De Warenne Dynasty 01 - The Conquerer (34 page)

Not that he cared. Let her have Dumstanbrough and the husband she already loved so well! MaybeGuy would bring her with him when he returned, and leave her here when he left to resume his services at Aelfgar. If it weren't for Ceidre,Rolfe would be thoroughly pleased with the turn of events.Guy was a
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fierce knight, and having him on this northernmost border would be a boon to his defenses.Rolfe had already decided to take on more men, and some of these he would garrison here as well.

Ceidre. Did she pine for her husband? He felt the ugliness rising within him, and stalked away from the campfire, as if to outdistance his emotions..

She lovedGuy . Fickle was the first word that raised itself, she was fickle. But how could that be? He snorted, feeling derision, directed at himself. A rape did not win her heart. But hadn't they shared more after? And what did he care about her heard Love was for fools-for women and boys. In truth, it did not exist, it was merely a polite excuse for lust. Could she have truly found such passion and such ecstasy inGuy 's arms? He reiterated to himself that he did not care, he had his choice of wenches, and in the dark one could barely tell them apart.

He stopped, realizing he had reached the village, about to turn around to return to the camp. There was a feeling of potency in the velvet night cocooning him. He was keenly aware of it; almost as if he was pierced with something, poignant and intense, like a need, but a need of what? As he started back to the camp, a husky laugh caught his attention. Despite the sexual note, he instantly recognized the tone as belonging toGuy , and pausing, his gaze scanned the environs.

In the darkness, he finally made out an embracing couple beneath an oak tree, the rays of the moon drenching them. His curiosity was not idle; he had to know if it was reallyGuy , and he approached until he was certain. It wasGuy . He had the woman on his lap, her skirts tossed up, his hips rocking her rhythmically as he fucked her.Rolfe felt anger sweep over him.

He did not move, and presently they finished, the woman rising, shaking out her skirts, laughing,Guy adjusting his hose and patting her behind. He started when he sawRolfe . The wench also noticed him, and she gave him a sly look, butRolfe ignored her. She left, disappointed.

"You are looking for me, my lord?"

"No, I just happened upon you." They started walking back to the camp together.

Rolfelooked bluntly atGuy . "You are not faithful to your wife." It was, of course, a statement, yet it was also an opening, a question.

It was dark, but fromGuy 's tone,Rolfe knew he was blushing. "No. Of course not. I am too young to grow old with one woman, and a witch at that."

He felt the anger again. "She is no witch,Guy ."

"I am sorry, I forgot you believe otherwise."Guy was nervous and it showed.

"I am surprised,"Rolfe said carelessly, "that after being in her arms, you would find the energy, or desire, for another." His glance skewered the younger man again.

Guywas silent, with unease.Rolfe knew it, and wondered if it was his blunt reference to having been the first to bed his wife, or something more. FinallyGuy shrugged. "I am young." Head down, he trudged on.

Rolfeknew that if he were married to Ceidre he would not have the energy or desire for another. He stared atGuy thoughtfully. And he wondered how Ceidre would feel if she knew her husband was so eager to seek out other women.

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"Arrest her,"Alice said.

Ceidre froze in the midst of lighting two tapers in the hall of the manor. TwoNormans rushed forward, one of them taking her arm. Beltain stood withAlice , his face dark. "What is going on?" Ceidre cried.

Alicesmirked, her face ugly with malicious intent. "You have committed treason one time too many, Ceidre, and in my lord's absence I must protect him and what is his! Arrest her!"

"Treason?" Ceidre gasped. "I have not-"

Beltain interrupted her, waving a parchment that he was holding. He was grim. "A maid found this in your chamber, Lady."

Ceidre looked at the paper. "I know not what it is."

"It addresses you. 'Tis from your brotherEdwin ."

Her heart stopped, then renewed its beat. "'Tis a lie! That is not mine! I have never seen it! I did not receive it! I did nod"

Beltain was very somber. "It addresses you, 'twas found in your chamber, and it is from your brother.

Someone passed this on to you. Who?"

"No one, I tell you," she cried, truly furious at this deceit. "This is all false, 'tis a trap!"

