Runaway Scold

by Marie Hall

  "Yes, joy and health to our lord and lady." A second man stepped up. "But let us also send well wishes to the one responsible for this day." He paused and lifted his cup high. "To Io."

  "To Io," the entire crowd cried out. The toast was repeated and Xavier tried for a while to understand why the second toast was necessary. As cheers went up again for Io, a woman serving the crowd gave a quiet apology to the Sabrina for the "disrespect." Xavier began to question who these people thought Io was. And as more words of Io's absences drifted to him, the more he wondered at why no one here was questioning her being gone.

  He pulled away from Sabrina who stepped up close to him and made his way to the man in the crowd who'd sent up the toast to Io. "Why do you give Lady Io a separate salutation?"

  "My lord, we mean no disrespect to your lady, your wife," the man who'd raised his cup in Io's honor stammered out. "Io did so much for everyone here," he faded off and shrugged.

  "Exactly who do you think my wife is?" Xavier asked loudly, refusing to believe they didn't know. But then he saw the entire crowd's eyes shift towards where Sabrina stood. His mother joined her as had the elder Blake. "Her?" Xavier nearly choked.

  "My lord, we understand you have not taken vows, but we are willing to give Lady Sabrina her due."

  Xavier tipped his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath and reminded himself it wasn't these people's fault if they weren't aware of Io's status, she went out of her way to deny she was titled nobility. Still they all thought the Blake woman was his wife, if only unofficially. It was unacceptable.

  "My lord, we only wanted to speak of our thankfulness to Io and—" another man in the crowd spoke up.

  "Lady Io," Xavier corrected and nearly lost this temper at the disbelieving looks he received. "Lady Io, my wife."

  "My lord?"

  The murmurs grew in volume. "That woman," Xavier said and pointed to Sabrina, "is not my wife."

  "No, my lord, we understand. Lady Brice said you must wait until spring now to celebrate your marriage. But we still—"

  "Xavier, you will not be inconsiderate of Sabrina or her mother," Charlotte snapped.

  Xavier turned on her. "Have you told these people she is to be my wife? Have you done this?"

  "We will not speak on this matter here," Charlotte said with a huff.

  "We will not speak on the matter anywhere." Xavier yelled. "That woman is not my wife and she never will be." Turning to the crowd, he said, "Io is my wife. We were wed more than a year ago by royal decree. Lady Io is my wife." He took the few steps needed to place himself in front of the women who all seemed to be in various stages of anger. "I would not take this woman as my wife for any reason."

  "Xavier," his mother shouted and set a protective hand on Sabrina who gasped and swayed.

  "What did you think, Mother? Did you think I would surrender and set Io aside? Set her aside for her? For the love of God, she is bedding the stable boys."

  "Xavier," his mother gasped. Sabrina swooned, far too prettily to be a real faint. "You will not repeat such vicious rumors. It is slander started by those nasty uncultured people who aligned with that wretched creature who thinks to hold you."

  "My lord," a woman stepped from the crowd. She glared at Sabrina telling of her allegiance to Io. "If Io is your true wife why did you let her leave us?"

  "Leave you? What do you mean?" Already the burning in his gut had become painful.

  "Io is gone, is she not? She came yesterday and bid us all farewell. She told us we should remember to seek redress with Lady Sabrina should we need matters settled."

  The murmurs rose, words about travels and leaving and Xavier felt a bit of nausea rising as he watched Gunther stomp towards him. "Is Io with you?" Gunther's whispered words almost ended him.

  "My lord, Io is missing," Gunther said quietly.

  "Where have you looked?" Xavier rather hoped missing only meant she'd gone home without the small escort.

  "She is nowhere in this shire," Gunther didn't sound panicked. Annoyed, but he often sounded that way. Io wasn't any more considerate about leaving this man with his sanity than she was leaving Xavier with his.

  "Could she have been taken by force?" He didn't think it was possible with so many people about. Io would have called out for help.

  "With so many about?" Gunther too doubted a kidnapping.

