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“Tell me why this is so important to you.”
If her choice was revealing the truth to him or leaving, she’d be forced to leave. But it had been so wonderful not to run. To sleep in a bed. . . to see the same people each day.
“Look at me, Clara.”
She did, and what she saw pained her. Alex Kerr stood before her, tall and proud. But his expression. . . it was that of a man resolved to stand his ground.
She would have to leave.
Before he could stop her, Clara grabbed the hat and pins at her side, turned around, and ran. She knew he could catch her if he tried, but with any luck, he would not try.
Should she stop to gather her belongings? Nay, she could not risk it. At least she had her sword.
She’d made a mistake coming here. She’d broken Gilbert’s rule not to trust anyone. She’d broken it with Toren. And Juliette. And though she hardly knew him, she’d begun to trust Alex as well. Because of it, she now had no supplies. No clothing other than what she wore on her back.
Nothing save her life, which, for now, would have to be enough.
8
The Englishwoman was afraid for her life.
The look on her face directly before she fled told him as much. He cursed himself as a fool for pushing her away. Not that he desired a squire who lied to him. Deceived him. A squire who was, in truth, an Englishwoman.
But the alternative was unacceptable. He knew why Toren had brought her here, and despite his dislike for the English, his need to protect this woman was stronger.
He could have stopped Clara from running, but he’d assumed she would head up the hill to the castle. The truth—that she’d actually run away—only dawned on him when he’d emerged from the trees to find the uphill path quite empty. The guards confirmed his suspicion—she hadn’t returned and they’d not seen her—and he immediately headed to the stables.
Bad luck for him, his brother found him there before he could ride off to find her.
“What do you mean, she’s gone?” Toren blustered after he explained the situation.
Alex, who’d just mounted his horse, took the reins from the groom and dismissed him.
“Juliette will—”
“Have my head. You’ve said as much. Now, would you prefer we stand here and argue, or shall I go after her?”
It was bad luck he’d come across his brother on the way to the stables. On foot, she would not be able to go far, so if he took his horse, he’d have a much greater chance of finding her. But he needed to leave now.
“By all that’s holy, if she’s harmed. . .”
Alex loved his brother, but at times like these, he’d prefer a sibling to a father.
“Not now, brother.”
He spun his mount away from the stable and toward the gatehouse, but Toren stopped him again.
“Alex?”
He quieted his mount with his hand, the horse responding to his soft touch as he’d done for years. “Aye?”
When he looked at Toren, Alex knew immediately what his brother was asking. He’d talked to both of his brothers about the reports regarding their mother. Toren and Reid claimed not to care about what had become of her. Both said they had no mother. That the woman who’d abandoned them the day after their father was buried meant nothing to them.
But Alex wanted to know why she had left. Where she’d been these past years. He wanted to confront her with what she’d done. He’d searched for her for over a year, stopping only when Toren convinced him to leave it alone. And he was tempted to go after her now. . .
“I don’t know,” he said flatly. He could not deal with the revelations about their mother just yet. One problem at a time.
With that, he took off. Racing through the cobblestone courtyard, his horse’s hooves clanking with every step, Alex made his way through both gates and out onto the path that led to the small village below.