"You have committed treason before," Beltain said. "The whole world knows this. Before your marriage, my lord had you guarded night and day because he did not trust you. Nor do I trust you, and the evidence is clear." He paused.

"She is very shrewd, Beltain,"Alice remarked. "And she is a witch. If you do not throw her in the dungeons she could well escape-and my lord would be enraged."

Ceidre froze.

"She will not escape," Beltain said heavily. "She isGuy 's wife, I cannot throw her in the dungeons. But I, personally, will guard her."

Ceidre closed her eyes briefly in relief.

"No!"Alice cried. "She will cast a spell and you, like the others, will be impotent to fight it! Believe me, I know!"

Ceidre could not believe this was happening, and she turned a cold, angry gaze uponAlice . "You did this, did you not? Tell me, as I know you cannot write yourself, who wrote this note, this forgery?"

Aliceignored her. "I warn you," she said to Beltain. "I warn you! Remember Morcar's escape!"

Beltain turned heavily to Ceidre. "I am sorry, butLadyAlice is right. Put her in the dungeons," he said to
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the two knights.

"Wait!" Ceidre cried, frantic now. "Let me see that note!"

Beltain shrugged and handed it to her. Ceidre glanced at it, then lifted a desperate gaze. "This is notEd 's writing!"

"It matters not whether he wrote it himself," Beltain said. "He probably cannot write and had a friar write it for him. Take her down now."

"No, please!" Ceidre grabbed Beltain's sleeve. "Please, I beg you!"

She was propelled forward, Beltain regarding her with pity and disgust. She twisted to look at her sister.

"Do not do this," she pleaded wildly. "Alice, what will you gain? When theNorman returns-"

"He will have you hanged!"Alice cried.

With a thud, the rock door closed above her, immersing her in total blackness.

Ceidre did not move. She stood completely still, barely breathing, clutching herself. Her heart was thundering so hard she was afraid it might explode. She tried to take a deep breath and failed, choking.

The air was thick and closed and foul with human excrement. Because it was summer, she had been barefoot, and now wet, slimy mud oozed through her toes. It was damp and cool in the dungeons, but that was not why she was trembling. Her tremors increased.

She was not alone, and she knew it. She could hear movement, slight, scuffling movement-rats. Tears came to her eyes. As much as she hated theNorman , she started praying frantically for his return. She was sure he would have her released the instant he returned, but even if they only stopped for a day at Dumstanbrough, that would still be two days away. At the earliest. She would not survive.

She moaned, a long, low sound. The shaking of her body became violent, her breathing became fast and shallow. And still she could not get air into her lungs.

Gasping for air, desperate to fill her constricted lungs, she started to cry. She had to get out of here!

Somehow, she had to! She could not breathe-she could feel the walls caving in on her! She would suffocate, she was suffocating, she would be buried alive! With a scream, half a sob, Ceidre leapt for the trapdoor. It was way above her head, taller than two men, but she sobbed and leapt, tears streaming down her face, again and again, gasping for air, her heart speeding out of her chest. She had to get out, she had to! Somehow she had found the wall, the dirt hard and dry, and she began frantically, hysterically, to claw at it. "Let me out," she screamed. "Let me out," she sobbed. She clawed and clawed, ripping her nails, weeping, trying to climb up to the door. She would get a foot off the floor, only to slide helplessly back down. Finally she fell sobbing and panting onto the ground.

Something warm and alive touched her foot.

Ceidre screamed again, jumping up. She attacked

the wall with all of her strength. Her nails ripped, warm blood oozing down her fingers, but she was oblivious. She renewed her efforts. They were superhuman-or those of a madwoman.

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CHAPTER 45

The advent of dawn carried with it the same potencyRolfe had felt the night before, except the intangible feeling had increased.Rolfe awakened with his instincts keen, as if alerted to and sensing out danger.

'Twas almost as if they were foretelling an ambush. Urgency crackled in the air. "We will not dwell," he toldGuy , and ordered his men to depart.

