Page 60 of Peregrine's Call
Pierce only laughed.
Tav went on, “And you’ll have to learn to sleep with your wrists and ankles bound. Can’t have you stealing a horse and riding off.”
The laugh died in Pierce’s throat. Robin saw the flash of anger in his eyes, either from the insult of being tied up…or the fact that Tav guessed Pierce was planning on slipping away if he could.
She said, “The horses need a full day’s rest, and feeding, before anyone can ride again. Let’s unload everything, and tether them away from the gate.” The horses could crop the grass that had grown all throughout the clear areas of the camp. As for their own food, she could easily set some rabbit traps nearby, but first she wanted to sleep. She was bone tired.
Octavian had begun to unburden the horses. He reached for the woven, boxy basket on Pierce’s horse.
“Don’t jostle the basket!” the lord warned suddenly.
“What’s in it?”
The basket emitted a meow just as Pierce said, “Never mind.”
“You packed Govannon?” Robin asked. “We’re fleeing from your enemies, we each could only take the essentials, and you took acat?”
“He’s an essential ally,” said Pierce. “And what does it matter to you?”
Tav just shook his head. “If the cat runs off, we’re not going to chase after it.”
Pierce dropped the single chunk of firewood he’d picked up and stormed over to take charge of the basket. He undid the leather strap, and the head of the white cat popped up, its eyes surveying its new surroundings with much the same expression as Pierce himself first had. Robin stifled a hysterical giggle. Was she so exhausted that the mere sight of a cat could wreck her?
Soon enough, a fire was burning, warming the cottage they’d chosen to use. They all rolled out the bedding Robin had packed as part of the bundles she’d tossed over the walls. Octavian said someone should stay awake, but the next thing Robin knew, it was late afternoon. All three of them had slept the entire day.
She sat up, yawning and fiercely hungry. She’d packed some food, and now she retrieved it from the supplies.
Octavian woke next, looking much more alert than he had in the morning. Then Pierce, who’d fallen asleep with Govannon perched on his chest, yawned and carefully removed the cat.
“We’re still alive,” Pierce said, sounding surprised.
Tav nodded. “Despite being completely unconscious and defenseless all day. The Lord has been kind to us.”
“But the men who are chasing us will not be,” said Robin. “Can we assume they want us all dead? Can they be bargained with?”
Pierce looked despondently around the water-stained walls of the cottage. “Some of the men who took bribes from the Welsh might be. But Estmar is in the pay of Lord Ranulf, and he won’t stop following me until I’m either captured or dead.”
“If you knew Estmar was Ranulf’s man, why didn’t you get rid of him?”
“Because part of the terms I struck with Ranulf included taking Estmar in my retinue,” he admitted. “Ranulf does that with all his alliances. Estmar kept an eye on me, to see that I didn’t betray Ranulf.”
“How does he send messages to Ranulf to let him know what’s happening?”
“He had a whole cage of pigeons that knew where to fly. You can be sure he’ll have sent one to Ranulf already.”
Tav was frowning. “Why do you want to switch sides at all? You could simply have gone to Ranulf himself and asked for help to get Malvern back.”
“Ranulf lacks both the strength and the time to aid me. He’s wholly focused on his own ends.” Pierce, a man also wholly focused on his own ends, sneered, apparently despising the trait in other people. “I knew that my only hope for regaining Malvern Castle on my own terms was to act myself. So I’ll exchange the information I have about Ranulf’s plans for the support I need to retake Malvern.”
Octavian looked to Robin. She sensed he wanted to talk to her in private. She finished her food and stood up, stretching. “Well, nothing to be done about that now. I’m going to set a few traps for tonight. With luck, we’ll have a better meal tomorrow than we do now.”
Tav also stood. “I need to check on the horses and the equipment. My lord, you can remain here.”
“This is where the fire is,” Pierce said, as if it were only natural that he should be idle while they worked.
Robin used the last of the afternoon light to set a few rabbit snares just outside the camp’s wall. Rabbits were not the brightest creatures, and she anticipated catching a brace at least. That task done, she set out to find Tav.
She found him sitting near Rainald’s old dwelling, out of sight of the cottage but with a view of the camp’s gate. He was cleaning his sword, examining the edge of the blade with critical eyes.
