Once Upon a Romance 02 - As The Last Petal Falls (40 page)

Fain was going crazy. Word of the princess’s arrival at the castle, and the King’s almost immediate proposal of marriage, had filtered out into the kingdom. Then, nothing. Not a single person knew what had happened
after
she fainted at the feast. Every day for the past month, Fain had ma de up his mind to ride out and rescue her from Brannon, and every day he changed it back again. Not only did he realize how hopeless that was, but he also knew Vivienne would be furious with him if he got himself captured when she didn’t actually need his help. So, instead of acting on impulse, he paced. The men of the keep had learned to stay out of his way as he strode back and forth in the great hall, staring into the fire and muttering about headstrong women.

Connelly and Baines had gotten in the habit of taking turns standing vigil over him. They would sit in a chair out of the way of his rapid steps, periodically bringing him a mug of tea or a slice of fresh bread from the Shapherds. When a man came in with a problem, they would handle it themselves, only disturbing him if it required his attention. At first Fain had sharpened his focus every time a runner came, hoping for news of Vivi, but as time passed and the only reports that came concerned the weather or the latest raid, he had stopped paying attention. About the only news that had interested him of late was that Marlplot hadn’t returned on time from his visit home. Fain was worried about the lad, enough so that he was planning an excursion to the village himself. If nothing else, a few nights away from here might keep him from going insane with worry over that crazy woman.

He was just thinking of who to take along on his trip when he heard a commotion outside the door to the great hall. He ignored it. Baines would take care of it. Perhaps he should leave Baines in charge while he went to fetch Marlplot.

“I swear, Fain MacTíre, I know you have weighty things on your mind, but taking a minute to say hello wouldn’t kill you.”

Fain’s head snapped up. There, hip cocked out, eyebrow raised, and eyes twinkling with a teasing light, stood Vivienne. In her hand was a rose stem, with a single petal still attached. Baines was grinning in the doorway, and several of the men were laughing in the hall, but Fain ignored them all. Instead he leapt across the distance separating him from Vivi and crushed her to his chest. She stretched up in his arms, and their lips met in a fervent kiss. Fain broke away and rested his forehead on hers.

“You are enough to drive a man insane with worry, Vivienne.”

“I promise to apologize effusively later,” she murmured, giving him another brief kiss. “But for the moment, it will have to wait.” She held the rose stem up and watched with fearful eyes as the last petal drifted to the floor.

“We have to get out of here. Now.”

The keep was a frantic beehive of activity. At Vivi’s urgent words, Fain had begun barking orders. He didn’t waste time asking her to explain herself; he got everyone moving. Men were gathering their personal belongings, things they couldn’t bear to leave behind, and then packing provisions for the road. The Shapherds were in the kitchen, handing out packet after packet of hardtack and jerky. Connor was in the stables, making sure every mount was fed, watered, and strapped with gear. Eric Tully and Baines were working in tandem, assigning men to smaller groups that would travel together in case the large group split up.

Sean Kelly hunched over a map, trying to plot the best routes to the border, as Fain and Connelly turned to Vivienne expectantly.

“What happened?”

“We don’t really have time for all the details. Brannon has discovered your location. He’s on his way here, now, with two hundred trained fighting men, to root you out of his kingdom.”

“Two hundred!” Kelly straightened up from his map. “I thought it was an army. Why are we running? We’ve got even numbers, and
we
have the walls to hide behind.”

Fain looked at him scornfully. “And how long would we last, pent up in the keep, unable to hunt or forage?”

“Then we attack! We could take the blaggards down.”

“Kelly, you’re a fair archer, and the best tracker I’ve ever seen, but you know nothing of battles or warfare. Two hundred mounted men, with armor and shields and decades of sword training, could defeat us even if we had twice our number. All we could do is die.”

Sean’s face was belligerent, but as Vivienne and Connelly both nodded solemnly the fight drained out of him, and his brow narrowed in concentration. “Won’t they catch us?”

Connelly laughed. “Ah, lad. Peasant boys canna beat mounted knights on the field, but a mounted knight canna track a woodsman that dinna care ta be found. Never fear, we’ll slip through his trap.”

Kelly turned his troubled eyes back to the map, and Fain looked down at Vivienne.

“I know we don’t have time, but I want to hear the rest of the story.”

“I’ll tell you everything once we’re clear. But Fain, there’s one other thing you need to know now.”

An awful suspicion bloomed in his mind. “What?”

“They have John Marlplot.”

Fain shut his eyes against the awful news. How had this happened? How was he going to get John out? He couldn’t just leave the poor man; he had no illusions about what Brannon would do to any of the outlaws that fell into his hands. He felt Vivi poke him in the stomach.

“Open your eyes and attend me, you great oaf. I have a plan to get Marlplot out.”

He cracked one eye. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Dinna be daft, MacTíre.” Connelly held a large brown sack that Vivienne had gifted him a few minutes before, beaming at its contents. “The lass is brilliant. Let me brew us a quick cup o’ tea while she tells us how she plans ta save Master Marlplot’s enormous hide.”

