‘But it’s a plan that’s so natural—as if it was meant to be done on Candlemas. All the workers will be gone by then and the town isalwaysflooded with candles. It will look like an accident. Believable, too, because I have already had a conversation with Mitchell about the barn being in danger of burning down.’
The plan was eerily perfect. She shouldn’t be this full of relief. The building was new, and filled with all of her and Mitchell’s plans. And yet, she could see this as a viable way for her and Hugh.
In one way it was like setting fire to her past so she could have a future.
‘And Eldric’s right,’ she continued. ‘The trap door underneath and the passageway will make the perfect escape in case someone stops the fire early. No one knows of it except for Mitchell. We could be on our horses at the tunnel’s entrance and out of the country before anyone even thinks to look elsewhere.’
He turned away, his shoulders rigid. ‘So many years protecting Robert, so many years of openly fighting by the King’s side. There’s a part of me that feels like a coward even contemplating Eldric’s suggestion.’
She could see that. As a child, his shoulders had gone back whenever the crowd had jeered. His head had been held high as he’d half-carried his father home. Then selling the land, taking the coin for armour, training to become a knight... He was a proud man, and planning a fake death, going into hiding, would go against everything inside him.
‘Eldric is no coward andhesuggested it.’
He shook his head. ‘I keep thinking there must be some other possibility.’
‘If you lived, if you stayed by his side, the King would order your death.’
‘But you don’t have to go with me.’
‘Of course I do. I can’t go to the King empty-handed. He was adamant about what he’d do to my family. You’re the one who pointed out that I’m not nobility. I won’t have the protection of a title and power. If I live, my family dies.’
‘He’s looking for the Seal, and our sudden deaths will be too suspicious.’
‘Maybe he’ll think the traitor is someone else—who got rid of us.’
‘He’ll send people here to investigate. More spies in Swaffham.’
Her home town, with a population of more sheep than people. She could hardly contemplate any intrigue here, even though she was a part of it.
‘Which is why only us three know the truth.’
He turned then. ‘I won’t stand for that. When we are at a safe distance, we’ll let your family know.’
Her eyes welled at that. It was the hardest thing, knowing they would suffer. She put a hand to her mouth to hold back the other thought, of the even more painful separation.
Hugh’s eyes softened. ‘And William, too. We’ll make sure he’s looked after. He loves you. That isn’t going to change.’
‘I’m going to miss so many years.’
He strode towards her again, and she went into his arms. ‘You don’t have to go.’
She’d go where her heart was. ‘I won’t be separated from you again. It’ll hurt, but I have to trust that William will find us eventually.’
He rubbed her arms, exhaled. ‘So much could go wrong.’
‘And yet you saved the wrens.’
‘The wrens?’
‘The boys were there to capture them, and somehow you freed them before they could be tied to the poles. That’s what we’ll be—a couple of wrens.’
‘We have no feathers to satisfy those left behind.’
‘I have the horn the King gave me. If I leave that, he’ll believe I died.’
Hugh looked to the sword at his side and nodded. ‘It’s winter...our passage will be dangerous.’
‘The ice and snow will only make it more difficult for someone to follow us.’ She patted his chest. ‘You worry much for a knight, a spy and a traitor to the crown.’
