Author's
Note: You all know the disclaimers;
repeat them to yourselves so I don't have to type them again! :) Once again, many thanks to my absolutely
magnificent Beta reader, Rhiannon; and to B eviltwins2 for reviewing (you
should have seen my face light up when I saw that someone had reviewed!). As always, I would take it very kindly if
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Chapter
Three: Complications
Paradise. Jos had always loved these old orchards,
they reminded him of home back in Brittany.
It looked to be around harvest season, he hadn't noticed it creeping up
on them this year. Normally, he looked
forward to the harvest, he and Eilis would go out amongst the trees and fields
and… No, it was best not to dwell on such things. After the past year, he had not had the heart to count the
passing of the days until the crops were ready to be brought in.
They marched on. The young officers, Hornblower—only the
English could come up with a name like that—and Kennedy, had handled the
Devil's Gate better than he had expected.
He always found it somewhat disturbing himself.
Then he saw movement
up ahead. Women out in the orchards
picking apples. He smiled, there would
be pies and preserves and all sorts of delicious concoctions issuing from the kitchens
over the next few days.
"What in the… " a
horrified gasp, then anger, "where are you taking… them?"
Not now, not here,
please. Jos turned miserably to face
the speaker.
"Your brother
requested us to escort these men to the Stronghold." He recited tersely, looking beyond her, at a spot over her right
shoulder. He couldn't bear to look at
her face. He should have chanced the
postern gate. If only he'd known she
was out here!
"My brother
requested."
"Yes."
Eilis was not looking
at him, when he dared to glance at her face.
She was glaring at the two officers, who looked quite confused as to
what they might have done to upset her.
If only you knew, he grimaced bitterly, it is your mere existence which
offends her so.
"March on." He needed to get as far away from here as
possible right now. It was still too
much to be in her presence when she would not… NO, I will NOT think on it.
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"Jos! You look terrible, what happened? Did the prisoners give you trouble?" Lorcan looked around, concerned. No one seemed to be hurt or inconvenienced
in any way, but Jos looked as if he would gladly jump down the nearest well.
"We came in through
the orchards and… "
"And you ran into Eilis. Jos… I'm sorry." He put his hand on Jos' shoulder.
"You knew she was out there?" Jos looked at him in wounded surprise.
"No! I
would have told you if she had gone out.
I would have warned you to avoid the orchards. She came by to inform me they were going out after you had
left. It didn't occur to me at the time
that the Devil's Gate would be the easiest way in from the beach, it's my
fault."
"No it's not, it's just rotten timing." Jos shook himself and looked around. "Sir, we have delivered the prisoners as
requested."
"Thank you, Lennox. Please place them in the front cells and report to me at your earliest
convenience."
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"Well, did they give
you any trouble?"
They were both sitting
in front of the fire in Lorcan's room.
Jos was stretched out in an armchair, staring morosely into the fire,
looking drained. Lorcan was sitting on
the edge of a cushioned footstool, concentrating intently on his friend.
"What? No.
No, they resisted some when we first came upon them but that was to be
expected. And they balked at the
Devil's Gate, but I do that every once in awhile."
He smiled bitterly,
not having taken his eyes from the fire.
"Those two officers,
they're lieutenants and close friends, I think. Anyway, they will bear watching.
And their ship will be missing them very soon, if it hasn't already."
"It has. I sent Brecon directly back to their landing
beach with the garrison and he drove off at least two attempts to land men from
that frigate. It has moved off the
coast, but I doubt they have left yet."
"Why did you want us
to bring in those men Lorcan? Was it
just a whim or do you have a plan for them?"
"I'm not sure
anymore." It was his turn to stare into
the fire. "I had a plan this morning,
but… something has come up." He handed
the dispatches that had upset him so this morning to Jos.
"So, there is to be
one final cast of the dice."
"Yes, General Humbert
plans to land in County Mayo and begin from there. We are requested to provide a contingent of soldiers. And I am requested to join the leadership of
the expedition." He looked up in
frustration, "Why, though? What could I
possibly contribute?"
"Your name of course,
you're Lorcan Ross, Earl of Cashel. If
they are landing in Mayo, that name will set the countryside afire."
"I'm nineteen
Jos! I haven't set foot in Ireland
since I was six, my only military experience is on the skirmish level, and my
family name and title is attainted. Why
would they rally to me?"
The young earl's gray
eyes looked pleadingly at his friend, his lithe young frame tense and his coal
black hair tousled from his continually running fingers through it in worry.
"One of the legendary
Earls of Cashel? A descendant of the
Earl who almost prevented the losses of 1618?
I can't imagine why they would want you." Jos leaned forward as sarcasm laced his tired voice. "Wake up, boy. You've got the political connections and skills Lorcan. If I live to be a hundred, I'll never be
able to handle people like you do."
"I'm not my five times
great-grandfather, Jos. I am, as you so
aptly put it, a boy. I can't do what
they want me to. I can't lead these
people!"
"Can you think of any
other reason we all follow a 'boy'?
I've got, what, eleven years on you?
And I've got a title of my own--not that I can claim it any easier than
you can yours--but why are you our superior and I am not? Because people follow you, it's charisma or
talent or some indefinable aura about you.
You were meant to lead, it was born in you."
"The men would follow
you through hellfire."
"Maybe," Jos allowed,
sitting back again. "But I wouldn't be
able to convince others to join us, you would."
Lorcan stood up. "This is all beside the point at the
moment. We must decide what to do with
our guests now that we have them." He
turned abruptly. "When was the last
time you talked with your wife?"
Jos' head came up sharply.
"That was a lightening change of subject." A warning tone in his voice.
"Not really."
"Well, I suppose you could say we spoke this
afternoon." The bitter smile back on
his face.
"She does love you, you know." Lorcan said quietly. "It is just hard for
her to separate the reality of events from her perception of their reality."
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