To Love Again - Bertrice Small [56]
Corio laughed. “You see!” he said triumphantly. “She is jealous, and that, my friend, is the sure sign of a woman in love.”
The two men walked, still conversing, into the hall. Cailin was seated by her loom weaving cloth. She looked up, and a welcoming smile turned her mouth up prettily. “Wulf! Corio.” She arose. “Are you hungry, or thirsty? May I get you something?”
“We leave tomorrow for your villa,” Wulf began.
“I am coming with you,” Cailin said.
“You cannot,” he told her. “This is man’s work.”
“Neither my father’s lands nor my cousin’s are defended. There was never any need for that kind of defense. You will meet with no resistance, I promise you. Quintus Drusus will protest, but even his father-in-law, the chief magistrate of Corinium, will not deny me what is rightfully mine.”
“You will not be safe,” Wulf Ironfist said, “unless I kill this Quintus Drusus. Remember, he had no mercy upon your family.”
“I will never forget his treachery as long as I live,” Cailin replied. “Of course you must kill him, but not in such a way that the magistrate can charge you with his murder. My son must have his father.”
“And my son’s mother must remain here where she will be safe,” Wulf countered with what he thought was sound logic.
“If I do not go with you, then how will they know I am alive? I want Quintus to see me, and know that I have come not just to reclaim what is rightfully mine, but to expose his wickedness to the world.”
“You cannot ride a horse, Cailin,” Corio said.
“There is little to riding pillion behind my husband,” Cailin replied. “My belly is not that big yet. The child is not due until after the harvest. I must be there. It is my right to see justice served!”
“Very well,” her husband answered, “but we leave before dawn, Cailin. If we meet with any resistance, you must get down and hide. Will you promise me that, lambkin?”
“Yes,” she said, and then she smiled almost cruelly. “It will be very frightening to see a large party of armed warriors coming from the forest and across the fields. It has been over a hundred years since such a thing has occurred, and certainly not in the memory of anyone living hereabouts now. You will strike terror into all who see you.” She looked at the two men. “Does Berikos know of your plans?”
They shook their heads.
“We will only tell him we are taking the men on a practice march,” Wulf said. “He doesn’t have to know any more than that.”
“No,” Cailin agreed. “He does not. He grows stranger as each day passes, and spends all his time with Brigit. We only see him for meals in the early morning and at night. Frankly, I prefer it.”
Her two companions said nothing. Berikos’s overthrow was not Cailin’s business. It would happen soon enough.
It was dank and chilly as they arose in the dark of the night to dress for their departure. Wulf handed his wife a pair of braccos.
“Corio gave them to me to give you,” he said. “They are lined in rabbit fur, and big enough for your belly.”
Cailin was delighted to have the garment. She made a belt from a length of ribbon to hold up the braccos, and then slipped her camisa and tunic dress on over them. Her boots were fur-lined as well, and absorbed the chill from her feet even as she slid into them. She ran the pearwood comb through her hair and, taking up her cloak, silently followed her husband outside, where Corio and the others were already waiting upon their own animals.
Wulf Ironfist mounted his horse, then reached down and pulled Cailin up behind him. She put her arms about his waist, and they were off. There was a waning moon that gave them scant light, and the forest was particularly dark, but with each foot forward that they traveled, the sky above them faded from pitch-black to gray-black, and finally to an overcast gray as they crossed the great meadow Cailin remembered from her journey to the Dobunni hill fort almost a year ago. Birds chirped cheerily as they passed through the second wood and then over the hills that led to the home Cailin had once known.
On the