Reckless (Age of Conquest #5) - Tamara Leigh Page 0,46

to argue, but would that not be the termagant?

Clasping close the vixen who, yet quarrelsome, was more the elegant, cunning, protective fox as Vitalis had once named her, she slid the sword beneath her belt though twice more he ordered her to return it to the pack. Then she filled her arms with the other packs.

As Vitalis bore much of the weight of Zedekiah who was determined to gain the stable upright rather than over a shoulder, he had no choice but to permit her defiance. And must have wished to curse when the injured man insisted he be fit with the remaining sword that, like the one Nicola wore, lacked the craftsmanship of the one he had lost when the Danes left him for dead.

Once it was beneath Zedekiah’s belt, Vitalis took two packs from Nicola, tucked them under an arm and, supporting his friend, said, “Follow closely, Nicola.”

Vixen, termagant, or otherwise, he would not allow her to lead the way, but she was not offended. If danger lay ahead, better he would defend them than she, even though he supported Zedekiah. Still, she could not help imagining herself as Lady Hawisa who was as capable as many a warrior.

Though she knew that was the girl beneath the woman, she secured the two packs in one arm and set her other hand on the sword hilt. As she followed Vitalis and Zedekiah up the beaten path between cove and stable, she prayed she had no cause to play the warrior.

Chapter Eleven

He felt watched. But by whom? The old man who dwelled here? Fenlanders from the nearby village? Normans? Danes?

Not the last two, Vitalis silently prayed as they moved between low walls of swaying grass toward the stable. Though he tried again to take more of his friend’s weight, the warrior resisted.

“Who do you think watches?” Zedekiah said low.

The only surprise of his question was he felt eyes on them despite the ache of injuries and the effort expended to move his legs. But perhaps vulnerability made him more sensitive.

“Hopefully, the eyes are of one who is of the fens,” Vitalis said and looked behind at Nicola.

When she did not answer his gaze, he realized she attended to their surroundings.

As they neared the thatch house and its stable, still the old man did not appear though the doors of both were open as if to let in summer air to dry out the moisture of winter and spring past.

“I do not like this,” Zedekiah spoke Vitalis’s thoughts, then pulled his arm from his friend’s grip.

Vitalis nearly took hold of him again but forced himself to respect the warrior of Zedekiah who was determined to support himself and apply a hand to his sword hilt. Too, it was not much farther, and if trouble awaited them, more easily Vitalis could defend his charges were he able to move freely and draw the enemy away.

Feeling a twinge of ache where Nicola had sunk her blade and a slight hitch in his step now he no longer supported Zedekiah, Vitalis advanced ahead of the two.

No trouble at the stable, it appeared when he saw through the wide doorway two horses stretching their heads out of their stalls to eat from large buckets hooked over the gates. Though these were the mounts they had come to collect, it did not feel right.

“Remain here,” Vitalis ordered and entered the building. He moved swiftly, searching corners and stalls. Confirming the horses were the only occupants, hoping the old man riding about his land was the one who watched and was wary because of this warrior’s size and that the man who had paid him to keep their mounts was unrecognizable in his injured state, Vitalis drew the horses from their stalls.

He saddled and bridled them, but as he affixed packs to the back of his mount’s saddle, movement in the doorway brought his head up.

Zedekiah and Nicola hastened inside.

“Four riders approach,” the latter said. “Blessedly, distant and not at great speed.”

Then best to mount inside rather than outside to avoid sooner coming to notice if the riders were of ill intent.

Vitalis took the packs Nicola carried. “Get astride my horse,” he commanded and moved to Zedekiah’s mount. After strapping on the packs, he assisted his friend into the saddle.

Were speed not of great import, it was Zedekiah with whom Vitalis would share a horse to ensure the other man’s seat, but the weight of two warriors on one mount would make it difficult if not impossible