Delight Read Free Page B

affairs.
    The echo of footsteps within the stairtower drew Douglas from his post. He turned, recognizing the pigeon-breasted figure of the Delight 's former sailmaker, a short young Devon sailor who had run away from an orphanage at thirteen.
    "I've been searchin' all over this accursed castle for you, sir, " Willie said sourly. " What the hell is everyone doin ' up on the poop in this weather? "
    " This isn ' t the poop, Willie," Gemma said. " They ' re called the parapets. "
    " Pair o ' what? "
    " Parapets, moron, " she said, her hands planted on her hips. " And if you use that foul language in front of the princess, I ' ll be throwing you off them on your witless head. "
    " Did you sight the princess ' s entourage? " Douglas demanded.
    Willie pulled off his woolen cap. His blond hair stood up on end like patches of straw. " Aye, sighted it and lost it. They left their coach miles and miles back when the road ended. I figure they ' ll be co m in ' the rest of the way on horseback. "
    " I told you to stay with the women, " Douglas said in a clipped voice. " How co uld you lose a royal entourage?"
    " They flew by us like bats out o ' hell and that scared my horse. The animal threw me onto my back. I ain ' t much of a rider, sir. By the time I caught my wind and got t he guts to get back on that bad- tempered beast, the princess ' s party had vanished. " He blinked at the memory. " Weren ' t much of a party to speak of neither. Could ' ve been a family of gypsies on the way to a fair for that matter. Coach looked like an old wagon. "
    Baldwin grinned at him. " Willie, were you chasin ' after the wrong princess? "
    " I was not," he said indignantly. " I got me a good look at the princess ' s face. Like a fairy angel she was, all tiny with curly yellow hair and teeth like pearls and a crown of gemstones— " He hesitated. " At least I think I saw her. "
    Gemma snorted. " I thought she flew by like a bat out of you-know-where. "
    " He was chasin ' after the wrong princess. " Baldwin slapped himself on the knee. " What a blockhead. "
    Douglas advanced on Willie until the shorter man backed into the stout wall of Dainty's chest. " If the princess is lost, we ' re going to have to find her, aren ' t we? " he said in that deadly quiet voice his men had learned to dread. Douglas didn ' t shout a lot or hit anyone unless he meant it. He was usually just so frightening with his silences and unnerving stares that some sailors had jumped overboard to escape the evil discipline they feared was coming.
    " I cannot imagine a young noblewoman traveling an unmarked Highland cattle track on a November night, " he said between his teeth. " Dainty, have two horses saddled. Aidan, go with him but keep that wicked sword in its sheath. "
    Before either man could move, a flickering light in the black hills beyond the castle caught Douglas ' s eye. It floated closer, taunting, then went out like a will-o-the-wisp.
    Apprehension tightened his scalp. Some of the Highlanders in Dunmoral practiced Celtic magic. There were raiders hiding in those hills, outlaws who had declared war on Douglas and all he protected. And there was Rowena of Hartzburg, with curly brown hair and a crown of gemstones, a royal princess in a savage land.
    The light reappeared. He touched the golden earring he wore in his left ear like a talisman.
    " Someone ' s coming, " he said in his deep lyrical voice, as calmly as if he were announcing the time of the day. " Gemma, go downstairs and make sure everything is in order. I don't want her tripping over a tankard of ale or Simon's wooden leg on the stairs. "
    Gemma stood unmoving, black curls blowing around her white face.
    " What is it, lass? " Douglas said.
    " I don ' t know what to say to her, " she whispered with a look of panic.
    " Just remember Mrs. MacVittie ' s advice, " he said sternly. " When in doubt quote Shakespeare. "
    " Shakespeare. " Gemma nodded, taking a deep breath.
    A smile of cynical amusement crossed Douglas ' s