“Very well,” he said reluctantly. “What will you have of me, then? Am I to work while we are traveling?”
Cadelyn nodded quickly. “Aye,” she said. “I will give you a new poem and you will work while we travel. I will insist you ride in the carriage with me. Once we reach Chester, you will seek out the cathedral there and find men willing to share in the profits of the cards. Surely there will be some; I never met a poor cleric who would turn down the opportunity to make money.”
That was true, for the most part. Clerics with the church weren’t all priests; some were simply scholars who pledged themselves to a life of piety. They were always in need of money. He was certain, as she was, that he could find men to produce the titillating cards.
Money spoke louder than God’s words, sometimes.
“Then I shall collect my things and wait for you on the road in two days,” he said. “If plans change, you will send word to me, won’t you?”
Cadelyn nodded. “Of course I will,” she said. “Now, I must return before Susanna comes to find me. She will not be happy that I have left Castle Rising without her.”
Yerik snorted softly. “Susanna terrifies me,” he said, pulling his hood down over his head and turning away from the gate. “Be gone with you before she takes that unhappiness out on me.”
With that, he quickly moved away from the gate, back towards the cloister. Cadelyn watched his torch move through the darkness, feeling quite pleased that he would be coming with her. Everything was falling into place. Wrapping her cloak around her to ward off the night’s chill, she turned away from the gate and ran straight into a big, warm body.
Emitting a shriek of terror, Cadelyn stumbled back, banging into the stone wall of the gatehouse behind her. As she put out her hands to steady herself, she found herself looking into smoldering blue eyes.
Shocked, her mouth popped open.
“You?” she breathed. “What… what in the world are you doing here?”
Kress stepped forward, into the light that was coming from the church yard. It was barely strong enough to illuminate his features, but it was enough to show his extreme displeasure and suspicion.
“I saw you leave Castle Rising and I followed you,” he rumbled. “It is a good thing I did. What, may I ask, are you conspiring about? And who is that priest?”
Cadelyn’s first reaction was one of outrage. “How dare you follow me!” she hissed. “You have no right to do that!”
Kress’ expression was like stone. “Let me explain the way of things to you, Lady Cadelyn,” he said evenly. “For all intents and purposes, and until I leave you in the arms of your betrothed, I am to be your shadow. I have every right to follow you because William Marshal has given me that right, the same man who has protected you from harm since the day of your birth. You owe him everything and because he is your Lord Protector, I have theright to insert myself into every aspect of your business and your protection. Is this in any way unclear?”
Cadelyn was looking at him with a mixture of defiance and resignation. She knew it was true, all of it, but she still didn’t like it. He sounded so…harsh. A far cry from the flirtatious knight she’d met earlier.
“But what about Susanna?” she asked. “She is my shadow, too.”
“She takes her orders from me now. Tell me that you understand what I have told you.”
He was clearly perturbed, his deep voice made even deeper by the rage in it. Since Cadelyn wasn’t one to retreat, or surrender, she simply hardened. She didn’t like being pushed around and she didn’t like being told what to do.
Even if hewasright.
“I understand you,” she said.
“What are you conspiring about?”
“I was not conspiring!”
He regarded her in the weak light for a moment. “Then what were you doing?”
Cadelyn blinked, realizing that the answer wasn’t so simple. There wasn’t anything she could tell him that would sound even remotely believable because she certainly couldn’t tell him the truth.
Or maybe she could.
Part of it, anyway.
“His name is Yerik,” she said. “He is a… a priest. I have known him since I have lived at Castle Rising and when I go to Chester, I want him to go with me, as my personal priest. That is not an unreasonable request.”
Kress had heard the entire conversation between the lady and the priest. He was a sharp man and since he could remember, he’d always had the ability to remember even thesmallest conversations verbatim. Nothing escaped him, so as the lady stammered her way through an explanation, he recalled a portion of what he’d heard.
“I will give you a new poem and you will work while we travel. I will insist you ride in the carriage with me. Once we reach Chester, you will seek out the cathedral there and find men willing to share in the profits of the cards.” He watched her eyes widen as he repeated what she’d said, word for word. “That was what you told him. I heard you. What are you planning with him, my lady?”
