by Rizzo Rosko
He stepped closer, removing his cloak and holding it towards her. “You are cold, milady.”
She cringed away at the sight of the filthy cloak. “Nay, I am perfectly fine.”
He did not slow. He kept coming nearer to her. Marianne refused to back away lest she allow him to believe that the lady of the castle was frightened of her servants. He was soon upon her.
She stared him in the eyes, willing him to turn away from her. Not even Archer dared to stand so close. “I have no use for that. My cloak is fine.”
“I insist.” He sprung, pulling a leather strap hidden under the cloak and twisting it about her neck before she could draw breath for her scream.
She fell back. His grip on her neck caught her but her legs gave out and she was forced down.
Robert followed her to the hay strewn floor. His grip did not slack as he climbed on top of her to still her kicking legs with his body.
Marianne clasped his wrists and tried to pry herself free. Her fingernails sank into his flesh but he held firm.
Her neck seared with pain from the leather and her throat burned, lungs constricting for air that would not come. Her face became hot.
Marianne turned her fingernails loose into his hands. His fading image winced but he refused to release her.
Her tongue thickened, she tasted wool in her mouth. A strange sound vibrated in her ears.
Then all that existed was blackness.
***
William laughed when Bryce’s sword fell out of his hand. The larger man watched it clang to the floor as if he had never thought such a thing was possible.
Playfully, William lifted the man’s chin with the tip of his winning blade.
“My game.”
Bryce grinned, raising his hands mockingly. “So it is, milord.”
Nicholas, laughing merrily, clapped his hands from his seat. Hugh shook his head and handed the man a coin.
“Your odds are bettering, my friend,” said Hugh. “At this rate Nicholas will have all his money back.”
William nodded, though any pity for his gambling friends would not come from him.
He had much to be thankful and happy about, more than just his returning skill.
His servants were working harder than he had seen in years, a small peace was set between his wife and son.
And he was very much in love with his wife, his Marianne, and no longer fearful of admitting it to himself or to his bride. She had been wonderfully accepting of his past sins and always eager to learn more and please him in their bed.
What more could he ask?
“Aye, but I believe we should take our next match outdoors, ‘tis not wise to be sword playing in my solar.” William said.
“‘Tis too cold.” Said Nicholas, moving closer to the fire. “That is why you are a lord, so that you might play indoors.”
William was about to tell him that their next match would be held outside on the morn when his doors burst open.
Olma ran inside accompanied by Adam. He clutched her arm, holding her upright as she was so red in the face and out of breath that standing looked to be a chore. Frozen tears unthawed against her cheeks.
“My lord,” said Adam. “The girl has found James wounded, and your wife is missing.”
William’s insides shifted.
***
Marianne stirred. Her head throbbed on all sides and her breath came hot against her face, yet her entire body tingled with freeze.
She frowned, recalling her strange dream and noting how her bed rocked up and down, right and left.
She thought of telling the servants to tend to the fire and bring her something warm to drink. She was so sick with dizziness she felt such a strange rocking.
Just thinking of the servants brought a memory of Robert and his attack in the stable.
She gasped and her eyes flew open, aware of herself and what had taken place even though she still could not see.
The material against her face brought the answer. A horse blanket.
Robert covered her with a horse blanket, and what she had once been so incoherent to think was her bed was really the hard wooden surface of a haycart. The sound of a horse trudging through the cold mud sickened her with horror.
He was taking her somewhere.
She only prayed he had not noticed she awoke.
Her mind raced. Had Robert intended to kill her? Her hands and feet were not tied so ‘twas possible he thought her dead when he piled her into cart that was not fit for a road. But to what purpose? And why move her corpse?
Slowly, her heart beating wildly in her chest, Marianne took the blanket in her fingers and lowered it from her face.
Cold, fresh air assaulted her. Robert’s back was to her, and he appeared much too at ease for a man who attempted to kill the lady of his castle. He was humming softly to himself as he kept his eyes alert and ahead.
She looked up. The sky was dark, darker than it had been when she went to the stables. No stars. Naught but blackness in the sky, which meant it had not cleared.
Marianne said earlier that they would likely have snow, now she sent another silent prayer that they would not. If she traveled a long distance the snow could cover the horse and cart tracks.
Someone did answer her prayer. But it was not God and was no friend of Marianne’s.
A single fat snowflake descended from the sky. It landed on her nose in mockery before melting and dripping down her cheek.
An uncountable number followed, filling the air with a soft blinding white.
She looked at Robert again. He was still unaware of her. She turned her head about to see around her and found she did not recognize her whereabouts.
Surely William would attempt to bring her back. Another shock of dread and fear filled her.
What if he was unaware she was outside of the castle walls? He could still be searching for her within them, not knowing she was gone until ‘twas too late.
And what of James and Olma? How did Robert manage to get her by them?
Marianne inched herself towards the back of the cart, the horse blanket slid away from her body. She kept her eyes on Robert and her breathing small should he hear it. Her blood quickened as she came closer to the ledge.
