There Your Heart Will Be Also (16 page)

Cedric and the raiders didn't move as the cloud drew near.
Th
e
distraction
would provide
Cedric
with the perfect cover
to continue his attack but he found his eyes drawn to the activity before him
,
keeping him immobilized.
If more raiders were on the way, Cedric need
ed
to regroup and gather the knights for certain.
And if it wasn't more raiders, than whom could it be?

As he
gazed
in the direction of
the
in
coming group of horsemen, Cedric was surprised to hear a war cry.
The horse
s
skidded to a stop within five feet of the raiders.
The riders jumped from the
backs of the
ir
animals
,
raised their swords and
screamed
,
hack
ing
their way into
the
crowd.

The inebriated raiders, some weaponless, fell back in retreat.
Some ran for the road, some for the woods, while a few stood and fought.

Cedric raised his arm in defense of his future keep.
When the skirmish was over, there wasn't one raider left, alive or otherwise to tell the story of why they'd come.

The noise of clashing swords ended
,
as men panted for breath
. As the noises calmed a familiar voice was heard.
When Cedric was able, he asked, “Duncan?”

“Aye?” he heard in response.

“It's me Cedric.
”

“
What
?
”
The yell reverberated off the castle walls.

“
Keep ye voice down, ye dolt.”

“
How can it be ye Cedric?
We dun heard ye were deceased.
In fact
,
I heard it so many times
,
when Barney told me otherwise I thought he'd seen a ghost.
Come closer boy, so I can see ye.”

Cedric
didn't particularly like Duncan calling him
“
boy
”
, there being only a few years difference in t
heir ages
.
H
e moved closer
.
Duncan stared at him as he came out of the mist.

“It is me
,
I tell ye,
” Cedric added in a whisper, “
Where have ye been?
”

“What did ye say?” asked Duncan.

“
Keep ye voice down. What
I
asked
ye
was
,
where ha
ve ye
been
?
Those men there were
tryin
'
to kill m
e
subjects and perhaps even myself
.
”

Duncan rubbed his day
-
old beard
,
l
ooking down as his foot stepped on a kilt covered in drying blood.
“
W
e thought we were doing in the English
.
I don't feel right about doing in my kin.”

“Well, I don't feel right about it either.
But they were takin' the keep
'
s sheep.”

“But why?”

“I don't know.”
Cedric scooted back and added a little louder, “
But
since ye are here,
and y
e
saved the keep, why don't ye come
in for some refreshment
?
”
Finishing in a whisper, “
Then ye can spend some time explainin
'
what ye are doing
here so earl
y
.”

“Aye, mighty sportin
'
of ye.
Just let me explain to m
e
men we are leaving the sheep and we won't be long in visitin' ye.”

“
Aye.
Ye tell them the ruse won't be necessary now. And l
et me tell the knights over the knoll
the thre
at
is over
.
Let's hope they don't
see ye as a danger
, or we might all be in a spot of
trouble
.
”

“
Knights
?”

“Of course,” Cedric said with a grin.
Adding, “Ye don't think I could fight the whole lot of
Scots,
do ye?”

“With the things I have heard about ye, nothin' would surprise me.”

“Duncan Sinclair, from what I have heard tell of ye, I would need an extra set of hands just to be ye equal.”

Duncan shrugged, “Go tell ye
r
men, Cedric.
I would take pleasure in sharing ale with
family
.”

Cedric
turned his back on
a silen
t
Duncan and headed to Sir Henry
's
position
.
He translated all
which
had been said,
trying to put his own spin on it
.
If Sir Henry thought
anything was amiss
, he didn't act like it.
Cedric sighed and went ahead of the company of Scots
, grateful at least he didn't seem to be in any trouble
.

Stepping over a body, Cedric wondered where these men had come from.
They would have to bury them on the morrow when the sun rose, for sure.
But now all he could think about was what had they meant when they were talking about gold?
The more he thought on their conversation, the more he realized it sounded like they'd been hired.
But why?
And by whom?

And what about Duncan?
Why had he come so early?
The lot of them had ruined his whole plan.
He couldn't very well swoop in and save the day and impress the mistress of the keep if the raiders were already here!
But maybe if he could find who hired the other men then he could still be responsible for saving the day.

Raking an agitated hand through his hair, Cedric
was happy
as he
continued through the keep gates.
The more
he
thought about it, this could work out better than
the original plan
.
N
ow
he was
a hero and
there would be no need
to fake it.

A
s he heard the Scots following
,
Cedric
realized they
would
never
fit inside Megean's small cottage.
They would just have to sleep out on the hills.

With a wicked grin,
he
prayed for rain.

“My lord,
I have news
.”

Wilt's
back was turned, the mist dotting the window of the small wooden cottage drawing his attention.
The shuffle of the Scot behind him was quite annoying.
Sighing heavily, he picked up his
silver
pocket watch and studied the tarnished case.
At one time this treasure had gleamed and shone, but like all his possessions it was now tarnished and blemished.
Just like his life.

The hands no longer moved, but still he kept it.
The piece reminded him of better days.
Happier times.

While he studied the time piece, he noticed the frayed edge of his waist coat.
Straightening his clothing, he
faced
the Scot.
A glimpse in a looking glass showed a wild
,
unwashed, unkempt man.
How had he let himself go?
No matter.
All
this
would change.
This Scot was here to tell him the good news.

