by Marie Hall
"My lord," Landon called pushing through the door. "Sir Jon and Sir—"
"Move, you puss pocket." Ian pushed the squire aside and stormed into the room. Jon followed close behind.
Xavier was on his feet suddenly energized at the idea Io was returned to him. "She was with you. You have brought her home."
"What? Io is here; you found her?" Jon asked pulling his own thick, fur-lined cloak off and tossing it to the chair.
"No, she is not with you?" Xavier's voice cracked and his knees weakened so he had to sit again. "You have not brought her home?"
"No, Xavier. What happened?" Ian came and leaned over the table. He might have meant to threaten with his presence but Xavier couldn't be bothered.
"I do not know what happened? I thought… I do not know." He shrugged, at a loss what to tell them. His head dropped and he found himself looking at his nails. They were a nice distraction. He could understand Io's obsession with hers.
"Xavier, Io ran?" Jon was taking a seat and pulling off his riding gloves. Xavier only nodded. "You have no idea why she ran? You fought perhaps? A misunderstanding, like last time. You hurt her feelings again?"
"We fought, but I thought we reconciled. She came back to my bed."
"She was gone from it?" Ian asked suspiciously. "Did you hurt her?"
"No," Xavier denied hotly. He didn't miss the accusation. "No, we argued but…" again he didn't know what to say because he didn't understand it himself.
"What were you arguing about?" Jon asked.
"Mother, mostly. Her place in the house?"
"Mother?" Jon sounded surprised at the word. "Your mother? Charlotte? Charlotte was here?"
"Until a few days ago, but if she intends to continue as she has, she will be back." Xavier still hoped she'd stay away for good.
"Xavier, your mother was here? For how long? And why in the name of God did you stay here with Io with that woman in the house?" Jon snapped. It was no secret Jon had no like for his mother, he didn't even respect her. It was Jon who Charlotte blamed for directing Xavier from the priesthood. She'd worked to ruin the man's reputation very early on. "You should not have let Io be exposed to her. I cannot even think Io would be considered the least bit suitable for you. And I would wager she made that clear."
Xavier couldn't fault the man on his perception. "It was under control. I told Io it did not matter what she said." Xavier looked up then. "You knew Charlotte was here. Io was writing you and telling you all the filthy details."
"I have not received a letter from Io in months," Jon's voice went up a notch. "The last thing she wrote to me about was to ask for details on the old roman aqueducts. She had some questions about how they were constructed. She didn't mention anything about your mother's arrival."
"Same. Io has not written me either. The last she said to me was she was going to see if there was some way to make old horse shoes into useful instruments and wanted to know if it would take some special skill at the kilns. Not a word about Charlotte coming here."
"No, she was writing you. You don't have to protect her I learned about it some time ago." She wasn't even here and the men tried to protect her. Why didn't she run to them?
"Xavier, Io said nothing about Charlotte showing up here or I would have ridden down and taken her away myself," Jon snapped.
"I know she was writing you," he said reaching in the box where he'd stored the letter he'd confiscated. "I told her she was not to write such slanderous things." He handed the letter to Ian who snatched it away.
The man barely opened it before refolding it and pronouncing, "Io did not write this." He handed the papers to Jon who like Ian barely opened the folds before concurring it was not composed by his wife.
"Where did you get this? It is not even close to Io's hand." Jon opened the letter again and scanned a bit of it. "Hell, there are misspellings and words are crossed out. Io would never send a letter that was not neat and perfectly done."
"Lucas taught her to write, remember," Ian grumbled. Taking back the letter he began examining the paper and then the seal. "This is not the parchment she uses or her seal. Where did you get this and why would you think Io wrote it?" He slapped the pages down and, crossing his arms over his chest, sat back and glared at Xavier.
Xavier pulled the sheets towards him. How was it these men were so sure Io didn't write this? He was her husband, he should know her hand, the parchment she used. But Io wasn't in the habit of writing him notes. His deep groan caused the hard looks he was getting to grow harder. Io wasn't one to write him a note so why had he so easily accepted the one that sent him to the festival without her? He might claim distraction. His mother and the Blakes kept his head turned so he wasn't looking at Io often. But maybe it was something else.
"Did you ask Io about this letter?" Jon asked, his posture relaxing a little.
Xavier sighed. "She said she did not write it."
"But you did not believe her," Ian growled. "You thought she was lying and you—"
"No," Xavier snapped. "No. I did not accuse her of lying. I told her that I would take her word on the matter as long as I did not discover any other such correspondence." Had she really not written to any of the men all this time? The knowledge made his stomach twist. She wouldn't be found at any of the other houses. If she'd not felt able to seek advice from them, she wouldn't now put them in the middle. Without even speaking to her, he knew she'd feel they needed to remain loyal to him.
"You did not believe her though. Why? Where did you even get this letter?" Jon slumped in the chair.
"Charlotte brought it to me." Xavier already knew he'd made a larger mistake concerning the way he handled the letter then he'd already admitted too.
"Did you even ask her how she came by a letter that was meant for me and written by Io? Did you ask or did she bring it to you, told you it was Io's words, and you turned and accused—"
"I did not accuse Io of anything." Not really.
