Page 11 of Insurrection (Guard of Six #2)

CHAPTER TEN

S he had followed him.

Actually, Arthur had followed the man known as Trevyn. For some reason, her dog was quite attached to the man’s scent, and Madelaina noticed her dog missing shortly after he’d departed. She found the mutt heading south, down the main road, and up ahead she could see Trevyn as he strolled along.

Truthfully, she only wanted to catch her dog and bring him back home, but the more she watched Trevyn, the more enamored she became. She already thought he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen, looking like a god among the villagers of Penderyn, and she simply wanted to watch him from afar. There was no ulterior motive other than to admire him.

And she did.

For about an hour.

Trevyn had stopped in an area where the smithies had their stalls. That area was out of the village center because the smell from the forges was so terrible. No one wanted them any closer than that. They would repair implements brought to them by the farmers, or even wheels or carts. They would also shoe horses and make things that the villagers could use, for example, the shovel she had for her garden. There was nothing interesting about the area where the smithies worked, but Trevyn evidently thought it was quite interesting, because he spent an hour there talking to a pair of smithies.

Madelaina didn’t want to make a fool out of herself by having him notice that she was watching him, so she stayed out of sight. She had a difficult time keeping Arthur at bay because the dog seemed to want to run to where Trevyn was, so she held fast to him while she spied on Trevyn from behind a tree. It was silly and she knew it, but that didn’t stop her from doing it.

She was very much looking forward to supper.

When the hour was up, Trevyn seemed to finish his business with the smithies and then continued south. Up until that point, Madelaina had only been watching him out of sheer admiration. It was nothing more than that. But when he continued to walk south, and she knew very well that there weren’t any towns or businesses in that direction, at least for several miles, she began to get curious.

She wondered where he was going.

Perhaps she should have gone home, but she couldn’t manage to do it. Inquisitiveness was driving her. There were enough trees and foliage at the southern end of town that she was able to remain hidden as she watched him, so she stayed to the trees, every so often sticking her head out to see where he was. At this time of day, the farmers that came in from the surrounding area were returning home for the night, and she saw him speaking to a woman and her daughter as they pulled a flower cart. Madelaina knew the woman because she came into the village almost every day except church day to sell flowers and plants that grew around her home. Madelaina had even purchased plants from her in the past. She saw very clearly when Trevyn purchased many flowers from the woman.

But that was where it grew strange.

Once the flower woman and her daughter were out of sight, Trevyn went straight into the woods. Madelaina kept waiting for him to come out, but he never did. She waited a half-hour or more for him to make a reappearance, but he never returned, so she made her way down the road to the point where he had disappeared into the woods. She and Arthur ventured into the woods just a few feet, but it was enough for her to see that Trevyn wasn’t there.

But Arthur smelled him.

Once she let go of the dog’s collar, he began running into the trees. Startled, Madelaina took off after her dog, calling to him and demanding he stop. Of course, Arthur didn’t listen and continued to follow the traveler’s scent. He followed it through the foliage and onto another road, a smaller path that ran parallel to the village. However, it was also a road that led straight to The Narth.

That was where she stopped.

She had managed to grab Arthur by this time because the dog was determined to keep running until he found the man he was looking for, but the scent seemed to lead up the road to the castle. Confused, and perhaps the least bit concerned, Madelaina quickly headed back into the trees so she wouldn’t be seen by anyone at the castle. Her father had told her to stay away from the English, and she would. She didn’t want to see them any more than they probably wanted to see her, so she kept her promise. She and Arthur found their way back through the trees and emerged onto the village road. They headed north, back into the village and back to her home. But she was bewildered all the way.

Why would the traveler’s scent be leading up to The Narth?

Was it possible that he was spying on the castle for Ivor?

That had to be the answer. It was the only answer.

… wasn’t it?

She wondered.

And she was damn well going to find out.