Foremost (The Lost Princesses Book 2) Read online

Edmund took hold of my hand and squeezed it. The measure was one of friendship and was laced with understanding and support. “Have no fear, Maribel,” he said quietly. “We’re not beholden to the queen.”

  At his sensitivity, tears stung my eyes. I was struck again, as I had been since before our journey started, by what a good man Edmund had become.

  “You did not have to take the blame for our predicament,” I said softly. “I was the one who kissed you.”

  “I shouldn’t have placed us in such a position.” His declaration from earlier came back to me: I would die for her if need be.

  Some part deep inside had known this to be true. Edmund had always been willing to sacrifice for me. The question was how much was I willing to sacrifice for him? The answer sobered me. I’d too often, in my enthusiasm for things, pushed forward with little thought to how my choices affected him. Including the kiss.

  “I should have been more careful, Edmund.” Even if I hadn’t been fully awake, I shouldn’t have reached for him, should have considered how difficult our closeness was for him when he’d vowed not to touch me again.

  “We’ll get through this together,” he said quietly.

  We traveled for some time in silence, his hand enfolding mine with his reassurance. Ahead, Adelaide and Christopher rode hard, obviously skilled equestrians. Edmund and I were less so, having had few opportunities to ride over the years. Thankfully, his brief moments of communication with the horse kept us from lagging too much and slowing the guards that followed us.

  The gray sky overhead blended with the rocks rising up around us. Since everything looked the same, I couldn’t tell where we’d been or where we yet needed to go. Who would guess that somewhere far beneath these hills lay a dark, winding labyrinth with all its dangers? In fact, we could very well be riding directly above the tunnels we’d recently traversed, quite possibly above an ancient treasure.

  With so many obstacles deterring past kings from finding the treasure’s location, no wonder it had become nothing more than an old tale. Even now that Edmund and I had discovered the labyrinth and how to access it, there was no guarantee of a treasure inside, and the dangers inside were innumerable.

  Nevertheless, I needed to share everything I’d learned with Adelaide as soon as I could. For certainly Captain Theobald would inform King Ethelwulf about the labyrinth too. If the king was smart, he’d likely suspect the labyrinth held the elusive treasure, and he’d send more men to explore.

  Of course, the king wouldn’t have the map to help him navigate the maze. And he wouldn’t have the three keys necessary for unlocking the treasure—if indeed Edmund’s presupposition about the keys was true.

  With Adelaide’s key and now mine, we only lacked one. If we located our other sister—my twin, Emmeline—before King Ethelwulf found her, then we’d most definitely have the advantage.

  By midday, I was saddle sore and hungry. Edmund’s stomach rumbled, too, and from the stiff way he held his arm and shoulder, I guessed his injury was troubling him. Thus, I was relieved when Adelaide halted in a secluded rocky area to rest our horses. From our position overlooking the surrounding highlands, we’d be able to see King Ethelwulf’s men approaching if they were on our trail.

  The absence of sunshine and the stinging of wind had numbed my fingers and toes. As Edmund lifted me to the ground, I could hardly stand for the scarcity of feeling in my limbs. He caught me and slipped his arm around my middle.

  One of the guards nearby pointed up and several bowmen, including Christopher, readied bows and arrows.

  Edmund glanced skyward. “No! Don’t shoot her.”

  Christopher already had his bowstring pulled taut and his arrow nocked. His gaze darted to Edmund before narrowing once again on the bird. “We cannot let it escape and return to the captain with our location.”

  “She won’t.” Edmund released me and started toward Christopher. “She’s mine. I’ve trained her from a hatchling. And she’s only come to deliver game and make sure Maribel and I are unharmed.”

  With that, Edmund trilled a quiet call. Sheba whistled back as she continued to hover above us.

  “At ease!” Christopher shouted to the other bowmen even as he released the tension in his own string and lowered the bow.

  Edmund whistled again, and this time Sheba flapped downward until she landed upon a boulder. She dropped a hare from her talons before turning her dark eyes upon me.

