Mattie nodded and started walking for the keep, quickly, making sure Winchester was right at her side. The dog stuck closely to her, all the way into the great hall, where the man in tatters was now speaking with Gar and William and the rest of the de Wolfe men. Mattie remained on the edge of the hall, watching carefully, but still making her way over to where the women were still sitting. By the time she reached them, Jordan was on her feet.
The woman’s gaze was locked on her husband and the disheveled man he was speaking with.
“My lady?” Mattie said timidly. “What is amiss? Do you know?”
Jordan shook her head slowly. “Nay, lass,” she said. “But it is clearly something.”
Rhoswyn and Avrielle came to stand next to Jordan also, all of them watching the men. When a few of them broke off from the conversation huddle and dashed from the great hall, Jordan seemed to know, instinctively, what to do.
“We go tae work,” she said quietly, turning to the women around her. But her focus was on Mattie. “I dunna mean tae usurp yer position as Lady of the Keep, but would ye like for me tae organize an area for any wounded we may have?”
Mattie looked stricken. “Wounded?” she repeated. “Has something happened, then?”
Jordan shook her head. “I dunna know,” she said. “But I suspect something is either happening or will happen, so we must be prepared. There may be those in need of help. May I organize it for ye, lass? Unless ye’d rather do it yerself.”
Realizing that there was some kind of battle at hand, Mattie felt sick to her stomach. Sick and frightened. Even so, sheunderstood the value of what Lady Warenton was offering: a woman who had seen such things time and time again.
Mattie never had.
Quickly, she nodded.
“If you would be so kind, my lady,” she said. “Please tell me what to do and I shall do it. I will gladly learn from you, if you will teach me.”
Jordan smiled, putting a gentle hand on Mattie’s cheek. “Good lass,” she said. “Now, ye can take charge of the hot water and bandages. The cook may know where they are and how tae help, so see Brickie and ask for his assistance. Rhos and Avie and I will take charge up here.”
Taking Winchester with her, Mattie fled the hall, heading down to the kitchens to get the hot water to boiling. She could do that, couldn’t she? Manage something as simple as water and bandages? She could. And she was going to do it to the very best of her abilities.
She was going to make Gar proud of her.
Because, God only knew, she was facing something she’d never faced before.
And it would end up being nothing she could have ever imagined.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Are we ready?”
The question came from Gar, spoken to Andreas, Tor, Maksim, and Atreus, who were acting as his commanders because Reed and Linus, usually the men to handle his army, were on duty at Andreas’ castle. Therefore, the organization of the men had fallen to them and they took the duty happily. In truth, it was more Tor and Atreus because Maksim wasn’t hugely experienced when it came to forming an army for an offensive, so he mostly watched and pitched in where he was directed. He was eager, but also somewhat timid. He had about fifty de Reyne men that he’d brought from Hensingham, but the troops, as a whole, weren’t his and he was uncertain when it came to directing them. As this was going on, Andreas had mostly been at the gatehouse, monitoring the village burning in the distance.
Everything seemed to be in flames.
“The men are ready, Gar,” Atreus said, answering his question. “Give the word and we shall move them out.”
Gar nodded. He could see his troops near the gatehouse, about eight hundred of them, ready to move out and into the village. According to the old villager who had escaped thedevastation, there were Scots in the little town, burning and stealing. He wasn’t sure how many, but there were several. They were terrorizing everyone. The old villager lived on the south side of the settlement and he seemed to be one of the first hit, barely able to remove his possessions from his home before the fire closed in and burned everything.
A fire that had seemingly taken over the entire village.
Gar was focused on that glow in the distance.
“This could be a simple raiding party or it could be a ruse,” William said, coming to stand beside Gar. “Have your men checked the trees off to the west and the north?”
Gar nodded. “They have,” he said. “The problem is that it is night, with only a half-moon, so it is difficult to see.”
“But they checked for signs of men?”
“Aye, Poppy, they did,” Gar said. Then, he looked at him. “Does something have you concerned?”
William shrugged. “Every move by the Scots has me concerned,” he said. “I would not have lived as long as I have if I had not been concerned about everything.”
