"Perhaps. But did you not tell me that Drew, John, and Thomas were dismissed with the rest of your former men? That they have remained with you of their own accord, serving with you not as paid soldiers under King's service, but as loyal friends. There is no need for them to return, even if their absence should be noted."

"Neatly done, wife." He smiled proudly. She was clever, but he had another question for her. "And what of Gil and Dermot?"

Gwyndolyn tugged at the cuffs of her sleeves in her agitation.

"I cannot think of everything!" she blurted, "You are the great warrior! So...so..." she sputtered then threw her hands up as she looked crossly at him. "figure it out!"

Erec enjoyed her fluster and chuckled, which turned into another fit of coughing. In an instant, Gwyn forgot her annoyance and her distress over Erec's condition and was once more a healer, competently aiding him until he was once more breathing comfortably. As she stepped back to pour another cup of water, she noticed he had a particular look on his face.

"What is it that has you so...I do not know." She finished after a short pause. Shaking her head, she went on. "My first thought is that you look frightened...or nervous perhaps. But that makes no sense as it is only you and I at present. So perhaps you are in pain and do not wish to admit it? Really, dearest, you must tell your healer what truly ails you, else you shall never be well."

Erec shook his head and tried to take a deep breath. Feeling his chest tighten, he paused and slowly released it. When he was certain that he would not be coughing again, he began.

"You are not far from the mark, sweeting. You see, I know what me must do next and it will be most painful to endure, so I was rather hoping to put it off as long as possible but—"

"Now you listen to me, husband, and listen well." She ignored his smile as it was not the reaction she expected and pressed on. "I have not ridden my backside to blister so that I can be left behind while you go off...well, you can just forget it! You are a very sick man and you might yet expire from that wound without my help."

She stomped her foot and then her shoulders sagged. Tears filled her eyes, though she blinked them back as she spoke from her heart: "Ne adverseris mihi ut relinquam te et abeam: quocumque enim perrexeris, pergam, et ubi morata fueris, et ego pariter morabor..."

"Populus tuus populus meus, et Deus tuus Deus meus." Erec finished as he gazed at her lovingly, holding out his hand and beckoning her to his side once more. (Ruth 1:16 Vulgate Bible)

"I am happy that you are here. For sooth, Drew and I knew you were come. Tis why we waited here when we should have left as soon as I was sewn up. It is a long ride to Greenwood and there will be much work to do when we arrive. Our enemies will not be far behind and they will show us no mercy if they catch us."

"Alexandi thought of that." She smiled as she found a few inches on the edge of the cot and sat next to him. She leaned toward him and rested her hand on the other side of the cot else she should fall, as she had only a palms breadth beneath her. It did not escape her that their hips touched, but she ignored her blush as she explained:

"That is why we are not going to Greenwood. And of course, you cannot ride..."

"How else am I to travel? We have no wagon and it is an unalterable truth to say that I cannot walk..." He paused as the rest of what she said sank in. "And just where do you suppose that a dead man such as I can go if not to Greenwood? I cannot be seen alive."

"You shall not be seen at the Abbey. And ."

She spoke with a finality that he could not doubt she felt to her very soul. But as he opened his mouth to argue the point, she hurried on.

"You shall be carried as we travel. The Abbey is closer than Greenwood, so your suffering shall be less..."

Erec just stared. The abbey was nothing but a few ruins of blackened walls and what remained of an ancient overgrown cemetery.

He was playing dead, yes, but to hide among the rotting corpses was going a bit far with the deception!

He had to force himself to focus upon her words, so ridiculous was the image in his head.

"Drew will be leaving with me tonight."

Wait. He missed something? Something about being carried...to hide in a cemetery...

"As soon as you are settled, he and I will ride to my father's farm. The others will pack everything up and lead Zeus behind. You are to be carried upon your cot, suspended between the four horses as each man carries a corner."

Ah, he had not missed it after all.

