The Clearing

by Lina J. Potter

Leis Antrel came running in. He froze when he saw the soldier on the floor.

  “You’re alive, my lady!”

  “No thanks to you,” Lily hissed. “What kind of a commander are you if you allow one of the earl’s men to attack his wife?” Lily kept her voice down only to avoid upsetting Miranda any further. The girl was already trembling.

  “My lady, it’s…”

  “Take a good look at him. Be my guest.” There was enough poison in her voice to pollute two or three rivers and assassinate a regiment of men. “Perhaps he is not one of your men. And maybe he didn’t want to kill me at all. He just came in here to tickle me with his knife.”

  Some of the servants snickered.

  “I should have you and all of your men turned over to the magistrate for this!”

  “My lady…”

  “What did you say? People have been calling me ‘my lady’ for so many years.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’ll show you a lady.” Mirrie hiccupped nervously.

  Lily turned and put an arm around her. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes,” Miranda said. She let go of Lily’s nightgown.

  “What’s next?”

  “Now we’re going to find out who sent this idiot…”

  “His name is Thomas Dort, my lady. He is a good soldier. He’s been with me for two years.” Leis’ face was gray.

  “I wonder how many countesses he’s murdered in those two years?”

  The killer wanted to say something in his own defense, but the Virmans had gagged him thoroughly. Lily took a closer look at the gag.

  That’s one of my petticoats! Fools!

  She decided to say nothing. Her priority was to put Leis on the defensive.

  “I suppose you want to be at the interrogation?”

  “I have to, my lady.”

  Lily nodded to the Virmans. “Drag him down to the dungeon. You can kick him around a little, but don’t question him. I will get dressed and be right down.” She turned to the crowd. “Now get out, all of you! That’s enough staring at the countess in her nightie!”

  The crowd nodded and started to disperse. Gel and Ivar dragged the killer off down the hall. Leis shooed the servants back to their rooms.

  Olaf put out a hand. “My lady, I would be happy to…”

  Lily shot him a look that shut his mouth. Then she glanced at Miranda. She hoped he got the hint.

  Then she turned to Calma. “Come here, dear. I need you to tend to your duties.”

  “My lady?”

  “If I see this child running around unattended one more time, you are fired. I have no more patience to deal with you. Is that clear?”

  Calma’s eyes were huge. She nodded.

  Lily lifted Miranda’s chin. “Run along and let me get dressed. I’ll handle this, and then I’ll come and tell you one more bedtime story. Deal?”

  Miranda nodded. “Are you really alright? Really?”

  “Cross my heart.”

  Taris Brok came flying into the room and froze, stopped in his tracks by the countess’ face. A shout died on his lips.

  “My lady…”

  “I’m alive and well, Taris. I’ll talk to you after Mirrie goes to bed.”

  Lily took the little girl back to her room and left her in her nanny’s charge before returning to her own room. She was starting to feel bad. She could tell that the two knife wounds were not deep, but they were bleeding and hurt like hell.

  She could have stopped the bleeding, but she didn’t know where the knife had been.

  He could have gutted a rat or scratched his ass with it just the other day. I don’t need an infection. I’d rather bleed a little more now than have it fester later on. They don’t have any antibiotics here yet, and I won’t get around to discovering them if I get blood poisoning tonight.

  Finally, Jamie appeared and got busy treating her.

  “Sit down, my lady.”

  She obeyed.

  “I need to look at your wounds.”

  “Let me call Martha for help. And Emma.”

  “I’m already here, my lady.”

  “What about Martha?”

  “My lady, she is in advanced years. I didn’t want to wake her.”

  Lily agreed. Her nanny, who was a few years over fifty, was already considered an old woman. And she felt like an old woman. The noise and scuffle in Lily’s room hadn’t woken her.

  “Fine. Emma can help me. Everyone else out. Taris, my friend, please step outside. I will call you back in once I’m bandaged up.”

  Taris bowed and left the room, his eyes the size of imperial rubles.