  With a soft, almost silent, warble, Edmund retrieved the gift and offered it to me. My stomach lurched with the need for the roasted meat, and I nodded at the bird gratefully.

  When Sheba lifted and took flight, everyone stared at Edmund.

  “You’re a Fera Agmen,” Christopher said once Sheba was gone.

  Edmund hesitated in his response before bowing slightly, apparently deciding to trust this group with his rare skill.

  “Then the gray wolf is a friend as well?” Christopher inclined his head to the path behind us.

  “Yes.”

  I strained to see Barnabas, searching the trail as well as the surrounding rocks, but I didn’t glimpse him anywhere.

  “You should have told me earlier,” Christopher admonished. “I had a mind to shoot him and roast him as the queen loathes wolves.”

  “Please, do not harm him. We have other meat.” I quickly dumped the other prey Sheba had provided for us before our descent into the labyrinth. The few small animals wouldn’t be enough to feed all Adelaide’s men but would provide something.

  “We cannot start a fire.” Adelaide stepped forward, eyeing Sheba’s gifts. “If Theobald does not see our smoke, one of his scouting hawks surely will.”

  I tried not to let my disappointment surface and instead reminded myself that even if I went hungry a little while longer, at least Edmund and I were safe and alive.

  “Maribel has not eaten a full meal in several days,” Edmund said. “She must have something soon.”

  Adelaide didn’t reply and instead returned to her horse. She dug in her saddlebag, retrieved a bundle, and approached me. “You will have my ration.”

  “Let her have mine.” Christopher reached for his saddlebag.

  “No,” Adelaide said. “You need more sustenance than I do. She will have mine.”

  The giant of a guard who rode close to Adelaide frowned and began to unlatch the leather strapping on his bag. Adelaide stopped him with a touch to his arm and a shake of her head. “No, Firmin. If Captain Theobald attacks, you and all your men will need your strength.”

  “So will you, Your Majesty.”

  For the first time, I noticed the strain on their faces and realized an army of this size and this caliber of men would be difficult to feed, especially in the winter. They were apparently so low on food supplies they’d divided the remaining amounts into rations.

  As if coming to the same conclusion, Edmund toed the game. “I’ll ask Sheba and Barnabas to hunt for us today. And then tonight, everyone will be able to feast on fresh meat.”

  Adelaide dipped her head in gratitude.

  “Can your eagle tell you if Theobald’s guards draw nigh?” Christopher asked.

  “She’ll let me know if danger approaches.”

  “Very well,” Christopher said. “Then we shall eat and rest for a few moments without worry.”

  My frozen limbs could hold me no longer, and I sank to the closest rock and pulled Edmund down next to me. I unrolled the small bundle to find several slices of dried venison, a few dates, and a piece of hard rye bread.

  “You must have some, Edmund.” I placed the food into his lap and opened my medicinal bag.

  “I’ll be fine until this evening when we make camp.”

  I rummaged through my supplies and found the healing ointment. “Eat while I tend your wounds.”

  He started to protest again, so I promptly shoved venison into his mouth. At the surprise flickering in his eyes, I smiled and busied myself with pulling back his cloak and shirt to expose the spot on his shoulder.
It was red and raw and in need of rest from the strain he continued to exert, but I couldn’t detect any bile or putridness. I started to speak, but before I could give him my prognosis, he, too, wedged some venison into my mouth.

  It was my turn to be surprised. At the mirth in his eyes, I realized he was just as determined as I was. He wouldn’t let me go hungry any more than I planned to let him.

  I bit down on the tough meat, relishing the smoked saltiness. As I chewed, I applied the ointment, gently rubbing it into his flesh. When I finished, I adjusted his shirt and cloak and then reached for the drawstring at his waist so I might add ointment to the wound on his thigh.

  Before I could loosen the string, Edmund caught my hand. “Not now, Maribel,” he whispered in a strained voice. A faint reddish hue colored his cheeks, and he darted a glance sideways in the direction of the knights.

  I shifted my gaze. The men were staring at us as they ate their rations. Had they never seen a physician at work? Well, they would now.

