Medieval 01 - Untamed

she was taken in a net rather than from the nest. But the falconer assures me such cleverness is common for Blackthorne’s birds…if the witch Meg handles them.”
    Simon made a neutral sound.
    â€œWhat did you find when you backtracked her?” Dominic asked with almost no change of tone.
    Almost, but not quite. The difference was enough to remind Simon just how deeply his brother cared about the reluctant wife with whom he was determined to found a dynasty that would outlast both the casual cruelty of nature and the calculated cruelties of man.
    â€œI found nothing,” Simon said bluntly. “Leaper lost the scent.”
    The sound of bells stilled. Dominic looked intently at Simon.
    â€œLost the scent?” Dominic said. “How curious. Leaper has the keenest nose of any hound I’ve ever coursed.”
    â€œAye,” Simon said.
    â€œWere there any other tracks around?”
    â€œThere is a grand stag living back up from the creek that comes down to the Blackthorne River. A fox had taken a hare. An eagle and five ravens were arguing a kill.”
    Dominic grunted. “Any sign of horses?”
    â€œNary a one, even of the wild moorland breed.”
    â€œOxen? Carts? Boot prints?” Dominic persisted.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhere did you lose the scent?”
    â€œJust where Lady Margaret said I would, at the standing stones surrounding a heathen burial place.”
    â€œAnd there was no sign of anyone else?”
    â€œNot one whiff,” Simon said succinctly. “If Duncan of Maxwell—or any other man—was there with your lady this morning, he came on an eagle’s wings and left the same way.”
    Dominic grunted.
    â€œPerhaps she was doing as she said, gathering plants,” Simon offered.
    â€œPerhaps. But the seedlings could have been gathered closer to home.”
    â€œWhat of the odd leaves?”
    â€œThe gardener had never seen their like,” Dominic admitted.
    That was why Dominic was in the solar and Meg was in her rooms; he needed time to think. The first skirmishes in the battle to secure sons had gone badly. Dominic was too good a tactician to repeat his errors.
    And if he weren’t, he would learn and learn quickly. Never had he joined a battle half so crucial to his future.
    â€œI may have misjudged my wife,” Dominic conceded slowly. “I certainly have mishandled her.”
    â€œHow so? Any other husband would have beaten her soundly for setting off alone into the forest and telling no one where she went.”
    â€œHow do you know I haven’t done just that?” Dominic retorted without heat.
    â€œAfter I dragged you out of that Turkish dungeon, you vowed you would never permit lash or cane to be used when you had your own domain. You are a man of your word.”
    Dominic suddenly came to his feet. The horror of the dungeon was so great he remembered it only in dreams. And he forgot those dreams upon waking.
    He preferred it that way.
    â€œHave I thanked you for that, Simon?”
    â€œWe’ve saved each other’s lives too often to keep track,” his brother said dryly.
    â€œIt wasn’t my life you saved that time, it was my soul.”
    Bells sang, disturbed by the clenching of Dominic’s fist amid the cool chains of gold.
    â€œI have a new duty for you,” Dominic said after a moment. “That of guard.”
    Simon turned swiftly from the fire. “Has Sven discovered more threats against you?”
    â€œâ€™Tis not myself you’ll be guarding, but my wife.”
    â€œGod’s teeth,” Simon said in disgust.
    â€œWho else can I trust not to seduce or to be seduced?” Dominic asked simply.
    â€œNow I know why sultans use eunuch guards.”
    â€œI won’t ask that final sacrifice of you.”
    â€œâ€™Tis just as well,” Simon retorted, running a hand through his light hair. “I owe you much, brother, but not my manhood!”
    Dominic’s laughter blended with the quiet murmuring of the bells as he caressed them.
    â€œIt will be your task to see that no one goes into Meg’s rooms except me,” Dominic said.
    â€œWhat of her handmaiden?”
    â€œWhat of her?” Dominic said indifferently. “I can dress—and undress —my wife as needed.”
    Simon managed not to laugh out loud, but his amusement was plain on his handsome face.
    â€œFor a few days,” Dominic said, “Meg will