“Another hour,” Robin said, lifting his sword with the ease and enthusiasm of a man who had spent an unwholesome number of hours doing just that every day of his life. “I’m not quite satisfied with your efforts this morning.”
John obliged him, not only because there was something very satisfying about indulging in a little swordplay, but because he wasn’t entirely sure that whatever time he spent at present honing his skills might be the difference between breathing and not breathing at some point in the near future.
For both him and Tess.
B
y
the time he’d ingested a most excellent supper and planned out a decent way to have Tess to himself for a bit, she had volunteered to escort Jennifer upstairs and remain with her. He supposed he didn’t begrudge Jennifer the company, but he was less than thrilled to have to make conversation with eligible maidens and their parents. He alluded several times to the fact that the lady Tess was a very good friend of the family and that he had always been of the opinion that wedding close friends of his family was the best alternative.
His declarations were met with blank stares.
He gave up after an hour of polite conversation and sought the refuge of his brother’s solar. Robin and Miles were already there, having escaped the hall long before it was polite. Nicholas came later and announced the torture could begin. John accepted a cup of wine and sat back, steeling himself for the worst. Nicholas was the one watching him with the gravest expression, so he turned there first.
“What?” he asked wearily.
“I wasn’t inclined to believe you at first,” Nicholas said bluntly, “but I have no choice but to believe you now. You’re assuredly being hunted.”
“By whom?” Robin asked, with interest. “Someone we can humiliate publicly before we send him off to points unknown?”
“You’re overly vindictive,” Miles remarked calmly, “which I have always appreciated about you.”
Robin smirked at him, then looked at John. “Well? Divulge the names, boy, so we can be about our plans.”
“I haven’t the proof to accuse anyone,” John said slowly, “though I’ve been stalked by someone in the ...” He had to take a deep breath before he could manage the rest. “In the Future.”
Robin rolled his eyes heavenward. “That this rot is a part of my life is almost more than I can take. Very well, someone in the Future—which I’m not entirely sure isn’t a place you’ve all made up to torment me—doesn’t like you. That hardly merits more than a yawn, does it?”
“It does, when that soul relieved me of my knighting sword, then drove it into the ground near a time gate, intending that I should find it and no doubt embark on an unexpected journey. Tess says she was pushed into the same gate, no doubt by the lad who put the sword there.”
“That sheds a different light on it,” Miles agreed. “Who knew you had a sword?”
“No one,” John said, though he wished he’d said as much with more conviction. “I was very careful in the Future when I first arrived, though I suppose some stable lad or other might have made note of my gear. In the years after that?” He shrugged. “No one that I can think of.”
“No one who knew about the gates?” Nicholas asked carefully. “In either century?”
“No one,” John agreed, “save Everard, but we’ve already discussed his flaws in detail.”
“Everard can’t read his own name,” Robin said with a snort. “And aye, Nick told us about the missive you left behind. The only thing I’m surprised by is your witlessness in leaving such a thing with anyone from Chevington.”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” John said, forcing himself not to grit his teeth.
“Obviously,” Robin said. “And since Everard couldn’t read, I wonder what he did with the missive? Whom would he have trusted?”
John shrugged. “His father, perhaps? It would have been a way to ingratiate himself with the man.”
“Lord Richard isn’t any more literate than his son,” Nicholas said thoughtfully, “though Roland certainly is.”
Miles shook his head. “Everard wouldn’t have trusted Roland with such a task unless he had convinced his brother he had something Roland might be willing to trade his inheritance for—”
“Which wasn’t his to relinquish,” Nicholas finished for him. “Chevington belongs to Richard until he dies, but he only holds it in trust for Segrave’s lord or lady. I can assure you that Grandmère has no use for any of those from Chevington.” He looked at John and shrugged. “I can’t imagine how either Roland or Everard is involved, though I won’t discount them entirely. I’m just not sure I understand what this unnamed lad wants.”
“He might want Tess,” John said grimly.
“Nay,” Robin said slowly, “I don’t think so. She is enchanting, true, but if your lad had been in the Future and wanted her, he could have had her there. If he’d wanted your appalling number of automobiles, he could have slain you there and taken them. Perhaps he merely vexes you for his own perverse reasons, reasons that would seem foolish to us.”
“Which doesn’t make this mystery lad any less dangerous,” Miles put in, “nor the need to find him quickly any less dire.”
“Well,” Robin said, rubbing his hands together, “I’m always up for a decent adventure. Let’s decide how we’ll begin this one.”
And with that, they were off. John sat back and listened to his elder brothers discuss how to solve his problems, just as they had done from the time he’d been a child. In time, he’d been invited to join them in solving whatever traumas concerned their sisters. It reminded him so sharply of his youth, he almost caught his breath.
He had missed them.
Miles leaned over. “Maudlin gel,” he said with a smile.
John looked at him seriously. “Do you blame me?”
Miles shook his head with a smile, then turned back to the fray.
John listened with half an ear to the spirited discussion of all those who might have wanted him dead, then stopped listening altogether and enjoyed the feeling of companionship he’d taken for granted for so many years. He realized at that moment just how lonely the past eight years had been. He’d always considered himself fairly independent, but being without family had been—
His thoughts ground to a halt.
Was
that
what was bothering Tess?
He leaned forward and waved at Robin when simply attempting to catch his eye didn’t give him the results he was looking for.
