“I am rather tired,” she admitted. “What did Eefha give me?”
Devlin moved her so that she was cradled in his right arm, held against his chest to keep her steady. He glanced at her pale, weary face.
“Poison,” he said.
Emllyn’s eyebrows shot up. “She didwhat?”
He broke down into snorts, grinning at her reaction. “A jest,” he assured her although her expression remained fearful. “I promise it was not poison. Mayhap it was a potion that will make you sympathetic to the Irish.”
Emllyn sighed with relief to realize he was only teasing. Itwasrather devilish and his attempt at humor surprised her. She hadn’t seen it in him up until now. But there was nothing humorous about the subject matter of the latter part of his statement.
“What makes you think I am not?” she asked. “I am coming to understand what it is to be held as a slave, robbed of freedom. I believe that qualifies me to understand the oppression you have suffered.”
Devlin’s humor vanished as he looked down at her, knowing there was unhappy accusation in her tone. He wasn’t willing to be reprimanded by her. “The difference is that you did something foolish to end up as you have,” he said. “My people have done nothing. We were quite happy ruling our island until the Normans came.”
Emllyn looked away. She didn’t want to engage him in another conversation of his repressed people so she let the statement fade. She let him get in the last word, at least this time.I am being compliant, she reminded herself. Compliance would get her everywhere, she knew. Amidst thoughts of submission and her reward once they were finished with this foolish mission, her eyelids grew droopy again and she faded off into a heavy sleep. In her dreams, a man was there but this time it wasn’t Trevor. He had red hair and a red beard, and he used his hands and mouth in ways that made her quiver.
Devlin felt her tremble in her sleep, watching as she twitched and sighed. He tried not to watch her because her subtle movements were arousing him, so he spent most of his timepretending to find interest elsewhere. But his gaze always moved back to Emllyn.
He watched her sleep for the rest of the afternoon.
CHAPTER NINE
Devlin’s group hadstopped well after dark in a wooded area between two small hills that sheltered them from the surrounding countryside. It was a safe spot and one they could easily protect. A small brook ran to the south and as Iver immediately set sentry posts, the rest of them settled in for the night.
Eefha refused to camp near the men, however. She set up station on the crest of one of the small hills and smoked her pipe, filling the area with the smell of burning shite. She ate from whatever stores she had brought with her and made no move to share anything, so the men went about their business down in the vale below, all but ignoring the strange old woman.
Devlin ignored her for the most part, too, mostly because that was what she wanted. If Eefha wanted to be part of the group, then she would make it so. Otherwise, it was best to let her do what she wanted to do. Devlin was pretty sure she had accompanied them as a chaperone and protector for Emllyn but he wasn’t entirely sure. She could be coming along because she knew he was going to the English settlement where she might be able to obtain more things for her collection. With Eefha, it was often difficult to know what her true intentions were.
Devlin had Shain lay down some hides almost the moment they arrived, whereupon he immediately deposited Emllyn. She was still sleeping heavily from Eefha’s potion and she remained sleeping as the men set up camp for the night. Devlin allowed them to make a couple of small fires, deep in the shield of the vale, for both warmth and cooking, and they had brought a fairamount of food with them to eat. Rabbit was the main course and it was into the night that the smells of succulent roasting rabbit lifted.
But the smell didn’t wake Emllyn, nor did the commotion, for she remained sleeping where Devlin had put her. Several feet away from the group and away from the fire, she slept soundlessly as Devlin, Shain, and Iver sat around one fire while the rest of the men huddled around the other. Both Shain and Iver noticed that Devlin kept glancing over to the sleeping lady as he sucked down his roast rabbit. In fact, he seemed more interested in her than in the rabbit.
Clues were starting to come together that neither Shain nor Iver wanted to believe. They had seen evidence of them earlier when their commander had tended to a wounded woman rather than leave her to someone else. Anytime Devlin de Bermingham voluntary left a battle, there was something odd afoot. More than that, it was in the way he spoke of her or looked at her. Something was in his expression when he spoke of the lady, something both confusing and strange, and his men were starting to figure it out. What their sharp minds told them was something both incredulous and distasteful.
“We will head back before dawn,” Shain said as he tossed aside the bones he had been sucking on. “I would head back tonight but with what happened this afternoon, I think it would be safer for all of us if we camped here for the night and got a fresh start in the morning.”
Devlin extended a piece of meat to Neart, who was perched on a rock beside him. “Agreed,” he said. “De Cleveley’s settlement is about a half day’s travel from here. I think we can make it there without further incident.”
“Unless you run into a patrol from de Cleveley,” Iver said. He was well into his bladder of ale, looking drunk and sleepy. “Have you schooled the woman well on how she is to behave andwhat she is to say? I will admit that I worry, Dev. This entire undertaking has my stomach in knots.”
Devlin eyed his friend, feeding the bird more meat. “I told you,” he replied calmly, “that she understands any betrayal will result in the death of thirty-three English prisoners. It is enough to motivate her.”
“Did you tell her that her lover is alive and among them?” Iver asked.
Devlin shook his head. “Why would I?” he replied. “If I did, I would lose my leverage.”
He glanced over his shoulder again as he said it. As he was looking at Emllyn, Iver and Shain exchanged knowing glances. It was Shain who finally spoke.
“Dev,” he began slowly. “The woman… is there something else we should know about her?”
Devlin looked at him. “Like what?”
Shain cocked an eyebrow, pointing in Emllyn’s direction. “Like you cannot take your eyes off of her?” he said. “We have been watching you all day with her and I can say without a doubt that I have never seen you treat any prisoner the way you are treating her.”
Devlin cooled; he didn’t like his motives or actions questioned. More than that, the confusion and attraction he had been feeling towards Emllyn was something that evidently he’d been indiscreet about. He immediately went on the defensive.
“Mayhap that is because she is unlike any prisoner we have ever had,” he said with an expression on his face that dared them to contradict him. “She is the most valuable prisoner we have ever had the fortune to come across and, quite literally, our entire rebellion can hinge on her because of who she is and what she can do for our cause. Can you not see that?”
