Chapter Fourteen 

In the morning, Melinda woke with a headache. She'd spent a restless night dreaming of Lucy. In her dream she made it to Blackford Castle only to find the woman was not Lucy. In another dream, she made it to the castle to find she was too late and her sister died years ago. And in the third dream, she never made it to the castle, dying along the way. That one made her shudder.

She didn't have any kind of suitcase or bag. Hands on her hips, she turned, surveying the room. It would have to do. Melinda pulled the sheet off the bed. Within it she put her future clothes, as she'd come to call them, and the food she'd squirreled away. She tied up the bedsheet into a makeshift satchel, one she could loop over her shoulder.

One of the knights would notice it. Melinda hiked up her skirts and tied the satchel around her waist. With her cloak on, she didn't think anyone would notice. She put two carrots she'd swiped in the top of her boot. One of her hair ribbons kept them from falling down the boot. Satisfied, she made her way down the stairs, looking like she knew where she was going.

James and his men were fighting in the lists, hurling insults back and forth. She paused for a moment to watch. He was a sight. Fighting with two swords, the man was all grace and power. Even injured, he made swordplay look like anyone could do it. As she watched him, she realized all the movies she'd seen, all the books she'd read, didn't do the real thing justice. He was graceful, and yet she knew those swords could take your head off in one swipe.

He was going to be angry when he found out what she'd done. Maybe not that she'd left, but definitely angry she'd taken his horse. Melinda chuckled to herself. She was going to take the big black horse. She thought she'd heard it called a warhorse.

The beast was huge, but for some reason he liked her. So she made sure to visit whenever she went outside. And she knew the horse liked carrots. James might be unreasonable, but at least his horse was nice.

When she arrived at the stables, she walked in like she owned the place. A sigh of relief left her lips. Instead of the usual assortment of men and boys working, there were only two young boys on duty. She squared her shoulders and walked up to them.

"Lord Falconburg says I can take his horse for a ride." She took a carrot out of her pocket and made kissing noises at the big black animal. He pricked up his ears and came forward. He took the carrot from her, his velvety muzzle rubbing her hand.

One of the boys scratched his head. "Nay, mistress. My lord does not allow anyone to ride his horse." He eyed her nervously. "He's a foul-tempered beast."

"The horse or his master?"

Melinda had the satisfaction of seeing the boy's mouth drop open. She felt a little mean, but not enough to feel bad about it.

The boy started to argue but she cut him off. "Do you want to interrupt Lord Falconburg while he's in the lists, or will you get out of my way and let me take the horse for a ride?"

The other boy said, "Let her go."

The first boy looked at him dubiously but shrugged and helped her saddle the horse.

Melinda leaned close and stroked the horse on his neck. While the boys were getting things ready, she discreetly pulled the satchel from underneath her skirts and secured it to the saddle.

She whispered, "Don't throw me off and you can have another carrot. I packed more in my bag for later." The horse flicked his ear, and she took it as a sign he wouldn't bite or kick her.

Wow, talk about being up high. Melinda swallowed and looked down at the ground. It seemed like an awful long way to fall. The horse twitched, and she realized she shouldn't show fear. Didn't they say horses could sense fear? So she sat up straight and urged the horse forward. He was obviously well trained, because she didn't know what she was doing but the horse seemed to understand she wanted to go forward, and obliged.

She rode through the gates like she had every right. Melinda even managed a wave to the guardsmen leaning negligently over the gate. So far it was shaping up to be a good morning. She'd given the two men assigned to her the slip early this morning. One of them she didn't really give the slip; more like she locked him in the garderobe. But he was sort of a jerk and deserved it. The other man had a crush on one of the serving girls from the kitchen.

The girl liked him too. So Melinda had pulled the girl aside and said the man had been asking about her. The girl's eyes lit up, and the next thing she knew, Melinda spotted her with the man in an alcove, kissing. She had one moment wondering what it would be like to kiss James before shoving the thought away. She couldn't stay here. She had to get to Blackford and find out if Lucy was there.

Melinda swore she held her breath all the way through the gates until she was clear of the castle.

"Okay, we made it this far. Now which way?" The horse didn't answer. Melinda thought for a moment. When she was trying to get to Blackford before, she turned left when she should've turned right. So right it was. She tugged on the right rein and used her right knee, and easy-peasy, the horse went the way she wanted. Another good sign.

All she had to do was keep going in a straight line until she reached the coast. Castles were big. It shouldn't be hard to find. Even as a ruin, Blackford was pretty impressive. Melinda pictured what it must look like now, and thought she would definitely be able to see it from far away.