Grasso, Patricia (6 page)

"Are we adding horse-thieving to highway robbery?" Hew groaned.

"Cheer up," Odo replied. "The English can only hang you once."

The two Welshmen began divesting the earl of his valuables. Before leaving, Hew pulled one of the magical carnelian stones from his pocket. He placed it in the palm of the earl's left hand and closed his fingers around it.

"So Keely won't scold us if she ever discovers what we've done," Hew explained, catching his brother's questioning look.

"Take his boots too," Odo ordered. "Walking barefoot to Ludlow will give us plenty of time."

Odo and Hew mounted their horses. With the earl's horse in tow, they disappeared into the safety of Shropshire Forest.

Some time later Richard opened his eyes, stared up at the clear blue sky, and then sat up slowly. He reached for the back of his aching head and looked around in confusion. Where was his horse? And boots?

"Bloody buggers," he swore.

He glanced at the brandy-colored stone clutched in his left hand. Was this their payment for stealing his possessions? Beside him on the ground sat his hat.

With the stone in one hand and the hat in the other, Richard got to his feet. The stone would forever serve as a reminder of the villains and what they'd done to him.

If ever I get my hands on them,
Richard promised himself,
I'll make them wish they'd died in infancy.

With that, Richard began the most humiliating task of his life—the walk to Ludlow Castle. "Ouch!" He reached down and dislodged a jagged stone from between his toes, then straightened and started walking again.

The bastards had taught him an important lesson,

Richard decided. When he finally reached Ireland, he would always remember to guard his back. But lesson or no, the villains would pay for their crime against him.

So busy was Richard planning the myriad forms his revenge could take that he arrived at Ludlow Castle in record time. Only the Talbot men-at-arms' laughter yanked him out of his wholly satisfying daydream of revenge.

Richard marched proudly across the lowered drawbridge, through the outer bailey, and into the inner courtyard. Though his face flamed with hot embarrassment, the Earl of Basildon pretended deafness to the shouts of laughter he evoked in passing.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, Devereux?" The growl belonged to Robert Talbot.

Richard turned toward the growl and arched a copper brow at the Duke of Ludlow's imposing figure. "I've come to court Morgana, Your Grace."

"You walked barefoot from Leicester?"

"I've been robbed, you blockhead!" Richard shouted, shaking his hat at the duke. None but one still dared laugh at the earl.

A throaty chuckle drew their attention. "Why, Tally," drawled the Countess of Cheshire, "Devereux has the cutest pair of-—" The duke's hand snaked out and covered her mouth, leaving her thought unfinished.

"I do apologize for the inconvenience. Of course you're welcome to my wardrobe," Robert Talbot said as he escorted the earl inside. "We'll catch the culprit and hang him—you can be certain of that."

"Search the area for two giants," Richard said.

"Giants?" Talbot echoed, unable to credit what he was hearing.

"I mean, two rather large men," Richard amended. "They spoke with an accent, probably Welsh."

"Most unusual," Talbot replied.

Morgana Talbot stood in the entrance to the great hall and watched her father and a barefoot Earl of Basildon disappear down the corridor. "What's happened?" she asked the passing countess.

"Devereux has come to court you," Lady Dawn answered, giving her a feline smile. "The earl has very attractive toes, if that sort of activity appeals to you. I heard from Lady Mary
and
Lady Jane that the Earl of Basildon has more to offer than meets the eye."

Morgana Talbot's gaze narrowed on the other woman, but her curiosity overruled her animosity toward the voluptuous countess. "What does he have to offer me?"

"Devereux sports a freckle on the tip of his—" With that, the Countess of Cheshire chuckled throatily and strolled into the great hall to await the men's return.

Chapter 3

English hedges and gardens misted with purple Michaelmas daisies and their strange fragrance wafted through the air, announcing the full Harvest Moon and the autumnal equinox, when day and night balanced perfectly. London's Christians prepared their Saint Michael's Day feast, and the farmers in the surrounding countryside prepared to celebrate their Harvest Home.

Others prepared themselves for a different kind of observance. They knew Saint Michael's true identity—the pagan saint previously known as the Sun God.

