Talar paced the tiny, utilitarian guest room. He didn’t want to be waiting and he certainly didn’t want to be here in Mythnar’s keep where Daralis or the Duchess of Dynar could find him. Anything could have happened to Kaelyn and they’d spent all day waiting and talking. He spun, heading back to the door. Mac sighed and shifted in his chair.
“Don’t tell me you’re happy just sitting here?” Goddess above, the man was the Meriduinian Hero of the Great Clan War. His father had been friends with Mac. How could he just sit there?
“Happy? No. But it’s now in the hands of the Prince Consort and his men.”
Talar narrowed his eyes. There was something Mac wasn’t saying. There were a lot of things he hadn’t said. Like the fact that he was a hero, a man of legend. Although, looking at him now, it was hard to believe he’d done half of what the tales claimed.
“Besides,” said Mac, his expression glum, “we have to attend dinner.”
“Don’t change the topic.”
“I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have. We were talking about Kaelyn.” Talar strode to the tiny window and looked out.
“No, we were talking about me not being happy.”
Outside loomed the Halyn Mountains, gray and grim, with snow covered peaks disappearing into clouds. He’d just left here. Why in the name of the Goddess had he returned? Pain lanced around his wrists and he bit the inside of his cheek, hoping Mac wouldn’t notice. Of course, how could he have forgotten? Kaelyn and the burning in his tattoos. There was something about her, something that called to him, something his Goddess wanted him to do. And yet nothing he could really put his finger on. They really should be looking for her. Even before he knew that Mac was Mac Theselon, the Hero of the Great Clan War, he hadn’t struck Talar as a sit-around-and-wait-for-someone-else-to-do-the-hard-work kind of man.
“You don’t think she was taken, do you?” It was the only logical answer.
Mac sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, a motion he’d repeated a lot lately. “Do you remember what we were talking about just before we went to bed?”
“Kaelyn–” Oh Goddess. She couldn’t have heard them talking. Surely she would have known they were being facetious. “You don’t think–?”
“I do. If it were those bandits, I’m sure we would have heard a scuffle in the very least.”
“So where does that leave us? You lied to the Prince Consort. We don’t even know if our Kaelyn is Kaelyn Wintherford.”
A weak smile pulled at Mac’s lips. “Don’t worry about Gregor. I can handle him.”
Talar plopped down on the corner of the closest cot and stretched his hands toward the fire. He hadn’t realized he was cold. But the thought that Kaelyn had run away because she thought they were going to marry her off for a peace treaty sat frozen around his heart. Sure she was resourceful, and boy did she know how to swing a sword, but she had no memory and she was alone and it had rained last night.
“Where does this leave us?” he asked. “Still stuck going to dinner, I suppose.”
“Actually, we were just told when dinner was. We weren’t commanded to attend. And we did turn down the offer to have a page escort us back to the great hall, since I used to live here. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be,” said Mac, grabbing his cloak.
“You’re going to get me arrested or something, aren’t you?” Talar threw his cloak about his shoulders and followed Mac out the door.
Daralis leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, her expression hard. “So you are stupid enough to return.”
Wyndham rounded the corner and strode toward them. “I’m surprised myself.”
Daralis dipped low into a curtsey. “Your Highness.”
“Minstrel.” And with that one word, the Prince dismissed her.
Daralis shot Talar a withering look that promised she’d speak her mind as soon as she caught him alone. Then she rushed away.
“I see your friends are happy you’ve returned,” said Wyndham.
Talar didn’t know what to say about that. This Wyndham was strikingly different from the one who’d sat in the Prince Consort’s chambers and convinced a young page to take a second chocolate. He had returned to the astute man Talar had meet more than a month ago.
“Why the change of heart?” he asked.
Talar shrugged. “It seemed like the thing to do.”
“I see.”
A silence stretched between them.
The last time they’d talked, Wyndham had said a woman was his problem, and he could have only meant Kaelyn. From the way he’d jumped at her name it was obvious the rumors were true. They were in love. Perhaps it was better for Kaelyn that she didn’t have her memories, since Wyndham seemed to have no choice but to sacrifice his emotions on the altar of political peace.
Mac cleared his throat. “This is lovely. But we have a dinner to avoid.”
“My Lord of Quinlay, you wouldn’t be planning on disappointed the Prince Consort by refusing to attend the dinner in your honor?” asked Wyndham.
“No, what he means–” said Talar.
“Is that I got lost on my way to the great hall, and in my frustration decided to busy myself with my mission to find our wayward maiden.”
Wyndham raised an eyebrow. “And so we should. I came to ask if you wanted to join me. If Kaelyn is in town, I suspect someone in the guard has seen her.”
“Sly pup,” said Mac, slapping him on the back. “You’re more like your step-father than you know.”
They slipped out a side door, crossed the inner bailey, and nodded to the guards at the main gate. Mismatched buildings swarmed around the outer wall, a mix of wood and stone, creating a warren of alleys and narrow roads branching off from the main throughway.
They followed the main road to the town square and a pub nestled between two tall buildings. It was packed with soldiers and farmhands. Barmaids weaved among the crowd, serving ale and food and flirting with the men.
Wyndham ushered them in, making friendly replies to the waves and calls that greeted his entrance.
“You don’t do this much, I see,” said Talar.
“These men work for my mother. It’s in my best interest to be nice to them.”
