“But you said…”
“Never mind what I said. I’m not leaving you.” Rafe leaned over and kissed her to make his point.
“Isn’t it dangerous for you?” she asked.
“I kill men for pay, Angelet. I’ll decide what’s dangerous.”
The sound of footsteps came closer. Both Rafe and Angelet faced the door, and both saw when Cecily entered.
Her warm smile for her patient froze, then faded. She stared at Rafe in pure shock. “Oh, my God,” Cecily whispered.
Angelet said quickly, “Don’t be alarmed. Sir Rafe is the knight who brought me here. I owe him my life.”
Cecily took one step forward, then stopped, as if uncertain what was happening. “Rafe,” she said.
Seeing her up close after two years, looking so different and yet still the young woman he remembered, Rafe actually smiled. “Hello, my lady. I suppose you’ll run for your husband in a moment. You should—Alric’s been looking for me long enough.”
Chapter 24
It didn’t take long tosummon Alric. The man had once been a simple knight like Rafe, but he was now married to Cecily de Vere, an heiress and the daughter of a proud family. The changes in his appearance were subtle, but evident to Rafe, who once knew him very well. His clothing was finer quality, and that belt and the leather shoes cost more than Alric ever would have spent when he was a knight. Still, he was Alric. The brown hair held a little grey now, and he probably slacked off his military training since becoming lord-in-waiting here at Cleobury. But he was just as tall, and just as insufferably straight-laced in outlook.
When Alric entered the room, he immediately crossed the floor to join Cecily, putting one arm around her shoulders in a gesture that said louder than words that he’d protect her against any threat…and that the presence of Rafe implied considerable threat.
The couple spoke to each other, just a few low-voiced words Rafe couldn’t hear. Next to him, Angelet gripped his hand.
“Do you know him?” she murmured.
“Like a brother,” Rafe said wryly.
Then Alric faced Rafe. He’d been forewarned, of course, but even so his expression was admirably steady. “I knew I’d see you again someday, but I didn’t picture it like this.”
Rafe actually laughed. “You mean where I come to you on my own two feet, unbound and unshackled? You have sent people after me to drag me back. Admit it.”
Alric and Cecily exchanged glances, and she said, “I think you should tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Rafe asked.
“Come with me,” Alric said. It wasn’t a request.
Rafe gave Angelet a careless smile. “Back in a moment.”
“Make me no promises,” she said, looking doubtful.
Rafe had his own doubts, but he followed Alric until they reached another room on the same floor, this one much smaller than the room Angelet was using.
Alric closed the door, then looked Rafe over for a long time. At the end of the inspection, he just shook his head. “I will admit, I didnotforesee this.” His tone was resigned, amused…and deeply, painfully familiar. Rafe never felt more homesick than right at that moment. But Cleobury was not his home anymore.
“Believe me,” he said, “it wasn’t by design. I tried to avoid this whole shire. But you guessed that, since your people tracked me elsewhere.”
“No. Not my people,” Alric said instantly. “True, I wasn’t happy that you ran away. But your life is your own.”
“Don’t play me for a fool. There have been men following me for years. I noticed the first signs only a few months after I left.”
“I didn’t say that you weren’t being followed,” Alric said, “just that it wasn’t me who sent them.”
“Who, then?”
“Lord Rainald is keen to speak to you.”
