The Loyal Heart (2 page)

“Oh, I think it does concern me when people are attacked on the road in the dark.” Ethan advanced, sword battle-ready.

“I was the one who was attacked!” Crispin stared fire at the man who dared come between him and his prey. As he stepped closer, his eyes hardened with recognition.

“It didn’t look that way to me.” Ethan squared his shoulders. His glance flickered to Aubrey who stood tense between them. He jerked his head to the trees, telling her to go. Aubrey bristled. She would not be told to leave, not when things were getting interesting.

“The Derbywood Bandit is a menace.” Crispin lowered his sword as he realized who faced him. “He’s been waylaying travelers in the forest for years while you’ve been playing soldier for the king.”

“Oh
he
has, has he?” Ethan’s grin sparkled in the night as he cast a glance in Aubrey’s direction. “Interesting.”

“Buxton has issued a warrant for his arrest.”

Ethan’s grin melted to fierce hatred. Aubrey backed away as he raised his sword and pointed it square at Crispin’s chest. She knew exactly what Ethan thought of Lord Alfred of Buxton and even more what he thought of Crispin. She wasn’t about to get in the middle of it. The coins tied to her belt reminded her that her mission was complete. Geoffrey was waiting. She scurried up the slope by the side of the road and hid in the shadows.

“You have no authority here, Windale.” Crispin lowered his sword, vicious smirk matching the shadows of the night.

“My authority extends to the north end of the Derby road in the forest, Huntingdon.” Ethan crossed his arms.

“You think so?” Crispin’s smirk widened. “You haven’t heard?”

“You’re on my property and I want you off.” He ignored Crispin’s pitiless taunt and glanced around for Aubrey. “Your prey got away.”

Crispin’s expression dropped. He searched the shadowy tree line. Aubrey ducked further out of sight. “Guards!” he shouted, “Go after him!” He turned his back on Ethan only to find his men groaning and nursing their wounds.

“Bad luck, Huntington,” Ethan grinned.

“This is not over, Bandit!” Crispin shouted to the treetops before striding over to help one of the groaning guards to his feet.

Aubrey’s heart thrummed in her chest as she stared at Ethan. He was there, right in front of her, home. Her brother’s friend had haunted her dreams since she was a girl. But then he’d left. Just like that.

She backed further into the forest, retreating up the road to where Geoffrey waited. Ethan was the one who convinced Geoffrey to run off and join King Richard’s crusade. She’d thought they were heroes. Her heart still did, but her head had seen the consequences of war and abandonment.

Every few steps she glanced over her shoulder to see if he would follow. When she was almost out of sight of the road he walked through the trees, eyes bright and mischievous.

“Lady Aubrey of Morley.” He crossed his arms and rested his weight on one hip. “What in blazes do you think you’re doing?”

She pushed her hood back, loose tendrils of hair spilling across her face, and pulled the scarf hiding her small, round mouth down. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Getting yourself killed?” He tilted his head, eyes flashing.

“What, that? Psht!” She brushed off the near miss with Crispin. “That was nothing.”

He laughed. Her stomach fluttered. “You’re as reckless as your brother.”

“Why thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“My lord! My lord!” a call plowed through the forest followed by enough noise and bustle to wake the dead. From the darkness to their left a reedy figure in a pilgrim’s cloak jogged towards them carrying two packs on his back. He ran into every bush and stepped on every branch in his path, rushing on until he came to stop with a grunt in front of them. He bent over a stitch in his side as he caught his breath.

“Toby.” Ethan slapped him on the shoulder.

The gesture nearly knocked Toby over. He winced up at his master and clasped a hand over his heart. “Don’t go running off on me like that! I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Aubrey bit her lip to hide her laughter. Toby caught his breath in fits. His perpetually wide brown eyes turned from his erstwhile master to Aubrey. For a moment he screwed up his face, then he blinked and burst into a grin. “Lady Aubrey!” He worked his smiling jaw for a moment before blowing out a breath and trying to bow under the packs he carried. “What are you doing here?”

