Page 9 of Wolfehound
Liam watched him ride away, frowning. “He is not telling the truth,” he muttered. “He appears concerned.”
The old soldier, who had served Carlton’s father-in-law for many years, glanced at the young and excitable squire. “He should be,” he said, chewing on a piece of dried grass that had been hanging from his lips since the morning. “It’s quite possible we are being followed.”
That only made Liam strain to look more than he already was. “By whom?”
“The animal who tracks with greater stealth than a man.”
Liam looked at him. “What animal?”
“A wolf.”
That made no sense to Liam. “A wolf is following us?” he said incredulously. “How do you know? Who has said so?”
The old soldier fixed him in the eye. “Lad, if you are to be a knight, then you must learn to open your ears,” he said. “Why do you think we left Wales in such a hurry?”
Liam had no idea. “I do not know,” he said. “I suppose to take this baby away.”
The old soldier nodded as if Liam had just said something important. “Exactly,” he said. “We are taking this baby away to keep her safe.”
“Safe from whom?”
“From a man who would use her in vengeance for his own son’s death,” the old man said, snapping his fingers. “Just like that, the Wolfe would take her hostage and call it justice. We had to get her away before he could, and now he is following us. It is imperative that de Royans get her to that priory before the Wolfe catches up to us.”
Liam understood him. Sort of. “The Wolfe?” he said. “You mean Warenton?”
The old soldier nodded. “Now you are starting to comprehend.”
Liam frowned. “He would not punish a baby because he lost his son.”
“Not the baby,” the old soldier said, shaking his head. “Punish the Welsh as a whole. It’s what she represents. Do you know who that baby is?”
“Daughter of Llywelyn?”
“She is,” the old soldier said. “But she is also the granddaughter of King John. She has more royal blood in her than anyone in this country. Maybe even the world. I cannot believe that the Earl of Warenton would actually harm the child, because he is not that sort of man, but he might want to take her into his custody. He might put her in a vault and throw away the key.”
Liam didn’t seem to think the situation was all that critical. “What is the difference if she ends up in a vault or in a priory?” he said. “It is all the same. She loses her freedom either way, and the Welsh lose their princess.”
“True,” the old soldier said. “But if she’s at a priory, no one can harm her. She’s safe. But thrown in a vault, she is vulnerable to anyone who enters that vault.”
“Like Warenton?”
The old soldier nodded faintly. “’Tis a strange situation,” he said. “The man lost a son six months ago and the babe was bornsix months ago. It all happened on the same day, I heard. As I said, I don’t believe Warenton would harm the child, but he could hold her hostage indefinitely as punishment to the Welsh for the killing of his son. Grief makes even good men do strange things.”
Liam pondered that. He’d only heard good things about William de Wolfe, a man greatly revered and respected by nearly everyone in England. Like any warlord, he had his share of enemies, but for the most part, men spoke well of him. In fact, Liam was distantly related to him because his own father, Warwick Herringthorpe, had married a cousin to William de Wolfe’s wife. Because of that connection, Liam was planning on heading to Castle Questing, Warenton’s seat, in a couple of years to finish his training as a knight. It was a prestigious post his father had helped him obtain and he had been looking forward to it. Therefore, the concept that William de Wolfe might be unjust with a helpless baby puzzled him.
He refused to believe it.
“It is Edward who wants this baby sealed up in a priory,” he said. “Warenton is a man of war. He knows that the child is not responsible for his son’s death. He is a better man than that.”
“Who says so?”
“My father.”
The old soldier shrugged. “’Tis true,” he said. “Warenton has a fair and just reputation, but if he wants this baby, he’ll get her. Mark my words.”
He sounded old and suspicious and edgy. Liam wasn’t sure he believed any of it, but it would explain why de Royans and de Lara seemed uneasy. He didn’t like to think about William de Wolfe being a threat, but then again, the man didn’t get where he was being soft. If he wanted something, he took it.
And that was what had the rest of them concerned.
