Mercenaries and Maidens: A Medieval Romance bundle

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Josephine knew without a doubt who the army belonged to and she also knew that, soon enough, they would come looking for her to introduce her to her betrothed. That made finding Andrew something she needed to do sooner rather than later, and her anxiety was beginning to mount; Andrew had to know that his brother had arrived.

  Looking around, it was difficult to know where to start to look for Andrew and Sully. Directly across the road were a cluster of inns, the ones she remembered from the day she and Ridge had arrived, so she supposed it would be the logical place to start. Perhaps someone would have seen Andrew and Sully; even if they didn’t know them by name, she could at least describe them.

  The inn directly across from the road leading to the castle was called The Falcon and The Flower, and Josephine presumed it was as good a place to start as any. Gathering her dirty skirts, she dashed across the road, avoiding horses and people, and headed straight for the entry door. She was about to open it when it suddenly flew open and a familiar face appeared.

  “Sully!” Josephine gasped.

  Sully could hardly believe his eyes as he reached out to steady Josephine. Having nearly run her over, she was teetering. But he grabbed hold and pulled her away from the door, all the while looking at her with a good deal of shock.

  “Josephine!” he said, startled. “What are you doing here?”

  Josephine was so glad to see Sully that it nearly brought her to tears. “I came to find Andrew,” she said anxiously. “Have you seen him?”

  Sully looked around, seeing the crowds of people in the street, and pulled Josephine with him until they were wedged into a tiny ally between the tavern and another building. It was filthy, smelling of urine and feces, but it was private.

  “Aye, I’ve seen him,” he said, looking her up and down as if to make sure she was unharmed. “And you? Are you well? Andrew said that Ridge de Reyne took you from Torridon to bring you to the king and…”

  She cut him off. “It is true,” she said. “I saw Andrew last night and told him this.”

  Sully nodded. “He told me when he returned to the tavern, very late,” he said. “We saw you and Nicholas in the garden last night. We saw Ridge, too. Josephine, what is going on? Why are you here?”

  Josephine clutched him. “Because I have not yet seen Andrew today,” she said, quickly realizing how silly she sounded. “I did not mean it that way. I simply meant I thought I would see him today and I have not. He is not in trouble, is he? He has not been captured?”

  Sully shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “He is not in any trouble. In fact, he was just here a few minutes ago. Surely you saw the army pass through?”

  Josephine nodded, fear in her eyes. “It was the earl,” she said. “I know it was the earl.”

  “Who told you?”

  “No one had to. We are expecting the earl today; who else could it be?”

  “It was the earl.”

  The voice came from behind, towards the back of the ally. Josephine and Sully turned, startled, to see Ridge standing there. He did not look pleased.

  “Ridge!” Josephine gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  Ridge’s gaze was mostly on Sully as he moved forward. Specifically, he was looking to see if the man was armed, and he was. That was enough of a sight for Ridge to bolt forward and grab Josephine, pulling her back with him so Sully couldn’t get hold of her and possibly make a run for it.

  But Josephine fought back, slapping at Ridge as he held on to her. “Let me go!” she demanded.

  Ridge didn’t let go and he didn’t take his eyes off of Sully. “So d’Vant is here, too, is he?” he asked. “Where is he?”

  “Gone.”

  “Gone where?”

  Sully shook his head. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “He rode off to the east about fifteen minutes ago.”

  D’Vant was off in the city somewhere. Ridge couldn’t be concerned with that at the moment. He had Montgomery in his sights and needed to deal with the man.

  “Truthfully, I am not surprised you are both here,” he said. “I suppose I expected you to come.”

  Sully hadn’t moved from his position by the wall, and most especially now that Ridge had Josephine. “You knew we would figure out what had happened,” he said.

  Ridge sighed faintly. He wasn’t angry, in truth. He was rather sedate about the entire situation but for the fact he was holding on to Josephine.

