Bernhard had already gone inside the keep, and I wanted to catch up to him before he retired to his chambers. I didn’t have everything I owned with me, but I would pay him what I had and assure him I’d return with the remainder—more than enough to buy Mikaela’s freedom.
However, an internal warning kept resounding inside, one that told me Sven wasn’t safe and that I needed to personally ensure he stayed out of Bernhard’s grasp.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” I whispered to Sven as he finished doctoring my leg. He’d insisted on helping me after I’d directed the physician to tend to Frans first. Using a few basic supplies one of the servants had fetched for him, he’d set to work cleaning my injury and plastering it with a poultice before bandaging it.
Now, he tugged my legging down and stood. “Bernhard reminds me of my brother. Nothing he says is trustworthy.”
Sven, on the other hand, was proving himself more honorable every moment I was with him. He hadn’t given thought to himself or his own needs when arriving at the castle and had been more concerned with helping me.
I knew what I needed to do. I had to ride out with my squires and assist them in eluding Bernhard’s men. I was familiar with the area better than any of them and could lead them for a short distance.
A part of me didn’t want to leave Mikaela behind, even for an hour or two. I’d debated just taking her with me and riding to Vordinberg with Sven and my squires. But I suspected aiding in Sven’s getaway would be dangerous, perhaps even involve a skirmish with Bernhard’s men.
Besides, I would do best to remain in Romsdal where I could keep an eye on Bernhard and prevent him from sending any more men into the forest. And I had to come up with a plan for how Torvald and I could defeat the jotunn.
I sent a servant to Mikaela with a message about the delay. Then I assisted a groom in saddling my horse. Before the passing of the next hour, I was on my way with three of my squires and Sven. None of Bernhard’s guards tried to stop us as we left the castle, and no one seemed to be following us as we rode along the outskirts of town toward the southern border of Romsdal and the trail that led south.
As we reached a fork in the road, the Moors of Many Lakes spread out before us in the ever-lightening dawn. Several small lakes amidst sparse forests and low-lying hills reflected the streaks in the sky. Lonely merlins flew overhead. And the throaty bellows of newly awakened frogs filled the air.
Again, I neither heard nor saw any of Bernhard’s guards on our trail and guessed I’d worried for nothing. Perhaps Bernhard didn’t plan to make use of Sven’s knowledge of the jotunn after all.
“To be safe, ride through the center of the moorland.” I spoke to my most trusted squire. “Stay clear of the road along the Blood River.”
The river path was easier to traverse. But the moorlands would provide a more direct route to Vordinberg.
Before my squire could respond, an arrow whizzed through the air and narrowly missed embedding into his unprotected neck.
In an instant I surmised the situation. Bernhard had sent a courier ahead of us and alerted the guards on night watch. They’d positioned themselves at this particular intersection because they had the higher ground. Whichever route we chose, they would have an easy view and be able to take us out one by one until only Sven remained.
If we retreated, no doubt we would soon find ourselves facing a contingent of fighting men Bernhard sent to follow us. Eventually we would be trapped from both ways.
As another arrow flew toward us, I urged my horse off the path.
“This way!” I charged into the brush.
Such a move was dangerous, since the moors were notorious for swamps that could slow down a rider, even cause them to get stuck and stranded. But I’d completed my knight’s training in the moorlands and could traverse the difficult terrain better than most.
“Keep close!” I shouted as I jumped a stream and ducked under a low branch.
Bernhard’s men would be on our trail erelong. Many of them would be as experienced in the moorland as I was. Nevertheless, I intended to keep our lead and lose them in order to return to my bride as soon as I possibly could.
Chapter
28
Mikaela
“I would like to see you marry Uncle Gunnar,” Riki said from her spot at the table where she was picking at her simple meal.
“Me, also.” Rena twisted on the bench in front of me, peering up at me with pleading eyes.
I paused in brushing Rena’s hair. The very notion of being related to them—even if just by marriage—was difficult to comprehend. I wished I could bring them both with me to the chapel. And I wished I could call my family to witness the wedding too. But I suspected we would have a simple ceremony to keep from rousing Bernhard’s ire more than we already had.
Nanna had helped me to wash up and put on my best gown. She’d also styled my hair, leaving the majority of it down, braiding back two strips and winding them with ribbons. Even though I wasn’t wearing anything fancy, I felt pretty.
A sweet anticipation thrummed through my blood. And at every pair of footsteps that passed by the nursery doors, I only grew more excited.
I glanced at Nanna across the room as she used a hot iron to press wrinkles out of the garments the girls had yet to don. She frowned at the closed door as if frustrated Gunnar hadn’t yet returned.
Earlier, a messenger had brought us news that Gunnar planned to ride with Sven for a short distance to make sure he was able to get safely away from Romsdal. However, neither Nanna nor I had expected the ride to take so long. Now morning sunshine poured through the open shutters, revealing that dawn had already come and gone. What was taking Gunnar so long?
“After you marry Gunnar, will you still help take care of us?” Riki posed the question I’d been wondering myself.
“I will never stop visiting or loving you.” I glided my hand over Rena’s hair. I didn’t expect that Bernhard and Sophia or any of the nobility would welcome me into their lives. But I doubted Gunnar would want me to continue working in the nursery as a domestic. I could only pray that Nanna would be able to win approval for Kirstin to take my place. Together the two would carry on the task of influencing the little girls for good.
Already we’d had a short visit from Kirstin that morn to let us know Frans had awoken and was doing better. The physician had set his broken leg and done his best to repair the damage from the pike. Frans hadn’t needed his foot amputated, but only time would tell how much weight he would be able to bear on the injured heel. Kirstin had wept as she thanked me for going in and saving Frans’s life. I prayed, given time, Frans would forget about me and learn to love Kirstin in my stead.
At the rap of knuckles against the door, I paused, my pulse leaping with an extra beat. Had Gunnar returned?
The door swung open, and I held my breath, waiting for Gunnar to step inside with one of his handsome grins. He’d beckon to me with his half-lidded gaze, wrap his arms around me, and kiss me just as he had last night.
Instead of Gunnar, however, a guard poked his head into the room and surveyed the chamber before nodding at me. “Time to go.” His tone was curt and allowed for no arguing.
Why hadn’t Gunnar come directly to the nursery himself? Surely he would be eager to see me again and walk with me to the chapel?