by Lynsay Sands
Page 24
"Iheard her screaming and came running," Diamanda said.
"Asdid I. " Lady Helen shuddered delicately. "I never want to heara scream like thatagain. I thoughtmyheart wouldstop with fear. "
"Aye. " Diamanda nodded agreement. "it was chilling. I thoughtRunildahad hurt herself, then I sawyou hanging there. " She gave alittleshiver at the memory. "I sent Runilda for Paen and hurried upstairs to see if I couldhelpyou. "
"Whichwas where I caught up with Diamanda. " Lady Helen squeezed Avelyn's hand gently. "Thesilly child was tryingto figure out how tounhookyouso she could pull you back up, but I cautioned her to wait for Paen. She wasn't nearly strongenough to pull youback up. "
"The cloth was straining," Diamanda said irritably in response to her aunt's condescending tone. "Iwasafraid the clothwould tear andshe would fall toher death. "
"That wasa concern," LadyHelen admittedon a sigh, "Buthad you unhooked heras you wantedtodo, you might bothhave goneover. "
Diamandasnorted with irritation at thepossibility "I'm strongerthanyou think. "
"Child, she is muchheavierthan you,"Lady Helensaid patiently. "You never could have held her weight. "
"SoPaen gotmedown?Or up,as the case may be?" Avelynqueried to end the argument.
"Aye. " Diamandaturnedtosmile,her eyes brightening. "Heis so strong. He lifted you with one hand. He just knelt at the side of the hole, reached down, caught your skirt and lifted youright up. Then hecarriedyou below and started bellowing orders tothe men. "
"The men?" Avelynpeered at her with confusion.
"Aye. Well, when Runilda went running down to fetchPaen, the men hurried back with him," Diamanda informedher. "They alljustfrozeinthe hall staring up at you fora minute, even Paen. They were allhorror-struck, of course; then Paensent the men to fetch the tent cloth and they heldit out tight beneath youinthe hall, in case you fellbefore he could pull you up. "
"Of course, by the time they had thematerial stretched outbeneath you, Paenhad alreadyreached youand was pulling you up"Helen said. "Once he'dcarried you downstairs, he orderedthemen to set up the tent out infront ofthekeep so that he would have someplace to layyou whileyou recovered. "
"Aye,my lady. Your husbandwas so concerned, he held you thewholetime while the men setup the tent," Runilda told her with a smile. Avelynwas just feeling herheart thrill atherhusband'spublic showof affection when Diamanda spokeup.
"Well, of course he did. There was nowhere to set her down untilthetent wasup andwe'darranged thefurs inside," the girl said practically.
"We should let Avelyn rest," Lady Helen saidwith a frownatDiamanda as the small smile that had started on Avelyn's facedied aquick death. "We should go see how themenare getting on. "
"The men?" Avelynaskedas Diamanda'sauntstood.
"Aye," Diamanda answered. "Paen set someof them tofixingthe stairs and the floor on the upper level. The rest are removing the oldrushes fromthegreat hall so thatit may be scrubbed. "
"Isee," Avelyn whispered.
"Do not fear,"theyounger girl said as shegot to herfeet. "Youneed not see the mentoday. Rest and recover - wewill overseethem. "
"Why would Inot wishtosee themen?"Avelyn asked with bewilderment.
"Well. . . " The petiteblonde looked nonplused foramoment, thensaid, "I just thought you may be too embarrassed aftereverything. "
"Everything?" Avelyn asked, feelingdread well in her. "What everything?"
"I thought you mightbeembarrassedthat they had allseen. . . " She paused as if just realizingthatAvelyn didn'tknow.
"Come, lether rest; there is noneed for her to know. " When Lady Helen tugged at Diamanda's arm, the girl followedherquickly outof thetent.
Avelyn turned her gazetoRunilda. "There isnoneedfor me to know what? What did all the men see?"
Themaid sighedunhappily, but knew her mistress well. Avelynwouldrequire an answer.
"You weremostlyupright, hanging by the back ofyour skirt, my lady," Runilda explained with discomfort and gestured behind herself.
Avelyn staredat her with dawning horror. "Was all revealed?"
"Nay," themaid hurried to reassure her. "The skirt caughtunderyourarms at the sidesand draped over. . . er. . . well it was above your kneesinfront. Well above,"
she added.