  Again, I slipped my fingers underneath Edmund’s shirt and tugged at the drawstring of his breeches. He caught my hand more firmly within his, the red stain in his cheek creeping higher. “If you pull down my breeches,” he growled low, “your sister will have us married within the hour.”

  “I am only tending your injuries,” I replied even as I withdrew. I didn’t like having to refrain from doctoring, but these men wouldn’t understand why a young, unmarried woman had the license to touch a man to restore him to health. Perhaps they already considered my ministrations of his shoulder wound inappropriate.

  And so it would be with everyone. Even if I was more skilled than most male physicians and surgeons, it wouldn’t matter. My doctoring would be frowned upon because I was a woman. Not only would people be unwilling to trust me, but they’d also assume I was inferior. They wouldn’t want me treating them and likely wouldn’t give me permission to tend to their families either.

  Yet, as a nun devoted to a celibate life, people would readily put their confidence in me. They wouldn’t question my motives or reputation. All the more reason to continue with my plans to take my vows.

  “Lord Chambers, you have sustained a terrible wound,” Adelaide said from behind me, making me jump at her nearness. I hadn’t realized she’d crossed to us.

  “Maribel has worked hard to keep it from festering,” he replied, rising in my defense.

  I gave him a grateful smile. “The wounds upon his legs need doctoring as well.”

  “My guard Darien knows a little about medicine.” Adelaide met my gaze directly. “He will take over Lord Chambers’ care.”

  “I have been trained for years in the art of healing. If I may, I should like to tend Edmund just as I have been doing.”

  “Until you are wed, you must refrain from such displays.”

  Although not unkind, her tone brooked no room for argument, and I could do nothing but bow my head in deference. I understood how my ministrations appeared to everyone else, especially as Edmund and I had traveled together alone for days and then been discovered in an indecent situation.

  But surely, I’d be able to convince Adelaide to allow me to doctor Edmund in private, away from the eyes of the men. She seemed to be a rational and intelligent woman. She was attired as a man in breeches and chain mail. She wielded her weapons as a man. And she rode her steed like a man. Surely, of everyone, she would permit me to act as a physician even though it was man’s work.

  “How were you injured?” Adelaide asked Edmund. “During your flight from Captain Theobald?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. If I hadn’t reacted when I did, the arrow would have pierced my heart.”

  “The two wounds on his leg are from when we visited St. Cuthbert’s,” I added. “We were attacked by spiders.”

  “What were you doing at St. Cuthbert’s?”

  I looked at Edmund. Should we tell Adelaide everything we’d discovered?

  Edmund nodded, as if reading my thoughts. “She’ll need to know eventually.”

  Christopher joined Adelaide as I relayed the events of the past week—Sister Katherine’s delivery of the key, our discovery of the clue inside, the trip to St. Cuthbert’s, finding a piece of the map, and then our adventure in the labyrinth.

  “My key also led us to a piece of the map. I have the parchment in my possession at all times.” Adelaide patted her side and the bulge of a leather pouch. “We decided it was a map but didn’t know its origins.”

  “Edmund is skilled with maps. During his training as an elite guard, he had to memorize every inch of Mercia’s terrain.” I was boasting, but I couldn’t help it. I was proud of Edmund for his brilliance.

  “You’re trained as an elite guard?” Christopher studied Edmund more carefully.

  “My guardian did his best to train me,” Edmund said. “But I was a helpless cause.”

  “Edmund is very skilled at many things,” I boasted again. “He was the one who figured out the piece of the map was for the labyrinth.”

  “I have never heard of a labyrinth within Mercia’s bounds,” Adelaide replied.

  “Only the oldest of legends mention it,” Edmund explained. “But now we have discovered for ourselves that it does indeed exist.”

  Adelaide’s sharp eyes took on an excited glimmer. I sensed we were kindred spirits in our love of adventure.

  “By connecting your map to mine,” I said, “we may possibly be able to reconstruct the rest.”

  “Then we will not need Emmeline’s piece?” Christopher asked.

