“I saw you with her, Will,” his friend explained. “I have seen the way you watch her. I have heard the way you speak of her. You want her and I would not naysay you on that. . .” Roger turned and faced him, not allowing him to ignore the coming words. “But you know that there is something strange and powerful going on here, in these lands, with this lord. The king has sent you to look into the matter. Do not, my friend, allow her to distract you from the importance of or the danger of your mission.”
Will could not argue with a single word Roger spoke. He knew all that and more, and yet he also understood that he could not avoid this young woman. For now he knew she stood at the heart of this quest.
The sight of her opening her hands and causing fire to burst forth from nothing was something he would never forget. He could not explain it, but if this were true, if she held this great power and magic within her, he could not dare to ignore her part in the king’s mission.
How he’d managed to keep his shock from showing on his face afterward, he knew not. He’d fought to keep it from his gaze and his manner when he’d walked back into the clearing and saw her surrounded by those flames. And she did not burn. Nay, from the sound of her laughter and the broad grin on her face, she reveled in her talent.
Yet how could he admit this to Roger, when no God-fearing man would dare to admit seeing such things? He drank down the rest of the ale and handed the cup back to his friend.
“I hear your advice,” he said, looking in the distance to where the stream meandered across the valley. To where she would be.
“But you will not heed my warning?”
Will smacked his friend on the shoulder. “I am too far into this, whatever this endeavor is, Roger, to turn back now. Control of my lands—my lands—lies within the king’s hands, and to possess them I must do his bidding. The king said he was led to me. Well, I am led to her.”
Those lands had been promised to him since his birth by the king in consideration of his friendship with William’s mother, but always there were conditions and delays. Without his father’s permission, he could not stand against the other branch of his family—the legitimate ones. Only the king could give him the standing, even if not the legitimacy, to claim them . . . and hold them.
And now, remembering the changes that had overtaken him a few days before—changes that were just as unbelievable as those he’d glimpsed the girl making— he realized that everything he thought he knew and thought possible were shifting, like the sands of a beach.
“I will heed your warning, Roger, though I know not if I could walk away at this moment.”
William needed to find out what was happening here. Raised in the faith of the Holy Church, he understood good and evil. He understood that some people sought evil and did evil things. And that things that could not be explained were usually the devil’s work. But he was not of the devil and he doubted that Brienne was either.
“I will have your back, Will,” Roger swore quietly. “Fear not that you are in this alone. No matter what manner of danger comes at us, we will stand together in this.”
Will felt that the coming times would task that promise, but he could not explain it to Roger. And he would not fault his friend or any of his men for choosing to leave when they discovered that all was not as it seemed to be. Indeed, from the look of things, very little in this part of Scotland was.
Nodding to Roger, he put on his sword belt and placed the dagger in his boot. He did not wear his battle armor, wanting to be able to move more easily among any villagers he would encounter. Wearing only a jack of leather over his tunic and trews, he covered it with his long cloak so he could pass for a merchant.
“I will return shortly. Herve is expected back this morn, and we will discuss what he has discovered and what I discover when I return. Keep everyone close.”
William did not wait for Roger to acknowledge his orders, for his friend would follow them. Walking down the hill, into the forest, and along the stream, he made his way to the place where he’d seen Brienne the day before. If she arrived first, would she wait or would she leave? Should he reveal that he’d seen her?
Crossing the distance to the stream, he looked back to the hill to see if the camp was concealed. Satisfied, William turned back and found her standing there, watching him with an even gaze. When he nodded, those burning amber eyes filled with questions. Against his will, against all good plans and advice, he needed to answer them.
Brienne watchedhim approach with the cautious steps of a wary predator wanting not to be seen or heard. He turned and stared back at the hills that surrounded the roads leading to Yester Castle. At first she thought that he appeared different from other men to her because he was a stranger and because he was a warrior. Now, watching as he faced her and realized she stood before him, she saw that it was something more than that; there was something more about him. But she could not decide what that something was.
A subtle shift in the light that outlined his form caused him to appear brighter, as though the blue of the sky lit him from within. That was strange. When she looked at him, the rest of the world around faded to a paler version of itself. How had she not noticed it before?
He nodded to acknowledge her and walked closer, using that same stride that seemed to be what his lethal grace would look like in battle.
He reached her in only a few paces, his long legs covering the space between them quickly. Would he kiss her again? Would he touch her? Brienne found it difficult to draw in an even breath at just the thought of that. Clasping her fingers together to keep them from shaking, she forced herself to meet his gaze.
“Good morning to you, Brienne,” he said. “How do you fare this day?” He spoke her language with an accent that made his tongue curl over certain words. Chills raced along her spine at the sound. He had not smiled yet; his face remained serious and intent.
“I am well, Sir William,” she replied. “And I am here as you requested.” As he’d ordered, she’d wanted to say, but she would not anger him by reminding him. If she did, he might reveal the things he might have seen. If he spoke of it to the wrong person, it would not go well for anyone, especially not her. Just as she thought to explain her words, the sunlight pierced through the dreariness of the morning and shone on them.
Brienne could not help but stare at him then, for the light reflected off him and once more she could see him glimmer. She began to shake, unable to control it or hide it from him, for she remembered seeing only one other person who appeared as this warrior did before her.
Whatever connected them, whatever business brought him to Yester, whatever pulled them together, it terrified her.
For the only other person who glimmered as this man did was Lord Hugh. And she knew what Hugh of Gifford was.
But what was this man?
ChapterSeven
Brienne could feel the terror filling her veins.
