Bay of Fear (Battle Lords of de Velt Book 3)

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Tenner had been roused out of a heavy sleep by his excited and filthy wife. He hadn’t been perturbed about it until he’d been told the reason why she’d awoken him. Now, he was annoyed, with her and with Maude. Silly, giddy women. His sleepy gaze moved between the two of them as Annalyla extended the piece of dark gold, but he didn’t take it from her. He simply glanced at it.

  “So you have been digging in the vault,” he said coldly. “You dug through decades and centuries of rubbish and God knows what else. The legends of this place have gotten into your heads, so you found rubbish and created a story with it. That is all.”

  Annalyla dropped her hand, the one holding the gold piece. Feeling ashamed and scolded, she turned to Maude, who was holding the hide. She took it from the woman and unrolled it, trying to hand it to her stubborn husband.

  “Read this, please,” she begged softly. “It was given to me by a woman whose grandfather’s grandfather was part of the mob that killed the last lord of Baiadepaura. This was written by the man they call the wicked lord – please see what it says. Then you will understand that it is not a legend that we have succumbed to, but a tragedy. He was not a devil, but a man who was greatly wronged. It is a wrong that must be righted.”

  Tenner eyed the hide, but he didn’t take it from her. In fact, his jaw began to tick and he turned away from the pair, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  “Let me tell you what you have fallen victim to,” he said. “You have already heard the legend. It was in your heads when you came to Baiadepaura. Maude, I expected better from you, but Annalyla… the truth is that we have not known each other that long. I thought you were a rational creature, but it is clear that you are young and still impressionable. You have both fallen victim to the legend of this place, and you are reading things into objects and missives that are not there. There are no ghosts and there is no curse, and whatever is on that hide has nothing to do with this place.”

  Now, Maude felt as if her integrity was also under attack. “Tenner, you are being unfair,” she said steadily. “The hide is very old, given to us by a woman from the village. She has come here to serve in the kitchens. The hide has been in her family since the last lord of Baiadepaura was killed. The missive is signed by a man named de Paura, and he speaks of the sickness that plagued the area. He begs for mercy and compassion, and he writes of being unable to speak. It is clear that the man was not wicked and that he was blamed for something that was not his doing. And he further speaks of his dear Anyu, his wife. It is the same thing we heard earlier when the ghost spoke to us.”

  Tenner looked at her. Then, he shook his head. “Maude,” he said. “Listen to yourself – this is not the same reasonable woman I have known all these years.”

  Maude stood her ground. “Because this happened,” she said, raising her voice because he was being so stubborn. “Do you truly think we would run in here and spout off foolery to you if it had not happened? Your wife even expressed her fears in telling you because she did not want you to think her daft. It was I who insisted we tell you.”

  Tenner was shaking his head before she even finished. “I forgive you both,” he said. “You are weary. This has been a taxing journey and we are in a terrible place. How could it not affect you? But I will tell you what has happened – a woman from the village has given you a forgery, a missive with words that confirm the legend so that she can tell you stories and you will depend upon her.”

  “That is not true!”

  “Isn’t it?” Tenner fired back softly. “Tell me something, Maude; where did you find this alleged amulet? And where did you find the bones?”

  Maude was trying very hard not to become angry. “We told you. In the vault.”

  “And where is the vault?”

  “Down below the ground level of the keep.”

  He nodded impatiently. “And what is attached to the vault?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What chamber is attached to the vault?”

  Maude understood. “The kitchen.”

  “And you said this woman was a kitchen servant?”

  “Aye.”

  “Did you ever leave her alone in the kitchen?”

  Maude paused a moment, thinking that she knew what he was about to say. It infuriated her. “We did,” she said steadily. “I was in the hall with some of our new servants and Annie took the hide from the woman. She left the old woman alone in the kitchen when she went to read the hide.”

  Tenner cocked a dark eyebrow as he looked at his pale, dirty wife. “And you do not think the woman could have planted this amulet and even the bones in the vault while you were away?”

