A week later, Amaro was part of the group of men who organized the escort for Hereford and his family to take to Brython. Everything was prepared the day before, from the fortified wagon that would take the de Lohr women to the provisions wagons that would go along for the escort of two hundred men. De Lohr never traveled light when his wife and daughters were with him, so Amaro did an excellent job with the wagons and the logistics, leaving Kessler to tell Hereford that Amaro had performed admirably. Amaro had done it on purpose so they would be off their guard when he made his escape. So they would think he was behaving himself.
But the truth was much different.
On the crisp morning the de Lohr escort left for Brython Castle, Amaro was at his post, but before the escort could depart, he reported feeling ill to the sergeant on duty and told the man he was going back to his quarters to rest for the day. He did indeed return to his quarters, but only to make it look as if he was sleeping by making his pallet lumpy. Moving swiftly, he collected his saddlebags and left his quarters, making his way to the stables, where his horse had grown fat and lazy from lack of use. Not trusting the stable servants to keep his departurequiet, he saddled his horse personally and slipped the animal out through the rear yard.
The postern gate was unguarded.
It was a heavily fortified gate, always locked, but because it was so fortified, it was rarely watched. Sometimes, farmers or merchants doing business with the kitchens or with the stablemaster used the gate, but on this day, it was simply unguarded and locked. Amaro unlocked it, slipped his horse through, took the animal down the slope, crossing the small stream at the bottom of the hill, and entered the trees on the other side. The sentries who usually patrolled the walls had been busy watching Hereford and his family depart and didn’t notice him.
That was what Amaro had hoped for.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t seen.
A lad who had been mucking stalls on the other side of the stable had seen Amaro move in and out. Curious, he followed Amaro to see if he needed any assistance, only to see the man depart through the postern gate. The stable servant thought that was rather odd but went back to his work, until the next morning when Kessler came into the stable with another de Lohr knight who had remained behind. They were looking at the warhorses, and when they noticed Amaro’s was missing, they happened to ask the lad if he’d seen the horse removed. The servant had seen Amaro himself remove the horse and depart through the postern gate the day before.
After that, the stable servant wasn’t certain why both Kessler and the other knight began to run back toward the keep, but he had a feeling it wasn’t a good thing. When Kessler himself departed less than an hour later—the old man didn’t normally ride out like that—the stable servant began to realize that Amaro’s departure hadn’t been expected. If Kessler was riding to find him, it must be very bad.
Very bad, indeed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Brython Castle
It was agown of blue and gold satin.
Glorious de Lohr colors that were spectacularly presented. Standing in front of a tall mirror of polished bronze, Elle could see herself quite clearly in the magnificent dress. She could also feel every pin and every stitch that Dustin, Lady Hereford, was putting in the side of the garment. Her left arm was up as her husband’s mother tried to alter a dress that wasn’t quite fitting in the bustline.
A woman she had only just met earlier in the day, in fact.
But a woman she was already fond of.
“Try that now,” Dustin said, helping her carefully lower her left arm. She began pulling at the top of the dress, which was formfitting and lovely. “How does it feel now? Still too tight?”
Standing around Dustin were Curtis’ younger sisters, Rebecca and Olivia Charlotte. Rebecca was tall and willowy, with red hair, while Olivia Charlotte was short and blonde in the image of her mother. They were helping Lady Hereford with the exquisite garment that was simply too tight. So tight that Elle felt as if her breasts were about to spill over the top. Curtis thought it was a lovely problem to have, but Elle didn’t. She’d barely metDustin and Curtis’ sisters when they arrived before Curtis was asking his mother to help with the dress. Dustin didn’t need any prompting—she grabbed her younger daughters and jumped right in.
And that was where they found themselves as the sun began to set.
“It feels better,” Elle admitted, trying to adjust her breasts so they weren’t bulging over the top of the bodice. “Does it look better?”
Dustin stood back and inspected her work. Rebecca knelt in front of Elle and tugged at the bottom of the garment to help straighten out the fabric.
“It looks a little better,” Dustin said. “But I fear with this fabric that if I try to alter it too much, you will be able to see the needle marks. Do you think you can stand it like this?”
Elle was still adjusting herself, now looking in the mirror. “I think so,” she said. “But I feel that when I meet our guests, all they’ll see are big white breasts right in their faces.”
To emphasize the point, she turned around and made gestures over the tops of her breasts as Rebecca and Olivia Charlotte giggled. Even Dustin grinned.
“I must say that the dress is magnificent,” Dustin said. “But I am surprised a seamstress with such skill was unable to measure correctly. That seems like a foolish mistake.”
Elle looked down at herself. “She had the measurements correct when she first measured me, but that was a few weeks ago,” she said. “I seem to have… grown since then.”
Dustin was still grinning as she went to her and tried to tug at the fabric a little. “I would say you have,” she said. “Curtis must be feeding you well.”
Elle eyed her mother-in-law. She didn’t know the woman at all, but she knew her through Curtis’ eyes. He adored his mother and spoke so fondly of her. Elle hoped she could adore her, too,and would be adored in return, but her history with women was sketchy. She didn’t have high hopes. But the reason for her full breasts was a very big secret she and Curtis were sitting on, a secret that not only made her nauseated on a daily basis, but fairly emotional as well. She didn’t like that her beautiful dress wasn’t fitting well because her breasts were becoming larger. She didn’t want to look like an exhibitionist with them bursting out all over the place. Worse still, she didn’t want to look fat and untidy. Unsure what to say to Dustin’s comment, she felt tears begin to pool in her eyes as she quickly tried to blink them away, but Olivia Charlotte saw that she was growing red in the face. A sweet girl, she went to Elle and took her hand.
“Mama,” she said softly. “Elle is weeping.”
Betrayed, Elle tried to turn her face away, but Dustin wouldn’t let her. She took her other hand, greatly concerned.
