she means to do it through you.?
Rowena?s eyes widened.
?Me? Butdoes she have authority, then, with Warrick gone??
?Some, not all, but she is too clever to depend on that. I overheard her
plotting last eventide with her sister, and ?tis clever indeed what she intends.
She does not know what your crime against Warrick was to make you prisoner here,
no one does, but ironically, she plans to say ?twas thievery, that Warrick told
her so.?
Rowena closed her eyes against full understanding.
?She is going to say I stole from her.?
?Aye, and her most valuable trinket, a pearl necklace given her by Warrick.
Melisant will support her, to say that you were the last one seen outside their
room ere it was found missing. Beatrix will then demand a search of the weaving
room, as well as Warrick?s chamber, and whilst there, she will pull the necklace
out of its supposed hiding place, confirming your guilt.?
?And she will not even have to insist I be put in the dungeon. ?Twill be done no
matter what, until Warrick?s return, and he is like to believe her tale. So
often he called me a little thief. He will be forced to punish me,
severelymayhap a whipping or?
?That is not your worry, my lamb. What will be done to you ere he returns is how
Beatrix hopes to hurt him.?
Rowena frowned.
?But John Giffard?
?Is not here. There is another jailer, a man not so nice who they say takes
pleasure in abusing those given into his charge.?
Rowena paled.
?II have met him.?
?That still is not all. Beatrix intends to suggest that you should be questioned
to find out what else you might have stolen. Do you know how prisoners are
questioned by this man??
?Torture??
?Aye. That little bitch hopes you will be so scarred andand used that Warrick
will not want you back in his bed, but more than that, that you will lose the
babe you carry. That is how she thinks to hurt him, because she knowsall knowhow
much he wants a son, even a bastard.?
?I am going to be sick.?
?I do not blame you,? Mildred said sympathetically.
?Nay, really sick.?
And Rowena ran to the garderobe.
Mildred was waiting with a cool wet cloth when she emerged. Rowena accepted it
gratefully, then asked ?How long do I have ere this trap is sprung on me??
?Until Beatrix readies herself for the evening meal. That will be her excuse to
want to wear the necklaceand find it missing. But you will be safely gone ere
then. I have already prepared you a sack with food and clothing, some of yours
but more servant?s garb also, which you will need to wear in order to leave. I
hid the sack in the alehouse, and was just about to see what was keeping you so
long?
?I overslept.?
?Ah, then ?twas working, our plan??
??Your plan, but aye, it did seem to be? Rowena laughed joylessly.
?Not that it matters now.?
?Nay, this matter will right itself with Warrick?s return. And you need not go
far. There is a woods a league east of here, big enough to hide a whole army.
Stay near the edges, and I will send Warrick to find you once I make him
understand why ?twas necessary that you go.?
?Can you not come with me instead, Mildred??
?I would be noticed missing too soon, which might draw attention to your own
absence, which should not be otherwise noted until the accusations are made. You
will have a better chance do you go alone, and I needs be here to assure Warrick
hears the truth ere Beatrix offers her lies.?
?You forget he does not listen to excuses leastwise not from us/?
Rowena said in a small voice.
?If I must go, better I not return. Tures is not so very far from here?
?
?Us a good three or four days on foot!? Mildred exclaimed.
?But my people there will help me, or hide me until I can figure out a way to
rescue my mother from Ambray Castle.?
?Rowena, you cannot think to travel that far alone on foot. Trust in Warrick.
Given time, he will do right by you. I feel it.?
Rowena shook her head.
?I have not your confidence. And now that I think of it, I do not want a man who
breeds such vicious children to have aught to do with the raising of my child.?
?Fault him for his negligence, but remember that neither of those girls had
mothers to guide them, whereas you?
?Mildred, there is no time to debate this issue now,? Rowena cut in impatiently.
?Tell me only how I am to get outside the gates.?
That Mildred was annoyed to leave the subject unfinished was obvious by her sour
expression.
?There is only one guard at the postern gate. You will slip through whilst I
distract him. But if you are determined to escape for good, then wait in the
woods a daynay, best make it two days, until the furor dies down. I will join
you then.?
Rowena hugged her in relief.
?Thank you.?
?Thank me after you have to listen to me telling you all the way to Tures how
foolish I think you.?
Mildred grumbled.
Chapter 34
The woods were not a welcoming haven for a woman alone, not when every little
sound was an imagined thief or murderer about to pounce on her. The sky had
clouded over with the threat of rain ere the sun set, so there was no moon to
mark the passing of time, but time crawled for Rowena. Hours passed while she
tried to sleep and could not, her only consolation that it did not rain.
