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while we’re with the healer.”
    Montbryce relented, insisting they be protected by a company of ten men-at-arms as their escort, but Rhonwen could see he was uneasy he could not go with his family.
    “Don’t be concerned, Ram,” the Countess soothed. “Your men will take good care of us. We’ll be surrounded by people and it will be perfectly safe. The rebels will not encroach as close as Whittington. In any case, the beginning of October is too late in the season for them to leave their mountains.”
    The Earl put his hands on her waist and leaned his forehead against hers. “You’re right, but I still don’t like the idea of my pregnant wife and my children leaving without me.”
    ***
    Since her flight from Ellesmere, Morwenna had not been able to return there. Phillippe was relieved. He did not want to be seen with her anywhere near the castle. They held their trysts in an abandoned hunting lodge on her father’s lands, not far from Oswestry.
    Their joining was hard and rough and both liked it that way, tearing off their clothes as soon as they arrived. The plotting began the moment the coupling was over.
    Phillippe had thought long and hard on how to take revenge on the Montbryces. It had been a year since the failed poisoning. But now Fortune had smiled on him. He had learned the Countess and her children would be going to the Autumn Fayre in Whittington. What better opportunity for a kidnapping?
    “Kidnapping?” Morwenna exclaimed. “We would need Rhodri’s help with such a plot.”
    Phillippe smiled inwardly. She would talk herself into the scheme. “Would it not benefit his cause to obtain a large amount of money?”
    She snorted with ridicule. “He doesn’t care for money. He’s a patriot.”
    Is she truly so dim?
    “But he will understand the importance of money to buy food and arms.”
    Understanding dawned on her face. “Ah! But would the Earl pay a ransom?”
    Now for the coup de gr âce .
    “That’s the beauty of the plan. If he doesn’t, we’ll kill his family. If he does, he will fall out of favour with his precious King for giving money to rebels. And he won’t know we plan to kill them anyway.”
    His shaft surged with renewed interest. She grasped him, putting her mouth on his arousal. “I like the way you think, Phillippe. I’ll convince Rhodri. When is the Fayre?”
    ***
    Rhodri had been distracted while Morwenna explained the plan to kidnap the Earl’s family. She had not made any attempt to touch him. What was her relationship with her Norman accomplice? She was a woman who craved men.
    He forced his thoughts back to the plot she had suggested. It had merit. His people definitely needed coin. Food was in short supply, despite record harvests on the English side of the Marches after a glorious summer. The utter injustice of it rankled. Why not take the money from a Norman?
    He had the manpower. It could be done, and quickly. Time would be of the essence if they were to take the Montbryce family in October and have them ransomed before winter set in. They could sequester the hostages at Cadair Berwyn. The Earl would never venture so far into Wales in search of his family.
    He summoned his most trusted advisors, Aneurin ap Norweg and Andras ap Rhys. His father had relied on their good counsel. He would too. They listened intently.
    “They’ll have servants with them,” Aneurin advised.
    “We’ll kill them,” Morwenna replied.
    Rhodri held up his hand. “There will be no unnecessary killing. If the Earl believes we intend to kill his family anyway, he won’t pay.”
    Morwenna was indignant. “What of the men-at-arms who will escort them? Shall we spare them too?” she asked sarcastically.
    Rhodri nodded. “We will accomplish this with cunning, not brutality.”
    Aneurin and Andras nodded, both voicing their agreement. The decision was made. They would kidnap Mabelle de Montbryce and her two children from the Whittington Fayre.
    “What ransom should we demand?”