Behind the Veil Read Online Free PDF

without telling you.”
    Tancred strode up and clasped his broad shoulder. “You did wisely, Friend. So then, your mistress is awake.”
    “She is awake and speedily recovering. She waits now for you near the fountain.”
    Tancred was pleased but uneasy. Already she was taking command.
    “Nicholas has not returned from the Sacred Palace, and until he does, there is no hope of discovering Lady Adrianna’s whereabouts. As for making arrangements on the wharf, I have already considered buying passage. But the arrangements cannot be made until the hour of our secret departure. We cannot fully trust those on the wharf with our plans. Spies are everywhere; so are men willing to betray for treasure.”
    “Aye, just so. And so I told her, but…there is something more she wishes of me,” and here Bardas paused and glanced over his shoulder toward the house. “She sent me also to get a message to Philip. She wishes to speak with him here.”
    Philip again! Tancred restrained his frustration. “One word to Philip and Irene will be on our trail. Even now, I’m not certain Philip’s doesn’t know where we are staying. There was a man trailing me from the city. I lost him, but there may be others.”
    “So I thought, and so—”
    Tancred, always alert, was hearing stealthy footsteps approaching from the direction he had just come. Bardas, too, tensed and stepped aside into the trees, hand on his sword-hilt.
    A guard stepped forward with caution. “Redwan?” he called in a low voice. “I come in peace. I bring news. It is urgent!”
    Tancred, cautious, gestured Bardas to remain concealed. Bardas withdrew,  sword in readiness.
    “Speak!” Tancred said quietly.
    “I am the guard that Bardas paid to let you and Lady Lysander stay here.”
    “Come forward then, show yourself,” Tancred ordered.
    The man did so, his face tense, his eyes blinking.
    The nervous guard kept glancing back over his shoulder toward the wooded road.
    “What news do you bring?”
    “Your Norman cousin sends word to be on guard. He has noticed a slave prowling. He worries he may have come upon your concealed horses. He trailed after him, but he disappeared through the garden gate near the trees.”
    Tancred studied him for a moment. Was he lying? Was this a well-laid trap?
    Tancred glanced toward Bardas who slipped beside him and whispered, “This is the same one I paid the emerald to for his silence.”
    “But greed only grows. We must be cautious.” He turned to the house guard. “My cousin’s name, what is it?”
    “Leif Redwan,” he said without hesitation.
    Both of his cousins had been on watch during the night, Leif near the garden gate; Norris, farther away toward the road near the monastery. Bardas had been guarding the entrance nearest Helena’s chamber. The news of a slave slipping about was not good. Had the monk who aided them been forced to talk?
    Tancred could not depart yet! Nicholas was to arrive tonight, before they could buy passage and sail for St. Symeon.
    “Where is Leif now?”
    “Out searching,” he said nervously, “Making certain there are no more. I fear a slave was sent to ready the abode for Senator Lucian. Lucian may return unexpectedly. You must go—” the house guard hesitated, then turned toward the road. “Someone is coming.”
    Tancred held his blade, alert. Bardas did the same. The house guard slipped through the trees and was gone.
    Norris Redwan entered the gate and said quickly to Tancred, “Rufus waits for you. His son is injured. Bring your medical satchel and come.”
    “Rufus? What happened?”
    “His son who worked in the royal Library escaped, Rufus with him, and two soldiers. The woman Irene is searching for them. The soldiers say Joseph is injured badly.”
    “Rufus has long planned for this moment,” Bardas said. “Shall I get your satchel, Seigneur?”
    “Yes, be swift, Bardas.”
    “Where are they?” Tancred asked of Norris.
    “At the slave quarters, about five minutes from