The cart bobbed at a decent pace, and she was low enough to the ground already that she could put her foot down. But if she stumbled and he heard, she did not know what he would do.
She did not stumble, she barely made a noise when she landed in the cold mud.
He whipped his head around and saw her anyway. Marianne gasped and ran.
“Milady!” Robert stopped the cart and ran after her.
Marianne’s feet caught in her gown and in the mud, tripping her again and again. She stood to run again, desperate and panicking as his footsteps rang closer.
His fingers caught her hair, gripping tight enough to cause pain.
Marianne screamed as her head was yanked back. Robert’s arms wrapped around her torso, trapping her arms and lifting her feet completely off of the ground.
She continued to shriek, praying to be heard by someone.
Robert slapped his hand over her mouth. She felt the calloused hand missing two fingers against her lips. That alone silenced her.
He growled in her ear, shaking her once. “Milady, calm yerself and think of where we are. I have been traveling for many an hour while ye slept. My little cart would not call the attention of thieves, but a screaming woman in fine garments will.”
Marianne tensed and ceased to struggle. William’s anger with her when she rode so near the forest without protection came to mind.
She was on a deserted road in the dark. Should they be attacked, no one could save them.
Robert took her silence as surrender and put her back on her feet. He kept his hands firmly on her arms when he brought her back, though he did not release her until reaching the cart.
He threw her down on the old wood. Marianne saved herself from having the wind knocked out of he
r by throwing her hands out when she landed.
He stood over her and reached above her head. He pulled out a long stretch of thin rope from the space where he once sat. “Few men know of this road, milady. The ones that do are not to be trifled with. I suggest you keep your voice low lest we are heard.”
Marianne scrambled away from him, eyeing the road at all angles in search of any murderers that might happen to be lurking nearby.
Robert reached out and captured her wrists in both his hands. Marianne struggled, anger taking hold that he could handle her in this manner, but his strength surpassed hers.
“Cease your struggles.” He hissed, slamming her wrists against the wooden boards.
Marianne yelped but he paid no mind as he looped the rope around her hands and tied them in a complicated knot to the cart.
He took the horse blanket, shook it, and gently covered her shoulders with it.
Her mouth dropped. “You are certainly attentive considering your treatment of me earlier.”
He grinned and took his seat at the head of the cart, urging the horse forward.
Marianne bristled at being ignored. “William will find you, and when he does you will lose more than two fingers this time.”
He looked back at her, smirking, the horse still moving ahead. “Told ye that story, did he?”
Since William was not there to be insulted for his lack of sympathy, she was insulted for him. “Aye, he did, you horrible creature!”
She wanted to throw the blanket off her shoulders. Let him see that she did not need his kindness, but the sharp cold had her holding it close. She hated him all the more for it.
Robert chuckled again, whipping the horse to quicken its step. “He will not catch me until ‘tis too late. You sent Archer on his way, something I had not planned. That sickly squire is dead, he cannot say ‘twas I who attacked. And Lord Gray will search the entire castle for ye before thinking to search outside.”
Marianne tensed. He watched outside the stables while she sent Archer to his wife and child. Marianne remembered the prickle of spider legs against the back of her neck, following her for days. “‘Twas you all along watching me.”
He nodded. “Aye.”
“Why do such a thing? What harm have I or William ever caused you?”
Robert did not laugh this time, his jaw tightened. “If you bare Lord Gray a son, he will have no more use for Blaise.”
“Blaise?” Marianne could not help her genuine confusion. “You speak as though William keeps Blaise for the amusement of it. Blaise is his son.”
Robert whipped around to glare. “Nay, milady, Blaise is my son. And when Lord Gray has no more use for him he’ll be sent off, and who will care for me?”
“Care for you?” Now Marianne felt offended for Blaise and fearful for herself. For the first time she was glad she kept her possible pregnancy to herself.
Had it been announced she would surely be dead right now. “You are not doing this for Blaise, you are doing it for yourself. What can you hope to accomplish? If you wished to kill me you should have done it. Now you will be caught and William will see to it that you can never care even for yourself.”
“You are mistaken, milady. Despite your opinions of the lowly servants, I am incapable of truly harming an innocent creature,”
Marianne felt the red sore on her neck twitch and recalled how he threw her so carelessly into the cart. What was his idea of harming a creature?
Robert continued speaking, unaware of her thoughts. “If you stay, Lord Gray would soon have his heir and I will be doomed to sweeping stables until the day I die. Even with this task I am still taking a great risk, yet ‘twas the only option available to me.”
Marianne could hardly mask her disgust. “You cared nothing for Blaise, you used him on the belief that he would give you a better life on William’s death.”
Robert shrugged his shoulders and turned to watch the road again. “‘Tis the boy’s own fault. He is a man who has been knighted already. He should have known better.”
“And what are your plans when Blaise marries and produces an heir? You stopped him from wedding me, but you cannot stop him from wedding another.”
