The Lethal Flame (Flame Series)

by Arms, Angie

  She had asked him once what Richard would do with her and he had said he would marry her off. Was he already choosing a husband for her? Would the man Richard chose be kind to her, give her the adoration she deserved? Would he beat her to break her spirit? He hoped the man would ignore her but he knew a woman such as she would never be ignored. These were the dark thoughts that plagued him as he tried to keep his wits while he searched for the men who plotted a revolt.

  Damien looked around him now, searching in the darkened interior of the tavern, the smells of human bodies and ale mixed to create an odor that turned his stomach. He pretended to take another drink from his mug, his eyes shifting in search of the group of men who were supposed to meet here tonight. The hour was growing late and he began to doubt this meeting was actually going to take place. For three nights he had sat at the same table on the same bench so he could watch the comings and goings of the small room. Perhaps his information was wrong and the rebels were far from here and he had been sent here only to be thrown off the scent.

  His eyes came to rest on one of the men sitting in the far corner, Daniel Montgomery. He too was surveying the room, taking in his surroundings and watching the door closely. Another once around the room and Damien spotted another man not far from him also finding his surroundings of keen interest. The door opened and a man stepped in, hesitating near the door. He locked eyes with both men and gave a nod before moving further into the room. Within a few moments they had shuffled around until they and an additional man had joined them.

  If someone didn’t know to look for this meeting they would not notice it was going on. The men moved back and forth, as if merely moving about the room but they were talking amongst themselves. Damien watched them, discreetly until they began to shuffle away from one another. Damien stood and went out the door, mixing into the blackness of the night. One by one the men left the tavern, their horses carrying them away with Damien taking note of their direction then mounted his own horse and followed the last man.

  He stalked him for 15 minutes as he rode from the village. This was the man who had entered the tavern last, could this be the ring leader. Damien knew each of those men were leaders in the rebellion against King Richard, each coordinating their men with the others in an effort to succeed not only in the ousting of Richard but his death as well in order to clear a path to the crown for John. He was pretty sure these were the men he was sent after and soon he would confirm this.

  The man’s saddle squeaked and his horse chomped away at his bit making it rattle against the reins. The man’s belt held a dagger and something else that seemed to chime each time his horse took a step. All this noise was not present with Damien and his horse and they over took the man, the piece of rope he slipped around the man’s neck as soon as he had begun to turn at the motion of Phantom’s head moving into his field of vision bit into his skin. Any action was too late for the man was yanked from his saddle and left dangling in midair before Damien dismounted taking him to the ground with him. He wasn’t a small man, nearly the same size as Damien, but that did not make him hesitate, knowing he was superior in battle to any of these rebels. He allowed the stranger to reach panic mode before relaxing his grip on the rope about his neck.

  “What is your name?”

  The man stuttered in a way that clearly told Damien he was delaying the inevitable. The rope tightened and the man was nearly close to collapse before Damien eased the grip on the rope. “Your name?”

  Between gasps the man managed to choke out, “Pierson Alsford.”

  “What is your business on this night?” Damien asked in a voice that was outwardly calm but inside he was in a frantic turmoil to see this task completed.

  “I was just at the tavern getting a drink or two.”

  The last word came out as a squawk when the rope cut it off. “I know you support John. You and your three buddies.” The man had the audacity to smile at him.

  “Who are the others?”

  Pierson shook his head. This time the rope stayed tight around his neck until his eyes bulged from his head and he was only seconds from dying.

  “Who?” Damien demanded in a scream beside the man’s ear knowing the haze of confusion that was surrounding him as he struggled to breath.

  “Daniel Montgomery,” Pierson wheezed. “Bolton Elspeth and I don’t know the other man’s name.” When the rope began to tighten he franticly declared, “I don’t know the other man I swear it. He is titled and that is all I know.”

  “Where will I find these men?”

  “I don’t know,” the man spat in anger only to have the air cut from him again. “Where?”

  “Bolton and Daniel go to Penrith, I don’t know where the other man goes.”

  The struggle that ensued was one Pierson could not win and by the end he lay prone on the ground, Damien crouched over him, the hair on the man’s head held tightly in one of Damien’s fists and his other hand held his dagger to Pierson’s throat.

  “What is planned?”

  “I don’t know,” he said letting out a small whimper as the blade began to draw blood. “I don’t know, they do not tell me.”

  “Then what’s your role in all this?”

  “I have men I am to gather and meet everyone at Bewcastle.”

  “Why Bewcastle?” Damien asked with a sinking feeling.

