He trotted off and Deryn waited impatiently until he returned a few minutes later. “This way, my lord. The master has granted ye an audience.”
Deryn followed the guard through the gates and into the keep. The place, although quieter than the market outside, was much busier than it had been yesterday, with pages, stable lads, servants and warriors all bustling about. It seemed that everyone had battened down the hatches for the storm but were now making the most of the quieter weather.
He followed the guard up the steps and into the great hall where the guard announced him. The great hall was busy too with some sort of entertainment going on. Laird MacKay was sat at the high table with Madeleine sitting at his side. A skinny man dressed in garish clothes was standing before the high table juggling with scarves while the lad, Rory, watched on from his seat on Rodric’s other side.
It looked like a bucolic family scene and Deryn would have accepted it as such but for the expression on Madeleine’s face. She sat rigidly, back straight and her hands in her lap. She wasn’t watching the juggler. She wasn’t watching anything. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, and her skin was as pale as parchment.
As the guard announced Deryn, MacKay waved the juggler aside and stood.
“Ah! Come in, come in!” he boomed. “Our knight-errant returns! I’m told it’s ye who returned my woman to me yesterday.”
As Deryn entered the room, Madeleine’s eyes snapped into focus, fixing on his face. Color rushed to her cheeks and an expression flashed across her features so quickly he couldn’t quite place it.
Hope?
He fixed his attention on Laird MacKay as he came around the table and clasped Deryn’s arm wrist to wrist in the warrior’s handshake. It was, he noticed, a vastly different welcome to yesterday when he’d just been Deryn the farmer.
“Ye should have announced yerself yesterday,” Rodric said, hooking his thumbs into his belt. “Who would have thought I had Deryn the Destroyer right here in my hall and I didnae know it! I would have thrown ye a feast! In fact, l will throw one now—in honor of yer prowess on the tourney field and in thanks for bringing my woman back to me.”
Deryn smiled although inside he was cringing. What would Lizzie think if she could see him using his name to get his way like this?
“Ye are too kind, my lord,” he replied. “But that isnae necessary. I merely came to check that Lady Madeleine was well after her ordeal yesterday.”
He turned to look at her and found her staring right back. She did notlookwell. She said nothing but he could see a vein throbbing in her temple and her hands were gripping the edge of the table so hard that her knuckles had gone white.
“Of course she’s well!” Rodric boomed. He walked around the table, pulled Madeleine to her feet and threw an arm around her, crushing her against him. The lad, Rory, leapt up and went to stand next to his mother, leaning against her legs. She reached down and grabbed the lad’s hand tightly.
“In three days’ time we will be married, and she will be the lady of this castle. She couldnae be happier.”
Deryn hid his surprise. Marriage? So, Madeleinehadn’tbeen his wife after all. What then? His mistress?
“My congratulations,” he said smoothly to Laird MacKay. Then to Madeleine he said, “I trust this will bring ye the happiness ye deserve, my lady?”
She stared at him, her face pale. Then she gave a tiny shake of her head and mouthed two words although she made no sound.
Deryn read the words on her lips and a jolt of surprise went through him. He cleared his throat, struggling to keep his expression neutral, and gave them both a small bow. “I will take my leave. Thank ye for seeing me, my lord.”
He turned to leave but Rodric stepped forward. “Wait! If ye willnae stay for a feast, at least say ye will compete in the tourney to celebrate my wedding! Ye were the champion five years running were ye not? Deryn the Destroyer taking to the field once again—it would be magnificent!”
Deryn smiled indulgently although flattery had long since lost its power to move him. “I thank ye for yer kind words, my lord, but I’m retired.”
“Retired?” Rodric replied, waving a dismissive hand. “Ye canna yet have reached yer thirtieth year!”
“Nevertheless. Good day, my lord.”
Before he could be detained further, Deryn turned and strode from the room. The words Madeleine had mouthed at him ran through his head, sending his thoughts whirling. Two words. Urgent words.
Help me.
MADDY SAT ON THE STONEbench and feverishly studied her surroundings. The day was a complete contrast to yesterday, for which she was grateful. The storm had blown through, leaving the sky blue and sparkling and the early spring sun was surprisingly warm as it bathed the castle and surrounding lands.
She was sitting in a courtyard garden on the eastern side of the castle. It was surrounded on all sides by high walls and so was blessedly secluded from the rest of the keep. In the center of the garden rose a strange stone structure that looked like aset of weirdly angled standing-stones leaning together to form a crooked arch. It was an odd construction and she found it a bit creepy, but Rory seemed to like it. Right now, he was darting in and out and clambering on the stones to explore them.
Maddy envied him his peace. He’d been a little scared and disorientated at first, but she’d told him they were on holiday, and he’d accepted her words without question. He’d expressed no concerns about being in a strange place, about missing his friends or his teachers, and in fact seemed perfectly at ease here. When at home, he was shy. Here he chatted to Clara, the maid who followed them around, and asked countless questions about everything.
Maddy studied her surroundings. She’d been doing so since the moment she’d arrived, looking for any clue to as to how she and Rory could escape. She’d asked Clara to take them on a tour of the keep, and had mapped it as best she could, storing the layout in her head as though it was one of her architect’s drawings.
In the kitchen she’d found a disused garderobe with a shaft that she guessed led to the outside. Her first thought had been to sneak out through it, but the shaft had a locked metal grille over it and even if she could get it off, how would she get Rory through it? And besides, Rodric had her watched all the time. Even now, two of his men were leaning against the wall on opposite sides of the garden, watching her. They were big, well-armed and mean-looking and Maddy was under no illusions about what they would do if she tried to run.
