There Your Heart Will Be Also (11 page)

Sighing
heavily,
Cedric shrugged
off the
misery
which
worked to consume him,
then
stood and
checked his plaid to see if it was dry.
When his fingers touched the fabric and only a dampness remained, h
e pulled it up and wrapped it around him,
pleated
it at the waist,
slung
it up over his shoulder, and pinn
ed
it in place.
Next, he picked up the ripped tunic and placed it over his arm.

The village gossip
hounds were saying
the mistress'
birthday
was
in two days
time
.
That
was his chance
,
his opportunity to woo his bride to be.
Aye
, he'd come for the land.
But it couldn't hurt to make his future wife enamored with him
as well
.

The day dawned bright and clear
with rays of sunlight streaming through the window
.
Sarra stretch
ed
in bed
.
The
sounds
of
a
fair
amount of activity
from
down below
reached her
.
H
av
ing
overslept, she hurriedly dressed and rushed downstairs.

Upon her entrance into
the main hall
,
a hush settled over the room.
Charism spotted her immediately and headed her way.
Grabbing Sarra's arm, she ushered her out of the hall.

“Charism!
I told you not to make a fuss.”

“Oh, we didna make a fuss.”

“You didn't make a fuss?
The whole hall is decorated.
How were you planning on hiding the festivities from me?”
asked Sarra
, attempting to peer back inside the room
.

“I had no intentions of hiding them
,
”
replied Charism, a smile in her voice.

“But…but…
were you not afraid I would try to stop you?”

“Nay
,” said Charism.

“Nay
?
I
s all you can say?”

“Nay, ye would never stop the celebration for ye
r
birthday because ye realize all the hard work and planning
which
has gone on for ye.
Also ye know ye people need a break from their chores and this is a great reason.
” Hands folded across her chest, lips tilted upwards, she added, “
Now we have established ye
r
role of waiting and enjoying
yer
special day
,
I must get back to decorating and ye must go find something to do elsewhere, until time for ye appearance.”

Sarra stood dumbfounded by her dismissal.
Charism was correct
.
Sarra couldn't
,
in good conscience
,
stop the villagers from taking a break and having a day of celebration.
But why did
Charism ha
ve to
ch
o
ose her birthday for the event
?
T
his
was the whole point
, of course
.
Charism was determined Sarra's twenty-first birthday be a special one.
She herself could have spent the whole day doing normal activities and have been just as content.
As it
was
, there
stood
to be lots of good food, plenty of company, and lots of dancing.

Sarra
walk
ed
toward the stables
,
thinking
about the gowns available in her wardrobe.
She could wear the emerald silk but
it
was probably too fanc
y
for an event such as her birthday.
It would be more appropriate for a wedding.

She stopped in her tracks.
What?
Why
had
such a
thought entered her mind?
There would be no wedding for as long as she could help it.

It was
the
Scotsman.
Him and
the
brief kiss he
'd
laid across her lips.
She should have slapped him where he stood.
Why had she allowed him to take such liberties?

Sarra had
been weak.
Plain and simple.
But it wouldn't happen again.
No,
Sarra
would be on her guard next time.
This Cedric MacNeil character, whoever he was,
with
whatever he wanted here at Greenbriar
,
might as well give up.
There was no
way
he would receive what he sought.

She began walking again.

****

Cedric was in the lists
.
Off
by
himself, he held the sword in position.
With a step forward, he thrust at an imaginary opponent. As he lifted his sword to practice a downward swing, he lost his footing.

It was all her fault.
He couldn't get his mind off the kiss he
'
d
shared with Sarra just t
hree
day
s
before.
He couldn't stop thinking about how Sarra
had looked with her eyes shut, her lips parted
with
a sigh
of contentment
.

Then he saw
her.
T
he object of his thoughts careen
ed
by
,
riding
a
horse toward
the keep's gates
as if
the hounds of death
were
after her.

For a moment, he didn't move. His eyes followed
the cloud of dust
kicked up by Sarra's horse.
His p
ulse quickened as explanations for the lass'
s
flight entered his mind. What in the world
would
cause Sarra to leave the keep in such a hurry? Could the lass be in some kind of danger?

Without another moment's hesitation,
Cedric went to the stables and asked to
borrow
a horse.
One was brought to him post haste and he
set
off after
her
.

With each clop of the hooves his body shifted on the worn saddle. The stirrups
were
adjusted for a smaller man and his long legs were bent at an uncomfortable angle.
The beast was in no hurry
,
taking one small step at a time.

Using the reins, Cedric whipped the horse to no avail. Next he
kicked
the animal's rump but still it moseyed along. Sighing in frustration, Cedric looked
at the woods on the side of
the
path,
and
noticed something.