  "Who here has seen Lady Io?" Xavier asked the crowd that still stood muttering about the revelations he'd disclosed.

  "My lord, we most saw her last when she said her final farewell." A stout man stepped from the crowd, confirming what the woman said. Io told the people she was leaving. "But why would she bid us well if she is your wife?"

  "What did she say?" Gunther asked even as Xavier wondered the same.

  "She only said should the wheel not work to keep ice out of the flow we should have to seek out someone else to help as she would not be here," the stout man said, shaking his head.

  "When? When did you see her?" Xavier pushed through the crowd. "Where is Lady Io? Who spoke with her last and when?"

  "My lord, maybe you can speak with Edna. Io… I mean Lady Io, spent a good deal of time with her this last week." The shire reeve gestured back towards the cluster of small cottages and huts.

  Xavier was about to turn when someone called out. "Edna is here, she is here." The crowd parted and an old crone hobbled forward. The deeply wrinkled face now turned upward to stare at Xavier with sharp dark eyes. She disliked him. He could tell right away. They didn't know each other but she didn't like him at all.

  "You know where Lady Io is?" Xavier asked. "Where she went or said she was going?"

  The old woman chortled loud and the sound grated. "Io is no lady, she is too kind, too helpful." The woman leaned around and pointedly looked at the group of ladies still standing behind Xavier. "Io is a good girl. Foolish she was, I told her, to dream such things. Good now she is gone. No more hurt for her."

  "Madame," Xavier ground out and reached for the old witch.

  "Edna," Gunther practically cooed, stepping between them. "Come you spoke to Io just yester morn. She told you her plans. She would not go without telling you who would come in her place to help you with the firewood. What did she say?"

  "What do you think?" Edna laughed and slapped the knight's arm. "Io said you would bring in what I need," she cackled again. "Knew it to be the only way you will get wood inside anything I have." She again laughed at her own wit and Xavier watched Gunther roll his eyes.

  Xavier was about to demand she tell him what she knew about Io's disappearance when the woman caught his eye and pronounced, "She has gone back to her mother. A mother's love is honest. Let her be with her mother where she belongs." The crone nodded her head sharply then made to turn. Xavier grabbed her back so hard she stumbled and nearly fell.

  "You lie." Xavier had to swallow; the bile was clawing up his throat with a burn he wasn't sure he could contain. "Io has not gone to her mother. Tell me where she went."

  The crowd, doubled now, grumbled at the confrontation. Xavier might acknowledge these people were simply loyal to each other and as an absent lord they'd no reason to be helpful to him, but the few words he heard, it seemed more they tried to decide if giving up Io's location was in her best interest.

  "Edna," Gunther pleaded, pulling her out of Xavier's grasp. "Please, Io said she was going to be with her mother? She said just that?"

  The old woman pulled free and brushed at her sleeve like being handled by the men soiled her. She sent a nasty look towards Xavier who was moments from puking up everything in his gut. "She said she'd been long far from her mother and she was going back. That is what she said." She took several steps backwards out of reach. "You should not have spoiled her heart. That you made her love you knowing you would not take her to wife—"

  "Io is my wife," Xavier screamed at the woman. "She is my wife," he repeated then spun away. Io said she was going to be with her mother. That could mean nothing more
than she was going to try to get back to the house by the river where her mother was murdered or it could mean far worse.

  As much as he wanted to believe Io was too strong to ever consider killing herself, with everything that had transpired, he couldn't completely dismiss it. If there were a faint possibility she'd do something as mad as try to hurt herself, he'd take no chance.

  "My horse now," he yelled and spun from the crowd. "Where is the reeve?"

  "My lord she could not have meant…" Gunther told him as he caught up and moved to where the horses would be brought up. "She would not."

  "I will find her and ensure it," Xavier snapped while working to tighten the saddle cinch.

  The shire's reeve appeared as Xavier set his foot in the stirrup. "My lord?"