Early evening, the quiet time before twilight, drifted from east to west across England. In the midst of a secluded oak grove on top of Primrose Hill stood three people, two giants and a petite dark-haired woman.

"Now, little girl, I don't like this," Odo said.

"You'll be burned as a witch if anyone sees us," Hew added. "I don't doubt we'll be burned as warlocks with you."

"These kings and queens of the forest will protect me," Keely said, gesturing to the oak trees. She donned her white robe over her violet wool skirt and white linen blouse, then drew its hood over her head to cover her ebony mane, adding, "Robbing that lord in Shropshire has placed us in grave danger. Whatever harm we cause others returns to injure us tenfold."

"Damn," Hew muttered. "We said we're sorry."

"How many times are you going to scold us, little girl?" Odo asked. "We did leave him that carnelian stone for protection."

Keely's lips quirked, but she gave him no answer. Instead, Keely took the eight rocks that Odo held out to her and said, "Madoc Lloyd wounded my soul. Failing to observe Alban Elued, the Light of the Water, will make the wound fester and poison me."

Keely walked to the center of the oak grove and used the rocks to make a large circle, leaving the western periphery open. Between each of the rocks, she set wild berries of elder, whortles, sloes, and damsons.

"Will you join me?" Keely asked her cousins. "Safety lies within the circle."

Both Odo and Hew shook their heads. Protecting her from possible intruders required alertness.

Keely entered the circle from the west and closed it behind her with the last rock, saying, "All disturbing thoughts remain outside."

After walking to the center of the circle, Keely turned in a clockwise circle three times until she faced the west and the declining sun. She closed her eyes, focused her breathing, and touched the dragon pendant, its sapphires, diamonds, and ruby sparkling in the dying sunlight.

Keely shivered as a ripple of anticipation danced down her spine. She loved the rituals her mother had taught her; however, without Megan's special talent, Keely felt uncertain about their effectiveness.

"The Old Ones are here, watching and waiting," Keely spoke in a soft voice into the hushed air. "Stars speak through stones, and light shines through the thickest oak." Then, in a louder voice, "One realm is heaven and earth."

Keely walked clockwise around the inside periphery of the circle and collected the wild berries, then set them down beside her in the center, the soul of the circle. "I store the good and cast out the useless. Thanks be to the Mother Goddess for the fruit of the earth. Thanks be to Esus, the spirit of sacrifice embodied in these majestic trees, giving us food to eat, air to breathe, wood to house and warm us."

Keely paused a long moment, conjuring in her mind what came next, gathering the proper emotion much as nature gathers its forces. She turned around three times, opened her arms to implore, and called in a loud voice, "Spirit of my journey, guide me to hear what the trees say. Spirit of my ancestors, guide me to hear what the wind whispers. Spirit of my tribe, guide me to understand what the clouds foretell."

Keely gazed toward the setting sun and then closed her eyes. "Open my heart that I may see beyond the horizon."

Long moments passed. And then it happened; images floated across her mind's eye...

Misty darkness. A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Unseen evil lurking near. Then the warm feeling of security. Strong, comforting arms as solid as the mighty oaks surrounding her. Welcoming arms. Protecting arms...

The image dissolved into the reality of Primrose Hill.

Keely opened her eyes and touched the gleaming dragon pendant, praying, "I invoke the power of my mother's love living inside this dragon to protect me and mine."

Watching and listening with rapt attention, Hew whispered to his brother, "I'm no coward, but she's giving me the creeps."

"I know what you mean," Odo agreed, unnerved enough to look over his shoulder. "I feel like these trees are itching to grab me."

Both men started toward Keely at the same time, but stopped short when she spoke.

"Breaking the circle is forbidden," Keely warned without looking, gesturing them away. Closing her eyes, she ended the ceremony: "I thank the goddess and these oaks for passing their wisdom through me."

Feeling sapped of her energy, Keely slowly walked to the western periphery of the circle and picked up the rock, breaking the enchanted circle. She removed her robe and folded it, then retrieved her satchel.

"Did you hear what the trees were saying?" Odo asked.

"I did," she answered.

"And what the wind whispered?"

"Yes."

