A Head for Poisoning

by Simon Beaufort

  “Stephen is dead,” said Geoffrey, realising too late that he should have maintained his silence.

  “Did you kill him?” she asked, intrigued. “Poor Stephen! He connived and lied and plotted, and prided himself on the misconception that he was the most devious of us all.”

  “I see you hold that honour,” said Geoffrey.

  “He was spineless, too,” she continued as though he had not spoken. “Pernel was different. She had the courage to follow her convictions. Stephen had no strength at all.”

  “I do not blame him,” said Geoffrey. “It was Pernel’s courage that led her to plotting to kill a king, and brought about her murder by her co-conspirators.”

  “Stephen was not happy about that,” said Enide. “But she had to go.”

  “Why not kill him too? Why did you risk letting him live, if you are so cautious?”

  “He knew nothing of consequence,” said Enide with contempt. “Godric wanted to bring him into our plan to slay Rufus, but we all argued against that, even Pernel.”

  “Then Stephen was not your ‘one other”?” asked Geoffrey, surprised to feel relieved that the one brother he had almost started to like had not been involved.

  “Do not be ridiculous, Geoff!” said Enide. “I have just told you several good reasons why he was not to be trusted. Walter was the last of us. Could you not even work that out?”

  “Walter?” echoed Geoffrey in astonishment. He forced himself to concentrate. “Walter did not support King Henry, and he was loyal to the Duke of Normandy. But he was so open about it.”

  “So?” asked Enide. “Why should he not be? He felt very strongly that the Duke of Normandy would make a better king than his duplicitous younger brother. But, like Pernel, Walter was becoming unstable. I brained him with the skillet to ensure that he did not panic after our lack of success yesterday afternoon and tell everyone what we had attempted to do. And now I have come for you and the deplorable Henry.”

  “I do not understand why you are doing this,” said Geoffrey, bewildered by the intensity of her hatred. “What caused you to plot to kill kings?”

  “I grew tired of plotting to kill brothers,” said Enide. “Oh, Geoffrey, do you really not understand? It was so tedious here. The only fun to be had was setting our brothers at each others” throats, but even that became so easy it was not worthwhile.”

  “But Father Adrian told me that you went to see King Henry in June—before he was king—in Monmouth. Adrian believes you told him about the plot to kill Rufus.”

  “And so I did,” said Enide. “He thanked me most courteously, and informed me that he would tell his brother to be on his guard. Then he dismissed me from his presence. And as if that were not bad enough, he claimed the throne after Rufus’s death before the poor Duke of Normandy could do a thing to stop him.”

  Geoffrey laughed, despite the gravity of the situation. “I see. So you told King Henry of the plot to kill Rufus, so that he could be ready to support the Duke of Normandy, but all you really did was to warn him to be alert to the opportunity of grabbing the crown for himself. You could not have done him a greater favour. He should have given Goodrich to you!”

  “I will have Goodrich yet,” said Enide coldly. “When you are dead and Henry is dead, it will be mine. The Earl will never allow Joan and Olivier to hold it—Olivier is too feeble.”

  “But you will have no Malger at your side,” said Geoffrey, playing with fire. “Which other lover will you take to help you run it? Drogo? Adrian?”

  Geoffrey had expected her to hurl herself at him in fury—had hoped she would, so that he might turn the situation to his advantage somehow—but he had underestimated her capacity for self-control. She smiled icily and refused to be drawn.

  “Charming though it has been chatting with you again, I am a busy woman, and have a good deal to do before I leave.” She turned to Drogo. “Do get it right this time.”

  Drogo was in the process of drawing back the bowstring, when there was an almighty crash and the door burst open. Drogo jumped in alarm, and Geoffrey used his momentary confusion to grab his surcoat from where it lay on the floor, and fling it towards the startled knight. It entangled itself on the arrow, and Drogo swore as he tried to shake it away. Geoffrey leapt at Drogo, but a mailed fist shot out in a punch that set Geoffrey’s senses reeling. He fell backwards, scrabbling to keep his grip on Drogo as the older man fumbled for his dagger.