The feeling of urgency grew.Rolfe pushed his men at a faster pace than they had come, although not carelessly, his gaze attuned to every sight around them, his ears to every sound. He was expecting something ominous. But when they finally made camp, way after dusk, no event had arrived to shatter their tranquility.Rolfe could not sleep, tense with foreboding and filled with this urgent need to return to Aelfgar.

They arrived beforenoon the next day.Rolfe had half expected to find Aelfgar under attack or razed to the ground. The sight of his keep and the village, both intact, relieved him, but, annoyingly, he could not shake the dread apprehension clinging to his soul.Alice , ever dutiful, greeted him in the courtyard, telling him she had already ordered a bath.Rolfe nodded, waving her away, turning to Beltain. He instantly remarked the knight's somber countenance. "What has passed? What has happened in my absence?"

"Everything has been fine." He hesitated. "Except that a missive was found inLadyCeidre 's chamber."

Guy, a few paces away, straightened and turned at this. "What missive?"Rolfe demanded.

"'Twas from her brother," Beltain said.

Rolfefelt his anger, hard and boiling, filling him. "That wench will not learn," he muttered. "Send her to me, and bring me the missive," he snapped. She had commited treason again. Dread welled to join the anger. It filled every fiber of his being.

"Release her from the dungeons," Beltain was ordering.

Rolfewhipped around. "You put her in the dungeons?"

"As your wife pointed out, 'twas the only way to ensure she would not escape." Beltain metRolfe 's gaze frankly. "I was hesitant, but decided 'twas better to do so and guarantee she would be an imprisoned prisoner when you arrived, rather than an escaped traitor."

Rolfedid not question his own motivations. He was already striding down the hill, all anger in abeyance, the sense of urgency overwhelming. He was barely aware ofGuy on his heels, grim, and Beltain, sober.

He raced through the portcullis, almost running now, his strides eating up the ground. As soon as the manor with its dungeon was in sight, he was calling to the guard to open the trapdoor. The man threw the bolt, then lifted the door up.Rolfe reached his side and, without breaking stride, knelt and swung himself lithely down into the black pit.

He blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness. "Ceidre? Ceidre?"

There was no sound, no indication that anyone inhabited this dark, dank hell, and for an instant he thought she had somehow escaped. Then he heard a

low moan. His head whipped toward the sound, and he made out a vague form crouched upon the
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ground. "Ceidre!"

He reached her in an instant and was unprepared for a hoarse, shrill scream. He bent for her and was met by a feeble attack. Her fingers harmlessly grazed his face as she tried to claw him. Ignoring this, he lifted her into his arms. She was covered with mud and muck and she stank. For a second, as he moved beneath the open trapdoor, she was inert, and then she twisted and clawed at him again.

"'Tis me,Rolfe , stop it," he said, calling for the ladder.

She did not stop her feeble, very feeble, contortions, trying to wrench away, trying to rake his face. Her breathing was hoarse, ragged, and very shallow. His gut was tight with fear. " 'Tis me,Rolfe ," he repeated in a low, firm tone.

"Let me out," she rasped, her voice a pitiful raw whisper, barely audible. "Let me out!"

"I am taking you out," he said softly, something sick twisting inside him. "Do not fight me, I am taking you out."

He slung her over his shoulder, realizing she was too weak to climb up the rope ladder herself, and he caught it with one hand. He balanced a foot on the lowest rung, then, sure of himself, he rapidly climbed up. The guard took Ceidre from him when he was high enough to do so, andRolfe quickly made his way to the top, hoisting himself easily out of the dungeon.

He froze, then cried out in horror.

Ceidre was covered with mud as she crouched panting and shaking where the guard had deposited her.

Her hands and forearms were streaked with blood there was even blood on her face. His gaze flew back to her hands, to see that they were raw, the nails torn, some missing. But worse, much worse, was the wild, crazed look in her eyes, as she huddled blinking in the light-like a frightened, maddened animal.

He approached her instantly; she recoiled. Something huge and incredibly tender rose up in him, and very slowly, he dropped to his knees beside her. "Ceidre, 'tisRolfe , you are freed now . . . everything will be fine."