  The man shook his head and managed an “I don’t know,” in a whisper before Damien ended his life. He was supposed to present the king with prisoners but this man would only be a hindrance whether he took him prisoner or released him. Rising from him he wiped the blade across the man’s tunic to clean his blood off it before sheathing it at his waist. Removing his sword he used it to sever the man’s head from his shoulders and feeling close to losing his dinner he dropped it into a burlap sack he tied to Phantom. Since when did his noble service require such an action? He took a moment to empty his stomach in the bushes after all, the threat of burning in hell for all eternity become more and more a reality with each passing day. Taking the reins of Phantom he swung into the saddle and headed toward Penrith and the men he hoped to find there.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Keri turned to the servant who was sent to her. She didn’t understand why Richard would send her with orders to dress his prisoner in the finest gown she could ever hope to adorn her body. She wasn’t sure what was done during the witch trials but surely the gown would be ruined before the day was out. At least she would go to her death looking like a lady although she had long since been stripped of that title. She wondered not for the first time what had become of Damien. It would seem as if he had just abandoned her. Why wouldn’t he? She was just a nuisance to him. Her imprisonment was just another notch of success to go in what must be a long line of notches. She couldn’t imagine the man failing at anything. She wondered if he had earned a title and found herself saddened by the thought he probably never would and would likely die somewhere in battle just another pawn for Richard. The last thought made her shove it angrily away before she found herself in a morose mood once again. She had enough on her plate today without worrying about Damien and his future.

  “She is ready,” the servant called and the tower door was flung open and two hulking men stood just outside ready to escort her.

  Down the steps, through corridors, the walk to her death seemed endless as her heart seemed to drop to her feet with every step. This was it. The moment she had waited for, it seemed a lifetime. At least her children were safe, she thought for the hundredth time. Wasn’t that the best thing she could hope for now? Her offspring would live on, perhaps make a difference in England, she hoped beyond all else if they never did anything they would be happy.

  The large door before her opened and she was ushered into a large room, crowded with numerous people, all wearing what must be their richest clothes as they milled about. The two men who escorted her motioned her forward, toward another guard who stood near a dais the king himself sat upon. The other guard beckoned to he
r so with her head high she moved further into the room, unable to take her eyes from the guard. If she looked about her, at the rich opulence of the room she might just lose her calm demeanor. Her back stiffened more so by the time she reached the guard she felt as if her taught muscles would snap her in two.

  With a callused hand the guard offered her a hand up onto the dais. Lifting the skirt of her gown slightly she took the step up and remembered to bow to the king at the last moment. No use giving him a reason to lop off her head before everyone she thought as she halted before him.

  The man in his regal clothes looked as if he would be a proud king even if he sat upon his throne naked. She knew no one in the world would dare challenge him if he chose to do so. The thought almost made her laugh but she shoved the image to the recesses of her mind so she did not look totally mad before him by falling into peals of laughter.

  “Take a seat,” Richard said only giving her a moment of attention as he watched the troubadours she had just noticed performing before the dais. She numbly watched, her mind whirling and unable to grasp the antics and humor of the story they portrayed. At the end everyone near broke into great guffaws of laughter then applauded. Keri did the same although she had no idea of what she was clapping for.

  “I am glad to see you look better than the day you were last brought before me,” Richard declared his keen eyes falling on her.

  “Thank you,” she murmured wondering if his complement was for the clothing he sent her.

  “It would not do for word to get out you were not well cared for.”

  Keri’s eyes darted to the king, her mouth falling open. “I thought my condition would not matter as I face the trials.”

  A frown broke across the king’s face. “Normally it would not but I have freed you from the trials under Damien’s assurance you are not a witch and do not wish harm upon my title.”

  “His word is all that was needed?”

  Richard looked at her as if she had grown two heads. “No my dear, his service is what was needed,” he said with humor at her ignorance edging his voice.

  “I thought you already had his service,” Keri said as apprehension began to build in her.

  The king studied her for a moment and she got the uneasy feeling she would not like what he said. “I have agreed to drop the charges against you in exchange for him finding the rebel leaders and bringing them to me.” He sighed as if he did not want to continue. “Damien is a loyal man, but only to the one who wears the crown. He was loyal to my father,”

  This meant at one time Damien had opposed Richard.

  “I almost killed him but Damien is a good knight, a strong fighter so he and his brother went on crusade with me. Mind you I had their loyalty because I have their sister.”

  Keri nodded. She knew this must have been when Cyrille was nearly killed and with the weight of his sister’s fait on his shoulders too Keri could see it turning Damien into the man he was today. A fierce man, a hard man, a man who hid behind his armor in order to remain strong and in control.

  The rest of what the king had said began to sink in and Keri found herself speechless, her body frozen to the high back of the chair. It was no secret John apposed his brother, claiming their father had left it to him, John, and not to Richard, because Richard had tried to overthrow their father while he was still holding the crown. Nor was it a secret John was not shy about leading a revolt which would place Richard’s rebel leaders on the front lines of the building firestorm and the man sent to hunt them down right alongside them.

  “I see by the look upon your face you do not agree with me sending him away for such a task,” Richard continued, his voice cutting violently through the fog that seemed to swirl about her. “You now find yourself in a similar situation as his sister.”

