The Faithful Heart (20 page)

The twin response of, “Yes, my lady,” sunk
Jack’s heart to the ground. He knocked his head back against the
post, blinking up at the ceiling. Simon shifted and leaned against
the post with him. Neither man spoke. The only positive thing that
had come out of the whole crap encounter was that his hands had
moved behind him so that the cross of Madeline’s rosary dangled
into his palm. He squeezed it and closed his eyes to pray. Hail
Madeline, full of grace….

The hills and fields leading into Windale
were a balm to Toby’s soul. The scent of the fields plowed for
planting, the song of the birds chasing through the air above them,
and the feeling of the road he had walked so many times under his
feet brought him to the edge of tears. He didn’t know how he had
managed to live without home for so long. No, he corrected himself
with a shake of his head, home was where Ethan was.

“Isn’t it beautiful,” he sighed and swayed
closer to his master.

Ethan’s scowl melted as he glanced around and
took a deep breath. “That it is.”

Seeing Ethan smile at last, a true and pure
smile, filled Toby with joy. “You should have told me we were
coming here, my lord. I would have brushed out your best tunic. As
it is your boots need repairing. I could have polished them if only
I’d known. And I would have found you some rosewater somewhere so
that you could have washed your hair.”

“Rosewater?” Ethan laughed, slowing half a
pace to thump Toby on the back. “What am I, a girl?”

“I just want you to be at your best.” His
chest constricted as Ethan left his arm around his shoulder. “For
this … this homecoming.”

The smile Ethan gave him warmed him to his
toes. “It is a homecoming, isn’t it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Which is why there was no time for pretty
preparations.” His smile turned vicious. “Huntingdon is gone, and
when the cat’s away the mice reclaim what’s theirs.” He patted him
on the back once more then strode forward towards Windale’s
common.

Toby’s heart flopped. He scurried to catch up
as Ethan puffed his chest and passed the first outlying buildings
marking Windale village. The church stood at the other end of the
road, the common to their right with Windale Manor at the far end.
The villagers that weren’t out in the fields or down by the mill
looked up from what they were doing. Chores were abandoned and
neighbors rushed to their garden walls to whisper to each
other.

“People of Windale!” Ethan announced in a
booming voice as he reached the center of the common. “Your true
master has come home!”

Toby swallowed and inched closer to Ethan as
he stood with his arms outstretched. Silence followed the
pronouncement. A cluster of women had formed at one end of the
common. Two old men exchanged comments at the end closer to the
church. Ethan’s smile faded. He dropped his arms.

“I’m home,” he explained to the gathering
villagers. “Huntingdon is gone. You’ve no need to suffer his rule
anymore.”

The whispering grew but was still no more
than odd stares and crossed arms.

“My lord,” Toby leaned close to Ethan,
wringing his hands. “I think we should have planned this out a
little more.”

Ethan sent him a perturbed look. “What are
you talking about? They’re just nervous. There’s no need to be
afraid,” he spoke to the villagers. “I won’t let Huntingdon hurt
you anymore.”

“What in God’s name is going on here?” an
older man called from the door of the manor.

Toby turned to find Lewis, Windale Manor’s
steward, marching down from the house. When Ethan turned Lewis’s
expression popped to surprise and he stopped.

Ethan grinned from ear to ear. “Lewis!” He
strode across the common to meet him, slapping his shoulder like an
old friend. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Lord Ethan,” Lewis frowned, glancing down
his arm as if Ethan might have gotten dirt on him. “What are you
doing here?”

“I’ve come to reclaim Windale,” he announced
with a proud sigh.

Lewis blinked at him. He shook his head.
“Hello Toby. Your sister isn’t here at the moment. She’s at Derby
Castle.”

“I know,” Toby muttered, turning anxious eyes
to Ethan.

Ethan’s smile was all but gone. “Aren’t you
happy to see me, Lewis?”

Lewis stared at him, swept a glance from his
over-long, dirty hair to his scuffed boots and back again. “Happy
to see a grubby outlaw?” Toby knew he should have prepared his
master’s best clothes.

All Ethan could do was stand there gaping.
“But I’ve come home. Huntingdon can’t stop me from taking
possession of Windale. He’s miles away and Jack is a prisoner in
the forest.”