"It is a wide clear trail to the Abbey, so that will be possible. Indeed, it is a good idea. But if I am seen?" He asked when he realized she was waiting for a reply.

"Play dead." He blinked and she smiled sweetly before she went on. "The men shall say they carry your body to greenwood for burial. It is on the same road so even if you are seen, it shall be okay...I should think..."

Erec frowned as he remembered the other part of her plan.

...the part about her leaving with Drew...

"And what of you, my love?" He took up her hand. "What if you should be seen?"

"There are none but the spirits betwixt here and my father's farm. Drew and I will change into peasant clothes at the farm. He is of a size with Jordan. We have need of my father's wagon to carry the tools, clothing and other items I can get there. Items that we will need while we hide. I have my store of herbs and powders that I can add to what I brought from Brecken.

Erec felt relief as he listened. She had truly given this much thought over the past few days. But she mentioned the baroness, so perhaps she had been thinking on such an eventuality since his departure.

Very clever, his wife.

"I know not how long we shall hide, but we need those things. If any should ask after us, I am prepared. You see, in the morning my husband and I will take what remains of our home after the soldiers took everything and we shall travel to Brecken to seek refuge...But none shall ask after us." She finished with a pat to his hand.

"Clever. Except that your—er—husband—is hardy and hale. Will not he draw attention as all the other men have been taken?"

"I shall bandage one of his arms against his middle and pin up the empty sleeve. It will be believable enough to anyone passing, and it is more than reason enough for him to be released from his service to the king and sent home to me..."

"Very clever indeed." Erec grabbed up her hand and brought it to his lips. "I am proud to call you wife. But I am loathe to let you leave me again. I fear for you. They have tried for you twice..."

"Do not fear. Drew is capable. I shall be safe and so I shall see you in a day or two at the abbey."

"Yes...about that...."

---

"This was rather an excellent idea, milady." Drew said as he tied down the last of what they managed to scavenge from the two little houses, the barn, and what remained of the garden.

"Thank you, Drew, but you are like a brother to Erec, and thus a brother to me also. You must call me Gwyn."

"Not Gwyndolyn"

"If you wish it you may call me Gwyndolyn, but my brothers mostly call me Gwyn."

"Gwyn," he paused with a wink, "We have taken all we can. I am surprised that you managed to wrangle those two chickens. And that your little ass came back."

"Jacques is a brave little dear. I wonder that he did not wander off, but then, there is plenty of food here, and the barn door was open, so he could get to his stall. Still...I wonder..."

"I am glad for it. You seem rather fond of him. Twould be a shame if ill were to befall him."

"Aye." She shook off her wonderings and was surprised when Drew pulled off his shirt. Not surprised that he did so, for how else would she bind his bent arm to his middle? What surprised her was how similar he was to her husband. Even in the great many scars that covered his torso.

"What has you smiling thusly?"

"I was just thinking how like you are to mine own brothers." She said instead. "They often work about the farm without their shirts, especially when the sun is high and the air is warm. They do not seem to be concerned with being seen in such a state...at least not concerned to be seen so by me."

"I have a brother...had a brother. He is no more. But I have no sisters so this is new for me. I suppose I am not embarrassed because I know that you are a healer and have seen many men thus. I also know that your heart belongs to Erec, so there is no fear that you shall judge me."

"Well," she smiled as she tore the rag shirts into strips. "Put your arm thusly...good. Now hold still."

"Tell me, how is it that you thought to come after these things?"

"Oh, it was John. He talked to me as we rode to help keep me from thinking on my...erm...discomfort. He tells me that a soldier's camp is rather lacking. That on the main, the men lack stools, buckets and even basic cooking utensils...sometimes even a change of clothing."

"He did not misinform." Drew spoke as she worked. He was impressed by how quickly she managed.

"Alexandi—Lady Alexandi—tells me that Greenwood has nothing at all, not even the means to provide the sparse living that a soldier is used to."