  Annalyla shook her head. “It is not possible,” she said. “We had to dig through a good deal of dirt to find those things.”

  “And you would be willing to swear on your life that the hide you were given is not a forgery?”

  Annalyla had enough. This was the reaction she’d feared from Tenner, only she hadn’t imagined it would be so vicious. He was angry, and tired, and completely unlike the man she’d come to know over the past few days. She was feeling belittled and beaten, and utterly ashamed.

  “Nay,” she said after a moment. “I am not willing to swear on my life that it is not a forgery. But I know what I saw and heard; I saw a ghost. I heard him say Anyu equi. I will swear on my life to that, and whether or not you believe me, it is the truth. I thought I was bringing something of importance to you, because you are an understanding and reasonable man, but it is clear that understanding and reason does not pertain to me. I am terribly sorry to have troubled you, my lord, for it will not happen again. Forgive me if I have made you ashamed of me. Now, if you will excuse me, I have duties to attend to.”

  With that, she turned away, rushing out of the chamber before anyone could stop her. She bolted past Maude on her way out and Maude saw her face crumpling, tears in her eyes. When the door slammed behind her, Maude turned to Tenner.

  “This is my fault,” she said hoarsely. “I convinced her that you were kind and understanding, and that you would listen to what she had discovered, but I was wrong. You had no right and no reason to behave that way towards her, Tenner. Annie is a sweet woman, and very bright, and all she wants to do is please you. Do you know what she told me in the vault as she was digging up the bones? She told me that she adored you. She told me that she could not imagine watching you perish in front her, as the last lord of Baiadepaura perished in front of his wife. She did it because of what she feels for you.”

  Some of the hardness went out of Tenner’s expression. “Maude…”

  She cut him off, sternly. “Nay,” she said. “You will not explain yourself to me, for nothing excuses what I just witnessed. Annie told me that the reason she wants to help this ghost, this searching ghost, is because she understands his anguish now that she has experienced such happiness with you. And you treat her this way? I am ashamed of you, Tenner de Velt. Even if you did not believe her, you did not have to be so cruel about it.”

  More of Tenner’s hardness faded and he sighed heavily, turning away. “What you two expect me to believe is not logical. I cannot base my command on ghosts and rumors. Did you truly expect me to believe it?”

  Maude shook her head. “Believe what you will,” she said. “But do not call us liars, for we are not. If you do not trust us any more than that, then mayhap it was a mistake in coming here. Mayhap we should return to Seven Crosses. Your logic can be your chatelaine and keep you warm at night. At least you will not have hysterical women underfoot.”

  With that, she stormed out of the chamber also, slamming the door behind her and leaving Tenner feeling depressed and remorseful. There was great truth to Maude’s words, and he knew she was right about the way he’d been cruel to Annalyla – he had been. He was usually in better control of his emotions, but the cruelty sprang from the fact that he realized, as he heard her talk about seeing a ghost, that he was disappointed. Disappointed that she didn’t think like him and a
ct like him in all things.

  It was true that they barely knew one another. He’d seen a witty, kind, and intelligent woman over the past few days, a woman he was obsessed with on many levels. They laughed at the same things and seemed to have common likes and dislikes, and she was very eager to please him. What was it he’d called her at the start? An honest woman. It was the most important thing to him aside from loyalty. Now, he’d just called that honest woman a liar. A fool, even. He was disappointed that she’d given credence to a legend.

  But now, it was his turn to feel like a fool.

  He hadn’t meant to hurt her.

  Turning around, he noticed that the old hide was on the end of the bed where Annalyla had set it. It drew his eye and as much as he didn’t even want to look at it, he found that he couldn’t look away. Before he realized it, he was picking it up and looking at the faded brown writing, words in Latin that he could understand.

  He read the missive, twice. He noted the signature at the bottom, looking very much like de Paura, just as Annalyla had said. The message itself was rather sad, and tragic, and went completely against the legends he’d been told. It wasn’t a curse or the words of an angry man, a but rather tragic and poignant message. In spite of himself, he was interested in it.