Lewis wrinkled his nose as though listening
to a deranged child tell tales. “Windale is well-provided for in
the earl’s absence.” He drew himself up to his full height. “The
planting is ahead of schedule and I’ve already collected the year’s
plow tax and the additional amount for the king’s ransom.” He bowed
his head at the mention of the king. “The earl will be pleased to
see that Windale runs smoothly in his absence.”

“But it doesn’t have to run smoothly in his
absence,” Ethan snapped. Lewis jumped. Toby cringed. He was afraid
this would happen. “I’m home!”

“My lord, perhaps we should go.” Toby rested
a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

Ethan shrugged it off. “You don’t have to put
up with Huntingdon anymore! If we band together we’ll have the
strength to fight him off.”

Lewis caught on to where Ethan was going and
shook his head. “We don’t ‘put up’ with the earl,” he spoke down
his nose to Ethan. “Windale is proud, exceedingly proud, to serve
the Earl of Derby.”

“But-”

“I know these lands used to be in your
possession,” Lewis interrupted him as he would any other servant
under his supervision, “but they are yours no more. We are the
earl’s men to a person.”

“How can you say that when Huntingdon killed
my father, the true lord of this land?”

Lewis sighed. “Everyone knows that old Barty
Knoblock killed Lord Robert when he was in his cups.”

“It was Huntingdon!”

“Do you have a problem, Lewis?” A second man
who Toby recognized as Windale’s blacksmith joined them on the
common. His arms were as hard as stones and he flexed his hands as
if eager to use them.

“It’s nothing, Jonas. This man was just
leaving.”

Jonas glanced at Ethan and snorted. When he
noticed Toby his face split into a toothy grin. “Toby! Haven’t seen
you in ages!” He swept forward and crushed Toby in a manly hug.
“How’s that sister of yours,” he winked. “Still at the castle with
Lady Aubrey? We all miss lookin’ at her somethin’ fierce.”

“She’s well,” Toby squeaked, withering under
Ethan’s furious look.

“Tell her I say hello next time you see
her.”

Ethan grabbed Toby’s arm and dragged him
away. “I will,” he called over his shoulder as he stumbled.

His heart was so low as they marched out of
Windale that he was surprised he wasn’t tripping over it. Ethan was
silent, his jaw hard and his back stiff. He let go of Toby’s wrist
as they rounded the first hill along the road to Derby but the red
fury in his face remained. They walked for nearly half an hour
before Toby worked up the courage to say anything.

“It’s not as bad as all that, my lord,” he
muttered, not seeing how things could be any worse.

Ethan stopped walking but continued to stare
at the road, body tight with anger.

“At least we have one less thing to worry
about,” he fished for something to make things better.

Ethan’s fury flared. “One less thing to worry
about?” he snapped.

Toby swallowed. “We … we still have each
other.”

Ethan sighed and stormed off the road to sit
in the shade of an oak tree. Toby could feel his heart breaking for
him. He left the road to sit by Ethan’s side.

“I’ll just have to take it by force,” Ethan
mumbled, picking at the grass in front of him.

“You’d never attack Windale,” Toby reasoned
with him. “You love it too much. We can never outright attack the
things we love, no matter how wrong they might be.”

“Everything’s wrong,” Ethan missed his
meaning. “The land, the war, the king in captivity, our place in
the whole thing. It’s all wrong. I just want to fix things, put
them back the way they should be, like everything we were fighting
for in the Holy Land.”

“Some things can’t be fixed, my lord,” Toby
sighed, raising a hesitant hand and placing it on Ethan’s shoulder.
“No matter how much we might want them to be different, no matter
how much we long for certain things to be possible, some things in
life will never be ours to have.”

The stillness between them was broken only
when Ethan turned to him with a sad smile. “Since when did you
become so wise in the ways of the world, Toby?”

A thousand thoughts and confessions hovered
on the edge of Toby’s lips. They trembled there, begging to be
said. The pain of keeping them bottled was almost too much to bear.
“I became wise, my lord, the day I realized that if you can’t have
what you want at least you can serve what you want.” The depth of
incomprehension in Ethan’s eyes settled like a rock of
disappointment deep in Toby’s heart. He took a breath. “Windale is
lost to you, my lord, but if you still love it then you need to do
everything in your power to make sure it is safe and prosperous. No
matter who is lord over it.”

