Page 93 of The Forest Bride
Then, slipping through the doorway, she ran.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Hey, Greta,” Margaretmurmured, moving toward the gyrfalcon on its perch. Moments before, she had entered the mews just after Duncan and the others had returned from patrol in the rain. He had not seen her, dismounting quickly to head into the keep with Constantine and Lennox, while Henry greeted her briefly. She wondered what they had seen out there, if anything; no alarms of discovery had been sounded.
For now, she meant to stay out of her bedchamber so that Agatha could nap. She had been exhausted after the long day’s journey. She took another step toward the white gyrfalcon, flexing her talons on a tree limb set on a high trestle. Nearby, the peregrine was asleep, while Smoke, Greta’s mate, gave a shrillkik-kik-kikand went silent.
Margaret paused a few feet away. “Greta, you look so well. He takes very good care of you.”
Dark liquid eyes regarded her, arrowed brows tilted almost as if the bird sought a memory. Then Greta bowed her head to preen feathers as if to dismiss the human girl.
“I missed you,” Margaret said. “I prayed for your wellbeing.”
Greta chirred, lifting her wings slightly, fluffing her feathers, looking past her.
“Hey my lass,” a man said. Margaret spun to see Duncan coming toward her.
She smiled at his affectionate greeting, then realized he addressed the bird as he stepped past her. Yet he reached out topress her elbow gently, a gesture that said he saw her too. Her heart quickened. But he greeted the bird first.
“Greta, my lass,” he murmured. He reached into a pouch and produced a bit of meat, tossing it to the bird, who caught it deftly with the talons of one foot.
“Sir, you only returned and you already have meat for her?” Margaret laughed a little. “I saw you ride in moments ago.”
“Ah. I went to the keep and asked after you, and Effie said you came this way. I stopped in the kitchen, thinking to bring something to the birds if I did not find you.”
“You were looking for me?” She felt unaccountably pleased.
“I was. Greetings, my lady.”
“Sir Duncan,” she said. “Did you see riders in the glen?”
“They had gone when we arrived, riding east again, Alan said. Possibly they came from Roskie.”
Watching the bird, Margaret’s next thought made her gasp. “Duncan, could it be they were searching for gyrfalcons? De Soulis seemed too interested the other day.”
“He did. It is possible. Margaret Keith, we must talk.” His quiet words had such a sense of urgency that her heart bounded.
“Here, now?”
“Not here. The birds like their quiet. But the castle is a busy place, with Constantine and Henry meeting with men to assemble the next patrol and the bishop conferring with Seton and Lennox, and Effie directing the servants with so much to be done. We could talk in your chamber if you like.”
“Dame Agatha is resting there now. She is sharing the room with me. They will all need their rest tonight, so Effie is preparing an early supper. I should help.”
“She does not expect it. She knows I was looking for you. Good of you to share with the prioress.”
“She is a dear friend, who said she insisted on coming with her brother when she heard of the trouble. We met at theinfirmary at Holyoak when she was injured and I was ill. Then we went to Lincluden Abbey to recover. Mama, as well. Agatha stayed, and was so dedicated and capable that she was asked to be prioress after the death of the older nun, who had the position for many years.”
“She is young for it, and very intelligent woman, I can see. So she was injured—I wondered why a beautiful and youthful lass would cloister herself.”
“Sore wounded, aye, and a good friend to me. Though I left Lincluden, we have remained friends.”
“Forgive me for asking, but she must have had a terrible mishap.”
“I do not even notice the scarring now, to be honest. She has such beauty inside and out. And such fortitude and spirit. A suitor attacked her. Her brothers near killed the man.”
“Jesu. I can imagine,” he muttered. “I would do the same. You two had a poor betrothal in common, I suppose.”
“You know I was heartbroken there,” she said, glancing away. “Agatha was—devastated, with good reason, but she accepted it and grew peaceful over the years. She has the sort of calm and wisdom and kindness that makes a good prioress. She said that only months ago, she encountered the man who hurt her, and she walked away stronger for it, she said, after—well, a bit of revenge on her part, I suppose you could say.”
