Marcus entered his solar where the steward still fussed over accounts. As he removed his cloak, he noticed the bard’s sack propped against the wall.

Its presence surprised him. After visiting the closest farms, he had sent Paul and the others on while he turned back, but perhaps his precautions had been for naught.

He looked at the sack again. He had just assumed …

“Lady Nesta was looking for you,” the steward said as he rolled up a parchment. “Soon after you left, she came here with good tidings for you about her sister.”

Suspicion turned to certainty in that instant. If Nesta had something to report, she could have told him last night. He doubted that Genith had woken at dawn with a sudden change of heart.

He strode out of the chamber and down to the cellar. The guard quickly unlocked the door while explaining how the woman Marcus had sent had given Dylan a sleeping potion.

There was no bard in the chamber. Marcus threw back the blanket only to find a very frightened Welsh woman cowering against the wall.

The guard mumbled a litany of excuses and apologies. Marcus did not stay to hear it. Back in the yard he paused, and watched the last of the farmers and merchants straggle out the gate. No doubt one of the first wagons to leave had carried a young bard among its wares.

He had known this was coming. He had been waiting for it ever since Nesta had cajoled him into letting Dylan join the household at night. He had seen her talk to him, and surmised that some plot for his escape was being hatched.

He had even guessed that it would be today. Nesta’s argument for leaving Dylan in the cellar had struck him as odd, coming from a woman who had suffered on the road to spare the young man discomfort. Her request to visit the town, and his profound sense that she was watching his departure today, had supported his suspicions.

She was clever and subtle, but he had begun to comprehend how her mind worked.

This time she had succeeded because he wanted her to.

He returned to the steward. “The bard has escaped. Have a horse prepared for me, with provisions for a journey in the hills.”

The steward rose in alarm. “How many will go with you?”

“None. One man can track him better than a whole troop. If Dylan guesses he is being followed, he will disappear instead of leading me to Llygad’s men as I want.”

“The preparations will be made at once.”

“There is no need for special haste. I want to be sure he is enough ahead before I follow. While I wait, give Genith’s servants some duties to perform. Keep them away from the ladies’ chamber.”