  Keri turned her head to see the colors of the troubadours bouncing around swirling together, the laughter of the viewers running together, driving into her skull until she felt as if she would puke. “Do not worry for Damien, for the two women he cares most about is my guarantee he will complete this task.”

  She turned back to the king and stared at him for several breaths, she only knew she exhaled and inhaled because she heard the loudness of it overcrowding the rest of the noise in the room. “I will be gracious enough to offer you the comforts of my home without having to be locked away in the tower. That however does not come without a price.”

  She felt like a lion’s prey that had been run aground, lying helpless within its jaws. “I understand the price you ask but I must be fair and make you aware I carry another man’s child.”

  Richard scowled at her and straightened from the lean that had brought him closer to her. “Whose child?”

  “I do not yet know, your majesty,” she said as her mind quickly worked in an effort to keep up with her mouth. She quickly counted the time from her husband’s death and now, and realized it would be a stretch of the imagination that she would carry his child, nearly six months. Six months her brain cried out at her. Was that all the time that had passed to make her end up here? But she was committed to the path as soon as the words came out of her mouth. The path she had chosen was as safe as any she could possibly take she reasoned. “It could be either my husbands’ or Damien’s.”

  “You realize this puts me in a most precarious spot?” the king asked.

  Keri nodded but the only spot she could think this put her in was one that morally put her body off limits to him.

  “With the death of your son this has left no heir to Langley. I might have destroyed the keep but it is still a strategic area with a great deal of wealth. Many of my allies would not take kindly to my turning my back on the heir to that land nor the heir to Bewcastle. If you carry Bryson’s child I can assign one of my own men to see to Langley until the time he will come of age. If it is a boy, otherwise I will appoint a husband to your daughter that I would feel comfortable with having in charge there.”

  “And if I carry Damien’s?” The question formed and was out of her mouth before she could stop it. What did it matter what it meant if she carried Damien’s child? There was no child, if there was it would be unquestionably Damien’s since it was so long ago she had allowed Bryson near her.

  “This depends on whether or not he returns. If he does not the child would be irrelevant regardless because its mother will be dead.” As if he had not just told her he held her life in his hands he beckoned her two guards forward. “Understand if I retract my earlier offer to the comforts of my home,” he said with a sneer that made Keri want to drive her knife into his chest, and wishing for the weapon she did not have. “Take her back to the tower,” he commanded with a wave of his hand.

  Keri needed no further prompting but rose regally from the chair she sat upon. At least she hoped she made a regal exit, for her mind was numb with the information Richard had given her. What of Damien’s sister? Her heart ached for the man. She had wondered how she could feel drawn to such a man as he. The things he had done made him seem evil, but now she knew it was an effort to save his family. To give them a better life. Was that not her own purpose for her children?

  Time passed in the tower, she marked the sunrise and sunsets she witnessed through the single high window of her cell, only seeing the light pass into darkness and the darkness into light then she would make another notch on the wall. She counted them several times throughout the day, not sure if she wished time would slow down or speed up. It was profoundly more difficult wondering the fate of Damien than it had been wondering what hers would be. Enough time passed that Bryson’s child would have been born and she would have showed signs if she carried Damien’s but she remained a prisoner. Each time a meal arrived she found herself anxiously awaiting news of his arrival but all that ever came was a meal. Day in and day out, she was thankful for the break in the darkness in this prison but she found her mind became exhausted waiting and she began to worry if eventually she would be reduced to the woman she had become in the dungeon. It was only
a matter of time before the loneliness and endless waiting drove her back into that abyss of madness.

  Then one day the door opened and two guards ushered her from the room. Down the stairs, along corridors until she was motioned into a room and the door slammed behind her. The chamber held a tub that appeared to be full of steaming water with scented soap and cloth resting on the edge. She felt herself pulled to it and was caught looking down at it longingly when the door opened again and two young female servants entered closing the door firmly behind themselves.

  Keri straightened scowling at the two beaming women. They advanced and Keri retreated. “Don’t be frightened,” the little redheaded one coaxed her. “We’re only here to help you bath and dress.”

  “Wh-Why?” she stammered not wanting them to hear the endless days of quietness she had endured.

  “To prepare you for your trip to your new home and new husband,” the brunette said stepping forward to unbutton the tattered peasant dress Keri had first arrived in.

  “New husband?” Keri asked as a ball of dread began to form in the pit of her stomach.

  “That is all we were told my lady,” the red headed girl said lifting the simple dress over her head.

  In a flash the women had her in the tub, had her scrubbed clean and back out in short order. The gown she was being placed in was not as elegant as the one the king had sent her before. She guessed that one had been for the king so his new mistress would be clad in the finest. Not that the blue and white laced gown was substandard, they still reeked of wealth and she found herself even more concerned at what her future held. A husband, her mind screamed at her. The women who helped her acted as if it was the best honor of all to have Richard arrange a marriage. She guessed he wanted a man to take over control of Langley while the sire of her child that would never come was determined.