“Having an adventure.” She arched an eyebrow.

Toby stared at the pouches on her belt and the sword in her hand, eyes and mouth wide. Ethan laughed and thumped his friend on the back again, hesitated, then thumped Aubrey as well. “I’m surprised that Geoff isn’t out here causing mischief with you.” He pushed them both to walk on. “Isn’t that the way you two usually operate?” The grin on Aubrey’s face vanished. He paused. “What?”

Aubrey walked for a few more paces before giving up and turning to him. “You haven’t heard about Geoffrey then?”

He shrugged. “I know he was injured in Cyprus and sent home.”

Aubrey put her hand on his forearm. “He was injured,” she hesitated. “He … he nearly died.” Her words stop there and she glanced away. She couldn’t tell the rest.

Ethan ran a hand through his hair as his cheery expression melted. “What happened?”

She nudged them to keep walking. “He’s right over here waiting.” She swallowed. “You’ll … you’ll see.”

Ethan sent her a wary glance. “What aren’t you telling me?”

She couldn’t bring herself to answer.

They walked on in silence. Aubrey’s heart felt as heavy as the pouches of coins around her waist. In all her dreams she had never imagined her reunion with Ethan like this. She couldn’t think of a thing to say.

He kept darting glances to her as they walked. “Do you need us to see you home?”

She opened her mouth to reply but Toby interrupted. “My lord, we should really be getting home to Windale.” He squirmed as he spoke, heavy packs jostling against his sides, eyes pleading.

Ethan laughed. “Toby hasn’t shut up about Windale since the day we left.” He slapped his friend’s back again and caused one of the packs to slip off his shoulder.

“I miss my sister’s cooking,” Toby brooded as he resettled his load.

Ethan’s laugh echoed louder. “Do you mind if I get him home to his sister’s cooking?”

Aubrey stopped again and rubbed her forehead where her mask chafed. “Ethan,” she winced, “You need to come talk to Geoffrey first.”

His shoulders tensed and the mirth in his eyes fizzled. “Why?”

She opened her mouth, hoping that something would come out, and when nothing did she sighed. “He’s only a bit further. He’ll be happy to see you. You have no idea.”

She tried to walk on.

He grasped her arm, holding her still. “What’s going on?”

She lowered her eyes to his hand on her arm. Through the cloth of her shirt her skin tingled. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before raising her eyes to meet his. “Windale isn’t yours anymore.”

“It isn’t … what?” He dropped her arm and gaped.

“Look, Geoffrey
will
explain.” She rushed on before he could protest. “Do you have horses? Should we go get them?”

“No.” Ethan shook his head.

“Alright,” she nodded, “Then don’t just stand there looking daft. Come on.” The two men watched as she marched past them. She squeezed her eyes shut before stopping and turning to face them. It was Toby’s expression that broke her heart. “Toby?”

He glanced up at her, mouth pressed in a worried line. “My sister. Joanna. Is she … is she still at Windale?”

“Yes, as far as I know she still is.”

He inched forward as if he would say more, then thought better of it and closed his mouth. He started after her. Aubrey began walking again, glancing over her shoulder to Ethan. His frown was more set than ever, but he jogged to catch up with them.

When they reached the small clearing where Geoffrey waited Aubrey’s heart dropped to her stomach. Her brother was sprawled at the base of a thick oak with a flask in his hand, his head drooped over his chest. His peg leg shot out at an odd angle to his whole leg. Ethan stopped dead at the sight.

“Geoffrey!” she forced cheer into her voice as she rushed to his side. “Victory, Geoffrey!” She rattled the purses at her belt as he shook himself and struggled to sit up straight. “And you’ll never guess who I found.”

“
Who
you found?” Geoffrey slurred. He muscled himself to stand, using the tree for support as Aubrey swiped the flask from his limp hand. His whole face lit up in surprise when he saw Ethan and Toby. “My god, Ethan!” He blinked and swayed, brushing his wrinkled tunic with sudden self-consciousness. Ethan shuffled towards him, his tumultuous expression speaking more than words ever could. Geoffrey fought the wave of color that made its way to his face, the shame and the joy.