  As Henry darted into the room with his own bow, Enide leapt towards the garderobe passage.

  “Shoot!” yelled Geoffrey as Drogo’s knife came out of its sheath and missed his cheek by the breadth of a hair.

  Geoffrey seized Drogo’s wrist and tried to push it away, while his other hand fought to prevent Drogo from striking his eyes with splayed fingers. At first, Geoffrey thought he could force Drogo to drop the dagger, but Drogo was far stronger than he looked, and Geoffrey felt the dagger being forced relentlessly towards him, coming closer and closer to his throat. He tried to struggle away, kicking at Drogo’s legs, but although the older knight grunted and swayed slightly, his chain-mail prevented Geoffrey’s blows from doing real harm.

  Geoffrey squirmed away as the cold tip of the dagger grazed against his skin, but Drogo thrust Geoffrey up against the wall so hard that it drove the breath from his body. The dagger dipped towards him again, and Geoffrey knew that he did not have the strength to stop it. He tried to shout to Henry for help, but no sound came.

  And then Drogo crumpled suddenly, the dagger clattering harmlessly from his nerveless fingers. Joan stood over him, holding the same skillet that had been used to brain Walter.

  “That will teach him not to tangle with the Mappestones,” she muttered. She turned on Henry. “Foolish boy! What were you thinking of? Why did you not shoot? Could you not see that this oaf was about to slit Geoffrey’s throat?”

  “I could not fire,” stammered Henry, his face white.

  “And why did you bring a bow?” snapped Joan. “Surely, even you should have been able to see that a sword would have been the weapon of choice for fighting in a small room.”

  “It was what came most readily to hand,” mumbled Henry. “And anyway, my sword is with the blacksmith for sharpening—we cannot be too careful now that Caerdig of Lann Martin thinks he has a truce with us.”

  “But you did not even fire your bow,” pressed Joan.

  “I could not,” said Henry in a low voice. “It was too close.”

  “What was too close?” demanded Joan, the skillet still clutched in one meaty hand.

  Henry hung his head. “I could not be certain I would get the right one,” he mumbled.

  And which one would that be? wondered Geoffrey, looking down at the crumpled form of Drogo, and feeling his neck to see if the dagger had nicked him. Henry gave a gasp of horror as his eyes fell on the still-gagging figure of Hedwise lying on the floor.

  “My God! What have you done to Hedwise?”

  “She swallowed some of her ergot soup,” said Geoffrey. “But I do not think she has taken enough to kill her. But while we have been chattering here, Enide has escaped!”

  He darted towards the garderobe passage, but Enide was long gone and the door was closed. He rushed towards it, hauling on the handle, but it had been locked from the inside. He thumped it in frustration with his balled fists.

  “Kick it open,” instructed Joan, following him in. “The bolt on the other side is not very strong.”

  Geoffrey had already surmised Joan knew about the secret tunnel, but he was impressed that she had observed the size of the bolt. He stood back and aimed a hefty kick at the door, which shuddered and groaned but showed no signs of opening.

  “Again!” ordered Joan.

  Geoffrey obliged, and saw it budge slightly. He kicked it a third time, and it went crashing back against the wall, the sound reverberating all over the castle.

  “Henry?” said Joan imperiously. “Come with me. Not unarmed, man! Bring your bow! And arrows might help, to
o,” she added facetiously as Henry made to come without them. “Olivier, bind Hedwise and Drogo, and ensure they do not escape. Geoffrey, take your sword and follow me.”

  “Down there?” asked Geoffrey in horror.

  “Of course down there!” said Joan, looking at him askance. “That is where Enide went, after all. Look lively, Geoffrey! We have a murderer to catch.”

  “I could go the other way,” temporised Geoffrey. “I could block the exit at the far end.”

  He expected her to argue, but she gave him a soft and somewhat unexpected smile. “You will be too late by the time you run round the river path. She will have gone. Stay here if you would rather, and guard this pair of ruffians. Olivier! Come with me.”

