Page 76 of The Knight’s Reward

Perhaps the choice he faced was between a Scottish prison and an English one.

Finally, King Alexander spoke. “Escort this man from the hall,” he bellowed.

A Scottish prison, then.

Chapter 24

Kathryn stood in the muddy road, rain having arrived unexpectedly, waiting for Lady Sara to emerge from the ferrier’s shop. They’d come to Kenshire’s village for the day, Sara walking from home to home, shop to shop, speaking with her people. She wore her boy’s attire, and none seemed troubled by her odd choice of dress.

In fact, the people loved her. Clearly, Sara and Geoffrey knew how to make their people happy. There was a sense of belonging here, one she’d not felt for a long time.

Maybe ever.

Despite the rain, which had diminished to a not unpleasant mist, Kathryn had chosen to wait outside the shop, preferring to watch the comings and goings of the townspeople.

Kathryn thought, as she did most often, of Neill. He’d been gone for more than a fortnight now, and with each day that passed, Kathryn was more convinced their fanciful musings about being together were just that.

She and Sara still spoke of it, at times. Neill’s reward, his arrangement, and the various ways he might pacify the king without marrying Lady Alina. They’d not arrived at any acceptable solution, although she suspected Sara would never admit defeat.

Kathryn also thought, as she did every day, of Bothwell and her father, and she wondered what the latter would make of her current predicament.

He would be proud of her resourcefulness, she’d concluded, but not of her relationship with Neill. Her father had always been a king’s man, one who had served Edward’s father faithfully for years. Still, there was no denying he’d trusted the father more than the son. He had insisted she not return to court if he should fall ill, after all. His reluctance had seemed curious to her, and she wished he’d given more indication of the reason. It may have helped her to learn if someone in the English court could have wished him dead.

“Pardon, my lady.”

Kathryn recognized the woman who stood before her. The miller’s wife. The mill was the first place she and Sara had visited earlier.

“Good day, Mistress Greta.”

The woman startled.

“You are named as my mother was,” she explained.

Greta smiled. “Many blessings to her.”

She was about to tell the woman her mother had died many years ago when Greta’s smile fled from her face. “She’s no’ with this world, my lady.”

Kathryn’s eyes widened. “How . . .”

“You’ve met Greta,” Sara said, approaching. “Have you shared your special ability with Lady Kathryn yet?”

Greta smiled broadly.

Ah. Mistress Greta was a seer. Kathryn had met such men and women before, though most did not tout their abilities out of fear. It was not surprising that this woman would share her gift openly with Lady Sara, however.

“I sensed a sadness in her,” Greta said. “But nay, my lady, I’ve not done so yet.”

Sara looked at her expectantly, and it struck her that this was one of the reasons the countess had brought her here today. Although Kathryn feared what the future might bring, she was also eager for knowledge of it. She nodded eagerly to the miller’s wife. “If you would be so kind as to share any knowledge you have,” she said. “I’d be most grateful to hear it.”

Stepping off to the side of the road, Mistress Greta took Kathryn’s hands in her own. She nearly laughed at the expression on Sara’s face, all eager expectation.

Staring at the wisps of red hair peeking out of the woman’s cap, Kathryn wondered at the wisdom of what she had so impulsively agreed to. What if Greta foretold something she was not prepared to hear? Neill’s face flashed before her, and Kathryn nearly pulled away.

She must have appeared worried because Greta squeezed her hands.

“Three lions, a dragon, and a castle. In a sea of red.”

Alarmed, she attempted to pull away then.