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will pack my things,” she said quietly to Ivo, “and be gone from here as quickly as possible.”
    “She has forbidden that you take anything,” the steward replied. “She says you have no right to take anything from Landerneau, that everything here belongs to her child.”
    “There is nothing among my things that belongs to Landerneau, Ivo. I have but my clothing, and a few trinkets my father gave me.”
    “I cannot allow it, my lady Mairin. You must come with me immediately. The slave merchant is waiting for you.”
    “The child must have a cloak, Ivo,” said Dagda quietly, but the steward heard the unspoken menace in the Irishman’s voice.
    “Very well,” he relented, “but hurry in the name of the Blessed Mother lest she recover from her fit, and call for me. What will happen to me, Dagda, if she takes my place from me?”
    “Stay with Ivo, child,” Dagda ordered his young charge, and then to the steward, “I will be but a minute.” He bolted up the narrow stone staircase that led to the tiny room that had been Mairin’s. Opening the door he was surprised to find Melaine there.
    “Here!” The wet-nurse handed him a neatly packed bundle.
    “What is it?” he demanded of her.
    “A change of clothes for the little mistress, her cloak, a brush for her hair, and her mother’s jewelry. I dared not take more, Dagda, else she find things gone. She knows everything that there is within the castle and is very possessive for her child. I can be of no use to her, however, and so I will be sent back to my village anyway. Therefore I can dare to oppose her for Mairin’s sake. I do not know if what she claims is so, but she is a wicked woman to send the little mistress away.”
    “The child is trueborn,” said Dagda quietly. “I thank you for your kindness, Melaine.”
    “ Kindness? It is not simple kindness, Dagda. Did not that child suck at my breasts for almost two years? I gave her life with my milk! I love her!” Melaine’s eyes filled with tears. “What will happen to my baby?” she cried.
    “She will come to no harm,” said Dagda. “I promised her mother that I would not leave her side until she was given into the keeping of a husband.” Then with a nod to the wet-nurse Dagda turned and hurried back down the stairs to where Ivo and Mairin awaited them. The poor steward looked visibly relieved, but he paled as the voice of Blanche St. Ronan lashed out at him.
    “Why is that little bitch still here? Did I not give you orders she be removed from my sight? What is that you carry, Dagda? The brat may take nothing with her! Give it to me, and then go about your duties. You, Ivo, take the wench to the slaver!”
    “Would you deny my mistress her cloak, and a change of clothing, my lady Blanche?” said Dagda. “Surely you would not have it said that you were vindictive or un-Christian in your victory?”
    Blanche St. Ronan flushed unbecomingly. “How do I know,” she said, “that you do not steal property that belongs to Landerneau?”
    “You do not,” he replied calmly, “but I shall be happy to open this pitiful little bundle before all so you may check, and be certain.”
    “Oh, give the brat her things, and then go about your business,” said Blanche St. Ronan ungraciously.
    “The lady Mairin is my business,” said Dagda quietly. “Where she goes, I go.”
    “You cannot leave Landerneau! You are bound to the land. If you try to go, I shall have you brought back and whipped for the runaway serf you are!”
    Dagda threw back his head and he laughed. It was a deep and dark sound that sent a shiver down the spines of all that heard it. “I am a freedman, madame,” he said. “I came from Ireland with my mistress in answer to a dying request by her mother, the princess Maire Tir Connell. I am not bound to Landerneau, nor any other estate upon this earth. My only loyalty is to Mairin St. Ronan, and I will follow her unto death. If you would try to stop me, my lady Blanche, then do