Taste of Treason (27 page)

His belief that the Queen was now as safe as she would be anywhere allowed his tension to diminish and exhaustion to flood in. By the time he regained his kitchen Luke was stumbling. He sank into his chair by the fire, rousing himself sufficiently to rekindle the dying embers. Heat. He needed heat to replenish his energies. His mind screamed for sleep as well as heat.

In this state, he was of use to neither man nor beast. Dragging off his boots, he padded up the stairs and fell onto the bed, clicking his fingers for Joss to jump up and wrap herself around him. He was too tired to do anything now. Rob must wait until the morning.

Luke’s last thought before sinking into a dreamless sleep was to wonder whether Roland Dufay had been as good as his word and gone to the Quayne household. If so, it looked as if Rob had been right about the Elemagus’s feelings. A flash of jealousy speared into his chest at the thought of Dufay with Bertila. Or was it envy? He had always maintained he wanted nothing more than her happiness, but in a brief moment of self-knowledge, Luke realized that he wanted her happiness on his terms.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Katelyn roused Bertila from the first untroubled sleep she had managed since the arrest. Sitting up in bed, her heart pounding, she did not at first hear what the girl said. They must be here again, come to take her and her father away in the middle of the night. She seized Katelyn’s hand.

“What is it they want? Did they say?”

“Mistress, there is no they. It is Master Dufay. He be tired and fretful.”

This time she understood and the frantic beating of her heart took on a new aspect.

“Give him wine, Katelyn. I shall be down directly.”

As quickly as she could, Bertila struggled into the burgundy gown she knew suited her skin tone. Dipping her comb in a rosewater, clove and nutmeg mixture, she tidied her hair and then took a deep breath before descending to meet her visitor. Dufay was a picture of embarrassed diffidence. That gave Bertila more confidence than almost anything else would have done.

“Master Dufay. How lovely to see you again.”

She allowed her voice to sound a little uncertain and her eyes to be lowered in modesty. The last thing Bertila wanted to do was for this man to think that she was one of the forward wenches she saw at the market and loitering near the taverns.

Dufay bowed. “I apologize for the lateness of the hour, mistress, but my errand would not wait. Luke thinks you and your father may still be at risk from the Hampton priest.”

Bertila felt the blood drain from her cheeks. Dufay hurried forward, helped her into a chair and signaled Katelyn to bring wine.

“Drink this,” he ordered, handing her the goblet. “You have nothing to fear. I shall stay here, with your permission, of course, until all danger is past.”

“Sir, I could not ask that of you. Why should you go to this trouble for us?”

Dufay smiled.

“I know in what close affection Luke holds you both. He is my friend, too. At the moment, he is taken up with a task that he must complete. I cannot help him with that, but I can take away his anxiety for your welfare.”

“That is more than kind of you, sir. What can I say?”

“Then it is settled. Tomorrow I shall return to my home for a short while to gather up the papers and materials I need to continue my work. Now, I urge you to go back to bed. Sleep sound in the knowledge that nothing can harm you whilst I am here.”

“If you please, sir, you look fatigued. There is the room that Will used before his marriage. I am sure that Katelyn and I could prepare it quickly. Would you like to see it?”

A rare smile lit up Dufay’s face and its warmth transmitted to Bertila’s heart.

“Mistress, I would have happily sat up in a chair all night, but this sounds an excellent solution. You are a most diligent housewife and I do not wonder that Luke holds you in such high regard.”

They soon had Will’s old bedroom put to rights and within a short time Bertila was bidding her unexpected guest good-night. Then she drifted back to her own bed and sat, arms clasped around her knees, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. Dufay’s remark about Luke piqued her curiosity. There was no reason he should talk about her, but they were as close as brother and sister so mayhap she ought to be thinking that there was, equally, no reason he should not.

* * *

The next morning, Luke awoke later than usual. For a moment he could not think why he slept so late, but then he realized that all the downstairs’ noises of morning activity that normally brought him out of his slumbers were noticeably absent. Rob. He sat up, tumbling Joss from the bed. She, with her usual elegance landed on her delicate feet and stretched, looking back at him, faint reproach in her eyes.

Luke laughed. “What slugabeds we are today, girl. Fie, but I need food.”

He changed his tunic and almost ran down the stairs, his face growing more serious as the full import of Rob’s absence hit home. His decision to sleep before attending to the boy’s predicament had been the right one even if it meant that any ordeal Rob might be suffering had been prolonged. There had certainly been no way the previous night Luke could have dredged up the energy or thought to plan the boy’s recovery.

