A movement from the bed caught Colyne’s attention. With soft words, the healer wiped Marie’s brow.
A sword’s wrath, she needed rest, nae to be subjected to angry words bantered about. “Open it,” Colyne charged. “But King Philip will call for your head when he learns of your deed.”
Without hesitation, the guard broke the seal. He unrolled the wet parchment and skimmed the writ. Face taut, the knight lifted his gaze, his eyes black as the gates of Hades. “Take him to the dungeon!”
“Wait!” Colyne struggled against the guards. “Did you nae read it?”
“Read what?” he hissed between clenched teeth, “smeared words as if written by a child?” Parchment crinkled as he shoved the writ before Colyne’s face.
Colyne’s knees almost gave way. The message penned by RobertBruce nay longer graced the page. Instead, ugly black stains streaked the parchment, the words illegible. During the crossing of the swollen river, or when he and Marie had fallen into the bay, the writ had become soaked, the ink smeared.
“You will regret you ever dared abduct Lady Marie,” the lead knight growled.
Colyn’s heart slammed against his chest. “You are wrong. I need to speak with King Philip!”
“The only person you will be visiting is the king’s executioner.” With contempt, the knight cast the writ into the hearth. The flames greedily licked the sodden paper, blackening and then destroying the fragile parchment until it crumbled into the embers beneath it, the chips of wax bubbling within the fire like molten blood. “Take him away!”
The guards hauled him toward the door.
“You are mistaken!” Colyne shouted as he fought them, but they tightened their grip and continued. Frantic, he glanced at Marie.
Caught in the throes of a fever, she twisted on the bed.
He couldna leave her!
“Move.” One the guards behind him jammed his foot into Colyne’s back, shoved.
Panic tearing through him, Colyne stumbled into the hall. Due to their false charges, he’d never see her again, hold her, or see her eyes light up when he told her that he loved her.
And without the writ as proof of his innocence, upon learning his daughter’s abductor had been captured, King Philip would believe he was one of the Scottish rebels involved with her abduction and sever his support to Scotland.
Disgrace tainted his every breath, self-condemnation more so. He’d failed his country, failed Marie.
And with the damning facts in hand, the king would order what he believed a just sentence.
Colyne’s death.
Chapter 18
Marie opened her eyes, wincing against the pain. Dismal gray light embraced her. The soft tap of raindrops striking a windowpane echoed through her misery. She pushed back another wave of discomfort, frowned as she realized she lay beneath a coverlet. Where was she? And why did her body ache?
Frowning when no answers came, she scanned the room. A silk tapestry woven in reds, blues, and greens, creating an image of a distant castle, adorned the far wall. Within a stone hearth, framed on each side by intricate marble carvings of lions standing guard, a fire roared, offering warmth. Angled on a ledge sat a volume of tales of King Arthur, the leather binding worn from use. To her left, atop an aged wooden chest, sat a doll given to her when she was a child.
A smile curved her mouth.Her father’s home.This was the chamber she used whenever she visited him.
Marie inhaled the scent of fresh rushes entwined with the aroma of wood and rain cleansed air as peace wove through her. The feathered mattress against her skin cradled her as if in a dream.
“You are awake?” Relief filled a familiar deep voice.
Tenderness enveloped Marie as she faced the noble figure standing in the doorway of her room, his surcoat and vermeil mantle lined with ermine. “Father.”
King Philip strode over and brushed a kiss upon her cheek. “I have been worried about you.”
“Worried; why?” She fumbled for a reason. Vague images of a man with whisky-colored hair and deep blue eyes flickered to mind. Memories of being chased. Of hiding. As quickly, they faded.
Lines furrowed her father’s brow. “You do not remember?”
“I . . .” More fragments slid into place. The howling of wind. Pounding seas.
