Taniel (The Taverner's Daughter I)

60: Jarryd

The portal door rapped on Jarryd's bare heels.

Breeze brushed his ankle as the door-ball hurtled past him and rattled across the floor of the Stakkr door-room. He tried not to breathe when Paget and Taniel stopped in front of him as Katerine bent down to scoop up the door-ball. She put it in her pocket.

Jarryd was surprised at the third guard with the usual door-minders. The gharls sniffed the air, fixing their eyes on Taniel. Paget hustled her out the door. Jarryd slipped out behind them, almost running into the back of the midwitch, again.

Paget glanced over her shoulder, right at him, frowning. Jarryd's heart skipped and he dared not so much as blink until she moved on. The bolts banged shut behind him. He worried a guard might bump him.

Katerine led them up the circling stairs.

Cold, shivering, and wishing he were not naked, Jarryd trailed behind. Still, discomfort was better than being left behind at the tavern.

He had been awake when the two women came for Taniel and had guessed, right away, that the woman with Katerine was the midwitch, whom Driscoll had mentioned. The spell aimed at Taniel slid off Jarryd, repelled by the invisibility shield. Slipping out of bed, he had pressed against the wall. He fought his impulse to yell when the door-ball activated. He would be more help to Taniel if not incapacitated, too.

At the very last moment, not knowing what else to do, he had plunged through the door after the three women.

Now, in the bowels of the castle, he felt vulnerable.

From the reception room, Katerine took her charges into the grand hall.

Jarryd chose the shorter route through the guestrooms. While the guards' gaze followed the women, he slipped through the smaller archway. He raced along the hallway and dashed up the stairs to the servants' floor, knowing that the sound of his heavy breathing would be masked by the sea bashing the castle wall.

Jarryd stopped for a quick breather before making his way carefully up to the family living quarters. Guards at the head of the stairs startled him. He sneaked past on the heavily carpeted floor, grateful for the opulence of the upper two levels in his stepfather's castle.

Jarryd arrived before the three women and decided to continue up to his rooms, needing to dress before sunrise. Dawn must be near.

When he reached the staircase leading to their apartments, Jarryd found his brother sprawled across the lower steps, asleep. He was working out the best way to pass when he heard the others coming up the stairs from the hall. Taniel and her captors emerged opposite him.

Taniel glared at Dax. "You bastard," she shouted.

Dax woke, gathered his limbs, and rose to his feet.

Taniel, on tottering feet, threw herself at Dax, her blanket slipping to the floor. Dax stepped aside and, unable to stop her momentum, Taniel fell.

Jarryd almost revealed his presence but he could not go to her. He was supposed to be in a Morrdake valley. He could not be found here, not yet.

Paget draped the blanket over Taniel, before hauling her upright. She seemed groggy, but otherwise unharmed. Fortunately, none noticed Jarryd's relieved sigh.

"Sorry." Dax acknowledged Taniel, at last, his face blank. "There is nothing I can do about this."

Jarryd clenched his fists, hating the disinterest on his brother's face.

Paget pulled the blanket tight around Taniel, pushing the material into her hand. "You behave yourself, dear, or I will have to freeze you again and Dax will carry you upstairs."