Romancing the Earl (25 page)

Frowning, she retraced her steps and returned to the inner ward. Where next? Buildings that would’ve provided the heart of the castle—the kitchen, dining hall, granary, chapel—were laid out at the edge of the ward. Beyond that, encircling the towers and the inner ward was the outer ward, an important line of defense in castles from this time period.

She eyed the crumbling building against the back wall of the ward in the southwest quadrant and stalked through the doorway. The stone wall was intact, but the roof had caved in, leaving her to pick her way through the ruined timber. She searched through the wood as best she could on her way to the tower and then froze at the sound of boots against stone.

Cate dropped down low and tried to crouch behind some wood. Peering over the top toward the tower, she relaxed as a boy emerged. She stood, smiling with relief.

But he shrieked.

“Oh! I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said.

He looked at her strangely, as if he couldn’t understand her. She remembered where she was and tried again, but in Welsh.

His shoulders released and his mouth ticked up. “It’s all right. I like to play here.”

Cate looked around her and thought of the mischief she would have found had she grown up near such a treasure. “What a wonderful place to play. I should like to be a child again here.”

Elijah rushed into the room. “Cate!”

“I’ve met a friend.” She turned to the boy and introduced Elijah to him in Welsh. “He doesn’t speak English. He’s here playing.”

“Did you ask him if he’s seen a sword?”

“No, but that’s an excellent suggestion.” Cate moved closer to the boy. “I wonder if you could help us. We’re looking for something that’s been here for a very long time, nigh on four hundred years. A sword.” As soon as she said the words, she realized how foolish they sounded. If this boy had found a sword, he certainly wouldn’t have left it untouched. But that didn’t mean he didn’t know where it was.

The boy’s earth-colored eyes darkened. He shook his head. “I don’t know anything about a sword.”

Cate frowned and looked at Elijah. “He doesn’t know anything.”

“I gathered that from his demeanor, although I also gather he knows more than he’s saying. He became guarded when you mentioned the sword.”

She’d thought so too.

Wade and Grey entered then. “Haven’t found anything yet,” Wade announced.

Cate gestured toward the boy. “We did. He’s just here playing, and no, he doesn’t know anything about the sword.”

“So he says,” Elijah added.

“Perhaps we should look for a clue in the tapestry.” Wade pulled the bag from his shoulder and set it on a rotting slab of wood that looked as though it had once been a table. He took out the map and laid it out flat.

They all moved closer to inspect it, except for Cate. “I’ve looked at that until my eyes crossed. I don’t think there’s anything more to be discerned.”

The boy arched his neck to see what they were doing. “What is that?” he asked Cate.

“It’s a special tapestry. It shows a battle that was fought here four hundred years ago. Would you like to see it?”

The boy nodded and Cate gestured for him to come forward.

They made space for him at the table. He inhaled, a sound of total awe, as he looked at the vibrant picture. “That’s Glyndwr!” He pointed at the man wielding the sword.

Cate exchanged looks with Elijah. “Yes, we think so too.”

“Oh, no, it
is
him! I’ve heard of this battle and this tapestry. His daughter made it.”

Cate’s heart froze in her chest. He’d heard of this tapestry? Glendower’s daughter had made it? She squatted down to the boy’s height. “How do you know of this?”

He shot her an innocent glance, all of his earlier caution gone as if it had never been. “It’s an old story. My father tells it better.”

“Would your father tell us this story?”

“I don’t know. He only tells it to certain people.”

Cate’s pulse raced.

“What’s he saying?” Elijah asked.

Cate looked up at him, eager to share what the boy had said. But the sound of a pistol cocking robbed her of speech.

“Cate.” Elijah grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side.

The boy’s eyes widened. He turned and ran for a window, vaulting through it to the middle ward.

“Don’t ye move,” a male voice called. Cate turned her head this way and that to try to find the source, but she didn’t see anyone. “We’re all around ye.”

Wade and Grey stood back-to-back, pistols already in their hands.
 

“What do you want?” Elijah asked loudly as he slowly picked up the tapestry and carefully folded it.

“You know what they want,” Cate hissed, nodding at the tapestry.

A single man walked around the corner from the direction of the tower, where this room flowed into another along the adjacent wall of the ward. As with the highwaymen who’d attacked them two days ago, a mask covered his face from hair to mouth. “I want that tapestry. Just put it back down and be on yer way.”

“No,” Elijah said.

The man sneered, his pistol trained on Elijah’s chest. “If ye want to keep breathin’, ye’ll do as ye’re told. This isn’t goin’ to be like the other day. There’s more o’ us than there are o’ ye and the second his lordship puts his hand on a weapon, he’s a dead man.”

Fear curdled Cate’s stomach. She would do anything to protect Elijah, but she also didn’t want to lose the tapestry.

“We have to give it to them,” Elijah whispered. “We already have what we need.”

“Probably, but it’s a valuable artifact. That boy said it was made by Glendower’s daughter.” Whether it led to a sword or not, it was now an important piece of Welsh history.

He looked down at her. “You expect me to safeguard it?”

She wasn’t sure he could—and she didn’t want him to be in danger. “I do, but at the same time, I don’t see how you can.”

“Stop yer chatterin’ and put the tapestry down afore I tell me lads to start shootin’.”

Elijah looked at Wade and they seemed to exchange some sort of silent communication. He didn’t look at Cate, but spoke in his quietest tone yet, his lips barely moving. “When I touch your shoulder, I want you to drop to the ground. Get as low as you can.”