  Geoffrey could not, in all conscience, allow Enide to escape because he had entrusted her capture to the likes of Olivier and Henry. Joan, he imagined, would probably do better, but she possessed no real weapons. Filling his mind with images of Stephen, Godric, and Walter, all dead, directly or indirectly, because of Enide, he snatched the torch from Joan and marched into the black slit of the tunnel.

  Geoffrey had not taken more than a few steps before the torch started to splutter, and he faltered. Was the air too old and stale in the passage to allow the thing to burn properly, or was it just a poorly made torch? The thought had barely formed in his mind, before whatever imperfection had been in the flare had righted itself, and it burned bright and steady again. Geoffrey forced himself to walk on.

  It was not a long journey, he told himself, and the tunnel was dry for the most part. There was plenty of air, too. But he had not gone far before he felt his mouth go dry, and the familiar tightening around his chest began. He hesitated, despite his resolve to catch Enide.

  “Geoffrey,” called Joan from behind him, giving him a firm but gentle push in the back to make him start moving again. “Did Hedwise kill our father with poisonous fish soup?”

  “No,” called Geoffrey wearily, picking his way down the dark, slick steps. “He killed himself because Enide was preparing to murder another king. King Henry is cleverer than Rufus, and Father knew she was unlikely to succeed.”

  “Rubbish!” came Henry’s voice from above him. “Enide would have succeeded very well if you had not intervened. Norbert had a good clear shot, and would most certainly have killed the King had you not distracted him.”

  “Maybe,” said Geoffrey. “But Father did not want himself associated with it, and he knew he would be because the plotters were basically identical to the ones that hatched the first regicide—the one that never happened because someone else thought of it first.”

  “And since I suspect that King Henry knows more than he is telling about his brother’s timely demise we had better not ask who,” said Joan. “So, all those accusations and counter-accusations about Godric’s murder were for nothing—no one killed him, no one poisoned him or Enide?”

  “Right,” said Geoffrey.

  “Well, at least the Earl of Shrewsbury did not get away with foisting his false will on us,” she said, after a moment. “Olivier managed to get his fat priest drunk and indiscreet, and he learned that the Earl really did forge the document that claims Godric left Goodrich to him. But it does not matter now—Goodrich is ours once more.”

  “I cannot imagine that the Earl will accept defeat lightly,” said Geoffrey. “He will be back to try again.”

  “I do not think so,” said Joan confidently. “He is no fool. He knows he has been beaten over Goodrich, and he will not risk the King’s anger to continue his war of attrition with the Mappestones. He might come for us if the Duke of Normandy ever claims the crown of England, but that will not be for many years yet—if ever.”

  They had reached the large chamber at the bottom of the stairs. Geoffrey entered it cautiously, holding the torch above his head and his sword at the ready. The room was deserted, and appeared exactly as it had done the last time he had been there.

  Joan shuddered. “What a foul place. And this is where Enide lived for four months?”

  “Not all of the time,” said Geoffrey. “I imagine she stayed with Adrian on occasions, or Malger. She has not been here since Father’s murder or Rohese would have noticed.”

  “I had no idea this room existed,” said Joan, running her fingers along the shelves curiously.

  “But you knew of the tunnel,” said Geoffrey. It was not a question.

  “Oh, yes. I was in my teens when the keep was being built, and since girls are not permitted the freedom of boys to go gallivanting around the countryside, I watched the castle’s progress with some interest. I guessed what the shaft was for, and I did my own exploring, and discovered the tunnel and where it went. Godric thought it was his secret, and I did not tell him that I knew about it.”

  “He might have had you executed as a threat to his security,” said Geoffrey, smiling, but not entirely sure that it was too remote a possibility.

  Joan grinned. “He might well have done. I explored the passage as far as the door to this room, looking for Rohese the night Godric died, but it was barred from the inside. I have never actually been in here.”

  So that cleared up another loose end, thought Geoffrey. Joan had not been able to enter the room at the end of the tunnel because it had been barred at that point. Rohese, however, had found it open, and so Stephen must have unbarred it when he had gone from the woods up to Godric’s chamber. He had slipped through Godric’s room while Walter, Geoffrey, and Rohese had been sleeping, and returned later to argue with Godric after Walter had left.

