Page 102 of Bound to a Warrior
“Why?’ Mercy asked.
“His armies were needed on the southern borders,” Trey said. “The English are seeking help.”
“It allowed the north time to regroup and grow strong,” Reeve added. “And now we are a force to reckon with, while his armies remain scattered.”
“Your father knows he does not have the troops he needs to conquer us,” Bryce said.
“That is why he searches for the true king,” Carmag said. “He is the hope of the people, and if your father kills the true king, he kills that hope and seals his rule.”
“But what do I have to do with all this?” she asked, shaking her head, more confused than ever over her part in it all. “I am merely his bastard daughter. Why be adamant about my return when he had previously wanted me dead?”
She noticed that Bryce and Duncan exchanged a knowing glance and gooseflesh prickled her skin. They knew something.
“That is something we need to find out, and we will,” Carmag assured her. “But right now it is time for daily reports.”
“Go,” Mara urged. “I shall show Mercy around the keep since it storms outside.”
Duncan looked to Mercy as if he questioned leaving her and it lightened her heart. “Go,” Mercy said. “I’d like to see more of your home.”
“Not only beautiful, but compliant,” Reeve said grinning.
“I’m going to beat you, Reeve,” Duncan warned.
Reeve laughed. “I’m shaking with fear.”
“You better be,” Duncan said and leaned down to give Mercy a quick kiss, then walked off with his brothers, the four of them bantering about beauty and beatings.
The bantering stopped once the solar door was closed. Duncan didn’t waste a minute. He informed them all of what he and Bryce had learned last night, this being the first chance of privately discussing it.
“The piece of hide with drawings on it is gone.”
“What?” Reeve shouted.
“What do you mean?” Trey demanded.
“Are you sure?” Carmag asked.
“We discovered the theft last night,” Bryce explained.
“How?” Trey asked shaking his head. “We rarely view the piece. It is for the king’s eyes.”
Duncan spoke up, explaining the exchange between him and Mercy, and how for some unexplainable reason, he immediately had thought about the hide buried at the bottom of the chest in the solar.
“I don’t know why I thought the two connected, but I did,” Duncan said. “And to assuage my concern I came here and looked for myself.”
“And discovered it missing?” Reeve asked.
Duncan confirmed once again. “Yes, it’s gone.”
“This is a problem,” Trey said. “The four of us and mother and father are the only ones who know where it is kept.”
“Do you suggest one of us a traitor?” Reeve barked.
“Nonsense,” Carmag said, stepping forward. “We have all worked hard toward a common goal and there is not one among us who would jeopardize that.”
“Then who took it?” Trey asked.
“That is something we will need to find out,” Carmag said.