Cate’s gut clenched and a cold sweat broke out on her neck. She didn’t dare nod, didn’t want to notify the villains of their plans. But she also didn’t want Elijah to die. The tapestry wasn’t worth that.

She turned, pressing against Elijah, intent on telling him they should just go, but he pushed on her shoulder, and her knees buckled, almost with a will of their own. She flattened herself into the grass and mud as a shot sounded over her head. Terror sliced through her, but she stayed down. And prayed.

Elijah whipped his pistol from his waistband and fired at the brigand who’d just missed him. The bullet pierced the man’s shoulder, dropping him to the ground. Gunfire sounded around him, coming from the other villains lurking amidst the ruins.

“Get down!” Elijah called, turning toward Wade and Grey, who had already fired their weapons. They were down, but not by choice.

Wade bent over Grey, who grimaced in pain.

One of the brigands came from behind a pile of timber and raced for Elijah. Cate’s head came up, but Elijah barked, “Stay down!”

He dropped the tapestry as the villain scrambled over the wood and launched himself at Elijah. He’d just pulled his knife from his boot when the brigand knocked him backward.

The man moved quickly, dodging Elijah’s knife thrust and rolling to the side. Elijah shoved him off and caught sight of Wade engaged with another villain.

“Get the tapestry!” one of the villains yelled.

Elijah kicked at his opponent and tried to push himself up.

“No!” Cate’s plea sent icy fear straight through his gut.

He turned in time to see a man rip the tapestry from her hands and then strike her across the face. She landed in a heap. Elijah growled as he sprang forward like a wolf on the hunt.

“Run!” the man who’d attacked Elijah cried from behind him.

Elijah felt a whoosh of air and stepped neatly to the left just as the blade of a knife scratched across his upper back, tearing his coat. Gripping the knife in his hand, he turned with an upper cut and sliced through the other man’s coat from chest to shoulder. He barely managed to catch a bit of flesh, causing the man to lose his footing and fall back.

“Elijah, he’s getting away!”

Turning to her, Elijah saw the brigand clutch the tapestry beneath his arm and flee the cluttered chamber. Elijah wanted to give chase, but he couldn’t leave Cate or the injured Grey. The tapestry might be valuable, but it wasn’t worth any of them dying. Losing Matthew was bad enough, and he was now irrevocably convinced that his death hadn’t been an accident.

Elijah spun back to check on his valet. Wade stood heaving, his own knife at the ready. But the air had gone quiet. Now that they had the tapestry, it seemed the villains had gone.
 

Wade turned and dropped to his knees to tend to Grey. Elijah went to Cate and helped her to stand. “Are you all right?” he asked, touching her reddened cheek. He shouldn’t be so familiar, but he couldn’t help himself.

She stared up at him, her eyes nearly as dark as pitch. Tugging herself from his grip, she pressed her lips together. “I hate that they have the tapestry.”

He stroked his thumb against her flesh. “I know.”

Her gaze shifted to something behind him and she gasped. She pulled away and rushed toward Grey. “What happened?”

Elijah followed, sharing her concern for the brave woman who’d likely captured his valet’s heart. Cate knelt down beside her.

“She took a bullet to the leg,” Wade said, his voice tense. He’d pushed up Grey’s skirt and was investigating the wound. “Looks like a clean shot, but the wound needs attention.” He smiled down at her. “Your complexion matches your name, love.”

Grey scowled at him in response.

Cate looked up at Elijah. “How are we going to get her back to the inn? She can’t walk.”

“I can hobble,” Grey said with an irritated tone. Cate looked at her with sympathy.

“Wade and I will carry her.” Elijah could see that Cate was uncertain, apprehensive. “She’ll be all right.”

With a subtle nod, she turned and smoothed her fingers against Grey’s brow. “You aren’t supposed to be hurt.”

“It’s a bloody inconvenience. I barely feel it.” Grey grimaced, disproving her words.

“Liar,” Wade said. “Are you ready for us to move you?”

She pressed her lips together and gave a single nod.

A small voice drew them all to turn toward the window. The boy had come back and spoke to Cate in Welsh. Cate responded and they conversed for a moment. At last she looked at Elijah. “This boy’s mother is a healer and their house is nearby. We passed it on the way. It’s the dwelling closest to the castle.”

“Let’s go.” Elijah exchanged looks with Wade and they worked together to heft Grey, who was no dainty flower. “Lead the way.”

Cate spoke to the boy in Welsh and he led them from the castle, through the gatehouse and down a path that circumvented the steeper part of the hill, which they had climbed earlier. This boy knew his way around.

They had to stop twice, but they managed to arrive at the boy’s cottage without causing Grey too much pain. The boy, who Cate said was called Berwyn, opened the door and ushered them inside.

A woman met them in the main room and immediately began barking orders. Elijah and Wade stared at her while Cate interpreted. “She says to take Grey through there.” Cate indicated a doorway to the right.

They followed the instruction and went into a bedroom, where they laid Grey on the bed. Cate and the woman spoke for a few minutes and then the woman disappeared into the main room.

“She’s gone to fetch some implements,” Cate said, moving to the bed and offering a weak smile to her companion. “She’s a skilled healer. It’s good luck that Berwyn found us.”

The woman returned a few minutes later. She spoke to Cate, who looked at Elijah and Wade and gestured toward the door. “She says to wait out there. I’ll help her and come out when we’re finished.”