  “And you did,” he said. “Now what? Where are you going to run so that the king cannot find you? Back to Torridon? Into England? No place you could go would be safe. And do you intend to run with d’Vant and the lady, now that you have a wife and Torridon Castle in your possession? The king would strip that from you faster than the blink of an eye. You are not thinking properly, Montgomery. You have not thought any of this through.”

  Sully knew that. He knew that he and Andrew had come to Edinburgh to protect a woman who, more than likely, probably could not be much protected by the two of them. But much like Andrew, he’d acted on emotion. Josephine had been taken and they had to go after her.

  There was no giving her up.

  But they’d made connections to get them into the castle and last night, Andrew had made contact with Josephine. Clearly, Ridge did not know that. As Sully thought on a reply that wouldn’t give away the fact that they had more access to the castle than de Reyne realized, Josephine continued to beat on Ridge’s hands.

  “Let me go, Ridge,” she demanded again. “How did you find me here?”

  Ridge’s gaze was still on Sully. “How do you think?” he said. “I followed you. I saw you leave your chamber after I told you to stay there, so I followed you.”

  She frowned and stopped trying to dislodge his grip. “That was sneaky,” she said. “You have no right to follow me!”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Aye, I do,” he said. “Evidently, you cannot be trusted to keep your word.”

  “That is a terrible thing to say!”

  “You told me you would stay to your chamber when I told you the earl was expected. You lied.”

  Josephine was so angry that her face started to turn red, but the man was correct, so she couldn’t very well berate him for it.

  “So you have found me,” she grumbled, turning away. “I suppose you are going to take me back now.”

  Ridge didn’t reply for a moment. He turned to look at Sully, still standing against the wall. “Aye,” he said. “I am going to take you back. But Montgomery is coming with us.”

  Josephine looked up at him, shocked. “Why?”

  Ridge lifted an eyebrow. “Because he has come to abduct the betrothed of the Earl of Annan and Blackbank,” he said. “Surely you know I cannot let him go free.”

  Josephine was horrified. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “Put him in the dungeons for now.”

  Josephine’s mouth popped open as she looked at Sully, who didn’t seem all that surprised. He was looking at Ridge.

  “And if I refuse to go with you?” he asked.

  Ridge didn’t seem too surprised by the question. “I will tell the king that you have come to take the lady back to Torridon,” he said. “I will tell him that d’Vant is here, also. Given that the lady’s marriage to Blackbank is an important political move, the king will more than likely send his army to Torridon and raze it. D’Vant will be an outlaw in Scotland and no Scottish laird will hire the man for fear of incurring the king’s wrath. Shall I go on?”

  Sully knew the threat against Torridon was very real. He didn’t relish spending any time in Edinburgh’s dungeons, but he suspected he had no choice at the moment. He couldn’t risk Torridon, in any fashion. After a moment, he simply lowered his gaze as if resigned to the entire thing.

  “Please do not do this, Ridge,” Josephine begged quietly. “I am sorry I lied to you. I did not do it intentionally. I promise I shall behave myself from now on if you will only leave Sully alone.”

  She sounded sincere enough but
Ridge was resolute. “Alas, I cannot leave him,” he said. “He is a threat and threats must be dealt with.”

  Josephine flared. “He is not a threat,” she said. “Please, Ridge… there is more to this that you do not know. There is a reason why Sully and Andrew are here. I did not tell you before because I did not want you to know, but now you must. I do not want you to think Andrew and Sully have come to commit foolish crimes against the king. There is a reason for everything.”

  Ridge cocked an eyebrow. “More lies to spare them?”

  Josephine shook her head. “I swear upon my mother’s grave that this is the truth,” she said quietly. “You may or may not know that Andrew and the Earl of Annan and Blackbank are brothers.”

  Ridge didn’t look so suspicious any longer. Now, he looked surprised but tried to pretend he wasn’t. “Brothers?” he said thoughtfully. “I suppose it did not occur to me. The name d’Vant is not uncommon. And except for their size, they do not favor one another.”

