by Anne Herries
Leaving her uncle’s private chamber, Elaine walked through the great hall. The room was always filled with knights and servants going about their business. In winter and even on summer days a huge log fire was kept burning in the hearth, for the stone walls and high vaulted roof made it cold. Sunlight seldom penetrated the tiny slitted windows and it was often dark. Outside it was a glorious autumn day, but in the castle there were dark corners until the torches were lit.
Her dower lands did not boast a stout castle such as this one, merely a manor house, but it was much lighter and the deep windowsills made a perfect place to sit and look out at the gardens and fields that surrounded her mother’s home. She had spent many happy days there in childhood and wished that she might go there now, but her uncle was right. Without a husband to protect her she would be vulnerable and at the mercy of ruthless barons.
‘My lady, will you walk?’ Marion, her companion and faithful servant, came up to her, a basket over her arm. ‘We need herbs for the kitchens. I go to the woods. Will it pleasure you to come with me?’
‘Yes, why not?’ Elaine was already wearing her cloak, for she had intended to walk in the grounds of the castle, but on such a pleasant autumn day it would be enjoyable to go further. ‘Shall we take Bertrand with us?’
‘Bertrand waits for me in the courtyard,’ Marion said. ‘He said that I should not go alone to the woods for he heard of a band of marauding bandits in the area. We have always been safe on your father’s land, but…’ She glanced over her shoulder. ‘Lord Howarth does not send out patrols as often as did your father, lady.’
‘My uncle believes that his name is sufficient to deter those who would come against him. His neighbours are on good terms with him and I think we must be safe enough—but I am happy to have Bertrand with us.’
Bertrand had been courting her lady-in-waiting for some months now. He was a soft-spoken man, tall, strong and pleasant in manner, but somewhat diffident in the presence of ladies. Although he had shown some preference for Marion, he had not asked for her. It would be a good chance for the pair to spend a little time together. Elaine would wander a little ahead of them, giving them the opportunity to speak what was in their hearts if they so chose. If they should ask for her permission to wed, she would give it, but she hoped that Marion would not leave her service, for she loved her as a sister.
She wished with all her heart that Zander had returned to England so that he might accompany them to the woods and a little smile touched her lips as she remembered all the times she’d walked in her father’s woods with the young knight before he’d left for the Holy Land.
‘You know that I love you, Elaine? You know that I would not leave you if there were another way?’
‘Yes, I know.’ Elaine had smiled up into his grey eyes. He was so handsome with his proud noble features, his mouth soft and seductive, his brows fine and dark. Hair the colour of ebony had fallen across his brow and she’d reached up to brush it away. ‘Please promise to come back safely, Zander. I do not care if you bring riches. When I am eighteen my mother’s dower lands become mine. They are all we need to live in peace and happiness together.’
Zander had reached for her, pulling her close to him. His mouth was sweet on hers as he kissed her lingeringly and with such tenderness that it brought tears to her eyes.
‘Know that I shall never love another woman, Elaine. If I do not return for you, it will be because I lie dead in the Holy Land.’
‘No! You must not die, for I could not bear it. Must you go? I wish you would not. Seek honours at court and in time my father will relent.’
‘I must take the Cross and follow the king. Richard seeks to convert the heathen or drive them from God’s Holy City. Only when Jerusalem is ours may we consider our duty done. And then I shall avenge my father…’
‘Supposing you never manage to capture Jerusalem?’
‘If I feel the cause hopeless I shall return—but we are right. God is with us and we must prevail for we undertake His work.’
‘But you leave me behind and break my heart? How can you talk of love and hurt me so?’
Elaine felt the tears on her cheeks. Zander had kissed her deeply with such tenderness that she had not doubted his love. His cause was just and she could not in all conscience have prevented him from leaving.
She dashed her tears away. Her memories were precious and she treasured them. Zander had gone because he believed the king’s cause just and because it was the only way he could earn honours and return a rich knight. All her entreaties had not deterred him and so she’d watched him ride away. The years had been long since then and she had grieved for the love that might have been. While her father lived she had waited patiently, but now her soul cried out to the man she loved.