"She did not misinform." He said as she finished the last knot.

As he reached for his shirt, she shook her head and scooped up a bundle before leading him into the house. Inside, she left the door open and stepped to the side of the door. She set some of her bundle on the table before crossing to the other side of the open door.

"We need to change in to our peasant clothing. Besides, this gown is ruined and your shirt..." she wrinkled her nose.

"Yes, it smells. I have been long in it without a change, as you so aptly stated. It has been far too cold to wash the way I would in warmer clime."

"Surely a bowl...what?"

"With the clothes in the bowl, what would be on the man?" he chuckled as she blushed, turning her back.

"Turn around." She said as she did the same.

"I do wash my hands and face in a bowl of water each morn and eve if there is time. But there is no change of clothes and a soldier is never without his mail on the campaigns. I remove the mail only long enough to swim in a lake or river to rid my clothing of the...erm..."

"Smell." She chuckled as she changed. "But to your earlier question, I own this farm, as father is...gone and my brothers...I knew between the two houses, there would be enough things left to make our living more comfortable. And my father and three elder brothers all left clothing. Enough to get you out of your armor and into peasant clothing. Much less noticeable..."

"You thought correctly. And the idea of making me a one-armed ex-soldier was nothing less than brilliant. It will be easy enough to dismiss a crippled man if one were looking for Erec or his knights."

"All finished." Gwyn sighed as she balled the elegant gown that she had worn for the last three days and tucked it under her arm. "Waste not-want not." She said, "If it cannot be saved, it shall make very elegant rags and bandages. And I am so very grateful to be clean again."

"I cannot recall when last I moved about without mail or armor. We have been at war for..." he paused thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose since Hugh the Younger was crowned."

"I imagine you will feel awkward at first then."

They carried the easy banter of long acquaintances, which was all the better for their ruse. And Gwyn was anxious to know the men that she would be living with for the foreseeable future.

"I have not seen this secret room..." she sighed, "I was just thinking that it had better be a large one to keep the seven of us."

"That is not something we will know until we arrive. It is best to push such concerns aside until such time as we do."

"John said something similar just the other day, when I worried that I might find you all were—"

"He did not—"

"Misinform." They finished together with a laugh.

---

"Come." John said lifting Gwyn down from the cart. He had her hand and began tugging her almost the instant her feet hit the ground.

Gwyn dug in her heels and leaned back, tugging John to a stop.

"We need to unload and I wish to see the—"

"Come!" John repeated holding out his hand, but when she showed no intention of following, he smiled. "Please. I wish to show you something. It will take them a while to unload everything anyway."

Turning, she saw Gil and Drew had already begun unloading. She smiled. No one seemed to even notice that Drew had only one arm. She smiled as she turned back to John and took his hand. John was right, they would be a while getting everything out of the wagon and down into their hiding hole.

She looked around, wondering why he was dragging her through the ruins toward the wood. The original forest was dense. Trees there grew thickly and close together. But she could see that in the thirty some years since the Abbey was destroyed that the forest had begun to reclaim the land. There were trees growing from the edge of the wood all the way up to the Abbey ruins.

They were taller and older closer to the forest, but even near the ruins, and among them, there were a few very old trees as well as many younger ones. Saplings and undergrowth covered most of the area that had once been the Abbey and the grounds surrounding it. It was actually rather serene, she thought, the way that the light filtered among the leaves, softening it.

"You told me that the baroness and your mother believed their secret room to be ancient." John said softly.

Gwyn thought maybe he was inspired by the feeling of the ruins and the wood...quiet and peaceful...undisturbed these many years until now. She turned her attention back to him when she realized he was waiting for a reply.

"Erm...Yes?"

"Well, they were right." John smiled. "But we believe it is much more ancient than anyone realized. It was said that the Abbey stood for over a hundred years. We believe the room preceded the abbey by maybe half a century or so."