Incensed, Emllyn’s mouth popped open. “Sir, you misunderstand,” she said firmly. “I am not interested in your suit. I wish you well in finding affection, but it will not be with me.”
De Noble tried not to appear too defeated. “I understand the past few weeks have been very disorienting for you,” he said. “Mayhap with time, you will reconsider. I am a patient man.”
Emllyn had no idea how to respond so for lack of any response at all, she simply turned away from him. She didn’t see de Noble’s expression of disappointment. All she heard was the door as he quietly shut it. With a grunt of frustration, she ran to the door and bolted it. She didn’t want the man coming back in again.
Standing at the door, leaning against it, all she could feel was utter bewilderment. There were so many thoughts rolling around in her head that it was difficult to single out just one.Damn de Noble for pressing his suit,she though angrily. A note to Kildare would only result in a confusing reply which would completely disrupt her story about sailing on the fleet to oversee the victory for her brother. In fact, it very well might destroy everything.
Yet, she couldn’t think about that now. She would deal with it when and if the time came, because even more pressing than that was the news of Black Castle’s siege. The very thought had her wracked with distress. It explained why Devlin hadn’t returned to her yet; he was caught up in something terrible. Mayhap he had even been injured in the siege, or worse. She couldn’t imagine why he hadn’t come for her if he remained healthy and whole.
Emllyn put her hands to her head at that thought, horrified.God’s Blood, it can’t be! Devlin can’t be injured or dead!He had promised to return for her.
Everything leads me to thee.
He had promised!
Eefha. She had to find Eefha. Putting her ear against the door, she waited a nominal amount of time for de Noble to leave the area before quietly opening the door and peering outside. It was dark in the corridor beyond, with Elyse’s empty chamber off to the right and the partitioned chambers for female servants directly in front of her.
Quietly, Emllyn slipped out and shut the door behind her. She had to find the old woman. Perhaps the woman, for once, might actually be able to communicate with her. The rumors surrounding Black Castle were indeed serious. She had to figure out what to do. If Devlin couldn’t come to her, then she would have to go to Devlin.
No matter what the cost.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Frederick had putup a fight, one that had almost cost Shain his life. He had awoken from his drunken stupor as Shain and two other men had carried him out of Black Castle on that dark and rainy night and just about the time they reached the suspension footbridge that linked the keep with the rest of the fortress, Frederick had come alive.
The two men carrying him had caught the brunt of his panic and fury. He managed to stab one man with his dirk and the second man had been tossed over the bridge, forty feet down into the rocks and roiling sea below. Shain, who was already across the bridge at that point, unsheathed his broadsword and raced back onto the bridge to engage Frederick in a fight for his life. Frederick was without his broadsword but he had his dirk, a long and wicked looking thing, and he had charged Shain with it, who had easily knocked it out of his hand.
But Frederick wasn’t finished. He kicked at Shain, driving the man off of the bridge so that he could come off of it, too. Once on solid land, he reached down and grabbed a great handful of dirt and rocks and threw them right at Shain’s face. Shain had been hit in the nose by a fairly large rock and had been momentarily stunned from the blow. It had been enough of a pause for Frederick to gain the upper hand; the man then slugged Shain in the face, sending him to the ground. Then he stole Shain’s sword and gored him in the shoulder. It would have been the chest but Shain had turned just in time and took the blade in his upper arm. With Shain’s sword, Frederick had fled.
Devlin had come barreling out of the keep in time to see Frederick steal a horse and ride from the gates, just as Shain was struggling to pick himself up off the ground. As he helped Shain, the sentries shouted to him and told him what had happened. Devlin didn’t order anyone to follow Frederick; it was too dark and the weather was too threatening. Frederick would be lucky if he survived such conditions, so Devlin wasn’t going to be foolish enough to send anyone after him. He was more concerned with the one remaining commander he had left.
He let Frederick go.
Now, on the morning following Iver’s death and Shain’s injury, Devlin sat in the hall of the keep, his feet propped up on the table as he pondered the smoking, glowing hearth of the now-quiet chamber. Shain had been put on a pallet next to the fire and had been sleeping heavily since Enda had given him a sleep potion the night before. Both Enda and Nessa had tended Shain in the absence of Eefha, who normally did most of the tending of the ill, and the pair had done an excellent job. Shain’s injury wasn’t serious but he had lost a fair amount of blood. He was weak. Devlin had stayed with the man the entire time, and sat with him even now. Exhausted and on edge, he hadn’t slept at all.
Neart sat over on another chair, pulling apart a small rodent he had captured. The bird had been kept inside during the siege by the O’Byrnes, mostly because everyone knew about Black Sword’s falcon and there would be many archers poised to take the bird down. Devlin, exhausted and pensive, eyed the animal affectionately. The bird was the one thing in his world that had always remained constant, so much so that it was like a family member. Its mere presence gave him comfort in a world that had little.
“Have you slept, Dev?”
Devlin turned away from the falcon pulling at the flesh of the rat to see Shain looking up at him. The man was pale but he was smiling. Devlin gave him a half-grin.
“I do not need to sleep,” he told him, eyeing him with concern. “How are you feeling?”
Shain took a deep breath, wincing when his shoulder hurt. “Well, considering,” he said. “I have been worse off many times. This is nothing but a scratch.”
Devlin pulled his legs from the table and sat forward so he could see Shain better. “I agree,” he said. “But it is best if you rest for today.”
Shain nodded faintly. “I suppose,” he said, his smile fading. “I am sorry about Freddy, Dev. I should have been more vigilant. I have no excuse.”
Devlin waved him off. “It is not your fault,” he said. “Freddy was out to kill us all, I think. He poisoned my wine. Iver drank it before I did and it killed him.”
Shain’s eyes widened. “Iver is dead?”
Devlin nodded, struggling against the sadness. “It was a swift death,” he said, although it didn’t make him feel any better to say it. “Then Freddy tried to kill you.”
“I was going to killhim,” Shain said softly.
“That is true, but there is no way Freddy could have known that,” he said. “He was unconscious when you took him out of the hall. For all he knew, you were taking him back to his bed to sleep off too much drink. The sentries who saw what happened said he attacked you.”