  Lily turned to Jamie. “Turn around. I’ll take my nightgown off.”

  He blushed and turned away. Emma helped Lily take off her nightgown and throw on a sleeveless one. She looked down at her body.

  Not bad. My shoulder’s just cut up a bit. He must have grazed me when he fell. I’ll live. It’s just my left arm. It’ll need to be stitched up and bandaged.

  Wait! Jamie will have to put in the stitches without any anesthesia! I can’t even have a glass of wartime anesthesia!

  Lily was tired. She couldn’t risk drinking alcohol. She needed to keep her wits about her. She wanted to break down and cry, but she couldn’t. She was the countess. She had to set an example for the others.

  She gritted her teeth and sucked in air when Jamie, following her orders, poured some alcohol on the wounds.

  The second wound was worse.

  He almost hit a tendon, son of a bitch. What would I have done then? I’ll make sure he hangs!

  She thought for a minute.

  She waited for an emotional response. None came.

  So what if I condemn him to death? He’s the one who came in here to kill me. Even the Bible says “he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.” I don’t want to hear about humanism.

  Jamie was stitching her wound with a silk thread that he had washed in alcohol, as she instructed. Lily gripped her pillow and gritted her teeth to keep from groaning. Emma handed Jamie whatever he needed and kept a hand on Lily. Finally (after what seemed like five hundred years), the wound was stitched shut, coated with honey and bandaged with what was left of her petticoat.

  I have to teach these people to make bandages. Soon I won’t have any clothes left!

  She thanked Jamie and sent him back to his room. Emma helped her dress.

  “My lady, this is some kind of devilry…”

  “I suppose so.” Lily sighed. If Mirrie hadn’t come in for a story, the man could have suffocated her quietly with her pillow and no one would have known about it.

  I wonder if this is the first time someone has tried to kill me? Did I really trip on the stairs when I had the miscarriage?

  Lily reflected that she might be a bit paranoid, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t after her. Both things could be true at the same time. Once she was dressed, she sent Emma to keep an eye on Mirrie and called in Taris Brok, who was still waiting in the hall.

  “My lady, what in the world is going on?”

  “Attempted murder,” said Lily with a rueful smile. She had decided to use the opportunity for all it was worth. “I suppose someone really doesn’t like me. I fell down the stairs and lost my baby. Then I discovered the estate manager was robbing me blind. My husband visits me twice a year. And now I find out someone wants me dead. Her eyes filled with tears. She was still feeling fragile after getting stitches with no anesthesia. Taris was touched.

  “My lady, your father must be told of this.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t want to worry him.”

  “But he is your father!”

  “My husband is responsible for me in the eyes of Aldonai and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, he is indifferent to my fate.”

  “My lady, I must tell your father about this attempt on your life!”

  Lily shrugged. “I don’t think that will change anything, but you are free to tell him if you wish.”

  “I most certainly wi
ll. He loves you very much, and here you are in this terrible situation!”

  Lily put a look of quiet suffering on her face and thought of Mary Magdalene. Or was it some other saint who suffered? She wasn’t strong in religious history.

  “Aldonai instructs us…”

  She went on about piety for about ten minutes. Finally, Taris announced that he would stay another three days to make sure she was alright. Then he went back to his room.

  Lily grinned.

  You’re on my side, even if you don’t know it yet.

  The men in her new world believed they were supposed to protect women (or at least aristocratic women). She would simply make use of their predisposition.

  I won’t bother writing to my father about the attempted murder. Taris will give him the whole story with all the awful details.

  It was time to go down into the dungeon and see how Thomas Dort was faring. Lily slipped on a warm shawl. She didn’t bother pinning up her hair. She took her candle and opened the door.

  Olaf and Elg were waiting for her. She nodded. “You can accompany me.” One took up position in front of her, the other walked behind her.

  Lily had never been in the dungeon or the torture chamber. They were part of the castle – right next to the storerooms where food was kept over the winter – but she had not wanted to look at them or think about them. She had gotten used to hoping that they would never be used.

