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Chapter 2
Sir Jacob Quincey looked over his shoulder as he rode back to his camp that was located deep in the king’s forest. He needed to be more careful. Getting caught stealing, especially by the late king’s granddaughter wasn’t going to help his cause. Nay, it would only come back to haunt him and bite him in the arse in the end. He couldn’t risk such carelessness when his mission was so close to being completed. He wouldn’t allow anything or anyone to keep him from his goal. After waiting and preparing for this for three long years, it was finally time to take action.
“Jacob, over here,” came a muffled voice from the bushes. Jacob stopped and directed his horse to where his squire, Will, was hiding in wait for him. “Did you get anything we can use?”
“I did.” Jacob dismounted, scanned the area and held out the burlap bag to Will. “The iron poker can be used to make a weapon, as well as the gardening tools. I also grabbed a few trinkets as gifts for the women in the village. They are starting to get worried that their husbands and sons will be killed. I thought a gift or two would keep their tongues from wagging and spilling our secret about the upcoming attack. They’ve all been so good in keeping quiet for so long that I can’t have a few last minute scared wenches ruining the only chance I have.”
Will took the bag and started to dig through it. “I thought you said you were investigating Castle Rothbury to try to get a hold of some more real weapons. With only our makeshift ones and the ones we’ve repaired from the battlefield, it’s going to be nearly impossible to beat trained soldiers who are well equipped. Did you find a way for us to get in and out of Rothbury without being noticed?”
“I didn’t get that far.”
“Why not?” Will handed the bag back to Jacob.
“I was distracted.”
“By an army? Or was it the earl himself?”
“Neither. It was – it was a girl,” he said under his breath, tying the bag to the horse, turning his back to his squire.
“A girl? What girl? Who? And why did you let her distract you?”
“I came across a secret garden and cottage hidden in the woods,” he explained. “Something compelled me to go inside. That’s where I found these things.”
“And you stole them from the girl.”
“Nay. I took the things from a dead woman. But while I was there, the girl found me.”
“She did? Tell me more.”
“I met a beautiful young lady who couldn’t have been more than twenty years of age. She was dainty and small with strawberry-blond hair that looked as if it were spun of silk. And her eyes were bright blue like a summer’s sky.”
“Ah. You probably frightened her.”
“I am not so sure. You see, she was as fierce as a lion but, at the same time, I saw innocence within her. She wore a jeweled crown upon her head that looked like it belonged to a queen.”
“So, she wasn’t a commoner?” Will asked in confusion.
“Nay, not at all. She was a noblewoman.”
“Then she had guards and escorts with her.”
“Nay again.”
“I don’t understand. Are you saying she was in the middle of the woods all alone? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“She certainly was alone. Her name is Lady Maira Douglas. Maira,” he repeated, thinking it was the prettiest name he’d ever heard in his life. “She is the daughter of one of the Legendary Bastards of the Crown. I’m not sure which one is her father, but then again it doesn’t really matter.”
“The Legendary Bastards of the Crown?” gasped Will. “I certainly hope you didn’t do anything to anger her. After all, the last thing we need is one of the triplet bastards on our tails when we storm Durham Castle. We’re going to have enough trouble just trying to stay alive as it is. Lord Jacob, I’m still not convinced your plan is going to work.”
“It has to,” said Jacob, climbing atop his horse. “I have no other choice. And I’ll remind you again, Will, there’s no need to use my title since I no longer hold it.” It pained him to say this to his squire, but it was true. He was no longer a lord since the High Sheriff took measures and had Jacob stripped of his title, not to mention his lands. Nay, he was only an outcast now and a petty thief. “I have waited and prepared for this for three long years. I won’t wait a minute longer.”
“It’s a suicide mission and you know it,” spat Will. “If we wait a little longer, perhaps we can manage to scrape up enough money to pay a dozen mercenaries to help us.”
“There’s no time and no way we’ll ever attain that kind of money. God’s eyes, we’ve been living off the land like vagrants, lucky to even find food to eat. Unless we stop a noble traveling party, rob them of everything they own and kill them afterwards, it’s not going to happen. We’re flat broke and you know it.”
“Robbing the nobles is a thought.” Will looked at him and cocked a half-grin.
Jacob felt a stab go through his heart. He’d already sunk so low that he didn’t think he could fall any farther. Chasing after battles through the years like wharf rats living on rancid flesh, he and Will had done the unthinkable by picking through the dead. After the soldiers and camp followers were finished, he and Will snuck in and scavenged whatever they could find. They had only been lucky enough to confiscate weapons that were in disrepair. On occasion, they found a little coin that had been missed.
