Page 36 of A Lover for Lady Jane (The Welsh Rebels #5)

Christopher, who, being the only one armed with a sword, had finally managed to rid himself of the men holding him, didn’t need to be told twice.

Shouting in righteous anger, he slashed at Tomos, who howled and stepped back, cradling his bleeding arm.

As soon as she was free, Jane made to run to Griffin.

He was draped over the back of the horse, unconscious and bleeding.

She didn’t make it further than a few steps, however.

Grabbing her by the waist, her brother-in-law started to drag her back to the postern gate.

“No!” She screamed. “I can’t leave him!”

“You must. ’Tis what he wants. I—” He interrupted himself to slash at a man coming at them. The man shrieked and fell to his knees, blood soaking his hose. The others, seeing that they would only end up cut to ribbons if they tried to stop his retreat, backed away.

Jane didn’t stop fighting when Christopher threw her over his shoulder and ran up the slope to the safety of the castle. “I haven’t got a horse. I can’t save him. But I can save you, and I will,” she heard him say, his breathing coming fast and ragged.

A moment later, they were at the postern door. Jane threw a desperate glance at the scene of the attack when Christopher dropped her back to her feet. One man was lying by the bridge, immobile.

Of Griffin and the others, there was no trace.

Jane stared at the flames dancing in the hearth without seeing anything.

Where was Griffin? Was he still alive? If he was, it would be a miracle.

And it was all her fault. He’d done nothing wrong.

He’d been captured, punished and possibly killed because of her.

Because he’d wanted to save her from the rebels. How would she bear it?

Sian placed a cup of spiced wine into her hands. “Drink,” she encouraged when Jane looked at it as if she had no idea what to do with it.

She drank. The first sip made her wrinkle her nose. The second caused her stomach to roil. She put the cup down.

“I’m sorry, Jane.” Standing next to his wife, Christopher sounded agonized. “I couldn’t stop the men from taking Griffin away. Eight was too much for me to overpower but I should have?—”

“No. You did what Griffin told you to do, you saved me,” she said in a dull voice.

She knew her safety would have been his priority, and she was glad that in his distress he’d been able to rely on a trusted, strong friend to prevent her from being taken too.

“You have nothing to blame yourself for.”

“Mm.” He didn’t sound convinced. “But now that I have you safe, and a horse at the ready, I will go back to him. I cannot stay here while he’s in danger.”

The three people in the room looked at one another in helplessness.

Go back where? No one knew where Griffin might be, that was the whole problem.

The rebels had not let slip any clues as to their destination.

Still, they could not admit defeat so easily, not yet, not when they had not even tried.

Christopher was right. They had to do something .

Jane stood up and started to pace around the room as she expressed her thoughts out loud. It was a habit she’d had since she’d been a child. It had always helped her see things more clearly.

“I don’t think they will have killed him just yet, only to throw his body in a ditch.

Cynan did say he wanted his revenge and would enjoy making him suffer.

I believe him. He will not kill him until he has made him pay for his supposed betrayal.

” She forced herself to think rationally, even if the thought of Griffin in the arms of the brute was horrifying, and she really thought they had a bit of time before the irreparable happened.

“No, he won’t,” her sister and brother-law said in unison, as if to infuse her with the strength this assurance would give her.

“I think they will have brought him back to the place where I was detained myself when they captured me, because there they can be assured of the privacy needed to put their vile plan to execution. Geraint seemed to have an understanding with the lord living there, an Englishman who did not question his actions and had been rewarded by Hywel for his help. Only… I have no idea where that place might be. I was unconscious when they took me there and then for the first part of the journey to Wales, they took a route I didn’t know, so I cannot situate it. It cannot be too far away though.”

“Can you recall anything that might help us identify the place?”

Christopher had started pacing also. He sounded full of renewed hope, which gave her the surge she needed.

Could she recall anything? Perhaps. She closed her eyes, imagining herself in front of the bay window while waiting for Geraint to come to her to explain why she was being detained.

It seemed a long time ago now, but there had to be a clue somewhere.

“From my room I could see we were quite high up. So a castle on a hill. And I think there was a lake in the distance.” The stretch of water she’d seen peeking between the trees could not have been the sea.

She opened her eyes and turned to face Christopher as something flashed through her mind.

“Wait, they mentioned the name of their hosts before we set off, thinking I could not understand them. Sir William? Lord Wilt? Something like that.”

Christopher’s unusual eyes lit up in recognition. “Lord Wills?”

She nodded, heart in her throat. Yes, that was it! “Do you know him?”

“No. But I think I know the place you mean. During my weeks of hopeless wandering after the tourney where I met with your sister again, I happened upon this castle. Lord Wills agreed to have me spend the night there.”

Hope surged through Jane. If he knew where it was, it was as good a place to start as any. “Is it far from here? Could you get there in?—”

“I will take Stephen, and a dozen men with me,” he cut in. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. There’s no time to lose.”

Before he left the room, Sian drew her husband into her arms and gave him a passionate kiss. Jane watched on, fighting the urge to throw herself into his arms as well. If he succeeded in saving Griffin, she would forever be in his debt.

“Thank you, my love,” Sian said, her voice shaky with emotion. “You will be careful, won’t you?”

Christopher placed a hand over her still flat stomach and smiled reassuringly. “Always, Little Lamb. Worry not about me. You have our child to think about and protect. That is plenty already.”

Jane hated herself for placing her beloved sister’s husband in danger at this critical time, but she had no choice. Without him, she was helpless. He, unlike her, knew where Cynan and his men had gone. He, unlike her, could wield a sword and defeat the scoundrels holding Griffin captive.

It didn’t take long to assemble the retinue.

Through tear-misted eyes Jane watched Christopher, Stephen, her uncle’s men, and a couple of Throckmorton’s guards mount their horses.

They looked like men on a mission. She tried to tell herself that such a formidable force could not fail and almost managed it.

When the beat of the hooves had vanished into the distance, however, she fell to her knees, her sister hugging her tight against her own trembling body.

Please, please, please, Lord, let them get to Griffin in time.