“Geoff!” Ethan exclaimed, not looking at his friend’s missing leg. He took Geoffrey in his arms, thumped him hard on the back and was pounded in return. “What a sight!” He released his friend and Aubrey swallowed as Ethan realized that if he let go Geoffrey would fall. He waited until the man had his balance before backing off. Aubrey glanced to Toby to avoid the pain in both men’s faces. Toby watched his master with protective sorrow.

“Back from the war in one piece, eh?” Geoffrey teased, eyes dull and tired. “Lucky devil.”

“Did you forget something in Cyprus?” Ethan joked in return.

Geoffrey’s laughter was hollow. Aubrey escaped to her horse and shoved Geoffrey’s half empty flask and the pouches of coins into her saddlebag. “Toby, do you want to put those packs on the horses?”

“No thank you, my lady,” Toby answered with an impatient nod. “I’d like to find out what has happened to my sister.” He frowned at Ethan.

Ethan’s face fell and he kicked the dirt. “Aubrey tells me I’ve been dispossessed.”

Geoffrey let out a heavy sigh. “She told you, did she?”

“Is she right?” Geoffrey didn’t answer and Aubrey couldn’t look at him. “Well?”

“You left Windale without a lord, without leadership,” Geoffrey explained. “Buxton said that it was a blatant abandonment of the manor and the village. He said that without a lord the manor would collapse.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Ethan hissed. “The people of Windale are strong and industrious.”

Geoffrey shrugged. “Buxton saw nothing but a manor without a firm hand to rule it. He awarded your land to the care of … of someone else.”

Ethan shook his head, not sure he’d heard right. “He awarded
my
land to someone
else
? He doesn’t have the right to do that!”

“Actually he does. He’s the Sheriff. He has the right to administrate the shire, and he felt as though Windale needed administration.” He rubbed his drawn face.

Ethan pushed a hand through his sun-blond hair and searched the forest for answers. He blinked and his expression darkened. “Who did he award Windale to?”

“Huntingdon.”

Ethan’s body hardened and his eyes burned with fury, but it was Toby who spoke. “Wait.” He held out a hand, face scrunched into a confused frown. “Are you saying that Huntingdon is the new lord of Windale?
Huntingdon
?” Geoffrey nodded. Toby’s shoulders went slack and the packs plunked to the ground with a loud thump. “Sir Crispin of Huntingdon is in charge of my sister? Is anybody dead yet?”

“No!” Aubrey huffed. “No one is dead. Everything at Windale is pretty much the same as it was before.”

“Except that a black-hearted murderer holds their lives in his hands,” Ethan growled. He launched into pacing the short distance of the clearing. “Were you here when this happened?”

“No,” Geoffrey snapped.

“I was.” Aubrey crossed her arms and scowled at Ethan. “And there was nothing that anyone would have been able to do about it, so don’t you dare use that tone of voice with my brother.”

Ethan blinked several times as he stared at her. The smile that played at the edges of his mouth burned Aubrey’s cheeks bright pink with anger … and something else that was inconvenient when she was trying to be angry with him. She was almost relieved when his expression darkened. “Well how did you manage to hold onto Morley, huh? A lone woman with your brother gone off to war. Didn’t Buxton think Morley needed administration?”

“For your information he did.” She tilted her chin up. “As long as father was alive Buxton didn’t dare look our way. When he died I came very near to being married off so that he could control Morley. Geoffrey’s return was the only thing that stopped that. So don’t you think for a second-”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered a quick apology.

Aubrey blew out a breath and sucked in another one. “It’s alright.” She let her arms drop to her sides and her back relax. “You’re upset. I understand. I would be too.” Something about the strong, square lines of his face, the way his broad shoulders stooped as he fretted made it impossible to stay angry with him.

He resumed pacing. “This is not the homecoming I expected,” he mumbled.

“Certainly not,” Toby echoed, pacing himself in imitation of his master.