‘Where are you, Zander?’ she whispered as she followed a few steps behind her serving woman to the courtyard, where the burly groom waited. ‘Please return to me. I beg you, do not desert me.’
Raising her head, Elaine forced a smile to her lips as she passed through the courtyard. No one must realise that she was close to tears. Only a weak woman cried. Elaine was strong. She had won a promise from her uncle and she had more than two months of freedom before she must think about becoming the Earl of Newark’s bride.
‘When do we attack the castle?’ Stronmar looked at his lord, the Earl of Newark, as he walked into the hall where the scene was one of preparation for war. ‘All is ready, you have only to give the word, my lord.’
‘Howarth is a fool,’ the earl growled. ‘He told me that his niece would be mine at Christ’s Mass if I waited in patience, but a man should not be ruled by a woman’s whims. He should force her to obey him. There is no reason to wait.’
‘You do not need to wait. Howarth neglects to send out patrols and believes the rumours of a band of marauding bandits on his land are merely that. He has no idea that we have been the ones attacking travellers and burning the isolated cottages. We leave none to tell the tale.’
‘You have done well,’ the earl said and smiled thinly. ‘Had the lady agreed to the marriage I might have spared her uncle, but I shall not be thwarted. I want her and her lands—but she is Howarth’s heir. When her uncle dies she will be twice the heiress she is now, for besides the castle he has other manors in the north.’
Stronmar grinned, revealing a row of rotten teeth. He was an unfortunate-looking man, his features heavy and ugly, the stench of his breath worse than a latrine. His one redeeming feature was his loyalty to the earl and he would die for the lord who had rescued him when as a young lad he had lain close to starvation after his parents had both died from a terrible fever. The harvests had rotted in the fields that year, for a pestilence had killed most of the villagers. He, too, would have died had the lord not ordered him taken up and carried to his castle, where Stronmar had grown strong and tall as the years passed.
‘The lady will be yours, my lord. Give the word and we shall ride for the castle this very day. The fools will not suspect an attack and we may take them with scarcely a fight.’
‘Then we ride at once,’ the earl said. ‘I see no reason to wait when I may have the lady now. Once I have bedded her she will beg me to marry her. A woman must be shown who is the master or a man is nothing in his own home.’
‘The Lady Elaine is too proud for her own good.’
The earl nodded, his thick lips curving in a sneer. ‘Pride such as hers must be curbed, and methinks I shall find it amusing to teach the wench a lesson she will not forget. Besides, I need an heir, for my wives gave me only daughters.’
‘We have gathered herbs and berries enough,’ Elaine said. Their baskets were filled and the day was drawing to its close. Enjoying the unseasonably warm sunshine and the freedom of being away from the castle, they had strayed a long way from her home in search of berries, herbs and nuts to fill the deep panniers that Bertrand had attached to the pack horse. He was riding his own stout horse while the ladies had ridden Elaine’s palfrey. ‘I think w
e should go home now.’
‘Yes, my lady.’ Marion smiled at her. ‘Your uncle may grow worried and send out men to search for you if we do not return before nightfall.’
‘I would not have him think we had run away.’ Elaine thanked the groom as he put first her, and then her lady, up on the palfrey. Marion rode pillion behind her, as was the custom for a serving woman, though for some of the day she’d ridden with Bertrand so that the palfrey should not tire of carrying them both.
The little party turned in the direction that would lead them home. They had laughed, talked and danced in the clearing as they gathered their rich harvest and now they were tired, ready for the food and drink that awaited them at the castle. Marion had brought some bread, cheese and a flagon of ale, which they’d shared, as well as feasting on the ripe blackberries that grew in abundance in the woods. Yet even so their thoughts had turned to the supper that would await them and Bertrand apologised for his rumbling stomach.