  Joan continued to explain. “When I got back to Godric’s room, you and Walter were preparing to go back to sleep. I hid in the garderobe passage until you dozed, so you would not know where I had come from. I had to move the chest from the door, back to the end of the bed. I wondered why you slept through the noise I made: Walter was drunk, but you were not. I did not know then that you had been drugged.”

  “Why did you move the chest?” asked Geoffrey.

  Joan regarded him with a sideways tilt of her head. “Because I wanted to leave, bird-brain! I could not get out with the chest blocking the door, could I? Anyway, I did not realise why you had put it there in the first place. I thought Walter had placed it there by mistake in his drunken stupor.”

  “Hunting Rohese down to sleep with the Earl seems a little callous,” said Geoffrey. “She is only a child and surely too young to be thrust into the clutches of a man like him, even for only a night.”

  “Nonsense,” said Joan. “She had been with the Earl every night since he forced his presence on us at Rwirdin—except for the last one, when he chose a girl from the village. Rohese was unreasonably jealous, and refused her favours to show him her displeasure.”

  “She slept with him voluntarily?”

  “Of course she did,” said Joan, surprised by the question. “Do you think I would let her go to him if she were not willing? It is something about which I happen to feel very strongly. I am in the process of preventing Julianna from falling victim to a similar fate, but Olivier mentioned that he had told you about that. I was a little concerned, actually, thinking that a Holy Land knight was hardly someone to be trusted to protect a young virgin. But you have proved that my fears were unfounded: not only have you not forced your attentions on her but you have been kind to her and Rohese.”

  So Rohese had not been strictly truthful with Geoffrey when he had been so gallant in saving her from what had seemed to be a fate worse than death. He wondered what other lies or misleading statements she had made to him.

  “Did you stand in for Rohese when she could not be found?” asked Geoffrey, and immediately regretted his impertinence. If she had, it was none of his business.

  Joan glared at him in outrage. “I most certainly did not! What do you take me for? Have I changed that much since we last met?”

  Geoffrey thought that she had changed very little. She was still aggressive, sharp-tongued, critical, and intolerant, but she was also somewhat prudi
sh and not especially attractive. She certainly was not the kind of woman to leap into bed with any passing earl—or be the kind of woman any passing earl would want there. Geoffrey was embarrassed that he had asked such a question.

  “Olivier stayed with the Earl that night,” said Joan stiffly.

  Geoffrey was more embarrassed than ever. Joan saw his reaction and sighed in exasperation.

  “Geoffrey, what is the matter with you? Has your stay in the Holy Land deranged your mind? Olivier played dice until the Earl was ready to sleep, and then played the rebec. Olivier is a very skilled musician and the Earl finds his playing soothing.”

  “Ah,” said Geoffrey, not knowing what else to say.

  Still offended, she looked around the room. “Someone has made this hole quite comfortable.”

  “Do not stand around chattering,” called Henry, who had gone on ahead and was at the door that opened into the woods. “This door is locked and I cannot open it.”

  Geoffrey’s blood ran cold. “We are trapped?”

  Joan watched him. “We are not,” she said firmly. “Enide has just blocked the door, that is all. Give it a push with your shoulder, Henry.”

  Henry did as he was told, but the door was stuck fast. Geoffrey inspected it, and then gave it a solid kick at waist level. It moved a little.

  “A stone is blocking it,” said Henry, elbowing him out of the way. “Move. I can open it now.”

  Geoffrey stood back and watched as Henry heaved and shoved at the door, accompanying his efforts with an impressive litany of curses and blasphemies. Geoffrey offered to help, but there was only enough room for one, and Henry was clearly intent on doing it himself.

  “Making up for not firing your arrow at Drogo to save Geoff, are you?” asked Joan waspishly.

  Henry glared, leaning his back against the door and shoving with all his might. “I could not be sure that I would not hit Geoffrey,” he grunted. “Then you would have been all over me for murder.”

  “That would not usually stop you,” said Geoffrey.

  “Well, things are different now,” muttered Henry. “I am lord of Goodrich; I can afford to be gracious.”