  Josephine nodded. “I cannot speak to whether or not they look similar, for I have not seen the earl, but he is Andrew’s older brother,” she said. “When their father died, the earl imprisoned their mother and banished Andrew, so he escaped. Because of this, Andrew has sworn to kill his brother and that is why he is here. To kill the earl.”

  Ridge stared at her a moment in disbelief before looking to Sully. “Is this true?”

  Sully nodded slowly. “It is,” he said. “Andrew has sworn to avenge his mother by killing his brother. All of this – the betrothal, and of you bringing Josephine to Edinburgh, is simply an incredible coincidence. It is true that Andrew has come to protect Josephine as best he can, but his first objective is to kill his brother. He is not here to take her away, at least not yet. I swear this upon my oath as a knight.”

  “Does the king know that Andrew and Blackbank are brothers?”

  Josephine nodded. “He knows,” she said. “But he does not know that Andrew has sworn to kill the man. At least, I have not told him that. If he knows, he did not hear it from me.”

  Ridge sighed heavily. This was grave and serious information, something the king needed to be aware of. With The Red Fury bent on vengeance, Blackbank’s life was in jeopardy. But given what Ridge thought of the man, and what he thought of this whole situation, maybe that was a good thing.

  Maybe the king didn’t need to know, after all.

  Still, the situation was serious enough that he had to do something about Sully’s presence. The fact remained that he was here to thwart the king’s plans and that, on the whole, couldn’t be allowed.

  “You will come with me now, Montgomery,” he said after a moment.

  Josephine was back to struggling against Ridge. “Why? We told you the truth! Sully has not done anything wrong!”

  Ridge cocked a dark eyebrow. “Yet,” he emphasized. “I must make sure it remains that way.”

  Josephine geared up for a verbal battle with the man but a word from Sully stopped her. “Joey, stop,” he said. “Fighting the man will not change his mind.”

  Ridge could see that Sully was surrendering. It was in the man’s stance, in his manner. Frankly, he was glad he wasn’t going to have a fight on his hands. Obviously, for the lady’s sake, Sully would not resist. As Josephine unhappily backed down, Ridge spoke quietly.

  “The sword,” he said. “Drop it.”

  Sully looked at the broadsword strapped to his leg. “Can I at least take it inside? I do not want to leave it here in the alley.”

  “I said drop it.”

  With a heavy sigh, Sully unbuckled the sheath and the sword fell to filthy dirt of the alley.

  “Now,” Ridge said. “Walk to the street.”

  Sully turned and walked out of the alley, right into the road, and Ridge and Josephine followed, but not before Ridge stopped to pick up the sword. He wasn’t going to let it remain in the alley where someone could steal it. He wasn’t so cruel.

  Together, the three of them made their way back up the road leading to the castle. Upon reaching the main gatehouse, Ridge turned Sully over to the soldiers at the gate with the instructions to treat him well but take him to the dungeon. The last Josephine saw of Sully was of the man being surrounded by four guards, who escorted him away from the gatehouse.

  Her heart sank as Ridge took her by the arm and led her back to her chamber. He took her right up to the door, not taking any chance that she would deviate if he left her at the building entry and told her to go inside. Ridge was coming to learn that the lady had a mind of her own and even though she knew what her duty was, to obey the king, it was clear that she didn’t want to do it. Nothing about her was complacent to the situation and Ridge was well aware.

  The pity he felt for her, the brotherly protection, was going to get him into trouble if he wasn’t careful. When Josephine entered her chamber and shut the door, Ridge could hear the sobs through the panel. As much as he thought he should comfort her and assure her that he wasn’t trying to be cruel, merely following orders, he thought it best not to. She already knew his role in all of this. It wouldn’t do any good to repeat it.

  Trying to block out the sounds of Josephine’s weeping, Ridge went about his business.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Later that night

  Josephine sat on the same bench that she had been sitting on the previous night when Andrew had seen her.