****

Sarra
strained
to hear
.
But out of all the sound
s,
only the
shuffling
of feet
and
the
mumbling
of words
were distinct
.
When the shout
ing
and clanging of swords
came unexpectedly,
Sarra's foot slipped
,
and s
he
lost her balance
,
wobbling toward
the edge of the
wall.
She threw out her hand
, grasping for
the
rough corner of the rock
.
Once steady,
she took
a few calming breaths before
she leaned forward a little
farther
and tried to make out what was going on.

Sarra
kept waiting for the
continuing sounds of
clash
ing
swords and the smell of bloodletting, but it never came.
From her post on the battlements, work
ing
to make sense out of what was going on
below her
was a frustrating endeavor
.
The eerie silence follow
ing
the shout was deafening.
She
remained in her position and
continued to wait for word.
I
f
none came
soon
,
she was going to go down and join the battle herself.

From the battlements,
she
watched as
a group of
kilted men came through the opened gate.
It seemed it took them hours to enter the castle.
If her knights had been forced to defend the castle and rescue the flock from this group of giants,
they would have suffered
many causalities.

The back slapping and merriment
which
came with the crowd was unnerving
to say the least
.
If the group of men entering were prisoners
,
then they wouldn't be this happy. What if the Scots had taken down her knights and now she was a prisoner? All these thoughts and more raced through her head as she descended from her perch.
Halfway down
the battlement stairs,
Sarra
was grasped around the waist and
plac
ed
on
the ground.
When she
glanced
up,
there
were
Cedric's crystal clear blue eyes
staring at her
.

“I
must ask ye a question.
”

“
A
ll right,”
Sarra
replied.

“I have yet to meet ye
r
mistress, but I have
experienced
her hospitality
on many occasions
.
Do ye think she would mind if we invited the
se
Scots to s
t
ay
for
a bit?”

The kilted men stood directly behind him and there was no privacy.
Between clenched teeth she asked, “And why exactly would I ask sheep raiders to stay
at
my
mistress'
keep?”

“Well, ye see lass, these were the men who stopped the sheep raid.”

Sarra leaned around Cedric and looked at the nodding group. She would have asked more questions but it was hard to concentrate as Cedric made little circular motions with his fingers around her waist.

Before Sarra could say anything
more
, Cedric added,
“Don't concern ye
r
self with the sleeping arrangements.
These are
Highlanders
.
They
'll
sleep out on the hills.”

Her brain felt like a bowl full of gruel. The only words she could push past her mouth were,
“Oh, no
,
that would be just fine, just fine.
”

Not only was Sarra fighting with why these strangers
should be allowed to enter
,
but
also
she struggled to
remain
focused
so as to
not give away her ruse.
Drawing
a calming breath
, she spoke quietly.
“
Why don't I find Cook and
ask
him to
s
et out the remaining food from the celebration and we will feed the, hmmm,
the guests
.”

“Aye
,
that would be nice.
I am sure they would appreciate it.
But do ye need to ask the mistress first?
”

“Aye.
I should
,
”
Sarra
answered
,
smiling at him.
Grinning broadly like a wild woman, she was.
Her m
outh stretched wide
,
hankering for
the
goodnight kiss
they
'
d missed earlier.
It felt as if an
eternity
had passed
.
Instead of waiting any longer,
Sarra
angled
on tip
toes
.
A
s
her
lips
came within inches of
Cedric's
,
she
licked
their expanse
in anticipation.

While Sarra struggled to find a
n appropriate angle for her head
,
Cedric
's
face held a devilish smirk
.
She sensed he was
enjoying the sweet torture immensely.

Then
Sarra
heard a distinct
cough
behind
them
. P
lanting
her feet flat down on the ground
, she
went tense in his arms.

“Aye, can I help ye?”
Cedric
turned his head to speak over his shoulder to the man who interrupted them.

“Cedric
,
I am sorry
.
B
ut the men were wondering if we were going to eat soon?
We traveled pretty far today and we haven't gotten to eat in awhile.”

Cedric
gently placed
Sarra
away from him and
turned around, using his body to block their view of her.
“Aye, Duncan, take the men inside the keep and I
'
ll be along.”

While Cedric's
back was toward her
, Sarra silently slipped away.
She skirted the edge of the yard and took the back entrance into the keep.
She found the cook whistling to himself in his overly clean kitchen.
“Cook, we have company
which
needs to be fed.”

“Aye, do we now?
After I just got everything put away and figured out for the coming days, now ye are telling me to get it all back out again
.
Am
I hearin' ye correctly
?”

“Cook, I do apologize.
And I am not telling you.
I am asking you if you wouldn't mind serving
the
keep's
guests.”

“I guess
it
would make for a nicer meal.
Get it while it
'
s hot, I always say.”

“Thank you, Cook.”

“
Of course, my lady
.”

To m
aintain her ruse as
a
maid, Sarra
help
ed
in
preparing the food
.
F
resh fruit and vegetables
were arranged artistically
onto a tray
. A
jug of ale
was retrieved
.
When everything was ready, she picked up the
serving dish
and the jug and headed through the swinging door
,
while
C
ook continued getting the other victuals prepared.