  His thoughts kept going back to what Maude had said, about Annalyla finding happiness with him. She adored him. In fact, that seemed to be the only thing he wanted to focus on because his feelings were very much the same. He was soft-hearted, and compassionate, but it was fear that kept those things buried for the most part beneath a ramrod iron façade, the consummate knight. Fear because men in this day and age viewed compassion or emotion as a woman’s trait, and in a man, it could be viewed as weakness.

  He wasn’t weak; he was a de Velt, and the House of de Velt had a dark and terrible history up until a few decades ago. His grandfather, Ajax de Velt, had been a horrible and brutal man in his youth, killing men in a most horrific way in his conquest. But that had all changed when he’d met Tenner’s grandmother. Still, the indiscretions of his youth were things that continued to cast a shadow over the de Velt name, so if men knew that the grandson of Ajax de Velt was compassionate and emotional, it would further damage the de Velt name.

  Therefore, Tenner spent a good deal of time putting up a front. A hard and decisive and logical front. But Maude had seen through it, and so had Arlo. He trusted them. But Annalyla… she’d seen that side of him, too. He hadn’t really minded until he realized how much he felt for her and, then, it was as if he’d let her see his weakness. She was his weakness. Perhaps, he was simply ashamed to tell her.

  But, perhaps, he needed to.

  With a heavy sigh, Tenner set the old hide aside and went to find his boots. Still in the tunic and leather breeches he slept in, he found his boots at the end of the bed and tied them on, running his fingers through his long hair as he headed from the chamber.

  He had a wife to find.

  Old Mawgwen wasn’t anywhere to be found, but Mercy was hard at work in the kitchen of Baiadepaura as she prepared bread dough. She’d even lit up the old kiln in the kitchen yard outside, even though it was raining heavily, and as Annalyla descended the stairs to the kitchen, she could see the kiln smoking furiously.

  Entering the kitchen, it was warm and smelled of smoke, and Mercy was very busy. Annalyla was trying to push aside what had happened with Tenner and focus on what needed to be done for the coming meal. All of the stores had been brought to the kitchen, so she knew she had salted beef and other things to work with, but she needed to find Mawgwen. She needed the help.

  With Mercy busy on the bread, Annalyla went through the barrels and sacks lining the wall and into the vault, which were dry of any moisture. The flooding seemed to be isolated on the eastern side of the vault. But entering the vault reminded her of Tenner again, and of the golden horsehead in her pocket. She thought of the bones that she and Maude had discovered, feeling sick to her stomach that Tenner thought it was all a lie. The reaction was everything she had feared from him, and more.

  And it was her fault.

  She shouldn’t have told him. She shouldn’t have listened to Maude and kept it all to herself. The man had so much to worry about without her coming to him with tales of ghosts and curses. Once she calmed down and stopped weeping, she would apologize to him and hope he forgave her. She hoped he didn’t think she was the village idiot, running around spouting tales of ghosts. Whatever damage she’d done, she would work very hard to repair it.

  She couldn’t stand the thought of the man thinking he’d married a lunatic.

  There was clean water in a bucket that Mercy had brought in, and Annalyla rinsed the dirt from her hands and face with it, splashing the water on her skin until it came clean. She didn’t have any soap, so it would have to do for the time being. Drying her face and arms off with her skirt, she returned to the stores with the intention of beginning the meal preparation when she heard a quiet voice near the kitchen door.

  “Annie.”

  It was Tenner. Startled, she looked up to see him blocking out most of the light from the doorway, his big frame filling it up. Apprehensive of his presence, she faced him, still drying off her hands.

  “Aye, my lord?”

  Tenner hesitated and Annalyla saw him look to Mercy, who was busily kneading dough, before returning his attention to her. “Would you come with me, please?”