That Frayner had him imprisoned somewhere seemed clear, and worryingly, when Luke tried to tune into his kinsman, he felt no vibrations coming back to him.

What were his options? The Queen was as safe as she could be. If the Gossamer Veil did nothing else, it should give him a few days respite from that anxiety. Dufay, he felt sure, would have been as good as his word and gone to the Quayne household.

Try as he might to keep his mind on the practical issues facing him, Luke could not prevent a sliver of unease where Bertila was concerned. To him, the thought of her returning any interest in the Elemagus seemed inconceivable. That Dufay might be attracted to her troubled him.

Mayhap in the tension of the previous night and the spells that were flying round, he had been mistaken. Mayhap not, an inner voice told him when he remembered Dufay’s artless tone of voice when offering to look after Corbin and Bertila so that Luke could concentrate his energies elsewhere. And that was precisely what he should be doing now. He would think of the possible complications of the Bertila/Dufay situation, should it really exist, later.

Rob and Alys. They deserved his attention now. Alys’s fate worried him more than Rob’s. He knew his kinsman to be resourceful and courageous. He would sit and think himself out of a situation. Alys on the other hand could be anywhere, although Luke still felt sure that, were she dead, he would have known it the instant her life ended.

Which begged the question of whether Rob would have confronted Frayner about Alys, knowing that Luke suspected the priest of being the enemy they sought. If that were true, then the magic required for him to home in on Rob would need to be strong. He would run the risk of being detected by an enemy on the alert. No, other means must be used.

Was the lad really at Frayner’s house, or had that, too, been a ruse? The woman who told him of Rob’s whereabouts had been frightened enough for it to be true and he had discerned no deceit in her.

Luke munched bread and cheese as he thought. He had slept well. A full stomach would set him up for any rigors that might confront him. Joss, too, looked much brighter since her rest. The blow intended for him had almost extinguished her, but as she sat watching him, he could sense no sign of pain or fear remaining. On an impulse, he bent down to wrap his arms around her. She nuzzled his cheek.

“We must go and find Rob, girl,” he said. “But first, a few precautions.”

He walked into the shop and prepared his daily hand oil. The skin on his hands felt a little dryer than usual, a sure sign that he needed to carry some oils with him to rub in should his magic use up the amount he was currently massaging into his palms.

Whilst he worked, his mind cleared and he laid his plans. He would walk to Frayner’s house, but not openly. Dare he use the enshrouding spell? Best not. He would content himself with putting a shimmer spell on Joss and covering his head so that his curly blond hair was hidden.

Clicking his fingers, he motioned Joss to follow close on his heels before stepping out of the kitchen door. His first glance was at the roof. No crows. Good. With deceptive speed, Luke made his way past the Tiltyard unnoticed by the youngsters practicing their skills. Few people were abroad as he crossed to Bushy Park. He decided he would come at Frayner’s house from the Hampton side, a detour that cost him almost an hour, so anxious was he to remain undetected.

By his guess, it was almost midmorning as he approached his goal. He dodged behind a tree as he saw the housekeeper make her way towards the village, a basket on her arm.

Now he was here, Luke was undecided how to proceed, but God was on his side, for a few minutes after the departure of the woman, Frayner himself strode out, a set expression on his face and his staff in his hand. He struck out in the direction of the palace. Was he going to the palace or further on? To the Quaynes? Luke felt a sudden rush of gratitude that Dufay was looking after his friends. If anyone could handle the priest, the Elemagus could. Shame he did not have Luke’s sense of humor. Had he been Elemagus, he would have had Frayner hopping home on one leg, unable to put the other to the floor. His involuntary grin ceased when he thought that if Frayner represented the phrenic constellation, Dufay would have his hands full. Better stop watching the priest’s departing back, get into the house and hope that the Spanish servant, Pinero, had not been left on guard.

Before he entered the unlocked door, Luke sent out some quick tendrils to make sure no evil trap awaited him. He sensed nothing except a feeling of discomfort somewhere under the earth. That gave him momentary cause for alarm. Had they killed and buried Rob? Unlikely. He would have felt the shake in the balance.

Creeping along the passage, Luke sensed that the house was empty. No sign of the Spaniard. Frowning, but following his instinct, he soon discovered Rob in an underground cellar. The boy had a bloody wound on his head, which filled Luke with rage.

