“You can see the forest from here!”she chided.“I will be as safe as here by your side.”
She was not nearly convinced of that, but she had to warn Quinn.
Lothair protested, but she turned the horse, ignoring him.She gave the palfrey her heels and trotted through gates and village, waved to the villagers, then urged the beast to a run.Quinn’s horn sounded again and Melissande prayed that she would not arrive too late.
Chapter 16
Quinn was not alone.
He was crouched beside the stag, ensuring it was dead, when he first heard the other horse.He thought perhaps it was Niall or one of the boys, but could not imagine why they would remain hidden in the underbrush.Anyone within earshot would have heard him pursue the stag, never mind his cry of triumph when the bolt struck home.
He moved with purpose, as if unaware, and listened.He gutted the stag, leaving the offal for other creatures in the forest, then slung it over the back of his saddle.Fortitude flared his nostrils and stamped a foot, but Quinn took his time ensuring that the deer was securely bound.He went all around Fortitude, scanning the forest as he moved.
He spied the rider’s silhouette, then a flick of cloth.
A cloak?
Caparisons?
The hair prickled on the back of his neck with the awareness that he was watched.He swung into the saddle again and turned Fortitude back toward the path.He had planned to meet the others there and hoped they had been fortunate as well.He kept his hand on his crossbow and gave no indication that he heard the twig snap to his right.From the periphery of his vision, he glimpsed the rider again.
Caparisons.
Gold with a black insignia.How Quinn wished he recognized it.
He was considering the merit of raising his voice and greeting the other rider, when he heard galloping hoof beats from the path.He straightened and saw the flicker of the other horse moving through the undergrowth.The horse cantered and then galloped, but the arriving horse was turned in its course.Quinn quietly followed the sound of hoof beats.
“Arnaud!”Melissande cried and Quinn’s heart stopped cold.He did not move.“Arnaud de Privas!I thought those were your colors!”Her tone was charming and light, as if she welcomed a guest to Annossy.He must hear this conversation.
He found his lady upon her palfrey in a stream, facing a knight on a dapple destrier with golden caparisons.Her palfrey stepped with agitation, as if disliking that they stood in the flow of water.Quinn wondered if it was aware of its rider’s mood.Melissande rode the same palfrey often and though she smiled, he sensed a tension in her.
Because she feared discovery?
Or because she feared Arnaud?Quinn dismounted, left Fortitude, and eased closer.He circled around the pair to a better vantage point, glad of the sound of the water.He halted where he had a clear view of Arnaud.
He loaded a bolt into his crossbow, more than prepared to use it.He must strike Arnaud in the throat to ensure the blow was fatal, for the other knight wore his armor.Indeed, Arnaud had not even abandoned his helmet, which was vexing.It was a narrow target and Quinn could have done without the undergrowth in between them.He would have one shot and he would make it count.
He tried to ease closer in silence and still remain unseen.
“Whatever are you doing here?”Melissande asked lightly.
“And where is here?”her companion replied.
Melissande laughed lightly.“Sayerne, of course.”
“But not so far from Privas, surely?”
“I suppose not, though surely that keep is abandoned.”
“But my family legacy, all the same.I ride to hunt but have lost my party.”He gave a little laugh.“The boar was doughty and I could not resist the chance to take him.I outran my entire party in the pursuit.”
“By considerable distance, it appears,” Melissande said, looking left and right.
“Aye, that it does.”
“And yet, you have no boar,” she noted.
“Alas, he escaped.They are most wily when cornered.”