She felt no sense of exhilaration for having made good her escape. The ground
was too hard for comfort, even with her serf?s woolens spread out for a thin
pallet, and she was cold. She had changed into her own clothes as an act of
defiance, one that would not last past the morn, when she would have to don her
serf?s garb again for what little protection it afforded. The bright yellow
bliaut and scarlet mantle that she wrapped herself in gave her back a sense of
herself, which had been shaken by the Lord of Fulkhurst?s intimidations.
Fulkhurst? she wished she dared wait for his return, but she had none of Mildred?s
certainty where he was concerned. He might not be as cruel as she had first
thought him to be, but he was still capable of brutal retaliations and judgments,
and she doubted not that if he believed she had stolen that twice damned
necklace, the fact that she was sharing his bed and carrying his child would not
stop him from meting out the same punishment he would give anyone else found
guilty of the crime.
There was the chance that he might believe her if she was given the opportunity
to declare her innocence. But ?twas a slim possibility considering what he knew
about hernaught much good, thanks to Gilbertand she was not willing to risk a
whipping or worse just so his daughter could have her revenge against him.
She discovered she had a few vengeful thoughts herself for that young lady for
forcing her out into a lawless countryside. Ladies never, ever left their homes
without armed escort to accompany them. Most often even female serfs were given
a guard or two if they were sent out on errands. But here she was completely
alone, with only the small dagger she had found in Mildred?s sack to protect her.
Mildred had included another of her fine bliauts, which Rowena could sell to buy
escort if she could reach a town, but ?twas a big word ?if,? and any number of
unpleasant things could happen to her in the meantime, especially once she left
the concealment of the woods.
When she thought of some of those unpleasant things, she found how easy it was
to hope that Beatrix de Chaville received some just reward for what she had
instigated. If Rowena should die ere she reached an end to this misadventure,
mayhap she could come back and haunt Beatrix? aye, now that would be a just
reward, eternal revenge. Warrick would love the idea.
The thought put a smile on her lips that was still there when she finally
drifted to sleep moments later. But the noises of the woods still gave her no
peace, waking her again and again in what little was left of the night, until
she opened her eyes to the dim light of a lavender dawn and a man standing over
her.
She sat up so fast, pain stabbed at her temples. But ?twas no dream. The legs
were still there next to her, and the sound of horses that had woken her. She
turned to see other men dismounting near her, nigh a dozen who would be within
reach of her in moments.
She did not wait to learn who they were. After her nerve racking night, Rowena
panicked, grabbing the dagger she had stashed at her waist and slashing wildly
at the legs next to her. The man howled, but ?twas cut off as one of his
companions leaped toward him and clapped a hand over his mouth. Rowena did not
see this; she had shot to her feet and was running deeper into the woods, where
their horses could not quickly follow. But they could, and did, three of them
giving chase, laughing for the sport of it, which frightened her more than
anything else. She knew what happened when men chased women through field or
woods. They ended wanting a reward for their effort.
They were gaining on her. She could hear it over the violence of her heartbeat,
now pounding in her ears. They were encumbered by armor, which she could hear
clanking, but she had her long skirts to hamper her, and could not manage to
grasp them with her one free hand to lift out of the way. She kept trying, for ?twould
be the worse luck if the damn skirts tripped her up. Then they did, her toe
catching in the hem of her chemise enough to throw her off balance.
Her dagger fell from her hand as she braced herself for the fall, but she merely
stumbled a few steps, then regained her footing. There was no thought to
retrieving the weapon, however, and with both hands free now, she was able to
yank her skirts out of the way. But the advantage was too late gained because
one man was close enough behind her that he took the chance to dive at her. Had
she seen him do it, she could have jumped out of his reach, for ?twas mere
inches that undid her. He grasped only the very edge of her mantle ere he hit
the ground facefirst, but that was enough to jerk her to an abrupt halt and
right off her feet to land hard on her backside. Had the mantle been clasped at
her throat instead of around her shoulders, she would likely have broken her
neck. As it was for the first few seconds she was sure she hac broken her spine,
so painful was her landing
And before she realized that she could move/twas too late to do so.
The other two men had arrived, panting, one stopping in front of her, one at her
side. And the one behind her was getting to his knees, so angry at the smarting
from his own fall that he jerked again on the mantle still in his hand.
Rowena fell back the rest of the way, her head hitting the ground. But she was
not so dazed that she could not kick at the man in front of her as he bent
toward her, nor did she forget to scream. This she did shrilly, and it changed
their minds about what they might have done with her first. Their concern now
was to end the noise she was making, and they nearly collided with one another
in their haste to reach and cover her mouth. She bit one hand, threw aside
another, but then a third slapped her, and was about to do it again when that
arm was caught and held by one of the others.
