Page 29 of Stolen Princess's Secret

‘I pushed him out of his comfort zone.’

‘He is rather rigidly self-contained. Probably do him good.’

‘You don’t even know who I’m talking about.’

Ana smirked and arched an elegant brow. Okay, she absolutely did.

‘Of course, if you’re not expecting, it won’t matter what I know,’ Ana said. ‘Might be just a stomach bug. Shall I send the doctor up once she’s finished with us?’

It wasn’t the worst idea ever put forward, now, was it?

‘Yes,’ Claudia managed belatedly. ‘Please. Let’s put that fantasy to rest.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

TOMAS RODE INTO Aergoveny trailing two horses, three hawks and an empty pigeon cage. His arrival in the small mountain village did not go unnoticed. He’d been expecting a glance or two—the falcons always created interest and any newcomer to a place as isolated as this one was always greeted with some measure of suspicion. The silence as he dismounted in front of the only tavern didn’t worry him as much as the smell of himself after spending so much time living rough. Hasty washes in almost frozen streams had barely taken the edge off the odour and he knew it. He had two days to get clean-shaven before Claudia arrived and he didn’t know whether to take a room at the tavern or take his chances and keep going until he reached the property he now owned. Instinct suggested that, either way, it would be good manners to introduce himself, seeing as these villagers were soon going to be his neighbours.

The groom that rushed out to take his horses—shedding a serving apron along the way—was small, wiry and female. ‘You’re him,’ she declared without preamble. ‘The King’s Falconer. We’ve been wondering when you’d turn up. The Princess Royal’s people called two days ago and reserved a room for you, and the bathhouse and a barber. They said you’d scowl like that too. Da’s inside and I can see to your horses. We’ve stables out back, with lowland hay and grain.’ She looked longingly towards the falcons. ‘I can take care of your birds too.’

‘They don’t leave my care.’ Preferably his sight. ‘They room with me.’

‘Probably for the best. I saved a falcon once. The cats had it trapped and were going in for the kill and the stable doors were closed and it couldn’t get out. It was exhausted, poor thing. I could pick it up and everything.’

Being showered with falcon stories was part and parcel of being the King’s Falconer. It was his duty to listen and offer words of encouragement and advice. ‘What happened to it?’

‘I brought it inside and checked for wounds. It didn’t have any I could see, but it wouldn’t eat. Da said it was probably full of mice.’

Tomas and his animal entourage followed her to the stables, relieved when they were clean and warm, with wide stalls and several ponies already in residence. The girl slanted him a glance, took one of his packhorses, clipped it to a lead rope attached to a post and began to relieve the horse of its load. ‘Use these three stalls here. They’re ready for you.’

She knew her way around horses, and he joined her in the offloading.

‘What happened to the bird?’

‘We kept her overnight so she could recover her strength and then let her go.’

‘Did you ever think about keeping her?’

‘Dreamed of, more like,’ the girl said with a snort.

‘Why didn’t you?’

‘She was wild and grown and used to being free. Wouldn’t have been fair. I’m Caitlin, by the way. Daughter of Bain, and hopefully wife of Balo one day—but don’t tell him. He doesn’t know yet.’

Tomas snorted. So did his horse. Poor Balo. ‘Tomas.’

Such enthusiasm in her nod. ‘I knew it! Who else would you be? The woman on the phone described you perfectly.’

‘Did she now?’ Surely Claudia wouldn’t have been the one to make the call? She had aides for that. Didn’t she?

‘Big. Scowling. Shaggy dark hair and eyes you wouldn’t dare disobey. And when he asks you to do something, you’re moving before your brain even catches up.’

‘Did she give you her name?’

‘No.’

Could have been Lor having a laugh at his expense. ‘You did the right thing with the wild falcon. You might have been able to train it to get used to you but you’d have never been able to trust it to return if you flew it.’

‘I know.’ She sounded wistful. ‘That’s what Da said.’

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