Annaleigh was laying on her side, turned away from the door, and rolled over to face her cousin.
She yawned.
“Not ill,” she said. “But I was up most of the night with the wounded and when I became angry with Talus, I thought… I came back tae rest. Is something amiss?”
Jordan nodded, pulling her into a sitting position. “Talus is dying, lass,” she said quietly. “Get yer shoes on and come with me. He’s asking for ye.”
“He is worse?”
Jordan simply nodded again without elaborating, so Annaleigh pulled her shoes on and quickly followed the woman from the chamber. But as she did so, she kept looking around to see where War was. There were other chambers on this level, so he must have slipped into one of them, waiting for Jordan to leave the floor.
She was, with Annaleigh right behind her.
They made their way to the first-floor unmarried men’s wing where Talus had slipped into unconsciousness. There were several people still in the chamber but Annaleigh didn’t look at any of them as she resumed her seat next to Talus’ bed, taking his hand again and apologizing for running away. She made up some excuse, that she was too overwhelmed with his generosity, hoping he could hear her.
But he never awoke.
The hours slipped away.
Sometime near sunset, Talus du Reims’ fever-wracked body gave up the fight. As Annaleigh held his hand and William and Kieran stood on the other side of the bed, he simply stopped breathing. Whatever poison The Bones had put on their blades, one that seemed to be affecting other wounded men but not to the extent it had affected Talus, had done its job. A knight with a bright future was now walking the fields of heaven, more than likely wondering how he got there so quickly.
Annaleigh sat with Talus’ cooling corpse into the evening as William and Kieran made arrangements for a casket. Theyhad them in the vault, in storage, plain pine boxes to transport bodies in, but Jordan had insisted on something nicer for the son of the Earl of East Anglia, so William had sent men to Coldstream where there was a barber surgeon who was also a woodworker and, later in the evening, the men returned bearing a nice pine casket for Talus. The last Annaleigh saw, Talus was being lifted into the box by William, Kieran, and Anthony.
For her friend, the young knight who had tried so hard to woo her, she’d genuinely wept.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The bridge thatwas supposed to be about a mile downriver had turned into a day-long odyssey to find another bridge that wasn’t completely broken down in order to cross the River Tweed into England.
Argyle and Brendan had given up an entire day of travel because of a destroyed bridge. They’d ended up traveling all the way to Kelso and crossing there before having to travel all the way back to Castle Questing with a horse that had turned up lame just as they’d made the Kelso crossing.
Frustrated, tired, and hungry, they approached the gates of Castle Questing just after sunset, but the gate sentries had no intention of admitting two lone Scots even though Argyle had been clear about their relation to the House of de Wolfe. Even then, the gate sentries were leery until they sent for Jemma, who had been in the great hall overseeing the meal because Jordan, William, and Kieran were dealing with the passing of Talus du Reims. Jemma wasn’t happy to be pulled away from the great hall, but at the mention of who was at the gates, morbid curiosity pulled her out of the hall and to the gatehouse where the portcullis was down.
It didn’t take her long to recognize her nephews.
The portcullis lifted.
“What in the world are ye doing here?” Jemma demanded as they came through. “And why are ye traveling at night? Have ye no sense, lads?”
Argyle was leading his lame horse while Brendan wearily dismounted his.
“We were caught up in the trouble in Coldstream,” Argyle said. “We were going tae cross there, but the village was overrun so we were forced tae cross in Kelso, but my horse hurt his leg. Can I have a servant take him tae the stables and tend him?”
Jemma began barking orders as well as any battle commander and men came running. In fact, it was widely known that she was feared even more than her husband was. Two servants came to take both Argyle and Brendan’s horses away and the weary Scotsmen started to head towards the hall, but Jemma didn’t move. Because she didn’t move, they came to a halt.
“Ye dinna answer me,” she said, looking between them. “Why have ye come?”
Argyle glanced at his brother before answering. “We risked trouble with the reivers tae come here, Auntie,” he said. “Do ye not think it’s serious?”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only answer I can give ye. I’ve come tae speak tae Annie directly.”
Jemma’s eyebrows lifted. “Annie?” she said. “Why? Who has sent ye?”
Argyle shook his head. “I can only tell her,” he said. “Where is she?”
Jemma frowned. “Argyle, what’s this madness about?” she said. “Who sent ye with a message for Annie?”