“Particularly if you want to slip out of court diners,” said Mac.
Wyndham gave a wry smile and led the way to the back of the pub to a long table by the hearth.
“You’re just in time,” said a soldier with striking green eyes. “Malicent is about to make an announcement.”
“Did Gerid’s brother finally get her father’s permission?” asked Wyndham, nudging the man over and sitting beside him.
“We shall see.”
A buxom blond with sharp features stood up on the opposite end of the table with the help of the men on either side of her. She announced her engagement with a great deal of satisfaction and a pointed look at Wyndham then she sat, making it obvious that she was ignoring the Prince.
The soldier nodded at Malicent but Wyndham shrugged, adding more proof to the suspicion that the rumors of him and Kaelyn were true.
“So–?” asked the soldier.
“So what? She never was. No merchant barons’ daughter was.” Wyndham’s expression hardened. “Raleigh, this is Mac and Talar.”
Mac grunted, and Talar shook his head at that. Mac was a grunter, yes. But that didn’t fit with his image he’d always had of the Hero of the Great Clan War.
Wyndham glanced around. “Where’s Aric? Is he on duty?”
“No. Jillyn left for Angwyn last night with the clansmen’s caravan. Aric’s part of her escort and Gerid is their token nobleman. They went with Aric’s new pet, after he and Jillyn somehow made her Jillyn’s assistant.”
Which meant there were fewer clansmen for Talar to run into. Small blessings at least. Now if he could find Kaelyn and get on their way before running into the Duchess he’d know he was blessed. But his Goddess had barely noticed him so it was merely wishful thinking.
“So, Aric finally found himself a girl. It’s about time.” Wyndham didn’t seem happy about that. Guess it was difficult to see others getting what he could never have: a love match.
“I don’t think so. She’s a little young, even for him.” Raleigh took a long swig from his mug.
“She says she’s older,” said Malicent over her shoulder, “but I doubt she’s more than twelve.”
Mac sat forward. “Where did he find this girl?”
“Says she came from the country, her family killed by bandits or something,” said Raleigh.
“I doubt that as well,” said Malicent.
Talar’s wrists began to itch and he fought the urge to rub them. Instead, he tugged his sleeves lower, ensuring his tattoos were hidden.
“What does she look like, aside from young?” asked Mac. He grabbed a mug from the center of the table, stared at it, and set it aside.
“I knew she was a run away,” said Malicent, turning full into the conversation. She appraised Talar with a hard stare. “Lost your wife did you?”
Wyndham choked on his ale.
“Something like that,” Mac said with a smile. “Can you describe her?”
“Tiny. Brown eyes, mousy brown hair. Her clothes were way too big for her, men’s clothes at that. And she was quite a sight, standing on the doorstep in the rain,” said Raleigh
Malicent tisked. “Definitely a drowned mouse.”
“More like a soaked kitten,” said Raleigh.
“Did you get a name?” asked Talar. If it was Kaelyn they were only a day behind. The clan would be moving fast, trying to avoid winter and the inevitable avalanches and blinding storms the White Pass was known for. But they still had time to catch up and explain–if she was even willing to listen to him or Mac.
“Carolyn? Kathryn?” said Raleigh.
Malicent gave him a hard look. “That wasn’t it.”
“Then what was it?” asked Mac.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think the magistrate will be any help, this time?” asked Talar.
Mac shook his head. “If he wasn’t so full of himself.”
“I’m sure if I ask the man personally he’ll be able to recognize a name in the very least,” said Wyndham.
“If she went north we don’t have the time to wait on politics,” said Talar. “Winter will come early to the mountain passes and after that, we’ll have to take the long way to Angwyn or wait for the spring thaw.”
“At least we know where she is,” said Mac, his tone surprisingly calm.
“You’re not thinking of waiting until after the thaw, are you?” Talar couldn’t believe it. They needed to go after her. Yet when he examined that need, he couldn’t explain it.
“Only wistfully. If she’s safe with the clansmen, then maybe all she needs is a little time to sort herself out.”
“Sort herself out?” asked Wyndham.
“It’s complicated,” said Mac.
Wyndham raised an eyebrow. “I bet. Regardless, we don’t know her condition.” He said condition with emphasis and a pointed look at Mac. “Talar, do you think you could travel north? Mac and I can stay here and try to confirm that it is Kaelyn.”
Mac gave a long sigh.
Talar couldn’t agree more. The last thing he wanted was to go after the Great Hawk Clan. But maybe he could just sneak in, convince Kaelyn to leave, and that would be the end of it.
“The plan is fine,” said Mac. “I’m just not going to enjoy staying at court.”
Talar chuckled. “Stay at court or track down our ferocious kitten, possibly against her will.”
Wyndham’s other eyebrow joined the first, but he didn’t comment.
“They don’t come more pathetic then I,” said Mac.
“Well, don’t worry, grandfather. I, the brave young hunter, will search out the fearsome creature for you.”
“I hope it is her.” Mac propped his head in his hands. “I’ll keep looking. Hopefully we can get the magistrate to clear things up.”
“You should be able to send word once you get there,” said Wyndham. “We’ve exchanged a dozen messenger birds with the Great Hawk.”
“Good.” Talar stood and pulled his sleeves down. Hopefully it would be Kaelyn and she wouldn’t want to kill him when he found her.
