A Laird and a Gentleman (All the King's Men #4) - Gerri Russell Page 0,20

then disappeared as their destination appeared before them. In the distance, she could see a multitude of white sheep grazing against a palette of green. At the sound of the horses approaching, the sheep stopped and turned their way, their ears rotated forward to catch sound.

At the rise of a hill, she stopped. Cameron did the same. His demeanor was grim as he asked, “What is bothering you?”

“Why would you ask me that?” She kept her words light, but her chest tightened.

“You’re frightened. I can tell by the stiffness of your shoulders and the paleness of your cheeks.”

“What do I have to fear with you beside me, armed as you are?”

His frown deepened. “I am uncertain. But there is something.”

“I had a dream last night and that has my thoughts a bit askew.”

“Was it different than the one you had previously?” he asked.

She nodded.

“They were both just dreams, nothing more.”

“For most people, aye. But—” She paused, suddenly fearful.

“Go on. Nothing you could say would surprise me.”

“Not even if I told you that my dreams usually come true?”

He frowned. “Your dreams come true?”

“Always.”

He gave her a long look before he said, “Describe the one you had last night to me.”

“Well . . .” Mariam paused as a flutter of discomfort went through her.

“You can tell me anything.”

Mariam pushed away her unease and forced the words out. “I dreamt the villagers approached the castle with weapons and torches. I begged you to close the gates. But you wouldn’t. You wanted to talk with them. But they didn’t want to talk. They wanted retaliation against me for all the horrible things my father has done to their loved ones.”

“Hmmm. Did they capture you?”

“Nay, but they did set the grass on the north side of the castle on fire.”

“Was anyone harmed?”

Her discomfort returned, stronger than before. “Not that I saw. I woke before anything horrible happened.” Her voice sounded hoarse.

“If you were not captured and if no one was hurt, then it couldn’t have been that terrible of a dream.” He edged his horse closer, and his voice deepened. “After all, it was only a dream.”

She tried to swallow, but she couldn’t. Her mouth was too dry. He didn’t believe her, but she was spared any further conversation as the soft bleating of sheep came from the distance. The flock hurried forward, running and jumping over each other in an effort to get closer.

Cameron stiffened. “What are they doing?”

“Coming to us.” She tried to keep her words light. “They obviously see us as friendly or they would have run away.”

“I’ve never seen such an occurrence before.”

Mariam shrugged, trying to hide her own discomfort over the animals’ unexpected behavior. “Perhaps they are hungry for more than grass and are expecting us to feed them.”

“Perhaps,” Cameron drawled skeptically. “The question is, will they follow us back to the castle or will you need to round them up as was your initial plan?”

She’d come here today with no real plan, and she didn’t know the first thing about rounding up sheep. She had anticipated the sheep would be favorable to her presence, but not quite this eager to be near her. “We won’t know until we head back.” Careful to avoid the sheep closest to her, she turned her horse around and retreated. As she suspected, the sheep followed. At least she had accomplished part of her task—to gather the sheep. Now if they could only bring them home without incident.

Cameron’s attention shifted from the animals trailing after them back to her many times, but he said nothing as his horse fell into step beside hers. Silence descended between them. It wasn’t until they were within sight of the castle that Mariam again felt a presence nearby. Who was there? Was it a deadly enemy or was someone stalking her? It could be any number of people her father had harmed, or their families, who had come to exact their revenge upon her.

And then she saw a lone figure in the distance astride a horse. She saw it was her own maid, Thea. She’d been the one following them, watching them all through the morning. No doubt she had seen the sheep and their reaction to Mariam’s presence. Now what, if anything, would she do with that information?

Mariam forced her gaze back to the path ahead, not wanting to alert Cameron to Thea’s presence. Mariam wanted to talk to the girl first and learn why the maid had followed them, and learn the truth about what she