  The question indicated that he was unwilling to speak before witnesses and Annalyla didn’t hesitate. She followed him out into the rain and he pulled her beneath the Davey Elm tree because the branches offered some shelter from the downpour. Annalyla’s stomach was in knots as Tenner came to a pause and turned to her.

  “Forgive me,” he said simply. “I was unnecessarily unkind to you and I ask your forgiveness. I have no excuse other than talk of ghosts and curses and things I cannot touch or see frustrates me. I simply cannot believe in things that lesser men put stock in.”

  An apology was not what Annalyla had expected, even though the apology itself suggested he still thought she was a fool for believing in such things. He was just trying to be nice about it this time. Therefore, she was guarded. To be truthful, she was also hurt. Deeply hurt. But she nodded her head in response, averting her gaze.

  “You will forgive me if I shamed you with such talk,” she said rather stiffly. “Is that all, my lord?”

  Tenner’s gaze lingered on her. “It is not all,” he said. “And do not address me formally. We are beyond such things. Annie, I am sorry I became angry. I should not have done that, and I should not have belittled you. I suppose… I suppose that sometimes I try so hard to be reasonable that it clouds my ability to see things beyond the limit of my understanding. You said you saw a ghost; I did not see it. I have not seen it. Therefore, to me, it does not exist.”

  Her head came up, her big eyes fixed on him. “But I saw it,” she said quietly. “I saw it twice. It spoke both times. Do you truly believe I would lie to you about such things?”

  He was trying not to become frustrated again. “Nay,” he said. “But there is something else in what you said; I read the hide you left behind. I saw where whoever wrote the missive spoke of the inability to speak. If the last lord of Baiadepaura is this ghost, then how can he speak? The man who wrote the missive did not have that ability.”

  He had a point, but Annalyla knew what she’d heard. “Perhaps he had not a voice, but he could move his lips,” she said. Then, she whispered the words without using her voice. “We are able to speak without using sound and volume. That is what I heard, my lord. A sound without volume, as if it was breathed into my ear.”

  Tenner didn’t want to fight with her. He really didn’t. Perhaps, he needed to put aside his unreasonable logic and listen to her. She hadn’t lied to him since he’d known her, his truthful little wife, and he’d respected her greatly from the beginning because of it. He needed to stop being so narrow-minded and have faith in that trust they had establish
ed.

  Have faith in her.

  “Will you tell me what happened, then?” he asked sincerely. “Tell me everything from the beginning and I will listen without judgement, I promise.”

  Annalyla sighed reluctantly, afraid dredging up what she’d already told him would bring about another quarrel. But she indulged him.

  “There is not much more to tell than I already told you,” she said. “The old woman who had come from the village along with several other women to be employed as servants gave me the hide, and told me that her ancestor had taken it from Baiadepaura the same day that the wicked lord, the last lord, was killed. She told me it was a curse written by the lord himself and told me that we should leave immediately because of it. But when I read the hide, it was not a curse. If you read it, then you know what it says. It is a man begging for his life.”

  Tenner nodded faintly. “I know.”

  Annalyla continued. “When I read the hide, I was in the big chamber that faces out over the bailey, the one you have claimed as your solar,” she said. “I read it several times before finally reading aloud as if it would help me understand the words better. And that is when I saw it.”

  “What?”

  She thought hard, trying to describe exactly what she saw. “It was a mist,” she said. “That is the only way I can describe it. It was as if a mist was inside the solar and as I watched, it took on the form of a man. And a hand touched me from this mist. It was so cold that it felt like ice, and then I heard the words Anyu equi.”

  Tenner remembered the words on the old hide. “My dear Anyu,” he murmured. “I will assume that is his wife.”

  Annalyla nodded, perhaps warming a little to the conversation now that he wasn’t ridiculing her. “That is my assumption as well,” she said. “He said Anyu equi twice, to me when I was alone, and then also when Maude read it. It is part of what old Mawgwen said – she, too, spoke of the horsehead amulet that the wicked lord had given his wife. She said that is why he lingers, to find the amulet.”