  "You will search every home and building. When the sun is up, you will look for any traces of Lady Io along the river and in the fields. One hundred pieces of gold to any man who finds her."

  The reeve's eyes grew big as he nodded his understanding. "My lord," the man began before hesitating and, in his impatience, Xavier almost rode off. "Is Io really your wife?"

  He couldn't deny the hopefulness in the man's question. "She is. No one else will ever be my wife." He looked back over his shoulder to see his mother glaring at him with as much hate as he'd ever seen. "No one else, ever."

  "Thank God," the reeve said, and stepped back so Xavier could ride out.

  The road home was well maintained and wide enough for safe riding but darkness made the trip slower than he wanted. By the time he reached them, the gates were closed for the night. He dismounted and yelled to the man in the tower to open to him. He might appreciate the guards' thoroughness in keeping with protocols to keep the house safe, but tonight they only pushed his temper and shredded his nerves.

  "My lord?" the guard pulling open the portal questioned as he stepped back.

  Xavier grabbed his shirtfront to stop the retreat. "Has Lady Io been through the gates?"

  "Io? No, my lord, I have not seen her."

  "Did she come back to the house today?" Xavier asked even as he made for the interior of the house. He heard the arrival of several others from the shire.

  "I have only been at the gates for a few hours, sir," the guard told him even as he opened the portal again to allow the others inside.

  "I want everyone who has been on the gates for the last three days brought to me within the hour." Xavier told the few soldiers who'd come to investigate what was happening. "Gunther," he yelled as the man came into the yard. "Find Io. I want the entire house searched, the yards and get some out to the orchards."

  "It is dark, my lord," a young soldier whined.

  "Then light some torches," Gunther snapped, cuffing the man hard.

  "Search everywhere. The house, every room, every building. And do not simply open the door. Look under beds, in every trunk or wardrobe. If Io could fit, if she cannot fit, look. Someone see if she is in the tree in the garden, or behind the stables." He turned away and headed quickly inside. "Find her," he shouted again.

  "Xavier." Gunther caught him on his way up the stairs to their chambers.

  "When was the last time you saw her?" This man was supposed to be responsible for Io when Xavier wasn't around and he'd lost her.

  "Yesterday morning when she said she was going to take baskets to the old people."

  "Yesterday." Xavier jerked to a stop and turned to face the man. "You have not seen her for an entire day? More than a day?" Being it was now late evening.

  "You told me to give her more leave. I took her to the shire, she conducted her business and returned to be escorted home. She was never so far away we couldn't find her quickly."

  "Until now," Xavier snapped.

  "You told us to step back," Gunther defended. "She pushed for even more. Staying overnight in the shires, which are close enough. Asking to stay even longer in Haganshire or Riverglen for no real purpose. I thought she would be getting you to tell me to allow that too."

  Xavier drew in a deep breath. He knew for sure now Io hadn't been taken by force or lured away. She'd planned this. She'd gotten him to lift the restriction of her guard, to become relaxed in the rules which he'd set to keep her whereabouts known and he'd done it because she'd come willing back to his bed. He'd punish her for this severely and she wouldn't ever again manipulate him as she had. But first he needed to find her, alive.

  "Search her chambers, I will look in mine." Xavier turned and headed to his chambers.

  He was looking under the bed for the second time when Gunther joined him holding a dress in his left hand. "This is what Io was wearing when I last saw her," he said. "She has been back here."

  "Gather every man who has stood at the gates. Someone has seen her," Xavier said, going to the one trunk Io hadn't ever taken out of these rooms. Lifting the lid, he again felt the bile rising. The little bag and Io's original clothing were missing. He shifted the other items in the trunk around hoping he'd find at least the bag but it wasn't there. Io was gone. She'd left the house and she had at least a full day of travel on him. He knew too, she could put a good deal of ground under her in that amount of time. He scrubbed both hands over his face then dropped them, balling them into fists at his side. Tilting his back he stared for a moment at the ceiling. She only had as much as a day, he'd catch her. "Please God, keep her safe. Keep her safe and let me be the one to kill her."