‘Do not apologise,’ Elaine said and laughed. ‘I think we shall all eat well this night, for there is roasting pig as well as pigeon and capon.’
Her mouth watered at the thought and she realised that she, too, was hungry. It was at that moment that she caught the smell of burning and her nose wrinkled at the stench.
‘Someone has set a fire,’ she said, ‘but I think…’
The words died unspoken, for as they crested the rise they saw the pall of dark smoke hanging over the castle and smelled the awful stench.
‘There has been a fire,’ Marion cried. ‘The keep stands, but the smoke is thick. What can have happened?’
‘The castle has been attacked,’ Bertrand said and brought his horse and the pack pony to a standstill. ‘We must go no further, my lady. You should take shelter over there in the empty barn we passed this morning. I shall leave the horses with you and go on to see what has happened.’
‘You should not go alone,’ Marion said and then blushed at her forwardness. ‘What will happen to us if you should be killed?’
‘Do not fear for me, dear heart,’ Bertrand said and smiled at her. ‘I know how to remain hidden and survey the lie of the land. If my lady’s uncle was attacked in his castle, it must have been a strong force. This was not the work of a band of marauding bandits.’
‘No, I think you are right,’ Elaine said and shivered. ‘We shall do as you ask, Bertrand, but please take care. Marion is right. Without you we should be vulnerable and an easy prey for whoever has done this thing.’
‘You may trust me—I shall not let you down,’ Bertrand said. ‘Stay hidden until you hear my call.’ He made the sound of an owl hooting. ‘As soon as I know how things stand I shall return, my lady. Whatever happens now, I shall protect you both with my life.’
‘I know and I thank God that you were with us,’ Elaine said and shivered. ‘I do not know who has done this wicked thing—but I fear for my aunt and uncle and all our people.’
‘Stay hidden,’ Bertrand bade them and gave the reins of the horses to Elaine and Marion. ‘I shall discover all I can and return to you as quickly as I may.’
He set off at a run, heading towards the castle as the dark gathered about them and the only light was from the red glow that hung over what Elaine guessed to be some outbuildings. She thought that the great hall and the keep still stood, so whoever had attacked the castle had not intended to destroy it, but merely to capture it.
She could only hope that they had been as considerate of the people. The thought of her aunt and uncle lying dead in the castle caught at her heart and brought tears to her eyes. No matter that she’d resisted her uncle’s demands for her marriage, she cared for him and her aunt in her way and prayed that they still lived.
‘Come, my lady,’ Marion said. ‘We must do as Bertrand told us and take shelter. Whoever attacked the castle may pass this way and we should be easy prey.’
‘Yes.’ A little shudder went through her. Had she not gone foraging with Marion she might even now be dead or a prisoner of whoever had attacked her uncle’s castle.
Chapter Two
‘Tell me where your niece is, woman, or you will join your husband in an early grave.’ The Earl of Newark glared at the woman his men had dragged from her chamber and brought to him in the great hall. The remains of his supper lay strewn on the table, for he had ordered the food served even while the stain of his victim’s blood remained on his hands. ‘Tell me where she went and I shall spare you.’
‘If I knew I would tell you,’ the poor lady cried, wringing her hands in distress as she looked about and saw bodies still lying where they had fallen. Some of her husband’s people had tried to defend him and for that they had lost their lives. ‘Forgive me, sir. I lay sleeping when she left the castle and have no knowledge of her whereabouts.’
The earl drew back his mailed fist and struck her a blow that sent her to her knees. She stayed where he had put her, head bowed, weeping with fear and grief.
‘Stop that snivelling, woman,’ he growled. ‘If you are hiding her, it will be the worse for you.’
‘I beg you, lord, do not strike my lady again.’ One of the pages ran forward. ‘I saw the Lady Elaine go riding with her serving woman and the groom Bertrand earlier. They have not yet returned to the castle.’
The earl’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the young page. The boy was slight, but stood proudly before him. He would have felled him, but something in the youth’s manner stayed his hand.
‘You speak the truth?’