Hidden deep in the woods, as if trying to remain unseen was two of Greenbriar's knights.
Again i
t appeared
the young lass
was being followed.
What kind of maid would receive such treatment?

One who held importance or one who was being pursued?

While
Cedric's
mind asked these questions,
Sarra slow
ed
her horse down to a canter
.
Cedric followed suit.

With each deliberate movement of the horse, Cedric wondered why he
was
follo
wing
the maid. If the knights rode alongside to protect the lass
,
then she had no need of his sword. But if they rode beside her with the intent to do harm, what would he do? Would he draw his weapon and defend the lass at the expense of perhaps losing the one thing he'd come for?

As he rode
along
, h
e
observed
the land.
Was it just a week before he had stared at this piece of ground and realized it had been given to him?

At this moment he could ride to the main hall, present his letter from the King, and commandeer all he saw in the MacNeil name.
But what would
it
prove?
It would make him like the members
of
his own family.
He would be taking something
a
family had worked hard to build.
Something
which
didn't rightly belong to him.

Grunting as the horse trotted along the uneven ground,
Cedric
realized he didn't want to take the land.
He
wanted it to
be given to
him freely.
It wasn't enough the King had ordained such an action
or that
the ground had been earned
by him
.
He'd fought on the King's behalf.
This was his reward.

Oh, the King's personal attendants thought it comical he was walking into
this
situation.
But he saw it differently.
All he had to do was persuade
the mistress she
would be better off
with the land in
his possession than in
hers
.

It was best just to stick to his plan.
In no time the mistress would be begging to marry him.
And when
it happened,
h
e would marry the lass.
They would have children.
And they could both go about
t
heir separate ways.
P
ossess
ion of
the land
would occupy
his
time
.
And t
o occupy
the
time of the
mistress
, s
he would have
children
.
What more did a woman want?

But
what of Sarra?
With her position as
a maid in the keep
,
would
Cedric
be forced
to look at her, long for her,
ache to hold her,
all while married to another?

Following close behind Sarra
, Cedric
realized he had no idea where she was going.
Did
she
even
know
?

Sarra stopped her horse
beside
a small pond.
It wasn't the same one
Cedric had
bathed in the day before.
It was further from the keep and more secluded.

As of yet, his presence seemed unnoticed
.
Disgruntled
,
he realized this could be
because his horse had continued to move so slow that its hooves had
barely made
a sound.

Sarra dismounted and walked around the edge of the small pond.
On one side sat a row boat.
Cedric watched from the reeds a
s
Sarra plucked a flower from the ground and began removing the petals one at a time.
The flower landed on the ground
just
as
she
reached
the boat
and
climbed
inside
.
Picking up the oars, she pushed off the side of the bank and stroked out into the
center
of the
pond
.

When Sarra reached the middle, she
stopped and just s
a
t there
.
From his location, i
t wasn't clear what
she
was doing.
Craning his neck around a large boulder,
Cedric
saw her stand.

The
boat began to wobble.
Sarra's
arms
flailed wildly.
Then
t
he tiny boat flipped and
she
was thrown in the air
.
When she hit the water,
her heavy
skirts
sank
,
taking
her down
as well
.

L
egs thrashing,
she
swam.
Breath held, Cedric watched as she kicked
her legs and
slic
ed
her arms through the water
with all her might
,
but
it
didn't seem to be getting
her
any closer to
the
water's edge
.
Inwardly
he
was yelling, “Come on, come on.”
But
she
wasn't moving.

Sarra
looked like
a drowning
kitten
.
If
she didn't reach
the shore soon, she might
not reach it at all.
With
her
body
stretched out, she
tried
once more
.
This time
she buried
h
er head
with
her
attempt to
cut
through the
water
more efficiently
.
But e
very time
her head lifted
,
it
was sucked right back down again.

If
Cedric
didn't do something, and quick, Sarra was going to drown.
He found a thin hollow reed, placed it in his mouth, and slipped soundlessly into the water.
Before he got close to Sarra, he took a deep breath and removed the reed from his mouth, while slipping under
neath
her.

Fortunately for
Cedric
, she
was
l
ying
on her stomach and was trying to head toward the shore.
He slipped his hands around her tiny waist and kicked forward.
Had she not been helping, they would never have made it.

When
Sarra
reached the shore,
she stood and
staggered
out.
Cedric
hid behind her skirts
,
replac
ing
the
reed pipe in his mouth.
He was all set to
turn and sw
i
m back to the opposite side of the pond
,
b
ut when h
e peeked above the water and saw
her sitting there shivering and alone, he couldn't leave.

He walked up out of the water and collapsed beside her.