  Edmund shook his head. “We might be able to make do without the third section, but we’ll need her key. If the treasure is indeed hidden in the labyrinth, it will likely require all three keys to unlock.”

  “Perhaps we should go directly to find Emmeline and retrieve the last key,” I suggested. “Especially since her key might be the only thing left standing between us and the hidden treasure.”

  Adelaide and Christopher shared a look.

  “I am anxious to meet her as well,” I added. She was, after all, my twin, and I was curious to see what she was like.

  “I have several scouts searching for her,” Adelaide said.

  “Since we are still in Mercia, we may as well join the search.”

  “As much as I would like to find our sister, I have pushed my men to the limit of our supplies. If we had not spotted your light last night and located you this morn, we would have started the journey home.”

  I nodded in understanding. Edmund and I had quickly devoured the few food items Adelaide had given us. I could only imagine how hungry the men were on such low rations.

  “Moreover,” Adelaide said, “I must be forthright with you. There is another obstacle to the treasure besides Emmeline’s missing key.” She paused as though making certain she had both my and Edmund’s attention.

  “I’m sure there are many obstacles left to overcome,” Edmund said, “many we won’t know about until we come face-to-face with them.”

  “I no longer have my key.” At Adelaide’s admission, silence fell over us, except for the soft chatter of the soldiers at rest nearby and the whistle of the winter breeze.

  I looked from Adelaide’s stricken expression to Christopher’s. “Then we shall find it. If we go back to the last place you had it and search, I am sure we can locate—”

  “King Ethelwulf has it.”

  Her statement silenced us again.

  “The explanation is much involved,” she said finally, “one I shall divulge in due time. For now, however, we must be on our way to Norland.”

  I wanted to question her further, but at Edmund’s touch to my arm and at the warning in his expression to let her go, I held back. As Adelaide and Christopher strode away, I told myself we would somehow recover the key from King Ethelwulf. That we could possibly still unlock the treasure without it. Or that Sister Katherine had been wrong and Adelaide didn’t need the treasure to regain the throne.

  But all my hopeful thinking didn
’t take away the premonition that claiming the treasure and throne would be harder—much harder—than any of us had imagined.

  Chapter

  16

  Edmund

  At dark when we stopped to make camp, the soldiers were in high spirits over the game Sheba dropped at my feet as well as the buck Barnabas delivered. Maribel added to the feast with a savory soup made from edible roots.

  I hoped with our contribution we’d gain the goodwill of the men and that they’d forget about our indiscretions. However, the moment Maribel joined Adelaide in her tent for the night, Christopher sat down by the fire next to me and spoke of it straightaway.

  “How long have you loved Maribel?” His dark eyes were trained on the dancing flames, but like me, the rigidness of his posture told me he was alert to every sound and movement in his periphery. Even though the night was black and starless, the firelight illuminated the crags that formed a buffer from the wind.

  I noticed he hadn’t asked whether I loved her, only how long. Were my feelings that evident? Whatever the case, I decided honesty with this powerful nobleman was best. He seemed like the kind of man who’d be able to decipher the truth whether I admitted it or not. “I cannot remember a time when I haven’t loved her.”

  “Were you not chaperoned at the convent?”

  At his insinuation of further impropriety with Maribel, my gut tightened at the same time as my fist. I had to bite back the need to swivel and punch him. “I would not have you dishonor Maribel’s good name.”

  “You have already dishonored her with your actions.” His voice was hard and unrelenting.

  Thankfully, the soldiers were talking around a second fire a short distance away and were oblivious to our tense conversation.

  If I had any hope of freeing Maribel from marrying me against her will, I needed to explain the true nature of our relationship. “Maribel was not aware of my love for her until this week. Before then, she saw me only as a brother and friend.”

  “What changed?”

  “Facing death makes a man say and do things he might not otherwise.” My mind replayed the moment at the end of the labyrinth when the ground began to crumble beneath my feet, how I’d leaped in the air and thrown myself away from the gaping hole to keep the stones from burying me. “Overcome with the relief of cheating death, I kissed her. I couldn’t hide my feelings any longer.”