‘Has it truly been too long?’
‘It depends on how they find them or where. My cousin can be stubborn when he gets a notion in his head. I hope you are right and that they have not headed towards Dubh-Linn, but away from it.’
A loud banging resounded on the door. ‘My lord, you are required in the yard. News about your cousin, my lord.’
The muscles in Rand’s back relaxed. ‘See? They have been found and all is well.’
‘You should not have to face these things alone.’
He watched her under hooded eyes, wondering what he’d done to deserve Svanna’s loyalty. Maybe it was simply her notion of duty, but he knew it would be easier to face whatever he had to with her at his side, and that knowledge made him wary—both of her and for her. If Turgeis or anyone else wanted to hurt him, it was possible that they would use Svanna.
And what would happen when they were vanquished? a little voice asked. Would Svanna have any reason to remain in the marriage? Was that why she’d asked for a Northern marriage, one which could be dissolved? Having just found her, he wanted to keep her, and that chilled him to the bone.
Chapter Fourteen
Svanna, praying to any god who listened that the pair had been found unharmed and were now here, or if not precisely here, very close, linked her arm with Rand’s. ‘We show a united front, no matter what.’
He smiled down at her and patted her hand. ‘Thank you.’
Several of Rand’s men milled about the yard, talking in low voices, but no one else. When Svanna and Rand entered the yard they stopped talking and shuffled their feet.
‘What is this all about?’ Rand asked in a measured tone but she could feel the tension in his arm. He had guessed as well as she did that their absence from the yard was not good news. ‘Have you found them? Bring them to me.’
‘My lord.’ One of his men brought a horse forward with a bundle of bloodied clothes. ‘We discovered these neatly folded under an oak tree down by the fork before the Emlagh Bog. I fear for Lord Thorarinn and Lady Rhiannon.’
‘Did you find any horses?’
The man shook his head. ‘No horses. Just the cloak.’
Rand held out his hand and the man put the cloak in it.
‘I’ve seen Lord Thorarinn wear that cloak many times, my lord. No mistaking it. He’d never willingly abandon it. He used to tell that story about the time in Constantinople…’
Rand gave the briefest of nods. His throat worked up and down, but no sound emerged. Svanna patted his back, but he moved away.
‘Do we know who did this?’ Svanna asked, realising that he was struggling. He gave her a grateful look. ‘Is it a notorious area for thieves or bandits if it is near a peat bog? Remember I am a stranger here.’
The man who had carried the cloak shuffled his feet. ‘I assume it was bandits, my lady.’
‘We haven’t had them here in a good few years,’ Rand said. ‘One good thing I have done.’
‘Must be a new lot. You ain’t been around here lately, what with the King’s business and all, my lord. Meaning no disrespect, sir.’
Rand raised a brow. ‘Why do you think bandits? Why not men from the North?’
‘We found a North-made sword quite near to these bloodied clothes,’ another man piped up.
‘Why would bandits leave an intact sword?’ Svanna said, tilting her head to one side. ‘A good sword is hard to come by, normally the last thing anyone leaves and the first thing people take.’
Rand gave her a curious look. ‘My lady speaks true. Why would bandits leave any metal?’
The questions swarmed in his head like bees around honey. If no bandits existed in that area but Thorarinn had run into difficulty, who was he meeting? Why had it gone sour?
‘Perhaps they were disturbed, my lady,’ the man answered with a frown. ‘We found the corpse of a heavy-set man in the undergrowth, but no one we recognised. Maybe he was from the North.’
‘Did anyone think to bring the dead man?’ Svanna said.
‘What good would have that done, my lady?’