  Turning on his heel he headed to begin the task of finding Io.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Xavier led the exhausted horse to the stall and began the task of unsaddling it. The grooms were now part of the search so there was no one to do the task for him. He lifted the saddle then dropped it on the bench before pulling the bridle off and sending the horse into the stall with a weak slap to the hindquarters.

  Three weeks ago, he was sure he'd be delivering more than that to his own wife's backside. He'd been sure he'd find Io and have her back home before now. But with each day that passed, he understood more completely when his wife didn't want to be found, no one would find her. And the reality was even more frightening. Not only hadn't she been found, no one could say they saw her. Even with the five-hundred pieces of gold he offered for her return there were no reports of her being seen, not even false reporting.

  There was no shire, no home or shop from here to the borders that hadn't been torn apart. There wasn't a grove, orchard, or forest in which every tree hadn't been shaken. Every riverbank had been walked. He even searched the lake. Two bodies were found, both males and neither known to anyone. He'd sent messengers to his other holdings demanding if they sheltered Io she be returned but he'd not heard from them. It was as if she'd been removed from the face of the earth. He tipped his head back and stared at the roof. He'd stopped asking God to keep Io safe. Now he simply considered how much rope he might need to hang himself from the rafters. He wouldn't be able to continue putting off writing to inform the king Io was missing. Tying the rope around his own neck might be the best course.

  He'd drafted documents dividing all his personal possessions should he never find Io, or worse, should he find her dead. His mother was horrified, more horrified nothing was set aside for her. They'd argued vehemently and when he told her the king would strip him of everything for not protecting Io, his mother became livid, completely unreasonable. Of course, he could have simply told her Io was a royal bastard, but he held back even as his mother continued to badger him into madness. Not until he'd come close to a physical confrontation did she shut her mouth. A few days later, she took her leave along with the other harpies. They'd returned to his south holdings with his brothers and she could stay there for all he cared.

  Scrubbing his hands over his face, he again wondered what might even make life worth living if Io was lost to him. It wasn't long ago he was thinking about children and growing old with Io next to him. She'd come back to his bed. Why would she do that if she didn't want to reconcile?

  Dropping his hands to his sides he
made his way to the house. He hadn't been home for six days in the search for his wife. He wanted to be the one who spoke with other landlords about possibly sightings. Perhaps her trying to take shelter with them. He didn't want to leave himself vulnerable to anyone who might have ill intent towards him. He certainly didn't want anyone to learn Io traveled alone. They might harm her to get to him. He'd been careful in his inquiries but still, all of this put everyone at risk.

  God help him, as frightened for her as he was, he was angry she'd place him, the people, everything in such a circumstance. How many times had they discussed the importance of considering others when making decisions? For a woman who dedicated so much time in consideration of how her actions would affect the people here, she managed to completely disregard everyone this time. Even if it was only him she wanted to hurt, she had to understand he could be displaced here as lord and the next person set in could be a tyrant or incompetent. How would that serve the people's better interest?

  Stopping at the foot of the stairs, Xavier looked up into the dark passage. He knew his chambers would be dark and cold. No one waited there for him to return and it might only be in his mind but he knew he'd still be able to smell Io's scent there. He turned away and headed for his cabinet instead. Taking a seat, he lit the candle on his table and sat back. The papers before him were a mix of maps and lists he'd used to try to determine where she might have gone. The search parties were spread out in a circle with an increasing diameter as time passed. He'd no desire to review them again or look at any of the notes sent by others still away. The sound of rain outside the window brought a curse to his lips. Rain again, and he didn't know if Io had any shelter, or even if she had a cloak with her. It didn't seem like she took much but he also didn't know the totality of what she claimed as hers. She might have a cloak and an extra pair of shoes or she might be outside with nothing more than a shift. Winter was coming. The days were growing shorter and shorter. The nights had a chill to them that could do harm if someone was left out and exposed. Damn, he needed to find his wife. He needed to have her safe and well before him.