made their way to the study where I awaited them, sitting alone before the fire. Hal had retired some time before with Sylvie to console him. I motioned the tired men to take seats by the fire, and poured them wine. “Well?” I said.
“There was not snow enough to hide the scent, my lord. The horse went straight back to my lord Essex, and was in the stable yard before we caught up. The boy was hauled off him and locked away, and messengers were sent out. One’ll be here directly, and one went another way. Eden betook to follow that one.” Jehan spoke quietly, Rhys nodded in agreement, but kept his troubled gaze locked on the fire. I stood abruptly and crossed the room to the door, turning back at the threshold to speak.
“I must rest now. I suggest you do the same, and let Sylvana deal with the earl’s messenger. And Rhys? We will get him back, and that soon, I do promise you.” Rhys jerked his gaze from the fire at the sound of his name, and nodded slowly at my words.
“Thank you, my lord,” he said.
Hal had sent a letter to make his final plea that I join him at the Masque the following night, and to tell me that though the horse had returned to Essex House, its rider had not come there. Eden read the missive aloud to me, and a gasp of indignation broke through her normal reserve as she snapped sharply “That’s a lie!”, before crumpling the paper and tossing it onto the fire. I nodded thoughtfully. In her wolf-shape, she had followed the messenger to Percy’s town house, and the earl back to Essex House. She had seen the bundle loaded into the cart, and her keen wolf’s nose had identified her half-brother. She had followed again, to Malvern Hall, watching impotently as the helpless boy fought his captors only to fall unconscious from a vicious blow. She had taken to her paws then, and run all the way back to Chelsey, to sit now bone-weary and sipping brandy before the fire. She had missed the commotion caused by Essex’ messenger, as had I, lost in the thrall of the day-trance.
The man, disbelieving Sylvana as to the well-being of the earl, had pushed his way upstairs, and burst into the room Southampton occupied. He’d found his master’s friend disporting himself with Sylvie, and most irate at being disturbed. Blundering back out of the room, the groom had trodden heavily on the tail of Jehan, who had stationed himself outside my door. The large wolf, irritable from lack of sleep, had slashed the messenger from knee to ankle, and only the high boots the man wore had saved him from a serious injury. As it was, he bled profusely from the long flesh wound, and had bawled like a calf. Sylvana had bandaged the man’s wound and hastily stitched the soft leather of his boot back together while Southampton berated him. Hal ordered a boat to take himself and the unfortunate groom back to Essex House, instructing Rhys to care for the horse, which would be called for later. That evening, I had been unable to stifle a grin when the tale was relayed to me by an exasperated Sylvana and a somewhat sheepish Jehan, though I sobered at the news that Eden brought.
“Tomorrow night,” I repeated over the protests of the siblings. “Tomorrow night is Twelfth Night. Northumberland will be at court, and I have told Hal to look for me there as well, so they will not expect us to strike, even if they thought that we knew where they had the boy. I do not think that they will harm him so soon. Here is what we will do,” and I outlined my plan.
Chapter 15
Richard cursed himself for a fool a hundred times over in the hour that followed his awakening in the bumping cart. What had it mattered if the scornful earl had given him a buffet? He swallowed fretfully; the gag was slowly strangling him, and he almost wished it would. How could he have been such a fool? He felt the cart jolt over cobbles, hard hands lifting him, and found it impossible not to struggle against them. He welcomed the blow that sent him back into unconsciousness.
When he woke the second time the choking gag was gone, as were the biting cords. As he stretched he discovered that his clothing had also been removed and