A Lily on the Heath (Medieval Herb Garden 4)

“Your maid is packing for you and I will soon introduce you to a very sweet-tempered but strong and brisk mare by the name of Socha. She is your new horse. ”

“Oh!” she said with great delight, stopping again in the corridor after only two steps to look up at him. “Thank you, Malcolm. ”

“She’s gray and has a white forelock,” he said, almost smiling now. “I hope she will suit you. ”

“If you have chosen her, I’m certain she will suit me well,” Judith told him as they started off once again. “Will we truly leave this day?” Hope colored her voice.

“Aye,” he told her as they reached the chamber. “I shall come for you in an hour. Take only what you will need, for we travel with speed. I will not be at ease until we are safely behind the walls of Lilyfare. Your maid and the rest of my men will follow with the remainder of your possessions. I trust you will be comfortable traveling without your maid?” he added, opening the door. “We will likely be on pallets in an abbey or monastery during our journey, or if we are fortunate, one or two nights in a friendly keep. ”

“Aye,” she replied, understanding his meaning. They would have no privacy and little comfort for the journey. But she cared not, for she was going home! “I can easily manage without Tabby for a se’ennight or more. And my men? Do you wish for them to stay or accompany us?” she asked, looking up at him from just inside the chamber. “I will order them accordingly. ”

Malcolm hesitated. When he spoke, he seemed to choose his words carefully. “We travel lightly and with speed. ’Tis best to have a small but well-armed group for our purposes. ”

Judith’s heavy heart lightened even further. Her husband was allowing her to make her own decisions about her men and give her opinions about their journey. “Of course, my lord. I will leave it to you to determine which of my men should travel with us, and which should come with Tabby and the others. Send Holbert to me and I will give him this direction. ”

Her husband’s expression relaxed. “Very well. I will return in an hour, Judith. Do not delay. ” His eyes flitted over her, and for a moment, Judith thought he might kiss her…but then he turned abruptly and strode down the hall.

She closed the door behind him and turned to find the chamber in disarray, for Tabatha seemed to have upended every one of her trunks into piles on the bed. It took nearly the full allotted hour for Judith and her maid to determine what should leave immediately and what should come later, during which time Holbert arrived as directed. Judith gave him instruction that he was to obey any orders from her husband on this day, and then further direction about how to help Tessing prepare Hecate and the other raptors for travel.

“As for the the two eyases,” she said in hard voice. “I do not believe they will travel well. Make a gift of them to de Rigonier from me. ” Better that she never again see the birds which would remind her not only of Piall’s death, but also her ill-fated relationships with Henry and Eleanor.

“Aye, my lady,” Holbert said with a bow, then left.

“Tabatha,” Judith added, turning to her maid, “go you to Lady Maris and return this to her. I am no longer in need of it. ” The pouch she handed her maid still contained a fortnight’s supply of the special tea Maris had given her. “And bid my friend farewell, for I do not know whether I will have time to say goodbye before we leave. ”

After Tabatha had gone, leaving Judith alone, she surveyed her chamber one last time. Though the court had been here at Clarendon for only six months at this time, the contents of her chamber—which followed her from place to place—had made each location seem the same. Now, she would bid farewell not only to this room, but also her nomadic life of following the queen on her many travels.

Alone and unseen, Judith fairly danced about the chamber, whirling from fireplace to window to bed, and back again. She was going home. She was married. A whole new life was about to begin. She hugged herself, spinning around like a small wooden top as tears of joy and relief filled her eyes. I cannot say farewell to this place soon enough.

When the door opened, she was startled and turned quickly, mortified to be caught in such a ridiculous activity.

Of course it was Malcolm who had to find her thus, and Judith immediately stilled and tried to appear more decorous, surreptitiously wiping at one of the tear streaks on her cheek. But his attention swept over her, and his expression changed from questioning to a dark, irritated one.

“More tears, my lady?” he said enigmatically. “Regardless—your hour is up, my lady,” he continued in a flat voice, as if preparing himself for some argument. “We leave now. ”

“Of course,” she said, keeping her voice modulated. He was likely as embarrassed as she at finding his wife dancing and leaping about like a child. After all, had he not mentioned—more than once—of his desire for a meek and mild wife? Oh dear. Under the guise of pointing in the general vicinity of her maid’s whereabouts, she managed to stifle a giggle by half turning away and covering her mouth. “Tabatha should return in a moment. ”

“As your maid is not leaving with us, it matters not to me when she returns. ” He strode into the chamber, once again making it seem smaller and closer. “Where is your baggage? I warn you, it must be small and able to fit on the back of your horse. And if you are not yet ready, we shall leave it all behind. ”

“’Tis only this packet here,” Judith told him mildly. “I am ready to leave. ”

Malcolm nodded, then swung up the large cloth bundle. “Let us quit this place. ”

Judith very nearly held her breath during the last few moments of preparation. She had no opportunity to bid her friends or acquaintances farewell, and though it saddened her, she knew she could write to them. But, just as Malcolm seemed to be tense about their departure, so she understood his worries. Until they were out of the walls of Clarendon and well on their way to Lilyfare, she would feel a prickling on the back of her neck as if someone waited to stop them.

But when, only a quarter of an hour after leaving her chamber for the last time, Judith and Malcolm rode beneath the portcullis and onto the road, surrounded by their men, she could nearly believe they were free.

THIRTEEN

Malcolm wasn’t certain when to expect it, but he knew it would come. And it did, just as twilight fell on the second day of their journey.

He rode next to Judith, who had disdained traveling in an enclosed cart in favor of a saddle on her new mare Socha.

“I’ve traveled with Eleanor for years. I ride on horseback,” she had informed Malcolm pertly, just as they started out from Clarendon.

He had no issue with this decision, for that meant they journeyed faster and more efficiently. At the front of the party were his man Lelan and five other men-at-arms, and at the rear were another four, including the trusty Holbert. These were men Mal had chosen for their intelligence and prowess with a sword, as well as their ability to follow orders. Five were his own, and the others were from Lilyfare—picked with just as much care by Holbert.