He laughed as though she had spoken some fantastic tale. “Milady, I urged Blaise to wed ye. Should he produce an heir before William, that softhearted fool would never disinherit them, and I will be free to live comfortably upon his death. ‘Twas no one’s idea but his own not to wed ye. And stubborn fool that he was, I could not convince him that ye were a perfect match. He refused to listen to the advice of the man who grooms his horses.” The last of his sentence came in a twisted grumble.
He faced her again, a hint of a smile. “If it pleases ye, milady, his harsh words were written to ye because of his anger with me.”
It did not please her at all. “And where do we go now? You claimed you cannot kill me.” Marianne reminded him, clinging to the fact hopefully.
She could see the corner of his mouth lift. “I am not surprised ye do not recognize this road, milady, ‘tis the road I lived on while exiled from Graystone. Ye would have never ridden on it. But ‘tis also a shortcut to your old home.”
Marianne’s eyes widened. “Home?”
“Aye, I’m taking ye to see Sir Ferdinand.” He turned to look at her again. “The task yer own father was sent to accomplish before he took the coward’s way out and fled.”
Chapter Fourteen
William led the search for Marianne when James was dragged into the great hall, bleeding from the head and unconscious, but alive.
The search lasted barely an hour before the boy awoke, sent a servant girl to fetch his lord, and told them the identity of his attacker.
William swam in rage. “Where is Robert! I want him found now!”
Archer, who had aided in the search, looked crestfallen. “Her ladyship told me to go to Molly, said she would stay until Robert returned.” He shook his head, clutching his hair. “I should not ‘ave left. Should not ‘ave left.”
Letting the man feel his guilt was punishment enough. “‘Tis of no consequence now.” William said.
One of his men at arms called to him. “Milord, I was stationed atop the outer gate earlier. Robert left here with a horse and cart.”
William whirled on the man. Rage renewed. “You allowed him to pass?”
The older man reddened under his graying beard. “The sun had not completely set. I saw no reason not to. The man said he was off to ‘is brother’s farm to bring more grain for the horses.”
William could barely contain himself. “Robert has no brother!”
Hugh put a hand on his shoulder. The small act reminded him that he was lord of this castle and as such, his men turned to him for their guidance. Their faults, intentional or naught, where his own, and should Marianne be frightened, or in pain, ‘twas his own damn fault.
William took a breath, forcing calm into him. “What was in the cart? Did ye see anything?”
The man’s eyes were wild as he struggled to think. “‘Twas darkening outside, I only saw ‘im. I saw nothing in the cart and paid it no mind.”
“Nothing?” William tried desperately to ignore his pounding heart.
Hugh scratched his chin. “So for all we know, he has killed her already and hidden her before making off.”
“She is not dead!” William refused to believe that she could be laying someplace cold, dying and waiting for him to come to her, or already dead.
He grabbed the man’s chain mail and tunic in his fists, pulling until they were nose to nose. “There must be something else! Something you missed!”
Hugh did not stop him while he handled the older knight, but Bryce did speak up.
“Yer quite sure there was naught in the cart. No jugs, sacs, blankets—”
“Now—now that you mention it, sir,” the knight said. “I believe there was a horse blanket.”
William nearly laughed. “A horse blanket?”
The man did not hear Wi
lliam’s sarcasm. “Aye, ‘twas spread out inside the cart. I thought I saw shadows in it but told myself ‘twas only the gloom caused by rumples in the blanket and nightfall.”
William released him, calmer solutions taking shape. “Were they long shadows, long enough to be the height of a woman?”
He shook his head. “Nay, ‘twas why I paid them no mind.”
William would not give up. “He could have put her under the blanket, counting on the night to further disguise her as it did. She could have been folded closely into herself, unconscious or…”
“Dead,” Said Bryce.
William ignored him but turned to his friends. “He has no family, and it would not be below Ferdinand to have hired Robert to take her. She still lives.”
Nicholas, always optimistic, was the first to mention the flaw. “How would Ferdinand have contacted him? Someone would have noticed messengers coming from Ferdinand’s castle.”
“And even Robert must know that it would take days to get there. He would be surely be caught. Why the risk?” Asked Hugh.
William shook his head, seeing what they did not. “Ferdinand is staying at Marianne’s old home. ‘Tis just under a day’s ride from here. And if Robert thought he had killed James he would have known I would have searched the entire castle for her before moving elsewhere. That would give him more than enough time to reach his destination and collect his reward.”
Even as he babbled his beliefs, he was moving around his men, towards the stables where Benedict awaited. He would not waste time having new shoes put on the horse for the ride, and William called orders to have every man suited up.
“We have already wasted hours! We must be off immediately.” He did not need to tell Archer to have his horse ready as the man already ran ahead to see it done.
“I will go with you.” Hugh said, catching up and striding alongside him. Nicholas and Bryce caught up as well. Shockingly, even Blaise.
“If ye say she lives, then we will fight with ye until we see otherwise,” said Bryce.
“She lives.” ‘Twas Blaise who spoke, a grudging respect in his voice. “My hot-headed step-mother would never allow herself to be killed by a serf.”
