The Firebrand Read Online Free

complaint. What do you wish me to do?”
    There was a pause—and a quick flash of surprise in the old woman’s wrinkled features.
    “I...well, there is the question of her mother’s wishes. Nichola Erskine Percy. Her wishes were for the daughter to stay here until such time as she would be sent for.” A note of pique quickly crept back into the woman’s tone. “But the Lady Nichola did not mention a word of Adrianne’s unruly disposition. Nay, there were no warnings, at all, in any of her correspondence. Truly, if there were any hint of this, I would never have--”
    “What do you wish me to do, Aunt?”
    The repeated question silenced the old woman for a moment. She walked to the hearth and stared into the leaping flames. She then turned back to her nephew.
    “I want you to take her away. Return her to her mother. Take her back to England or wherever ‘tis Nichola is residing now.”
    “Done!” Wyntoun abruptly pulled the maps close again. Alan began pointing out the likeliest route along the coast.
    “You are not mocking me, now, Wyntoun? This is not a jest?” she persisted. “You are taking her away!”
    The knight’s green eyes flashed like emeralds in the light of Great Hall’s torches. “You know me, Aunt. I never jest.”
    The abbess nodded, but she did not retreat as the two men turned back to the map. The serving lad ran in again and replaced the pitcher of ale on the table. Another appeared carrying huge chunks of peat, which he proceeded to stack high in the blazing hearth. No fire, though, would be hot enough to disperse the chill from the Hall.
    “And my decree of punishment for her?” she asked after a pause.
    “‘Twill stand...if you insist on it.” Wyntoun put one map away as Alan unrolled another, spreading it on the surface of the wooden table. “But I warn you...when the ship’s stores are restocked and the weather clears, we will be setting sail. And if the time I choose to leave precedes your release of the English lass,” a deep frown challenged the abbess’s, “then you may have to keep her until spring. I do not know when I will be sending another ship that can convey her back to her mother.”
    The abbess pursed her thin lips with displeasure.
    “I will not trust another crew and ship,” she said finally, eyeing both men. “And I say this as much for Adrianne’s sake as for my own.”
    Alan glanced quickly at his leader, but Wyntoun fixed his eyes on the map.
    “She is hell’s fire on earth, Wyn. She’s a firebrand in a grain barn.” The abbess turned and stared at the hearth. “‘Tis a miracle the ship bringing her here didn’t sink at sea. I don’t understand how that crew was able to keep her under control for the journey from England.”
    “And you want us taking her back?” Alan pushed his cup of ale away. “What are you trying to do, Aunt? Get rid of us all?”
    The abbess dismissed the sailor’s comment with a wave of her hand. “You can handle it, Alan,” she replied, coming back to the table. “You’re my own kin. And if anyone trusts my opinions, ‘tis my own family. But you must be warned. She has the ability to charm both man and woman into believing what she says...into following her disruptive impulses...”
    “I’ve seen her ‘charm’ in action, Aunt.” Wyntoun looked up, his face serious.
    “Nay, Wyn,” she persisted. “She has something special in her. She can speak sweetly enough when she cares to. People follow her, I tell you...and men are the first to fall before her bonny looks.” Neither man moved nor showed the slightest curiosity. After a long moment, the abbess nodded with satisfaction. “There we are, then. Adrianne stays in her confinement until you are ready to set sail.”
    “As I was coming ashore, the rain was changing to snow.” Alan addressed Wyntoun instead of the abbess. “Would it not be better for you to put her in the prisoner’s hole...or even hang her cage here in the Great Hall?”
    “I’ll not