please?”

      “Where did ye get something like this?” he asked as he accepted it.

      “’Tisnae stolen. ’Tis a trinket from my past. My past is what rules me now. I must find it and restore it.”

      “I dinnae understand ye.”

      “There are wrongs I must set right, grievous wrongs. Things stolen that I must regain, murders—aye, murders—I must and will avenge. My heritage has been stained with blood and treachery. I intend to wipe that stain away. I vowed to do all this for myself and for my half brothers six long years ago. For six years I have clung to my vow. I cannae, willnae, allow myself to be swayed from it. Not for your brother. Nay, not even for Farthing if he asked it of me.”

      “Gamel asked ye to stay with him?”

      The shock in the youth’s voice stung a little. “He expects it, but I just told ye why I cannae.”

      “Why didnae ye just tell him yourself?”

      Faint color seeped into her checks. “I would have had to wake him.”

      Janet laughed softly. “And then there would have been no leaving.”

      Sine grimaced. “Just so.”

      Ligulf eyed Sine curiously. “Are ye certain Farthing still waits for ye? Mayhaps he left.”

      “Nay, Master Ligulf, he would never leave me. Farthing spent the night beneath your brother’s window.” She managed to smile at his surprise. “I must go now or all my stealth will be for naught.”

      “Wait but a moment. I am confused. Are ye saying ye would leave your husband for Gamel?”

      “I would leave Farthing for him, but I wouldnae forsake my vow.”

      “Nay, ye are wed. Gamel would never bring an adulteress into our home,” he muttered. “Ye must have misheard him.”

      “He said, ‘Not just this night, Sine Catriona. Ye are mine,’ and he pressed me to admit it. Howbeit, he went no further than that. He offered me no honorable situation, no choice of becoming his wife or his leman. Nevertheless, ’tis certain he doesnae mean for me to leave.”

      “Nay, ’tis certain.”

      “Be sure to tell him all I have said as I have said it.”

      “I will, but he will still ken that ye have climbed back into Farthing Magnus’s bed.”

      Again she smiled, unable to hide her amusement. “Oh, nay, nay. He will never think that.” She grew serious again. “Tell him that when my vow is fulfilled I will return, although I dinnae expect him to wait for me. Not only am I unsure of what he meant by my being his, but my work could take months, years. It already has.

      “Tell him he was right. It pleases me little to say so, to admit I am his. He has been extremely arrogant and most unkind to Farthing. Howbeit, I fear I am his. No matter what time or events transpire, no matter what people come between us. I feel not only ravished this dawn, but also branded and bonded.”

      “Yet ye leave.”

      “I told ye—I must. ’Tisnae easy. ’Twill be impossible if he wakes. So give him my medallion and tell him it is all I may leave behind.”

      “Good luck, Catriona.”

      “Thank ye, Janet.” She gave the confused Ligulf a parting smile and slipped out of the room.

      Farthing left the shadows beneath Gamel’s window as soon as he saw Sine Catriona approach. Without a word he held out his arms, and pulled her close when she stepped into them. He could see that she was unharmed, but he knew she was now changed. He also sensed that she was deeply troubled. Guilt gnawed at him. He had brought her to this impasse but could now only stand by helpless and sympathetic.

      “Do ye give up your quest now?” he asked.

      She shook her head. “Nay, I cannae. ’Tis not only for me, is it? ’Tis for the twins as weel. Aye, and ’tis to ease the souls of my murdered father and their murdered mother.”

      “Then we best flee from here—now. The twins are already in the cart. ’Tis wise to be as far away as we can be ere that knight rouses,” he said as he released her and started toward their conveyance.

      Hurrying along at his side, she asked, “Do ye think he will give chase?”

      “Aye, if he has no commitment to draw him elsewhere for now.”

      “We could never outrun him, Farthing.”

      “Nay, but there are only four of them. They dinnae ken where we head. That leaves them with a dozen or more routes to choose from. That gives us an admirable advantage.”

      It was not until she, Farthing, and the still-sleeping twins were all well on their way down an obscure, little traveled route that Farthing touched upon the matter of Gamel again. “Ye considered staying with him.”

      “Aye.” She sighed. “He didnae make clear what he intended for me but, aye, I thought on it. ’Twas difficult beyond words to leave him this morning.”

      “Ah, poor Catriona. To find the one who lights the flame, only to have to leave him behind?” He shook his head.

      “Ye dinnae appear surprised. Ye could see how it would be?”

      “Aye.”

      “Then what was the cause of all your fury?”

      “It had many causes. The mon gave ye no choice. We didnae, and still dinnae, ken who he is. He meant to dishonor ye. So too did I sense that ye would find yourself as torn as ye are now. I sorely wished to save ye from that. Then again, he is a bastard, said so himself. Ye are legitimate and highborn.”

      “That matters little. ’Twas verra clear to see that he is learned, trained, and not poor.”

      “Verra clear. Are ye sure he couldnae be the knight ye seek to aid ye?”

      “Sadly, aye, verra sure. As he told us, he is a bastard. They dinnae command armies.”

      “Rarely. СКАЧАТЬ