CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Mathias!”
He heard his name in the darkness, watching Cathlina race through the darkened bramble towards him. It was so dark that she ended up tripping, but jumped to her feet with the agility of a cat and continuing on her way. Mathias’ arms opened up to her and she hurled herself into them.
She was all hair and flowing fabric. Mathias held her tightly, relishing their first real embrace with more emotion than he believed himself capable of. Behind her, silhouetted by the moonlight that was straining to penetrate the canopy of trees, he could see Kenneth coming up behind her. He had something clutched to his chest and when he lowered his arm, Mathias could see the outline of a satchel.
“What happened?” he hissed at Kenneth. “What took so long?”
Kenneth seemed irritated, unusually for the usually unflappable knight. “God’s Bones, don’t ask,” he said, handing Mathias the satchel even though he was still embracing Cathlina. “When I went to locate the lady, she was with her sisters and the eldest one would not let us out of her sight for a couple of hours at least. She made me sit and converse and then when I tried to get Cathlina alone to tell her of your intentions, she followed us. And you will not believe this part – your intended had a red welt on her cheek and when de Lara saw it, he accused her father of beating her again.”
Mathias looked at Cathlina in the darkness, trying to get a look at her face. “The bastard,” he hissed. “What did he do? Did he hit you again?”
Cathlina shook her head as he ran his enormous hands all over her face. “It was Roxane,” she said. “We had an argument this morning and… well, sometimes we are known to slap each other. It was not my father at all.”
Mathias’ eyebrows shot up. “Your sister slapped you?”
“She did.”
“I hope you slapped her back.”
Cathlina broke out in giggles. “Of course I did. I pulled her hair for good measure, too.”
Mathias chuckled, hugging her tightly, so thrilled to have her in his arms. As he embraced her, kissing her cheek, Kenneth entered the conversation again.
“You can imagine with all of that madness going on, the hours dragged out,” he said. “Suffice it to say that it has taken this long to bring your lady to you. Now, you need to get out of here before they start looking for her. I must go back and keep the sister occupied until you are well on your way.”
Mathias looked at Cathlina. “Did Ken tell you everything?”
She nodded eagerly. “He said you are running off to Scotland and wish to take me with you,” she said. “Oh, Mathias, I can hardly believe it. I thought I was never going to see you again!”
He grinned at her, his white teeth reflecting the muted moonlight. “Hardly,” he said. “But Ken is correct. We must flee and we must do it now. Are you certain you want to go with me?”
“Of course I am!”
“It means marriage. I will marry you as soon as possible and you will be wed to a knight on the run.”
She shushed him. “I do not care,” she said. “All that matters is that we are together, whether you are a smithy or a dishonored knight or the king of bloody England. I do not care about any of that. Let us leave before my father finds out!”
He laughed softly, turning to Kenneth and reaching out to take the man’s hand. The handshake was firm, full of the reassurance of a good parting.
“I will do what I can to stall them,” Kenneth said. “Get as far as you can tonight. By morning, surely they will discover her missing and the search will commence.”
Mathias nodded quickly, taking Cathlina in hand and rushing her towards the charger. The beast was munching on undergrowth as he lifted her up.
“I will send you word when and where we settle,” he told Kenneth. “And you have my deepest gratitude for what you have done, Ken. I will always be in your debt.”
Kenneth simply waved him off, watching Mathias vault onto the back of the charger and direct the steed further into the darkness of the forest growth. He had to avoid the road because the castle sentries could see the land for at least a mile in all directions, including the road. Mathias had to get them out of the range of the sentries. When they finally faded from view, Kenneth turned back to the castle.
By the time he returned to the great hall, he was fending off more marriage innuendoes from Saer and Roxane, and cursing Mathias under his breath for having to endure such a thing. Tate, too, was playing the stalling game, plying Saer with enough wine to get the man ragingly drunk so that they feasted long into the night.
No one realized Cathlina was missing until well into the next day and to add an additional stalling tactic, Tate took charge of the search parties and told Saer to remain with his family and await word. Tate then moved his army away from Kirklinton and sent at least three advance parties out in full view of Saer.
The search parties, however, all had secret instructions to sweep through Brampton, stop at nothing, and proceed to Carlisle Castle post-haste. Instead of searching for Cathlina as he promised he would, Tate simply took his army and his family home, but he made a good show of a search for Saer’s sake. One week later, Saer received a missive from Tate, written carefully by Toby.
Have no worries for your daughter is in excellent hands. Will send word later.
He never did.