John went on as if Xavier hadn't spoken. "Accused Io of doing something despicable. And I wager you made her think you did not trust her. That is why she stopped writing to us isn't it?"
"I only told her to let me see the correspondence before she sent it. If she had nothing to hide she should have been willing—"
"Xavier, what Io writes to us about is of no secret or important matters. But they are her personal correspondence and you had no reason to ask her to disclose anything. If she had written anything, like that…" Ian pointed at the letter. "I am sure whoever received it would be concerned enough to write you for redress. You, in effect, made it so she stopped communicating with us. I would think if she had felt she could, she would have asked us how she might deal with any upsets. Deal with your mother."
"And she might have thought to come to us if she did not think she could stay with you," Jon finished pushing up from the chair and, crossing to the sideboard, he poured three liberal cups of godale. He handed the first cup to Ian, a small insult towards Xavier but at least no one was punching him the mouth. He accepted the next cup as Jon again took a seat.
"How else did you show your mother favor over your wife?" Ian asked, knowing Io's disappearance was related to his mother and Xavier likely only exacerbated the problem with how he handled it. He only shook his head.
"You have no idea where she went?" Jon asked.
"No, we have been searching in an outward circular pattern but…"
"Perhaps the specific incident that sent her out might help. Do you know what it was?" Ian took a long drink, perhaps bracing for the bad news.
"God, I think back now and there was so much. But I thought we had gotten past the worst of it. Nothing I know of happened in the few weeks since our return. And other than the dead goat, I do not know of anything that happened while we were gone. Io did not say anything. She was only angry she was left behind."
"Left behind? Where did you go?" Ian stood and moved to refill the cup.
"The Cirque des Animaux went through Curdale. I pl
anned to take Io for months but the morning we were to leave I received a message she changed her mind about going. I assumed she did not want to leave in fear she would not come back."
"She was not the author of that note?" It wasn't so much a question from Jon and Xavier only shook his head in response.
"I know she was upset about the goat and after what happened to Wednesday I cannot fault her, but I did not think it so meaningful she would hold this grudge and flee the house." Did she really run away because her goat was killed? It couldn't be the reason. He was missing some part of this. Some very large part. But now it seemed he'd missed a great deal of things.
"What happened to Wednesday?" Ian asked setting his cup aside and heading towards the door.
"She was accidently sent to slaughter." That was a lie, he knew, so why was he making excuses for his damn mother? "No, it was not an accident," he corrected himself. He wasn't going to do it anymore. "Mother had the horse sent to slaughter. For some reason no one informed me of the order or I would have stopped it. When Io found out…" He shook his head again.
"She must have been devastated," Jon stated, twisting to see what had Ian's attention in the hall.
"More, she has refused to mount another horse since."
"Well, at least you know she didn't ride away," Mark said coming into the room. "How long exactly has she been missing and where have you looked?"
It took only a few minutes to brief Mark and get him caught up on situation. His reaction to Charlotte being in the same house as Io was received no better and, of course, Mark, superb interrogator that he was, was able to pull a few other bits of information from Xavier that Xavier didn't even know he knew. Not that any of it was helpful. No one could even guess where Io might be heading. Even if the why of it was a little clearer.
"Gerald has not arrived yet has he? And where are Lucas and Seth?" Mark asked as he poured his own drink and refilled the others'.
"Lucas," Xavier said coming to his feet and rushing for the door. "I completely forgot. Marshal? Marshal?" he yelled down the halls until the man appeared. "Marshal, send riders to Sir Lucas's family estates. East, past Palleon. Io could have gone to stay with Mistress Sarah." That had to be where she went. Perhaps she sent Sarah ahead to make ready. Maybe the two had planned it. But Sarah was truly upset to be sent away and Io had to know Lucas would be in escort and would return Io home. Still he felt the hope surge to think Io had run to Sarah.
"Lucas is home?" Mark asked.
"He took Sarah home." Xavier came back and shuffling the papers on his table found the one he was using to keep track of where people searched. He dipped a quill and scribbled "Lucas" on the page.
"Sarah, his sister. Is she not Io's friend? Her best friend if I read the letters correctly," Mark asked moving to examine the other papers on Xavier's table.
"Those two are thick as thieves." Xavier managed a smile. Io could only be with Sarah he should have thought of it sooner.
"Did they have a falling out?" Mark lifted a paper and read the notes carefully.
"No, Io sent her away. She was worried that…" he faded off not having yet mentioned the attempt on Io's life. The looks he received prompted him to continue. "She was worried that after the horse and the goat, if whoever was responsible could not get to her, they might strike at Sarah." He folded his arms over his chest and waited a moment before going on. He wanted to choose his words carefully. "There was an attempt on Io's life several weeks ago." Despite his attempt to sound unconcerned, the reaction from the men was volatile.
"What?" they all yelled, coming to their feet and tipping over chairs in their haste.
"She was not harmed," Xavier added quickly before someone put their hands around his neck.
"What happened, Xavier? Who was behind it?" Jon asked as he set a hand on Ian whose hand tightened on his cup so much it was dented.
