“I’ve eaten,” Anders told him, “but I’ll join ye for an ale.”
“Go on, ye two, and leave me to my work.” Sutherland waved them out.
“Let’s go riding.”Mariota hooked her arm through Seamus’s when she found him in the middle of the bailey the next day and turned him toward the stables. “I want to get out for a while and ’tis a fine morning.”
“Yer da does no’ want ye to leave the keep.”
“He does no’ want me to leave alone. I willna. Ye will be with me.”
Seamus didn’t look convinced, so Mariota stuck out her lower lip, doing her best to look pitiable and sad. When Seamus sucked in a breath, she knew she’d won.
“We’ll go,” he told her, “but we must return before dark.”
“Why do ye say that? We always do.”
“I’m on duty tonight.”
“Perfect. We willna need to hurry. If ye’ll beg Cook for some food so ye can eat before we return, I’ll fetch Valkyrie.”
He stood firm when she tried to turn them back toward the keep. “I dinna ken if this is such a good idea.”
He couldn’t back out now! She could taste freedom. And her favorite mount, Epona, needed to run. Mariota hadn’t been able to ride her in weeks, and the mare was used to more freedom. Chafing over her father’s restrictions, Mariota thought she’d found a champion in Seamus, and feared he was wavering. “I promise we’ll be back in time. With Valkyrie along, we can hunt and make the morning worthwhile. She might take another coney for the pot. Da canna complain about that.”
Mariota kept her expression neutral as Seamus considered. He feared her father’s wrath. Everyone did. But the gate guard would not let her ride out without an escort, and Seamus was the most amenable to her of the MacKay men.
Finally, he nodded. “Fetch her, and yer bow. I’ll meet ye in the stable.”
Elation filled her, but she kept it off her face. “Thank ye.” She headed for the mews to collect Valkyrie. She kept her bow there, too, so in minutes she was in the stable, instructing the lad working there to saddle Epona and Seamus’s favorite mount.
By the time the horses were ready, Seamus arrived with a packet of food and two skins. He held one up. “Wine.”
Mariota nodded. He knew her preference for watered wine over ale. They mounted up and Mariota settled Valkyrie on the bow-perch pommel the hawk master had carved for her. She led the way from the stable to the gate and called, “Open up.”
“Ye are no’ to go riding,” the guard answered.
“No’ alone, nay. But Seamus is with me.”
“Open up,” Seamus added. “We willna be gone long.”
Mariota held her breath. With Seamus by her side, she hadn’t expected resistance from the guard. “What did Da threaten all of ye with?” She kept her voice low enough only Seamus would hear her.
“Trust me, ye dinna wish to ken.”
“Ouch.”
“Pitch yer voice higher and ye’ll have the right idea.”
Mariota scowled at that. Surely her da wouldn’t do anything so barbaric. Her expression smoothed into a smile when the gate inched open. As soon as there was enough of a gap for the horses to slip through, she kicked Epona into motion. In moments, they were free.
They rode hard across the open field outside the gate, then slowed when they entered the woods. At the first clearing, Mariota stopped and loosed Valkyrie. “Hunt,” she told her. The raptor eyed her, then took to her wings and was soon lost to sight above the trees.
“She’ll call if she spots something,” Mariota reminded Seamus. “Until she does, let’s ride.”
They continued into the woods. In moments, Valkyrie’s piercing call sounded above them. “That way,” Seamus said, pointing.
In the next clearing, they found Valkyrie perched on her kill, a young fox. “Fox is nay good to eat, but the fur will be welcome,” Mariota commented as she dismounted.
Seamus pulled his dirk, skinned the carcass, and left it for Valkyrie to enjoy. The fur he rolled and tied behind his saddle. “She didn’t take long. Will she keep hunting?”