  The Virmans, on the other hand, had attended to those most important rooms as soon as they arrived. The door hinges had been oiled and there were fresh torches on the walls. Ivar, Gel, Leis and the killer were waiting for her in the dungeon. Lily was glad to see that no one else would be involved.

  She cast a glance over the heavy table. There were rings set into it along the sides, and it had a small trough for diverting blood away from the floor. Thomas was tied to the rings.

  “Did he put up a fight?”

  Ivar smiled. “He promised us money if we would let him go.”

  Lily raised an eyebrow. “Money?” She turned to Thomas. “Who sent you, friend? Tell me everything.”

  Silence. Gel, who was standing next to her, suddenly roared like a bear, promising Thomas a chance to try impalement on a stake if he didn’t talk.

  Silence.

  Lily forced herself to stay calm. There was no point in yelling if it had no effect on the man.

  What am I going to do with him?

  In theory, she knew how to question a man in the field. But she had never actually done it. And her arm hurt, to boot.

  The Virmans looked at her with sympathy. Ivar spoke up. “My lady, why don’t you wait outside and let us deal with him?”

  She shook her head. “No. He wanted to kill me. I need to know why.”

  Ivar’s eyes shone with respect. He pointed to a bench along the wall. “Then perhaps you could sit over there?”

  She went over to the wall and sat down. Ivar bent over the prisoner. “Gag him.”

  It was done quickly.

  Ivar gazed sweetly into the prisoner’s terrified eyes. “I see you aren’t scared. You know what we’re about to do to you, but you aren’t begging for mercy. That’s good. I like your kind. I can play with you a long time before you beg for mercy. Most of the people we play with break quickly. That’s no fun at all.” He sounded disappointed. “So here we are. I’m going to play with you, and these men here are going to help me. Who has a knife?”

  “You won’t kill him, will you?” Lily asked from her seat in the corner.

  “Why would we do that? We’ll start out easy enough. Needles under his fingernails, for example. Then we’ll rip the nails off. After that, we’ll start to remove strips of skin and sprinkle him with salt. We know how to do this.”

  One of the other Virmans piped up, “I’ll go get some salt from the kitchen.”

  Ivar shrugged. “No hurry. Don’t wake the housekeeper yet.” He took out his knife and cut a sharp splinter from a stick of wood. It just took him a few seconds.

  Then he grabbed the killer by the hand. “You don’t have to talk to me. I love doing this.” He shoved the splinter under one of the man’s fingernails.

  The man howled through his gag and writhed on the table, but the ropes and iron rings held him tight. Ivar continued, slowly, with care, commenting on each action. Lily began to feel sick, but she tried not to show it.

  After ten minutes or so, the Virmans took off the gag. Lily felt like years had passed. She said nothing.

  I have to be patient.

  It was awful, but it had to be done. There was no “truth serum” in her new world.

  Ivar leaned in. “I suppose you still don’t want to tell us who sent you?” The killer cursed, and the Virmans gagged him again. He struggled, but Lily said nothing. She waited.

  He’s only got ten fingers and ten toes. We’ll see.

  They finished with his hands and took off his boots. Lily wondered if he ever washed his feet. By the time they were done with his toes, the killer was blubbering and trying to say something through the gag. Lily was sick to her stomach, but she stayed seated.

  I have to know who sent him. After all, the same person could just keep sending hired killers one after another!

  “Mercy!” he screamed as soon as the gag was off. “I’ll tell you everything I know!”

  “Who hired you?”

  “He didn’t tell me his name.”

  Ivar reached for the gag.

  “But I know why he did it!”

  “Is that so?”

  “His bitch is having an affair with the Earl of Earton.”

  Lily’s eyebrows went up.

  Very interesting. Your pregnant wife almost dies and you’ve already found someone else. Very, very interesting.

  “What’s the bitch’s name?”

  “Adelaide Wells.”

