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It was better than arguing with him.

The encampment was coming more alive now that those who worked over at the Fields of Mars were retiring for the night. The smell of cooking fires filled the air, and they could see men and women moving around below, hearing an occasional dog bark. It was probably an hour or two before dawn, and the clouds above were still riddled with thunder and lightning, though not as bad as before.

Perhaps it would clear before morning.

Conan was starting to doze off, feeling cold and drowsy, wishing he was in his bed. He was coming to think that Titus had already made it into one of those cottages and they simply didn’t see him. He was about to say something to his father when one of the cottages on the rise to the west caught his attention.

They’d seen a couple of men go into one of those cottages earlier. There were women waiting for them because they had seen them. They were far enough away that they couldn’t see things in clear detail, but close enough that they could see something of them. When the doors to the cottages opened up, light streamed out and they could see them fairly clearly.

But those cottages had remained quiet since the men returned about a half-hour ago. It was assumed everyone had gone to sleep until a door of one of the cottages opened and a small child darted out into the rain. A woman bolted out after him, calling out to him. They could hear her calling the child’s name –

Niko!

The door to one of the other cottages opened and a man spilled out, rushing after the woman, who had just captured the child. The little boy was whining and crying as the woman carried him back, escorted by the man. They could hear voices as the woman and child were swiftly escorted back into the cottage and the door slammed.

But by this time, Conan was on his feet, stunned by what he had just seen.

“Da!” he hissed. “Do ye know who that woman was?”

Ambrose was still watching the encampment. He hadn’t paid much attention to the escaped child, the woman, or the man.

“What are ye talking about?” he snapped. “Sit down before someone sees ye!”

Conan didn’t sit down. His shock was turning to outrage. “Da, that was Esme!”

Ambrose forgot all about the encampment. He bolted to his feet, his attention in the direction Conan was indicating.

“Esme?” he repeated. “Are ye certain?”

Conan nodded quickly. “I saw her,” he insisted. “Did ye not hear her voice? With the Spanish cast? It was her!”

Ambrose hadn’t seen her, nor had he been paying attention, so he was genuinely perplexed. “How can ye know that for certain?” he said. “’Tis dark out, so how could ye see her?”

Conan was absolutely convinced. “Because I heard her voice,” he said. “I saw her when the light from the cottage shone upon her. Da, I swear, it was her!”

Ambrose’s thoughts were quickly shifting from the return of Titus to the sighting of Esme de Gracia, here at the Ludus Caledonia of all places. Esme, the woman he intended for his son to marry, had disappeared over two weeks ago and no amount of searching had been able to turn up her trail. Several days ago, they’d finally given up because they’d run out of ideas as to where the woman could have gone.

Some said the docks to find a ship to sail home. Some said the seedy west end of Edinburgh where the cutthroats and outlaws lived. Agnes had even suggested that she had been abducted.

Perhaps she had been… but here she was at the Ludus Caledonia.

Ambrose hadn’t seen her, but if Conan was convinced, so was he.

“Damnation,” Ambrose finally blurted. “What in the bloody hell is she doing here?”

Conan shook his head. “I dunna know,” he said. “But she’s mine. I want her back!”

He started to charge through the foliage on his way to the cottage where he’d last seen her, determined to pound the door down and retrieve what belonged to him, but Ambrose grabbed his arm.

“Nay, lad,” he said. “Dunna go rushing in. This encampment is full of men who fight for a living and ye dunna want tae risk ending up in a battle. If she’s here, it’s possible that she’s become the woman of a fighter. Mayhap she was stolen by one of them.”

Conan was furious. “But she’s mine.”

Ambrose yanked on him, pulling him out of the trees. “And I’m going tae get tae the bottom of this,” he said. “But we go tae Sir Clegg. He mayna even know she’s here, but whatever the situation, the man canna refuse tae return her tae her betrothed. If he resists me, I’ll not only bring the law on him, but the church as well. He’d be in for a world of trouble.”

Conan was rushing along beside his father’s purposeful marching. “Do ye think this has anything tae do with Titus?” he asked. “She’s here… and he’s here. And she disappeared the same day Agnes saw Titus. He must be part of it!”

Ambrose shook his head. “Dunna get yerself in a snit,” he said. “They may know each other, but I canna say. Ye know we dunna let the men mix with the women, unless yer mother is careless and allows such a thing. Who’s tae say? But we’ve found Esme and I want her back. Ye’ll marry her immediately and we’ll be done with it.”