"There's no wind today," Hew said.

"The wind is always with us," Keely told him.

"I didn't hear it."

"You blinking idiot," Odo said, rounding on his brother. "Of course you couldn't hear it. The wind
whispered
in her ear."

Keely smiled at her cousins and then studied the sky. The western horizon still flamed with the dying sun, but the eastern horizon darkened into a deep muted shade of slate blue.

"Did you see beyond the horizon?" Hew asked.

Keely nodded, hoping she'd interpreted the signs correctly, wishing she'd been blessed with a smidgeon of her mother's talent. "We must return to London and stay hidden within our rooms until dawn."

"Why?" Odo asked.

"Safety sits inside that tavern," she answered.

"Safety's a person?" Hew blurted out.

"Perhaps," Keely said with an uncertain smile. "I did feel his arms protecting me."

"Whose arms do you mean?" Odo asked.

Keely shrugged. "I couldn't see his face."

"Probably me," Hew said.

"What makes you think so?" Odo asked. "I'm stronger than you."

"You bloody well are not," Hew shot back.

"Am—"

"Not!"

Keely giggled. She loved these fierce brothers who felt duty bound to protect her.

"What are we hiding from?" Odo asked her.

"You mean
whom"
Keely corrected him. "Day and night are in balance, but Father Sun is waning. After today, the lord you robbed in Shropshire will be unable to find us."

"I've a fondness for my neck," Hew said, touching his throat. "How do you know we'll find safety at the Royal Rooster? Did you understand what the clouds foretold?"

"The answer to that lives in tomorrow," Keely replied. "The trees and the wind and the clouds bade me return to that tavern."

Hew snorted. "Well, I never heard a thing."

Odo cuffed the side of his brother's head. "Lest you forget, Keely has the gift. Don't you, little girl?"

"Well, Megan had the sight," Keely hedged. Her small white teeth worried her bottom lip before she admitted, "I've never actually experienced such, but I do feel in my bones that something remarkable is about to happen."

"That's good enough for me," Odo said.

"Hiding in our rooms sounds reasonable," Hew agreed. "We'll be less than spit in the wind if that lord catches us, and I don't need the second sight to tell me so."

"We've other problems as well," Keely said as they mounted their horses. "The gold from selling that lord's horse won't keep us long in London. Perhaps we can get employment at the tavern if my father refuses to acknowledge me."

A silent depression settled over them as they entered London proper. Even at this late hour of twilight, the narrow streets and lanes teemed with scurrying people, the city's inhabitants seeming to be part of a never-ending race. The cramped buildings and lanes closed around Keely until she felt as if she were suffocating.

Taking deep calming breaths, Keely rode with her cousins through Cheapside Market and past St. Paul's Cathedral. Finally, they turned their horses up Friday Street, where the Royal Rooster Tavern was located.

So far from home, Keely thought, feeling overwhelmingly isolated in spite of her cousins' company and the hundreds of people she passed. No demand hereabouts for a Druid priestess with dubious talent nor an impoverished Welsh princess.
Taffy,
as these insulting Englishmen labeled the Welsh.

Keely hoped she'd correctly interpreted what she'd seen on Primrose Hill, and that the Royal Rooster Tavern offered refuge from the lurking evil she'd sensed. Surely that lord's power to catch them would diminish with the waning sun.

If she'd known how wrong she was, Keely would surely have bolted to Wales and braved her stepfather's wrath. At that very moment, the object of her thoughts sat inside the Royal Rooster Tavern and waited for the appearance of the two gigantic highwaymen who'd robbed him of his dignity.

The Rooster's common room was surprisingly spacious, large enough for the hearth and a bar. On the left side of the chamber, near the narrow stairway that led to the second-floor bedchambers, was the hearth. The bar stood in the corner on the opposite side of the room. Tables and chairs were positioned around the chamber.

Richard Devereux sat facing the tavern's entrance at a table near the bar in the far corner of the room. With him was his friend, Willis Smythe. The two men drank ale and talked.

"If I'd known you were treating me," Willis was saying, "I would have insisted we sup at an establishment frequented by a better class of people."

"The fare is exceptional here," Richard replied.