Ethan lowered his head. He swallowed and
nodded and patted Toby’s knee. Toby closed his eyes and prayed that
Ethan wouldn’t see the tear that escaped.

“Then I know what I need to do,” Ethan
sighed, pushing himself to stand. “I need to prove I’m the best
leader for Windale. I need to collect the king’s ransom.”

Chapter Eleven

Every bone in Madeline’s body ached by the
time she and Joanna rode back into Derby Castle’s courtyard. She
groaned as she slipped off her horse, resting her head against its
neck for a moment to steel herself to report her failure to Aubrey.
Even thinking the word failure brought a lump to her throat. She
sucked in a breath and stood straight. Failure was
unacceptable.

“Where are you going, my lady?” Joanna caught
up with her as she marched around the side of the castle towards
the armory.

“I’m going to get a sword,” she told her
without looking back.

“A sword? What for?”

“I’m going back into the forest to rescue
Jack.”

“My lady,” Joanna laughed and grabbed her arm
to stop her. Her laughter stopped when she saw the sharp
determination in Madeline’s face. “You don’t know how to wield a
sword.”

She was right. “Aubrey can do it. How hard
can it be?”

“Very hard.” Joanna pursed her lips. “I know.
I’ve tried. Aubrey’s brother taught her from the time she was
young. He made her practice for hours every day. It took her years
to develop the skills she has now. Have you even held a sword
before? They’re heavier than you think.”

Madeline wavered on the spot, biting her lip
and forcing herself not to cry. She couldn’t cry when she needed to
be strong for Jack. “Then I’ll get a dagger.” She continued on her
quest.

Joanna followed. “How are you going to go
back there? We were shot at and we don’t know if we were anywhere
near where Jack is being held. Tom isn’t here to guide you.”

“I’ve found my way through forests on my own
before,” she brushed the problems away. “I made it here from
Coventry and half of that was through forests.”

Several guards were practicing in the armory.
She ignored the clash of metal on metal and the smell of sweat from
the shirtless men sparring. Joanna eyed them warily but Madeline
was on a mission. She found the shelves where weapons were kept and
helped herself to a long dagger. When one of the guards moved to
stop her from taking them Joanna stopped him with, “It’s okay.”

She followed Madeline out of the armory and
across the castle garden to the cloister.

“It’s still early afternoon,” Madeline
figured aloud. “I can make it back to the forest before dark.
Whatever errand Ethan went on, chances are he’ll be back soon.”

“My lady, you cannot go back today.” Madeline
whipped around to glare at Joanna as they paused just inside of the
hallway leading into the castle. “When was the last time you ate
something? When was the last time you slept?”

“I’ll eat and sleep when Jack is safe.” She
squeezed her hands around the dagger’s hilt and marched on.

Joanna left her when they reached the main
hall. She hardly noticed as she climbed the stairs to her room in
the High Tower. Plans for finding Jack filled her mind. There was
no time to waste.

She tossed the dagger on the bed when she
reached her room and stood still, taking a breath to organize her
thoughts. Joanna was right about one thing. If she was caught she
wouldn’t be able to fight back, dagger or no dagger. She wasn’t
Aubrey.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her. She sat
on the bed and bent to remove her shoes. Her body didn’t want to
straighten again. With a frustrated breath she curled to her side
and shut her eyes. She did need to sleep. But Jack needed her. He
was in danger now. She frowned and fought the heaviness that
descended over her, but in the end she lost to it.

When she awoke the scent of stew was in the
air and Aubrey was sitting in a chair by the window reading a
book.

“Joanna told me all about it,” she said
without preamble when Madeline rubbed her eyes and sat up. “I’m
sorry I wasn’t there.”

A flash of anger gave way to the aching
tension of doing nothing. “I’m not sure you could have done
anything to make it better,” she sighed, getting up and walking to
the table to help herself to the stew and bread.

“We’ll try again tomorrow.” Aubrey set the
book down and stood. Her stomach was round enough that the thought
of her jaunting off into the woods to fight outlaws and rescue Jack
and Simon was ridiculous.