At least one thing was explained. Frayner had given Rob neither food nor drink since locking him up, and his injury had made him so weak that he had spent most of his captive hours unconscious. No wonder Luke had been unable to locate him. The important thing now was to get out. As he urged his kinsman to hurry and leave, Rob grasped his arm.

“Master, look at what I found,” he said, pulling the apothecary to a chest half-hidden in one of the dark corners.

Lifting the lid, Luke saw that it was filled with vials of what looked like water.

Frowning, he unstoppered one and sniffed, then poured some of the liquid into his palm. At once it split into three large drops, each separate from the other two.

“God’s teeth. Holy water,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“Because it represents the Holy Trinity, God, the father. God, the son. God, the Holy Ghost. Three in one. Three drops made from one drop. What devilry did he have planned for this, I wonder?”

“What should we do?”

“I will take one to show Master Dufay,” Luke said. “But first we’ll find the water bucket and replace the liquid in the others with ordinary unblessed water. That will stop his gallop.”

They returned to the apothecary’s house by a roundabout route, Luke keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of Frayner. Once he had tended to the boy’s wound and fed him, Rob was voluble in his anger at the priest’s perfidy.

“I thought I could trick him into telling me where Alys was. I pretended to give him information about your evil doings.”

“What did you say?” Luke leaned against the wall near the fire, drinking ale and watching his kinsman.

Rob grinned. “I said you crept out to the church at Hampton at dead of night. Serve the bastard right if he has a few sleepless nights trying to catch you.”

“Did you not consider the danger to yourself?”

Rob shook his head and winced at the pain.

“No. I wanted to know where Alys was and, if I could, get information for you to use against him. Stupid, was it not?”

“Men like Gerard Frayner do not reach their positions of influence without having fast brains and lying tongues. Stay out of his path, Rob. I need you.”

The boy looked into his beaker.

“What about Alys?”

Luke clapped him on the shoulder.

“Rob, look at me. We will rescue her and you can both live here if you wish.”

Pounding at the shop door made them turn. Luke gestured for Rob to slip up the stairs and quickly cleared the table of the beaker and trencher. When he opened the door, it was with a sigh of relief that he saw it was Byram, but the captain’s face looked grim.

“I have something to show you.”

Luke motioned him through to the kitchen and called Rob back downstairs. Byram looked at the boy and shook his head.

“Where did you disappear to, you rapscallion?”

Luke could see the boy’s face flame with embarrassment and quickly intervened.

“That is not important now, Byram. He is back and safe. What have you to show me?”

“This,” replied the captain, opening his hand and revealing a small shield with some kind of embellishment on it.

Luke took it, holding it up to the light. “Where did you find it?”

“It was dropped by an intruder who tried to access the palace via the water gate,” Byram replied, his expression bleak. “I did as you counseled and gave each man a beaker of your special ale.”

“And it obviously worked.”

“It did and I thank God for it. Whoever it was thought they would make another attempt on the Queen. He was foiled by the guards’ wakefulness.”

“What happened?”

“According to Sergeant Peckham, all was quiet until midnight. They were all alert in any case, since some prankster had flooded the beer cellar and tried to storm the Jewel House.” Byram’s lips twitched as he stared at Luke.

“That must have kept them busy,” Luke replied in an even tone.

“Aye. Well, a short while after calm had been restored, the water gate party heard footsteps making their way up from the river. They were on edge, according to Peckham, but whether that was because of the previous alarms or the beer, I cannot say. They all leapt as one man towards the noise and challenged the intruder. All they heard for their pains was the sound of footsteps running back towards the river. They followed, shouting for him to stop, but when they got there, they could see nobody. Then the moon came out and one of the men saw this.”

Luke sat and rubbed his fingers over the gold to clean soil and dust from it. “There is a pattern here,” he said, frowning.

“It isn’t a pattern,” Byram said at last. “It’s a letter.”

“Actually, it is two letters. Look, here is the curve of a
G
and just on the lower stroke another curve making an
F
. So, we have
F
and
G
. Do we know any with those initials?”

“Of course we do,” Rob said. “Make it
G
and
F
and you have Gerard Frayner.”

Luke looked at him, trying to control the excitement flooding his chest. “You are right, my boy. Now what was Gerard Frayner trying to do last night in the palace?”