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brought him blankets and he slept on the floor of the pantry, staring up past the shelves in the darkness. He was exhausted, but it took him longer to fall asleep that night as thoughts of conspiracy swirled through his head, along with deep emotion at the thought that Arianne slept only a few feet away across the cottage.
    Abedding me with a bed, Daughter of Berengar .
     

Chapter 4 : Well Hidden
    “Do not move.”
    Nisero’s eyes flew open at the words. He was ready to come up from the floor to fight, expecting full well to be brought back down quickly and soundly. He saw that Arianne was the one standing above him and she had been the one that had spoken the words.
    “Okay,” he whispered.
    “The workers arrived early. I’m setting up supplies and a horse for you now and will get you out undetected.”
    Nisero took hold of the shelves on both sides of him and pulled himself up.
    “Stay where you are, I said.” Arianne rested her hands on her hips.
    “I am, but what is your plan for getting me out unnoticed, if the property is occupied?”
    “I’m going with you.”
    Nisero sat bolt upright and struck his head on the underside of a shelf before turning around. “That’s out of the question.”
    “I don’t recall asking you a question, lieutenant.”
    Arianne pushed the pantry door toward closing, but Nisero threw a hand out and caught it.
    “Arianne, wait.”
    “You seem determined to be found out. Trust me.”
    “I trust that your father will kill me himself if I ride into the mountains with his pregnant daughter. What will your husband say?”
    Arianne spoke through the gap in the half closed door. “My husband is not here and my father decided to live in the mountains as a hermit. There is no way for you to find him without me. Even if I drew you a map, he will only reveal himself to my messages. It is his own fault for setting up his self-imposed exile this way.”
    “If you knew this before,” Nisero gritted his teeth, “why didn’t you tell me last night?”
    “I knew you would argue,” she said, “and you did not drink enough wine to make me think you were ready to hear the news then.”
    “I didn’t think it wise to get drunk while the entire kingdom was searching for me. So, you did intend to get me drunk after all.”
    “Well, now you know. I have a cloak and hood you will need to wear as we ride out.”
    “I can’t let you,” he said determinedly. “I would rather turn myself in and spare you this ride and further involvement.”
    “I’m not giving you that choice. If what you say is true, the fate of the kingdom is at risk and my father would want to know. Even if you allowed yourself to be sacrificed, I would still ride out to see him. Only then I will be a pregnant woman riding alone, so if you are truly concerned for my safety then you must ride with me.”
    “You are as stubborn as your father, and more stubborn than when I first met you, if that is at all possible,” he grumbled.
    “You are one to talk, lieutenant.”
    “This is a terrible idea.” He rubbed his face.
    Someone knocked at the front door.
    “Just a moment,” Arianne called. She lowered her voice to speak to Nisero again. “They are searching for a man traveling alone, based on a terrible drawing. This far north they would not know an Elite Guardsman from a bandit. If you are traveling with a woman, and a pregnant woman at that, no one will place you as the man they seek.”
    “That’s a good point,” Nisero agreed.
    “Of course it is. This would have gone faster if you had just left it at my telling you not to move and trust me like I first said.”
    She closed the pantry without waiting for a response. The door did not latch, so Nisero saw a sliver of light and heard her footfalls approaching the front door.
    He could hear most of what she said, but the other half of the conversation was the low, muffled mutter of a man’s voice. He heard Arianne say, “Are they ready … My father is not well.