‘I swear it on my life, lord.’
Newark nodded. ‘Very well, I believe you. If she took nothing with her, she must return. We shall send out men to find her and bring her back.’ He frowned as the page reached the side of his weeping mistress. ‘Yes, take her away out of my sight.’
As the countess staggered to her feet, he held up his hand. ‘Leave the castle in the morning. You may take your clothes and chattels with you—but the silver and gold remains. If you try to cheat me, I shall kill you.’
The countess bowed her head, making no protest as other servants came forwards to lead her away. She could return to her brother and sister-in-law, who would give her a home. She would not linger until the morning, for she could not wait to leave this place—and she would not stay even to see her husband buried. She would grieve for him, but in her heart she knew that her grief would not last long for he had not been a loving husband. She must thank God that the earl had seen fit to spare her. Whether her brother would take revenge for what had happened remained to be seen.
Allowing her servants to lead her away, the countess wondered what had become of her niece. If she could warn her to stay away from the castle, she would do so, but, since she had no idea where the girl had gone she could do nothing. For all she knew Elaine had taken flight to her dower lands. Yet it seemed she had taken nothing with her so it was more likely that she had merely gone riding, as the page claimed. It was a mercy that she had not been in the castle when the earl attacked them, but no doubt he would have her one way or the other.
Weeping, the countess ordered the packing of her things, secretly hiding a few of her jewels about her person. The earl had too much on his mind to order her searched and she did not intend to leave with nothing. She would take what she dared and leave swiftly, before he changed his mind.
She thought of Elaine’s jewels, but decided it was not worth the risk of trying to steal them away. The earl had ordered a watch kept on the girl’s chambers and any attempt to spirit away her things would meet with a sharp punishment.
Elaine must just make the most of her freedom if she could and perhaps reach her dower lands, though now that her uncle was dead there was no one to protect her even there. The countess could do nothing to help her, for she must throw herself on her brother’s charity and hope that he would take her in.
‘Listen…’ Elaine touched Marion’s hand as she heard the owl hooting. ‘I am sure that is Bertrand. He has returned at last.’
‘I knew he would not let us down.’ Marion rose joyfully as the barn door opened and a shadowy figure entered. ‘Bertrand, is that you?’
‘Yes, dear heart,’ Bertrand said and moved to catch her in his arms, holding her close for a moment before turning to Elaine. ‘Ill news, my lady. The Earl of Newark took the castle by a trick for he came under the guise of friendship. Your uncle was foully slain and your aunt mistreated before being told to leave the castle.’
‘My uncle dead?’ Elaine gasped. her hand flew to her mouth—despite her recent argument with him, she honoured both him and her aunt. He was her father’s brother and, though stern, she knew that he cared what became of her. ‘And my aunt?’
‘Told to leave with her goods and chattels, but not the silver or jewels.’
‘Newark intends to have it all. Why could my uncle not see him for the villain he is?’ Elaine asked, a little sob in her voice. ‘Had I wed him he would not have rested until my uncle was in his grave. We dare not return to the castle. Somehow we must try to reach my dower lands—but I have no money with me. We have nothing but the clothes we wear and the food we gathered.’
‘We have a little more,’ Bertrand said. ‘Your chamber was guarded, my lady. I fear I was able to take nothing of yours, but it was easy to enter Marion’s chamber. I have brought some clothing, which you may share, also some silver and pewter that I managed to snatch. I have a little coin of my own and a few of my own things.’
‘Yes, Marion’s clothing will fit me and it may be best if I change before we begin our journey. If I pass as your sister and Marion your wife, we may escape detection and be safer.’
‘Yes, my lady, that is true,’ Bertrand agreed. ‘I am sorry I could not bring your jewels.’
‘I wear the silver cross and chain my father gave me beneath my gown always,’ Elaine said and smiled. ‘Nothing else matters but our lives. If we can reach my dower lands, we can recruit more men to defend us—though I fear the earl will try to stop us before we reach safety.’
