“They will be drawing lots for the next rounds in about an hour.”
“I will be there.”
Addax let him go. He sat down to carefully file away a small crack in the tip of his lance, but his attention kept moving to his brother, who was heading off to the corral where the horses were kept. He knew Essien didn’t want to hear about marriage or women, but the truth was that he needed to. He was a prince of Kitara, and those bloodlines were valuable and prestigious. Christopher had mentioned helping Essien find an advantageous marriage a couple of times, so Addax knew that de Lohr was thinking along those lines, too. In the absence of Amare, Christopher was the closest thing they had to a father and, quite honestly, Addax was very grateful for it. He could only imagine how pleased and relieved his father would have been to know a man like de Lohr had taken care of his sons. As a father now himself, with a small son and another child on the way, Addax could appreciate that relationship more than ever. Someday, God willing, Essien would, too.
If the man’s stubbornness didn’t get the better of him first.
Thinking on his resistant, ridiculous brother, Addax went back to work on the lance. He suspected that an already eventful day was only going to become more eventful.
As he would discover later, he’d be right.
CHAPTER TWO
They couldn’t getenough of the trained dogs.
Lots of children were gathering near the food vendors’ row, watching a man with five dogs that were very smart and well trained. One dog balanced an inflated pig bladder on his nose while still others leapt over little barriers, painted colorfully, and flying little banners. But her two daughters were mesmerized by the smart canines, so much so that wild horses couldn’t have dragged them away.
Certainly not their mother.
Somewhere, her father was off conducting business at the Earl of Hereford’s tournament. This was a major event on the Welsh marches and there were people from as far as Devon who had come to enjoy the sport and spectacle. Her father’s knight had offered to escort her and her children to the sweets vendor, but her father had declined. That was a good thing, because she really didn’t want to be alone with Lance le Kerque. Not after he’d mentioned that her daughters needed a father and that widowhood didn’t suit her. He’d never come right out and made his intentions plain, but he didn’t have to. He’d been making comments for weeks, nearly ever since he came into service for her father.
Catalina de Efford de Barenton didn’t want another husband.
She just wanted to be left in peace.
“Mama! Look! Look at the dogs!”
Jolted from her reflections, Catalina smiled weakly at her youngest daughter, who was nearly out of her mind with joy at the little dogs who had just spun around in a circle at the owner’s command. Ines was the excitable one, while Adabella, older by almost two years, was more serious and skeptical. She was a very intelligent girl and not given to flights of fancy like her younger sister was, although she seemed to be enjoying the dogs nearly as much. She wouldn’t show it, however, as if embarrassed to be caught enjoying something.
Adabella was a complicated child.
“I believe the dogs are going to be here for the rest of the day,” Catalina said. “If we leave them for a moment to purchase food, I am sure they will be here when we return.”
Ines wasn’t particularly happy to hear that. “Now?” she said, verging on tears.
Catalina was gentle with her. “I am hungry,” she said. “Adabella is hungry and I know you did not break your fast this morning, so let us find something to eat and then we will return. I promise.”
Ines was disappointed, but she nodded her head. Just once, so her mother wouldn’t think she was being too agreeable. If Adabella was complicated, Ines was stubborn. Infinitely so. With a smile, Catalina had reached out to take her daughter by the hand when one of the little dogs suddenly bolted off.
“I’ll get him!” Ines cried.
She was off and running before Catalina could stop her. That had Catalina telling Adabella, very quickly, to remain with the dogs while Catalina took off after Ines. The youngest girl was very fast, as small children often are, and Catalina followed her daughter down the main avenue, shouting for her to stop.
Ines wasn’t listening.
At some point, Catalina was certain her daughter was trying to outrun her mother more than she was actually trying to catch the dog. The more Catalina called to her, the more Ines ignored her, and Catalina was torn between terror and rage. She desperately wanted to catch her daughter to make sure the girl would be safe, but she also wanted to catch her daughter so that she could swat her on the buttocks for such foolishness. Ines wasn’t a naughty girl, but she did have a tendency to be disobedient, even at her young age. Sometimes it was cute, but in times like this, it was horrifying.
The chase went on. Somehow, Ines had managed to end up running down an alleyway, and when Catalina fell in behind her, albeit quite far behind her, she couldn’t even see the dog that Ines was supposed to be chasing. Now, apparently her daughter was running simply for the sake of running, and that absolutely infuriated Catalina. Ines had done that before, loving to take her mother on a merry chase simply for the laughs, but it was never in a situation like this. Never in a busy village where there were people and horses and conveyances that could quite easily run over a small child. Catalina was seriously thinking about putting a tether around her daughter the next time they went out in public. Hopefully that would eliminate moments like this.
Moments that took ten years off Catalina’s life.
She was midway down the alley when Ines suddenly took a hard left and disappeared from sight. She’d evidently run in between two cottages, but by the time Catalina reached that point, a panicked glance down the alleyway showed no signs of her daughter.
That child had simply vanished.
God help me,Catalina thought, trying not to panic.God help me to find her!
Catalina’s calls for her daughter resumed in earnest.
