“I have coin,” she said, wondering if she could simply buy her way out of danger, but his quick, rough laugh swiftly killed that hope.
“No one has a purse as large as the DeVeaux.”
She inched back as he stepped closer, the point of his sword aimed at her heart. “So greed is why you are ready to stain your hands with the blood of an innocent woman.”
“Innocent or not, I care not, and my hands are already well stained. A few more drops will make no difference.”
He started to move, and Gisele struggled to get to her feet, her heart pounding when she realized how hard it was going to be to elude the thrust of his sword. Then, suddenly, he stopped moving, a look of horrified surprise twisting his homely face. As he slowly fell to his knees, Gisele realized that Nigel stood behind him. She carefully stood up as Nigel wiped the blood from his sword, using the dead man’s jupon.
“I was attempting to talk him out of killing me,” she said and took several slow, deep breaths to calm herself.
“Was there much chance that ye were going to succeed?” Nigel asked, stepping up beside her and gently rubbing her back, pleased to feel her trembling still beneath his hand.
“No chance at all. Greed had blinded him to all reason.”
“Your cousin warned ye.” Nigel took her by the hand and started to lead her back to the horses.
“I know. It stirs my gall to admit he was right.” She exchanged a brief grin with him. “I fear a part of me believed that my small size and sex would give me some protection. That was folly.”
“It was, lass. The men following the DeVeaux lead would probably nay care if ye were but a suckling bairn. Whichever one of your husband’s kinsmen is leading this chase, he hasnae asked that ye be captured alive.”
“They do not care who metes out their justice, as long as it is done.” When they reached the horses, she frowned and looked around even as she mounted. “It would appear that the man was alone.”
“Aye, it would,” Nigel agreed as he mounted his horse and started to ride. “He didnae wish to share the bounty. That greed led him to his grave. What I cannae be certain of is how far away his companions are.”
Gisele shivered, unable to fully suppress her fear. This time she had come chillingly close to paying with her life for a murder she had not committed. Although she tried to be strong by clinging to false hope, she knew she had truly stared death in the face. She needed a respite from the danger in order to regain her strength.
That confrontation had also revealed that she had several faults in her thinking. What she had feared most, what she had really been fighting against, was capture and being dragged before some DeVeau to suffer an unjust trial. Deep in her heart she had never truly believed that anyone other than a DeVeau would kill a small, unarmed woman. She had had faith in the rules a knight was expected to live by, that they would protect, or at least not harm, those who were weaker than they. That had been foolish. The sort of man who would do the bidding of a DeVeau did not abide by any chivalrous code. She had to put such beliefs out of her mind and fully understand that she was not just saving herself from her husband’s family, but from every knave in service to the DeVeaux and some simply trying to earn the bounty placed on her head.
Nigel glanced back at her as he led them across a shallow, rock-strewn creek. He had saved her, but it had been a near thing, too near. The thought of how close he had come to losing her still chilled his blood. He hoped it would make them both more cautious, but he also did not want to leave Gisele too afraid.
“Dinnae look so fretful, lass.” he said. “We can neither see nor hear a DeVeau, so our enemies cannae be too close.”
“We did not see or hear that man, either,” she replied.
“Aye, true enough. But now we ken that they may come at us one at a time, and we can watch for that threat.”
She smiled sadly. “We need more eyes if we are to do all of this watching and do it well.”
“It would be helpful if we had some ally watching our backs, but I am nay sure it would help us in any other way. ’Tis much easier for two people to hide than three or more. And how can we be sure of who we can trust?” He smiled faintly when she cursed. “I would trust my kinsmen, but they arenae here.”
“And I do not trust all of my kinsmen,” she said. “I trusted Guy, but he can no longer help us. Beyond that?” She shrugged.
“Ye dinnae trust your cousin David?” Nigel recognized that a lingering touch of jealousy prompted his question.
“I want to but I cannot, not completely. He stood with those who condemned me for almost a year. Now, because he claims he has had a change of heart I must believe in him, simply because he is my blood? I think not. When my husband was murdered and I stood accused, my family lost all they had hoped to gain by my marriage to DeVeau. How can I be sure that they are not seeking to recoup some of that loss by gaining the bounty the DeVeaux offer?”
Nigel stared at her for a moment, then grimaced and turned his attention back to the trail they followed. He really wanted to argue in favor of her family, but he could not. He did not know any of them well enough to vouch for them. What Gisele said also made a great deal of sense. His family would never betray him like that, but he had no way to be sure that her family would not.
“Ye cannae be sure,” he reluctantly admitted, “but ye shouldnae judge your kinsmen that harshly. Aye, they betrayed you—by refusing to believe your claims of innocence and refusing to help you in even the smallest of ways—but there is a long journey from that to actually joining with your pursuers and trying to profit from your death.”
“But you do agree that I cannot completely discard the possibility, long journey though it may be?”
“Nay, just dinnae let their first betrayal, their failure to help you, completely poison how, when, and if, ye trust them again. They are your kinsmen. They may not be perfect or ever faithful, but they are blood. One should ne’er completely turn one’s back on one’s blood. After all, not all of your family deserted you, and many may have just committed the sin of silence.”
Gisele nodded and smiled, her spirits lifted slightly by his words. It was sad that she could no longer place her full trust in her family, but Nigel was right. She did not have to completely turn her back on all of them. Many of them might not be dear friends she could trust with her life and her deepest secrets, but she did not have to see them all as her enemies, either. As she nudged her mount into a faster pace in order to keep up with Nigel’s increased speed, Gisele realized that she now had some hope. When the threat to her life was finally over, she might well be able to go home again.
Ten