"Her meal was poisoned. But she'd tossed it to the dog before taking one bite." No need to add he'd tried to force her to eat it.
"Was that the only attempt on her?" Mark asked shifting through more of the papers on the table.
Xavier turned and leaned his shoulder on the wall and looked through the window at the darkened yard. Was it the only attempt? The fall down the steps? Maybe even when she was locked in? He'd tried to dismiss both as accidents. But now. And if they weren't, had something happened to Io this time and he simply hadn't found her body? Could someone have murdered her and made it look as if she'd run away? Damn this! One moment he was hopeful he'd find her, the next he was going mad thinking he might not ever have her back.
"Xavier?" Mark called and, when he finally turned to look at the man, repeated, "was it the only attempt on her life?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe? What does that mean? Maybe? Did someone try to kill her or not?" Ian slammed his cup on the table, careless of the quality wood.
"There were… some… incidents." He turned back to look out the window. The rain fell harder now. Anyone not sheltered would be soaked and freezing.
"Xavier?" Mark stepped before him and set a hand on his shoulder.
"She was locked in a room. She fell and hit her head, it took three days to find her. And she said she was pushed down the steps."
"She said? So you did not believe her then either?" Jon almost snarled.
"No, I investigated. I was still investigating when she was nearly poisoned." He shoved off the wall and pushed past Mark to pace the length of the room and back. "I could not find any strangers in the house. When she was locked in and when she went down the steps, the house was nearly empty of people. Everyone was at their work. I made changes to the duty rotations. I broke up the small groups who seemed to favor Charlotte's rule to Io's. I increased her personal guard." He stopped abruptly and turned to face the men. "I did everything I could think to ensure her safety. I was still looking into people I suspected when she ran."
"Why would any favor Charlotte? How did anyone even think it an option?" Jon asked taking a frustrated swing with his fist at the air.
"It is what we were fighting about. Charlotte arrived and the people simply fell back into their habit of obeying her commands. She may have been purposely making them in contradiction to Io's just to create trouble."
"May have?" Jon snapped.
"Jon, we all know your feelings on the lady," Mark warned and then held up a hand to stop the other man from speaking more. "Did you not tell Io that she wouldn't be in residence forever?"
"Of course I told her. I told her that when Mother left, we could put everything back the way she liked it. I sent for Alexander. He should have come and taken them with him months ago."
"Them?" Ian asked.
"Mother came with the ladies Blake, a mother and daughter. She had not heard I wed and she intended that I should wed the daughter, Sabrina."
"For the love of god, Xavier. You had your mother in the house, taking over and the entire time trying to push a new woman off on you?" Jon groaned and flopped into the chair, tipping his head back and covering his face with his hands. "And let me guess, it took about two heartbeats for Charlotte to discover Io was already unsure of her own suitability as your lady and used that against her."
"I told Io. I told her every day. I told her without a doubt, she was my lady, lady of this house, lady enough. I told her no one would ever replace her as my wife, ever." Xavier made his way back to his chair and sat down hard. "I told her."
"You did not tell your mother Io is a royal," Mark stated, shaking his head.
"No. I know it would have stopped some of what was going on between them, but at what cost? Mother would have expected Io to use that status to advance her. Io is hardly comfortable being a countess, asking her to use her birthright to keep my mother happy…" He shook his head. "Mother would not have been happy for long and Io would not understand."
A knock at the door brought all talk of Io's relationship to the king to an instant end. Landon cautiously pushed open the door. "My lord, sirs, the m
eal is ready as are your rooms if you wish to make ready." He backed out of the room and closed the door.
"Go eat and rest," Xavier told them. "Nothing more can be done tonight. And until Gerald arrives and confirms Io didn't go to him or Lucas returns with Io tied to his horse…"
"Are you coming?" Mark asked setting his cup on the sideboard.
"I have some papers to look over." He pointed to the table. He had no choice, he needed to write the king. If Io wasn't dead, he might need some more men to help find her. He waved them out and then leaned back to again look at the ceiling. If Io wasn't with Gerald or Lucas, he'd no idea where to look next. He considered again raising the amount he offered for her return if only to get people looking for her more actively. But he worried if someone did spot her and tried to restrain her she'd panic, fight, be hurt. And if she became aware how intense the search for her was, she might never allow herself to be spotted again. No, he'd wait until he knew for sure the search for Io would continue.
Chapter Seventeen
Gerald arrived at the break of dawn the next day, soaked through and cursing the rain. He was filled in and quickly got down to examining the maps and messages as well as questioning the people with Mark.
A fight nearly erupted when Gunther and the other men of Io's guard were questioned. They didn't take well to being accused of being derelict in their duties. Xavier had to step in, defending the men and placing the blame on his own shoulders. He'd let Io talk him into easing the restrictions; her guard simply followed those orders.
Three days of the same questions and same answers got them no closer to finding Io and even with the thin hope Io was with Sarah to cling to, Xavier felt the despair creeping in. Nothing he'd experienced in his life compared to the helpless, useless feelings he had. Even with his best men working for all they were worth to try and unravel what was behind Io's departure in hopes to learn her destination, it seemed they were going nowhere, learning nothing.
