03 The Outlaw Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick

Author:Elizabeth Chadwick [Chadwick, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

23

“Not far now.” Fulke looked at Maude, who was drooping in the saddle. “We’ll be at Higford by compline.”

Immediately her spine straightened. “I am all right,” she said defensively. “The warmth of the day has made me sleepy, that’s all.”

It was a lie. She was exhausted. He only had to look at the dark shadows beneath her eyes to know that. They had been traveling hard, making sure that they had left any pursuit far behind. The weather had been kind in that it had not rained, but the heat was draining and they had been avoiding the towns which meant taking lesser-known paths through frequently rough terrain.

Maude had not complained, but Fulke knew the enforced traveling had taken its toll. When she had accompanied Theobald to Ireland, the pace had been protracted with comfortable stops in abbey guesthouses and friendly keeps along the way. She had not been forced to live on siege rations and camp out on the hard ground every night. Nor had she been hunted.

Fulke thrust his feelings of guilt aside. It was unwise to keep chewing at that particular bone. She had agreed to the marriage, had gone with him willingly, and, as she had said, going back would be like returning to a prison. But seeing her suffer filled him with remorse.

“I am not as frail as I look,” she said, as if reading his thoughts. “You keep gazing at me as if I’m made of glass, but I’m not. I can stay in the saddle as long as you or any of your men. I won’t be treated differently.”

“I only said that it wasn’t far to Higford,” he replied. “I know full well that you are no fragile creature. In truth, you remind me of a hedge pig. Certainly you have the spines.”

Her eyes flashed, as he had known they would. They were indeed like glass, he thought, a green so clear and light that they gave the illusion of being translucent.

“Like always mates with like, so they say, and you have the bristles to prove it,” she retorted, touching her cheek where her skin was marked with a pink rash of stubble burn.

Fulke rubbed the heavy four days’ growth of beard on his chin. “I’ll barber this off the moment we reach Higford,” he promised. During the winter, he would have let his beard grow, but in the summer, it was too hot and prickly, especially if worn with a mail coif or closed helm.

“You think we’ll be safe at Higford?”

“For a time at least. William FitzAlan is sheriff of Shropshire and I number the sons of many of his tenants among my men. He’s sympathetic to my cause and, thus far, he’s turned a blind eye. My Wiltshire lands are accessible too since William of Salisbury is the sheriff.”

“He’s John’s half brother!” Maude exclaimed. “Are you wise to trust him?”

“He’s also my friend. If he is forced to move against me then he will give sufficient warning. I would not abuse his hospitality, but I know I could claim it if I had to and not be betrayed.

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