“What?” Robin asked crossly. “You interrupted me during a very salient point.”
“Has Tess talked to you about Artane?”
“Of course,” Robin said, looking slightly confused. “Why wouldn’t she? ’Tis a magnificent place with a rich and varied political history.”
John rolled his eyes. “Did she ask you any details such as how long a journey there might be, or if you’d be willing to take her along with her when you left?”
Robin’s mouth fell open. “How did you know?”
“What did you tell her?” John asked in astonishment, ignoring Robin’s question.
“That I was sure you would want to show her your boyhood haunts, so you both could absolutely come back with me. I even offered to feed you, which I thought excessively generous under the circumstances.”
John set his cup aside and rose. “I’ll return later.”
“We can carry on without you,” Robin assured him.
He didn’t doubt it. He caught Nicholas’s amused look, shot his brother a glare, then left the solar without delay. He wasn’t sure why it hadn’t occurred to him before, because it should have. Tess knew exactly how painful it was to lose a sibling. Of course she would want to spare his family a second encounter with that pain. For all he knew, she might be thinking he would
want
to stay. And given what Robin had just told him, he had the feeling Tess hadn’t planned on staying in the past with him.
The sooner he straightened that out with her, the happier he would be.
He ran up the circular stairs, banging his sword against the stone more often than he should have—the hazard of living so many years out of his proper time, no doubt—then jogged down the passageway and into his oldest sister, Amanda.
He caught her by the arms, then gaped at her in surprise for a moment. “When did you arrive?”
“Not a quarter hour ago,” she said, then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “You great idiot.”
He returned the embrace, squeezing her apparently hard enough to leaving her gasping out a laugh, then he pulled back and smiled at her. “I missed you, Mandy.”
She dragged her sleeve across her eyes. “You
could
have come home, you know,” she said sharply. “You could have found a way.”
“I did, and here I am.”
She rolled her eyes. “Earlier than this, John. Jake managed it; why couldn’t you?”
He shrugged lightly. “Perhaps I was destined to remain where I was.”
“And are you staying?” she asked bluntly.
Trust Amanda to cut right to the heart of the matter without mercy. He had to take a deep breath before he trusted himself to answer. “What do you think?”
“I think I don’t want to think about it.”
“Neither do I,” John said with feeling. “Where’s my lady?”
She took his arm and pulled him toward the stairs. It wasn’t the direction he wanted to go, but she wouldn’t release him and she was stronger than she looked. “Your exceptionally lovely lady is locked up more securely than the crown jewels—well, the new ones Henry’s acquired given that John lost the last batch in the wash.”
“Locked up where?” John asked suspiciously.
“In with the two gels and their dams,” Amanda said, then she held up her hand to apparently stave off his protests. “I gave her a dagger. She promised she would use it if necessary.”
“Amanda!”
She tugged on him. “She’ll be fine. It will make her appreciate all your fine qualities all the more in the morning. I would see if you can’t spirit her away sooner rather than later. For now, behave yourself and treat her as a proper medieval miss deserves to be treated.”
He stopped in the passageway and looked down at her. “Do you realize I’ve scarce managed to kiss her yet?”
“That isn’t what Jennifer told me,” Amanda said, “but perhaps she misinterpreted all the silence in her solar a pair of days ago.”
“Well,” John amended, “I’ve been trying to be discreet. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to be even that of late, which is why I want to know where she is. I could at least exchange a few polite words with her before those silly twits leave her thinking I’m not interested in her.”
“If you’ve left her any room to wonder that, my dear brother, then your work is obviously undone. You might reconsider your plans for the morrow.”
“I think I might need to.” He looked at her. “Any advice?”
She hooked her arm with his. “I wouldn’t presume. You might consult Nicky.”
“He annoys me.”
Amanda pulled his head down where she could kiss his cheek, loudly. “I love you, you fool. Let’s go see if Jake has anything to offer.”
John stopped her before she could walk away. “They won’t hurt her, will they?” he asked seriously. “She isn’t lacking in courage, but she isn’t accustomed . . . Well, you know what I’m getting at.”
“They won’t dare trouble her,” Amanda said. “I told them she’s my sister-in-law by marriage and I wouldn’t look kindly on any insult. You
know
they won’t dare incur my wrath.”
John supposed that was true. Amanda’s husband, Jake, was a particular favorite of the king and few dared cross her for that reason alone. Her rather tart method of communication was famous—or infamous, rather—at court, which was another reason to remain in her good graces. He supposed those were reasons enough to leave Tess alone. All he could do was make sure she was well guarded from without and trust that Amanda’s words would keep her safe behind the door.
“Jake is anxious to have speech with you,” Amanda said, tugging on him. “Something about baseball.”
“I don’t follow baseball.”
“Then you’d best have brought a peace offering.”
He laughed a little. “Mandy, I didn’t exactly plan this.”
She stopped at the top of the stairs. “We’ve missed you.”
He sighed. “I would have come home sooner, if I’d been able to. You know that.”
She seemingly chewed on her words for a bit. “I think you’d best spend what time you have with us, then,” she said finally. “To have to look back on later.”
He wondered, quite honestly, if there would be anything left of his heart by the time his family and his love were finished with it. The thought of leaving his kin was about to do him in, but the thought of being without Tess was worse.
He knew only one thing for sure: when he returned to the Future, he was driving to Scotland and finding James MacLeod.
Then he was going to take a sword to the blighter.