"And the back?" Avelyn asked. Runilda's expression was answer enough. It seemed - like theday Paen had thought she'ddrowned - the men had once again gotten agoodlook atherbackside. "My husband must thinkme such apickle. "
"Oh, nay,my lady. " Runilda knelt at her side andsqueezedher hand. "Truly, he wentwhitewhenhe saw you werein peril, and he would notput youdownonce he hadyou in his arms. He held you for ever solong, just staringat you with concern. I think he isgrowing to care foryou. "
Avelyn found that hard to believe. She was not exactly the perfect wife. In fact, she would guess thatto Paen she was something of a nightmare. Too tired to once again make a mental listing of all theinjuriesand accidents she'dcausedorbeen involvedwithsince her wedding day,Avelyn simply asked,"Where is my husband?"
"After heassured himself youwouldrecover, he set the men to work, then rode out forthe village. I believe heis going to seeabout servants. "
Avelyn grimaced atthisnews. Paen was supposed to tend tothe outside of the keepwhile she tendedtothe inside. Once again her clumsiness had simply laid more of aburden onPaen. Her husbandmay not have beeninjured this time, ashehad when his hands had gottenburned in thefire she'd started, but the chores he was tending to were supposed to beherresponsibility.
Well, she would not allowthat. It wastoo late to stop him from going to the village in searchof servants,but she couldatleast oversee themen while he was gone. Avelyn started to rise, pausing half upright on the furs when pain rushed through her and nausea followed.
"Please,my lady. " Runilda was immediatelypushing at her shoulders, tryingto urge her back down. "Rest. You were sorely injured. "
Avelyn gritted her teeth andbrushed the maid'shands aside asshe forced herself upright. "I wish to get up, Runilda. My head will ache whether I am lying or standing. "
Givingan exasperated sigh, Runilda stopped trying toforce herback downand instead put a handunder her armtohelphertoherfeet.
With Runilda'said,Avelyn managedtostand. She leanedheavily on the maidand made it outof thetentbefore thefirst wave of nausea hit her. Standingvery still, she took deep breathsand assuredherself thatthe longershe was up, thebetter she would feel. Avelynwasn'tsureshe believedit, butit mattered little. Her husbandhad continued todo everythinghe had to do withinjured hands. Shewould manageto order some men about with a sore head.
As Runilda helped her intothe greathall, the firstplaceAvelyn looked was toward the floorsoverhead. She spottedthe hole she thought she'd fallen through and stared at it silently,recalling the last momentsbefore the fall. Despite what Dia-mandaand Lady Helen had said, Avelyn was sure she'd been hit. Hermind was atad confused, but. . . She could still feel the stunning blow; thepain hadbeen sharp andhardand had knocked her off balance. She remembered falling, and realizing there was nothingbeneath her lefthand; thenshe'd sufferedanother sharppain as herhead hit the farbroken edge of the hole.
Aye, Avelyn was sure someone had hit her. But who? One of the missing servants? Therooms had seemed empty, but. . . Nay, she had notyet even metthe people here. They would haveno reasonto harm her.
The ruined tunic came to mind. Avelyn recalled thescentof pork on the clothand herbrief fearsthatsomeonewas sabotaging her efforts, butshe quickly brushed the thought away. The two eventscould notbe connected. Ruining hersewing efforts was anentirely different prospectthanattacking her.
"Avy! Whatever areyou doingup?" Diamanda rushedtoward her with concern andAvelyn let her thoughtsgo. There was work to do.
The moon was high and full by the time Paen rode back into the bailey. He'dhad a long night. His triptothe village had provedfruitless. If anyone there wasa servant from the castle, theywere no
t admittingit, and not oneperson hadbeen willingto work at Rumsfeld. Had they been serfs, Paen could have ordered them tothecastle, buthe'd been informed thatthe serfs had fled Rumsfeld long before Legere had died. The inhabitants ofthevillageclaimed toall be freemen,peasants freeto do as theylikedso longas they helped tendthe castle fields. Without any idea what elseto do, Paenhad left the village and headed for Gerville. Servantswere neededto clean upandrun thecastle,andhe had to get them somewhere.
He'd made the long journeyto his parents' home, explained the situation to his father over ameal, thengot back onhishorseand headedhome, his ears ringing with his father's promise totake care of thematter. They should have servants at Rumsfeld by early afternoon ofthe next day. Now he was returning to Rumsfeld, arrivinglaterthaneverhe had returnedtoGerville during this past week.
Paen rode straighttothe broken-downstables. He beddeddown his mount, being sure to give him extra feed after the long journey,then walked wearilyto the keep.
The baileywas completely silent ashe crossedit. If it weren't for the men standing guard on thewallto watch for attack, he would have thought the castle hadbeen abandoned. Inall his years, Paen had never seen a bailey thissilent and empty of activity. It was ratherdisturbing.
