Page 9 of A Lover for Lady Jane (The Welsh Rebels #5)

“It’s all right,” he soothed. “I won’t let him get to you. That is precisely why I’m taking you away.”

“You know they will come after us,” she whispered.

As soon as their absence was detected, the men would set off in pursuit, and they both knew it.

Griffin had placed himself in terrible danger by helping her, when nothing obliged him to.

The rebels, Geraint and Cynan especially, would make him pay for betraying them.

He must have known what he was risking, and yet he had not hesitated.

“They will. But they will have to retrieve their horses first and then come up with a plan. As they don’t know what direction we’ve taken, they will most likely split into two or three groups.

Some will ride back toward Sheridan Manor and others will push on to Castell Esgyrn, because it is the obvious thing to do. ”

“But not what we will do,” she finished, catching on to his idea. He had obviously thought this through while they rode.

“No. As I said, I cannot risk them getting to you.” Griffin’s arm tightened around her waist, betraying his determination. “We will head north for a while, riding at night and hiding during the day. If we are not out in the open when they ride past, they will not see us.”

Yes, simple enough. Ingenious even. Jane relaxed further against him. This second attempt at freedom would work, she sensed it. But there were still some questions she needed answers to.

“How did you dispose of the men keeping watch?” Geraint had ordered that two men should guard the camp at all times, presumably to ward off any ill-intentioned people and prevent her escape.

“I sent Cynan to bed, arguing that I could not sleep anyway, and took his place. Once he was asleep, it was easy enough to hit Tomos over the head. He never saw anything coming.”

She nodded, heart in her throat. He had done all this for her, at great cost to himself and with no expectation of a reward. He had saved her and her father. How could she ever thank him? She wasn’t sure. Was there even a way to reward such a deed?

After a while, he brought Eryr back down to a walk. Jane could not blame him. The poor horse would be exhausted.

“We should have taken one of the other horses for me,” she said, straightening up in dismay. How had she not thought of that before? They would have been able to ride faster that way—and also put one of the men out of action.

“I thought about it but after what happened yesterday, I preferred not to risk it,” was Griffin’s answer. “Your fall from Taran was bad enough.”

Though she knew he had not meant to disparage her, she was piqued in her pride “I’m actually a very good rider. I lied about my lack of ability, thinking to lull the men into a sense of false security—and annoy them.”

Griffin gave a little laugh, as if he approved of her deceit. “I thought you might be. The way you rode Taran in that field made it clear you knew what you were doing.”

She was pleased he had noticed her ability. “My father made sure his children were competent riders from a young age. My sister Sian is probably even better than me, though he started teaching her later in life, when he married my mother.”

“You said yesterday that Lady Sheridan was not your real mother?”

Griffin realized that he knew very little about Jane Hunter, and suddenly it bothered him. She had opened up a little the day before, but only to reveal that she spent some of her time in England, and that her uncle had a white horse called Raven. It was not enough. He wanted to know everything.

“No, she’s not. I only met her and Sian when I came to Wales, aged seven. Esyllt is my father’s second wife. He was ordered by the late king to marry her.”

“I see. It was one of those political alliances made to reinforce his hold over Wales.” Somehow, he’d hoped for a more satisfactory alliance, for her to be raised in a loving environment, as he had.

“Yes. Only, the two of them fell madly in love and found happiness in their marriage.”

He was relieved to hear it. “Do you have other siblings?”

“Two sisters and a brother. My real mother died in childbed when I was six, along with a baby girl I never knew.” She paused.

Though she was not looking at him, Griffin sensed the list of losses was not finished.

“I also had a twin sister, Elspeth, who died shortly after that. It was very hard. I still miss her very much, even if meeting Sian helped me get over the worst of the grief.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper. Griffin wasn’t sure what to tell her. Losing a sister would be bad enough, but a twin would be even worse. He could only offer belated condolences, which felt inadequate.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wishing he didn’t sound so bland.

“Thank you.” Mercifully, Jane didn’t seem to think his response inappropriate, and he felt her nestle herself closer against him. Soon her body went limp, betraying her exhaustion.

“Try to get some rest now,” he suggested, resisting the urge to place a kiss over her hair. Never had anyone raised his protective instincts thus. “You didn’t get much sleep tonight.”

“Neither did you. In fact, you woke up before me. I’m not that tired anyway.”

A smile teased the corners of Griffin’s lips. Protesting that she did not need to sleep when her words were already slurred from fatigue, she sounded more like a sulky child than a mighty lady. It was endearing.

“I’ll be fine. There will be plenty of time to rest when we stop later.”

There was no answer.