A True and Perfect Knight by Rue Allyn Page A

maid for breaking her vow of silence. Gennie needed to be alone, to consider what and how she felt about that terrifying kiss and the man who had given it to her. A man she knew could not be trusted.
    Look how he undermined her confidence and made her doubt her own sanity. Conflicting feelings raced through her. E’er she could gather her thoughts, de Sessions approached and stole what little calm she had been able to gather.
    “Madame, we have very little time to get to Chester.”
    “I told you, sir, that the journey could not be done in less than fourteen days.”
    “So you did, but I have never failed in my duty to my king, and I will not do so now. You and I will stand before the king in Chester before the next se’enight is out.”
    “Just how do you plan to work such a miracle?”
    “We will leave my men and your party behind and ride posthaste to Chester.”
    Gennie felt her heart leap to her throat. “Thomas?”
    “Will be quite safe with Soames and my men to guard him. He’ll have his nurse and his aunt for comfort.”
    Gennie nodded, only somewhat reassured, for she might never see her son again. She swallowed, realizing that this decision was out of her hands. “How…?”
    “Since we obtained extra horses in York, you and I no longer need to keep to the slower pace of your son and his aunt. We will take the two fastest mounts and proceed with all speed to Chester. We will stop for naught but to rest the horses. Is that clear?”
    She nodded again, unwilling to voice her fears at the too fast approach of her fate.
    “Then make what preparations you can and say your farewells. We leave as soon as our mounts are ready.”
    Gennie went in search of her sister-in-law. Before saying goodbye to Thomas, Gennie wanted to inform Rebecca of the change in plans and advise her how best to help Thomas through a difficult time.
    She found the girl with Marie. Marie was shouting at Rebecca, who cringed and twisted her hands in the face of the nurse’s ire. While Marie did not normally hesitate to speak her mind, she rarely unleashed such fury. Something was very wrong.
    “Marie.” Gennie voiced all the authority she possessed to halt the nurse’s verbal barrage.
    “Milady.” The woman’s tone dropped to a respectful tone.
    Rebecca uttered a sound that was half whimper, half gasp, before covering her face with her hands.
    “What goes on here?”
    Marie eyed Rebecca critically. “Rebecca should tell you, milady.”
    The girl shook her head. “I cannot,” muffled out from behind her hands.
    Impatient with her sister-in-law’s hysterics, Gennie asked, “What must Rebecca tell me?”
    “That Thomas is missing, Lady Genvieve.”
    Gennie’s vision grayed and her world tilted. She felt someone’s arms support her. Through the buzzing in her ears she heard Marie shout, “Rebecca, go fetch Sir Haven this instant.”
    When Gennie’s vision cleared and the buzzing stopped, she found herself seated on a rock, her face and hands gently patted by Marie. Still, Gennie could not seem to find breath with which to speak either question or worry.
    From somewhere behind her, de Sessions’s voice prodded her out of panic.
    “Rebecca, fetch a drink for your sister-in-law. While you are about that, tell Soames to have all the horses saddled, and when he has done so to gather the men and attend me.”
    The order snapped across the air. His calm question followed. “Are you well, madame?”
    “Well?” The words strangled out of her as fear and anger battled within. “Of course I am well. It is my son who is far from well. And if you think I will leave without seeing him safe in Soames’s care, you are more of a fool than I thought possible.”
    “Nay.” His face came into her line of vision as Haven knelt before her. He took her hands from Marie. “We will not leave until Thomas is safe. No doubt the boy just followed a rabbit too far into the wood.”
    Heat from his hands seeped through her fingers and up her