Rose of the Mists by Laura Parker Read Free Book Online

found himself suddenly crushed in an embrace that smelled loudly of camphor rubbed onto an unwashed body.
    “You! You are my example!” Atholl boasted when he released Revelin. He laid a bracing hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “You are the example of what good can be wrought in this land if only the virtues of Christian principle can be brought to the Irish. As for my harsh words at supper, they were not meant for you. I cannot hold your degenerate Gaelic background against you now that I have seen its true purpose. We will be fast friends after this, that I promise!”
    With an agility that both surprised and relieved Revelin, Atholl disappeared from his tent as silently as he had come.
    “He’s mad!” Revelin muttered and, dowsing the oil lamp, returned to his cot. If the discomforts of the daily travel in territory without roads but with a plentitude of bogs and marsh flies were not enough, he had somehow unwittingly won the friendship of a man he neither liked nor found easy to tolerate.
    “A plague upon you, Revelin!” he grumbled to himself in a sleepy voice. “You cannot even keep a proper enemy!”
    *
    Revelin blinked as the gossamer wings of a pond fly touched his lashes and flitted past to light upon the bridge of his nose. With a flick of his finger he removed the intruder. The memories of the night before had returned intact. At dawn, all he had been able to think of was ridding himself of the promised company of Atholl. He had ridden ahead of his group to be free to mull over plans of his own, which included marriage to Lady Alison, if he could win the queen’s approval for it. Then, too, Robin had given him food for thought. If Robin was the queen’s or Leicester’s spy and John an intended usurper of Irish land, Revelin would need to tread warily, indeed. His troubled thoughts had so occupied him that he had not seen the rabbit hole into which his mount was about to step….
    He raised his left arm and frowned as he looked at it. There was a deep gash in his forearm where it had struck the sharp edge of a stone. He had come to this pond to wash off the telltale signs of mud, realizing that the others would make merciless sport of him if they learned of his spill. While swimming he had become entangled in the reeds and nearly drowned. The girl! The girl had saved his life!
    For an instant he recalled deep blue eyes looking down at him from a delicate face. So real was the memory that he reached for the vision, but it vanished and he caught only a handful of air for his effort.
    Disappointed, he let his hand drop back onto his bare chest. She had been here, bending over him. He would swear to it. Or had it been a dream?
    He sat up. This time his muscles responded. Looking about, he was satisfied to find his horse chewing the succulent grasses along the water’s edge while his dog sat at his feet. But the girl was nowhere in sight.
    “Ualter!” he greeted, and groaned a moment later as the huge animal leaped upon him. “Down, Ualter! Down,” he ordered, pushing with partial success to free himself from the dog. With one last lick of joy the animal sat back on his haunches, his nuzzle pushed forward inquiringly.
    “Did you see her?” Revelin questioned as he scratched the ruff of fur under the dog’s chin. “Well? Where is she?”
    As if the dog understood the question he stood up and ran a few feet away, then swung about and barked excitedly.
    Revelin grinned. “You’re teasing. I believe you know nothing about her.”
    Ualter’s ears lay back and then sprang forward again as he shot past his master and raced around the edge of the pond. Revelin watched skeptically as the dog rooted about in the tall grasses, frightening a flock of ducks who had thought themselves well hidden. In the meantime, Revelin reached for the first of his clothing and began to dress.
    Finally, with a yelp of pleasure, Ualter grabbed a length of fabric and bounded back to his master.
    “What is this?”