?Wait, I know her.?
?You are daft, man. How can you??
?God?s truth, she is our lady.?
This was said with a great deal of surprise, but Rowena felt even more. Their
lady? She thought of Tures, but she did not recognize the faces leaning over
herthen she did remember one and groaned inwardly. She even had it confirmed by
a fourth visage looking down at her, and an incredulous voice she had hoped
never to hear again.
?Rowena??
He did not expect an answer. He had come upon the scene as she was being struck,
and as the memory of that intruded on his surprise, his fist knocked back one of
the three still crowded ?round her head. Then her stepbrother was lifting her up
and holding her so tightly to his chest she could barely breathe.
?How came you to be here??
The question broke through her thoughts, which were a jumble of fear mixed with
annoyance. If someone had to find her, why did it have to be Gilbert? And she
knew not what to tell him, except naught of what had truly happened to her in
the month since she had last seen him.
But she could tell him one truth, and did.
?I was held prisoner at Fulkhurst Castle, but was finally able to escape?
?He had you? I have been mad with grief, when all this time he had you?? He had
shoved her back as he questioned her, but now he crushed her again to say with a
trace of the genuine regret he had felt ?I thought you dead. There was no one at
Kirkburough to tell me what Fulkhurst had done with you.?
That he was serious in his concern made Rowena feel strange considering how much
she hated him.
?I am not surprised,? she answered carefully.
?He had sent me straightaway to his?dungeon ere the servants at Kirkburough came
out of hiding to witness it.?
?His dungeon!? Gilbert roared in his amazement. His men hissed at him to be less
vocal, but he merely glared at them, then brought that glare down to Rowena.
?The man must be mad. Did you not tell him who you were??
She glared back at him for his stupidity.
?You F?
y? would have had me confess all when you know he means to destroy you and all
you hold? He had already taken properties of mine because you held them. Think
you he would not have murdered me to take the rest from you in so easy a way? So
I told him naught other than what he assumed, that I was Lady of Kirkburough.?
Then she lied to support his original assumption that Warrick had come to
Kirkburough for him.
?He gent me to his dungeon because he was so furious that you were not there for
him to kill.?
Gilbert actually looked guilty, then confirmed it by saying ?I am sorry, Rowena.
I did not think he would harm you, or I would not have left you there, but I was
not thinking clearly that day.?
When did he ever think clearly, or without greed uppermost in his mind? she
wanted to ask, but he was leading her back the w
ay she had come, and so she
asked instead ?What do you here, Gilbert? You cannot think to lay siege to his
strongest castle.?
?Nay, not that, yet will I have control of it by nightfall.?
She stopped, only to be dragged along again when he did not.
?How??
?I sent him a challenge. If he is not stupid, he will have suspected a trap and
so taken most of his men with him.?
Now he stopped to demand excitedly ?Can you confirm this? Know you how many men
he took with him??
?I did not see him leave,? she replied crossly ?nor did I have time to count how
many were left behind when I was leaving myself.?
He was disappointed, and so continued on dragging her behind him again.
?No matter,? he finally said.
?He would take most of his men. Why would he leave them behind when, as you
pointed out, Fulkhurst is his strongest castle, capable of holding an army at
bay with just a handful of men??
?Then how do you think to take it??
He turned his head to grin at her.
?With a handful of men.?
?Ah, of course. So stupid of me to ask.?
He jerked on her arm to show he did not like her sarcastic tone.
?I had planned to approach at dusk for shelter.?
?They have a village they will direct you to,? she predicted.
?Nay, not when I am on Stephen?s business, with a message bearing his seal to
prove it.?
?Are you??
?What??
?On the king?s business??
?Of course not,? he replied impatiently.
?But the message is genuine. I had the good fortune to find it, since ?twas a
message going nowhere with the bearer dead.?
?Did you kill him??
He stopped once again to snarl at her.
?Why must you put every black deed at my door??
?Nay, only what you are capable of,? she shot back.
He scowled at her.
?What matters how I came by it? Twill gain me entrance to Fulkhurst. Or mayhap I
will return an escaped prisoner instead,? he added nastily.
She wished he would. She would give warning to those inside the castle no matter
what it cost her, as long as it thwarted Gilbert?s plans.
He must have thought he had managed to subdue her with his threat, for she said
no more until they reached the other men who had been left with the horses. She
recognized a few of them from Kirkburough, Lyons knights, men who should
Lindsey, Johanna - Prisoner Of My Desire Page 25
