The question was, which one? Meriel tried to remember what she had heard about the two earls, but could recall little beyond the fact that both were renowned for ruthless military skill.
Surely the band before her must include one of the rival earls of Shropshire. While in theory a knight would never offer insult to a lady, in practice the ideals of chivalry were not always upheld. Meriel tensed, all too aware that she was a woman alone with a group of strangers. Judging by the quality of horses and clothing, the hunters came from the highest level of the nobility, and all six of them were staring at her and Chanson with frank curiosity. It took a moment for Meriel to sort out the confusing images and realize that she had been discovered by a hunting party. “Halt!” a man’s voice called out, and the group jangled to a noisy stop when the closest horse was scarcely six feet away. She gasped, too startled to be frightened, too slowed by her twisted ankle to dodge out of the way. One moment she was tightening Chanson’s hood the next she looked up into a chaos of hooves and horses and blazing colors. When she thought back later, Meriel realize that her concentration on the falcon made her miss the sound of approaching horses, but at the time it seemed as if a band of fairyfolk had materialized.
Her day is about to get a good deal worse: While out hawking, she has been thrown by her horse and almost lost her beloved falcon, Chanson. Lady Meriel de Vere prefers to live a quiet life as her brother’s chatelaine, but she’s having a bad day. England is torn by civil war by the rivalry between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, daughter and chosen heir of her father, Henry I.
0 kommentar(er)