Fain sent most of the men to their meeting place, just over the border in Albion. Baines was to lead the large group to the designated spot and wait for them for three days. Several of the men were carrying copies of a letter from Vivienne to her father, which they would deliver if Vivi and the others failed to make the rendezvous for any reason. The letter detailed what she knew about Brannon, how he had gained the throne, and what his current hopes were regarding the unification of Albion and Toldas. She didn’t know how much he already knew from her mother’s letters, but she wanted there to be no chance he would be caught unaware by an invasion.

“Lead them down the stream bed, over the rocks, so Brannon’s men can’t track them.”

“Why don’t you teach your grandmother to suck eggs, man?” Baines was cheerfully insulting. “I taught you the tricks to losing another in the woods; I’ll see the men safely to Albion. After all, I’ve got Master Notter here to assist me.” Billy had been despondent when Fain told him he was to go with the larger force, but he’d cheered up when Baines had officially declared him second in command. Now he smiled cheerfully and saluted in a rather sloppy, if highly energetic, fashion.

“The men’re ready to head out, Commander Baines.”

“Well, then, Sub-commander Notter, let’s get them moving.”

In a surprisingly short time they had all disappeared into the forest, leaving behind Connelly, Fain, Vivienne, and the two Shapherd brothers, who were the only men in the keep with the requisite experience to help with the plan. The five of them made their way upstream, walking carefully on the rocks so as to not leave footprints in the clean snow. When they reached the mushroom cave, Vivi heaved a great sigh.

“Why must it always be caves? Why can’t it be a nice, airy glen sometime?”

The cave wasn’t that bad, actually. After a short walk down a relatively large tunnel, they found themselves in a vast cavern. Glowing lichen coated the walls, and in the dim light they could see mushrooms growing everywhere. The river wound among small patches of white and yellow caps, until it disappeared in the subterranean gloom.

Connelly set them to work. He showed them the mushrooms that would work for their purposes, and carefully pointed out the key differences that allowed a less-skilled horticulturist to distinguish them. They spread out around the cavern, gathering basketfuls of any mushroom that Connelly knew to be highly hallucinogenic but otherwise non-toxic.

When Vivienne explained her plan, Matt Shapherd had wanted to know why they didn’t just use the deathcaps.

“Because we can’t be sure Marlplot won’t eat them as well.” It was a real concern, though certainly not the only one. Vivi suspected it was the one that would make the most impact, though, and keep both Shapherds from choosing to add a few deadlier mushrooms to the mix.

Once they had pounds and pounds of the tiny brown mushroom caps, Connelly, Matt, and Marcus set to work stewing them with a few herbs that Connelly assured them would help hide the mushroom taste. While the three men worked, Vivienne finally told them the story of her time in Toldas, explaining how Brannon had come to capture John Marlplot.

“I’m so sorry, Fain. This is all my fault.”

He wrapped an arm around her and shook his head. “It was bound to happen eventually, Vivi. This way, at least, we knew they were coming. Go on.”

She told him about being a prisoner in the palace, but kept the details of her interrogations from him. Fain already hated Brannon; he didn’t need to be tortured with the idea of her being hurt by the man. Instead she spoke lightly, trying to distract him.

“It seems to be my lot in life to be locked up in palaces and keeps by men who think they know better than I do.”

Fain let out a mock growl. “I
do
know better than you.”

“Of course you do, love.” She stretched up to kiss him. Vivienne felt her heart pound harder, and she leaned into him, forgetting the other men in the cave, just grateful to have his hands cupping her face closer as their kiss deepened.

Connelly cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Belle, lass, there’s some here that’d like ta hear the end o’ yer story.”

She broke away from Fain, but gave him a foolish grin before she finished the tale. She didn’t mention the Dame’s vial, or her strange, fey trip through the misty other realm, or the odd rapport she’d had with the animals. Every time she glossed over one of those details, Connelly gave her a wide grin. Obviously the little man knew far more than he was letting on.

Finally they spoke about what they would do now. The basic bones of the plan had been set before they ever fled to the cave, but there were two details on which there was still a great deal of disagreement.

“I say we wait until they’ve eaten, and then we kill them.” Fain’s voice was hard as he said it. Vivienne felt his pain, but she shook her head.

“We can’t, Fain. It’s too dangerous. They won’t be
asleep
, just altered. If we start killing them, they’ll notice! They could easily kill one or more of us, even after the mushrooms take effect.”

“Then I’ll do it alone. Once my knife is buried to the hilt in that traitorous bastard’s chest, they can notice all they want. The deed will be done. “ The hatred in his voice was apparent.

“You
can’t
.” Vivi was desperate to make him see. “Bianca and my mother are alone in a nest of vipers. If word comes back that the king is dead, the first thing that is going to happen is some ambitious noble will make sure the only two other members of the royal bloodline are dealt with. They’ll be dead before the next sunrise. Then the civil war will start, as different houses vie for the throne. Toldas will be awash in blood for years to come.”