Page 87 of A Bluestocking’s Secret Courtship

“He needs his strength to walk.”

“Are you releasing him?” Evangeline asked.

“Dakan is satisfied.” Her dark eyes narrowed on Jonathan. “You fought well for a musician.”

“I learned from my wife’s uncle.”

It was only a half-lie.

She nodded, but her expression remained guarded. “Menar will escort you to the mountain pass. It is best you return home. I will not be as merciful if you are captured again.”

Jonathan bowed. “Yes, First Matron.”

He and Evangeline helped Wedmore stand and held on as he took a few wobbly steps. Kiya, Menar, and a small band of warriors were waiting outside with the donkey.

“Salve is here,” Kiya said and patted the pack on Timothy’s side. “And a clean shirt. Menar does not need.”

Menar protested, and the couple bickered in their language. Eventually, they chuckled, and Menar kissed her cheek.

Wedmore shook off Evangeline and Jonathan when they tried to support his weight. “I can do it.”

“Take,” Menar said, passing him a walking stick.

As the party began the arduous trek back to the main path through the mountains, Wedmore fell behind, but Jonathan didn’t offer assistance again. The man had his pride. Instead, he watched over Evangeline, catching her when she stumbled over a tree root. When they reached a boulder, he held her hand, tugging as she climbed over it.

The midday sun beat down on them as they reached the mountain pass. Menar pulled Jonathan aside and gave him three bladders filled with water.

“Take family from Athens. Soon it is dangerous.”

Freedom or death. The young men had been chanting this in the market place before the riot. Jonathan had heard rumblings about an uprising against the empire, and Menar’s warning confirmed it for him.

“I will.”

They couldn’t return to England—not as long as Wedmore had a bounty on him—but Jonathan would find somewhere safe for them until he could prove Evangeline’s uncle wasn’t the traitor. If the Semkari were involved with the unrest, Dom should leave, too.

“Do you need a rest?” Jonathan asked Evangeline and her uncle.

Wedmore shook his head. “Not here.”

Jonathan turned to thank Menar, but he and his men were already gone. Wedmore took the donkey’s rope and led the way.

An hour later, they began the descent down the mountain. Jonathan kept Evangeline close. The pale dirt shifted beneath their boots without warning, but he was there to catch her each time. Their progress was slower than when it was only the two of them, but Wedmore’s fortitude was impressive. Jonathan saw where Evangeline had gotten her drive.

They reached the base of the mountain just before dusk.

“We’ll camp here,” Wedmore said and led them off the trail and into a clearing with massive rock ledges jutting from the mountain. They wouldn’t need to set up the tent tonight.

Wedmore pointed. “There’s a stream not far that way.”

Evangeline took Timothy’s lead. “Help me remove his packs, and I’ll water him. I want to wash away the dust.”

Jonathan was hesitant to let her go alone, but he could hear the burble of water over rocks. Close enough for him to reach her if there was any danger.

When she was gone, Wedmore nearly collapsed on the ground. He sat with his knees drawn up and drank from the bladder. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped the water. It dripped down his chin, wetting his shirt. Once he had drunk his fill, he swiped a sleeve across his mouth. His amber gaze was hard.

“You’re a Regent’s man.”

Jonathan took a deep breath. “I am.”