  Now Lily had the information she needed. The rest was details. She caught Ivar’s eye. “Keep up the questioning. I’m leaving. It’s stuffy in here, and I believe he’s soiled his pants.”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “Don’t kill him without asking me first. He may come in handy later.”

  “As you wish, my lady.”

  “I want a full report in the morning when I get back from church. Now get to work.”

  Ivar looked at Olaf. “Take her to her room.” Then he turned back to the killer. The last thing Lily heard him say was, “If I think you’re lying, I won’t bother skinning you. I’ll put a big splinter up your ass and light it on fire. That will make you sing…”

  She took five steps down the hall before she fell to her knees and vomited. She wasn’t particularly horrified by what she had seen in the dungeon. She was just overcome by everything that had happened: the attempt on her life, the adrenaline from fighting with the killer, the pain in her shoulder, and the horror of the torture. Lily was never afraid of cutting into a patient on the operating table, but it was hard and sickening to watch a man be tortured while pretending to be bored.

  So she vomited. Her body heaved violently, but only bile came out. Olaf held her by the shoulders and handed her a rag. She wiped her face and spat.

  “Will you get everything out of him?”

  “Yes. Have no fear, my lady.”

  “I am not afraid,” she cleared her throat, “for myself. But Miranda was there, too. What if that bastard had gotten a hand on her? She’s just a defenseless child!”

  The Virman’s face darkened. “We will protect you.”

  “I’d rather you teach Miranda and me to protect ourselves.”

  Somehow, she crawled back to her room and fell into bed with her clothes still on. She knew she ought to go check on Mirrie, but she was too weak to stand. She didn’t even take off her shawl.

  Sick…I feel sick…torturing a living man…and someone out there wants me dead. What for? Just because I’m a countess and my husband can’t keep his pants tied shut. It’s that simple.

  Lily started to cry. Quietly, so that
no one would hear. She felt awful. Her shoulder was sore, but her heart was what really hurt. She would be strong again in the morning: she would smile and joke and laugh and try to find a way to deal with Pastor Vopler; but for now, she was weak. She had no one she could lean on for support, and her husband was unfaithful.

  She couldn’t tell how much of her was Aliya and how much was Lilian. She just hurt all over.

  Chapter 2

  Lily never did get to sleep. She didn’t even try. Her shoulder smarted. Her back ached. Her knees cried out. And after she threw up, her throat was sore. When she got up, she didn’t bother trying to fix her face. Any fool could see that three layers of plaster would do nothing to hide her red eyes and the bags under them.

  I shouldn’t have cried, but I have to be human sometimes!

  She consoled herself that no one actually saw her cry. They could think what they like. Lily was in a hurry to get to morning prayers.

  She put on one of the pink tents that she hadn’t sold or altered.

  I’d better go traditional if I want to find common ground with the pastor.

  Lily knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid Pastor Vopler forever. She was, after all, the most important church member in the area. He would expect her to give money to the church and set a good example for simple folk. And he wasn’t her husband’s employee, so she couldn’t just poison him.

  Even if I did, the next pastor could potentially be worse. Like that gigolo Leider!

  Speaking of poison, Shirvey Lindt was not well that morning. Lily was gratified to learn that he had been up all night with vomiting and diarrhea, so he didn’t know about the attempt on her life and wouldn’t be going to church that morning. He was in a bad way.

  Everyone else in the household was ready for church. Lily cast a quick glance over the servants and the tutors, grabbed Miranda by the hand and climbed into her carriage. It was an hour’s drive to the church, where the service was held at dawn. With sunrise at six, they were away from the castle by five (and most of them had been up for a while by then). Miranda almost immediately fell asleep.

  It’s hard being a little girl.

  Miranda’s nanny didn’t ride in the carriage with them. Lily objected to her body odor and the smell of the onions that she was always eating, so Calma had to bump along in the wagon with the servants. She didn’t like that at all, but Lily cared little for her opinion.