Even more bothersome was thefact that thetentwas no longer set up out front as ithad beenwhen he'dleft. The realizationgave Paena moment's worry before he calmed himself with the thought that Avelyn must have woken upand hadittaken away. She was probably resting and recoveringfrom her injuries inside.
She'dbetter be, he thought, and felt his heartsqueeze as he recalled the vision of herdangling high above thehall. Paenwas sure the sight had scared agoodtenyears off his life. It made him feel sickjust to thinkof it. Even more upsetting hadbeen the stateof her facewhen he'd pulled her up. Avelyn hadobviouslyhit her head in the fall,andblood had drippedfrom a cut on her forehead, spreading down her cheek in rivulets thatresembled the long, thin talonsof avery large bird. Atfirst,he'd feared she wasdead, and had been more than relieved when he'dgottenher up through the holeandsaw her. chest rise and fall as heheld her in hisarms. Paen had then found himself reluctant to setherdown even when the tent was ready and a bed of furshad beenthrown quicklytogether.
Avelyn was eitherthemost fortunate or unfortunate of women. In the shorttime he'd known her, she'dsurvived fire, drowning and nowadeadly fall. Though she hadn't really been indanger during the fire,he supposed, still. . . Paen shook his head. His mother had claimed that the fates seemed atoddswith Avelyn since theirmarriage. It hadbeen her first commentwhen she'd heard about the latest calamitytobefall her new daughter-in-law. Thenshe'dexplainedabout the dogs attacking Avelyn's latest efforts at clothes for him. Paen was beginningto suspect it was something more than that, though he had nothing to base those suspicionsonother than asense that there were just toomany unusual incidents.
Some things weren't adding up. His mother loved her dogs, but she also demanded obedience and good behaviorfrom them and trained them accordingly. In all the time she'dhad them, Boudica and Juno had neverbefore attackedanything.
Yet, from his mother'sdescription, the animals hadripped the tunicto shreds. And thenthere was the firein the tent. He could stillrecall Avelyn's earnest face asshe'd assuredhim thatshe'd blownoutthe candle. Her certainty hadwanedonlywhen he'd suggested she'd been in a hurryand hadnot paid enough attention to besure the candlewas out.
This latest incident was what really madehimwonder. Hisfather had askedhow it hadhappened, and Paen simply hadn't been able to explain it. He and his father both had been in the room whenthey'd first inspected the castle. Even if she hadn't seen theholes from the floor below, Avelyn would havenoted thematonce on entering the room. She couldn't have missed seeing the hole. It wassimply impossible.
Nay, Paenfelt sure no onecouldbe this unlucky. Something was amiss,and he intendedtoquestionhis wife carefully about thislatestaccident. Hewouldalsokeep a closer eye on her. And wouldfinally start on his campaign toshowAvelynher own value. It was somethinghe'dtoo long neglected.
Thekeep's doubledoors were wide open in welcomeand Paen stepped inside.
He pausedtolook around his greathall. Every lastone of the menwas sprawledon the great-hall floor, snoring up a storm. They were sleeping the deep sleep of the exhausted,andit took littlemore than aglancearound to seewhy. They had worked hardinhisabsence. Thehallfloorwas now covered withathickcarpet of fresh rushes. He couldn'tsee the stairsinthe dimlight from the fireplace, butsuspected theywereprobablymendedandsafe again.
Paen wassurethere were otherchanges as well, butit was late and he waswilling towait until morning to inspect them. For now, he simply wantedto knowwhere his wife was. Hewouldn't be able to relaxuntil he'd seen that she really hadrecovered.
His gaze was drawn tothe tent in the center of the hall. Tired as he was, he'd scarcely noticedit at first. This, then,was where the tent had gotten to. It hadbeen movedfrom outsidetothe middle of the great hall. Hehadnodoubt it was hiswife's idea - and he fullyexpectedtofind her inside.
Had he the energy, Paen wouldhave laughed at the sightof thetent surrounded bysleeping men. Shaking his head at her ingenuity in providing herself and himwith a privatehavenin the midst oftheir people, Paen began to weave hisway through the bodies ofhis sleeping men.
it was a testament to their exhaustion that not one of the men stirred as he crossed the floor. Paen supposed thatspending the morninghaulingrock for the outerwall,then the afternoon and probably early eveningcleaning and repairing the castle,had knocked out the majority ofthem. Hemanagedto reach thetent withouttrippingoveranyone, then slippedsilently inside. In here it was pitch-black. He realized therewould be noway to check his wife'sinjuries. Heslowly moved acrossthetent toward the back rightcorner, where he imagined the furs would be laid outas they hadbeen onthe journey to Gerville.
