Trail of Fate Read Online Free Page B

water.”
    Robard’s words caused me to shudder at the memory. Once we located another ship and made it safely to England, ideally my sailing days would be over. If only there were a way for me to walk all the way home. What I wouldn’t have given for a bridge to England.
    â€œI’m glad you are unhurt and we are all together again,” I said. And it was true. Finding Maryam and Robard here had done wonders for my spirits. My aches and pains even felt better.
    The fire was restarted, and the bird was again cooking over the flames. One of the other Frenchmen, whom Celia had introduced as Jean-Luc, returned from the nearby woods with several bunches of wild grapes. He offered some to us and we devoured them in seconds. Having had nothing to eat since the storm started a day and half before, I was starving.
    After we had finished the deliciously cooked bird, Philippe saddled his horse and rode off into the darkness. We sat around the fire with very little conversation among us. My suspicions were that everyone in Celia’s group spoke and understood English, though for some unexplained reason they were loath to let on. My curiosity could wait no longer, and I asked to speak to Celia in private. The flickering firelight lit up the clearing quite well, but her face was still bathed in shadows. The night was clear, but the moon had yet to rise, and through the canopy of trees, I could see the stars lighting their way across the sky.
    â€œThank you for your hospitality and for your kindness to my friends, despite what happened earlier,” I said.
    She nodded, her face a mask, though I sensed a change in her. The tension from the evening’s earlier excitement had left her.
    â€œThat said, I have a question,” I said.
    She waited silently.
    â€œWho are you?” I asked.
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œYou travel with a group of young men, all well mounted and armed. You are obviously educated, and if I had to guess, I would say you are a noblewoman of some sort. Your men are well trained and experienced in warfare. When Robard shot at us, not a single one of your men panicked, and Philippe, not even knowing what the danger might be, went charging directly at a King’s Archer in your defense. Each of them follows your orders to the letter, except for Philippe, of course. Is he some sort of personal bodyguard or military commander? Martine, I would guess, is your lady-in-waiting. So, I ask again, who are you and what are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?”
    A veil of caution descended over her face. Then she exhaled slowly.
    â€œYou are quite observant, Templar, even when you are half drowned. Tell me, are your ‘injuries’ a deceit?”
    â€œNo,” I insisted.
    From the fire, the murmur of voices reached us. The three Frenchmen and Martine chatted away happily while Robard and Maryam sat trying to decipher what was being said. Robard had removed his arrow from the tree trunk and worked at repairing it, but his eyes never left the rest of the group.
    â€œAre you in some kind of trouble? Are you being followed?”
    â€œWhat makes you think so?” she asked.
    â€œYou ride single file, to mix your tracks and confuse any pursuers as to your numbers. Your own mount is placed in the middle of the group, with soldiers in front and behind. Philippe takes the lead, and he watches the horizon constantly. And several times today he looked behind us to make sure no one followed. Your choice of this campsite was carefully selected, though you tried to make it appear casual by a mad dash into the woods from the shore. We are placed one side against a stream, so any attackers would need to cross it first if they came from the west. We are also in a small hollow, so the fire will not be easily visible to casual passersby. And if I’m not mistaken, Philippe just made a big show of being sullen over his fight with Robard, but I’m sure it was just an excuse