  It was dusk at Edinburgh and a great feast in honor of the earl was being prepared; she could smell the roasting meat and hear the sounds coming from the great hall. Servants were moving about as darkness approached and everything around her seemed very busy except for that little garden in the midst of a busy castle. It was like an oasis of dreams in the middle of a nightmare.

  Josephine stared pensively into the reservoir in front of her, watching the water ripple gently. In those ripples, she saw her entire time at Edinburgh pass before her eyes – her arrival, time spent with Nicholas, with Andrew, and finally Ridge. Now, Sully was in the dungeons because of her and it was growing increasingly difficult to keep her spirits up. Where had Andrew gone today? Why hadn’t he come back to her? It was all so very confusing.

  And very sorrowful.

  A sparrow landed within a few feet of her; its little head twitching as it looked at her with its beady black eyes. She smiled faintly as it hopped about, enjoying the little bird as a promise of life’s innocence. Things weren’t all that bad if birds still lived and sang, and flowers still bloomed, and rivers still flowed. If Andrew wasn’t here to give her words of hope, then she could still find hope in her surroundings. At least, she could try.

  She had been in the garden for nearly an hour when she heard footfalls approach. They were coming from behind her and she quickly turned to see Nicholas rounded the corner of a bush, and his blue eyes focused on her.

  “I thought I might find ye here,” he said. “Ye like this place.”

  Josephine looked about. “It is peaceful and beautiful,” she said. “It is a spot of beauty in the midst of this ugly castle.”

  His smile suddenly took a strange twist. “I have some more beauty for ye,” he said. “I think that ye should accompany me to the great hall. There is someone there who wishes to see ye.”

  Her face went taut. “Who?”

  He took her hand and pulled her to stand. “Just… come with me.”

  Josephine was thoroughly perplexed, but not entirely frightened as she allowed Nicholas to lead her into the castle. He didn’t seem overly concerned for her so she knew he wasn’t taking her to meet the earl. But as he pulled her along, Josephine recalled the events of the day, events that had her depressed and saddened.

  “Wait,” she said. “I must talk to you. Have you seen Ridge?”

  Nicholas shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Why?”

  “Because he imprisoned Sully earlier,” she said. “You must help me free him.”

  Nicholas looked at her, perplexed. “Sully?” he repeated. “What are ye ta
lking about?”

  Josephine didn’t want to tell him that she’d been looking for Andrew but had found Sully instead. “After you and I came in from the training field, I left the castle and ran into Sully,” she said. “Only Ridge was following me and he took Sully prisoner. We must devise a plan of escape.”

  Nicholas’ eyebrows shot up. “Escape? From Edinburgh’s dungeons? I think not,” he said. “However, it would be no problem to slip some poor jailer a gold piece and, accidentally, he could unlock Sully’s door.”

  He was so calm, always, when Josephine’s emotions were erupting. She eyed him dubiously. “You are sure?” she asked. “He will not encounter any difficulties?”

  Nicholas shrugged and resumed his walking. “Probably not,” he said. “But why in the world did Ridge take him? And what is he doing here?”

  Josephine paused a moment; as much as she didn’t want to tell Nicholas everything, she found that she could no longer keep everything from him. He was close to her, and she knew she had his sympathy, so perhaps it was time to trust him. She decided to take that chance.

  “Because Andrew is here,” she said quietly. “Sully came with him.”

  To her surprise, Nicholas simply nodded. “I knew he would,” he said. “I knew The Red Fury would eventually come for his lady love.”

  Josephine shook her head. “It is more than that,” she said. “He has come to kill the earl, as he said he would.”

  “Good God,” Nicholas swore softly. “That mountainous man? Andrew certainly has his work cut out for him.”

  Josephine nodded in agreement. “Have no doubt who will win, Nicholas,” she said quietly. “He has much to fight for.”

  Nicholas smiled faintly at her. “I would like to think that, someday, I shall have a woman I would be willing to fight for,” he said. “I may write poetry, Joey, but ye live it. Ye live it every day.”