The Warrior and the Dove - A Short Novel (Medieval Chronicles) (11 page)

“Aye.” She
paused, as if letting the memories settle into place, before speaking more
surely. “’Twas a strange journey.”

“In what way?”

“Everyone was so
quiet. When we rode here, your men were talking to each other and jesting, but
the men who took me home were silent most of the time. ’Twas as if they were
afraid to speak.”

“What of the
woman who travelled with you?”

“Ella? She told
me she had been hired in Gloucester and knew nothing of my home or Lord de
Beche, so ’twas of no use to ask questions.”

“She sounds like
a lively travelling companion,” he observed sardonically, and drew a breath of
relief when a tiny smile curved her lips.

“She wasn’t, but
I was so happy to be going home, I didn’t think much of it. Then we arrived,
and…
he
came out to welcome me.”

“De Beche?”

She nodded and
fell silent.

Hugh tipped her
face up so he could see her eyes. “Did he frighten you?”

“’Twas not fear
so much,” she said slowly. “But I could not like him. There was something…
unwholesome
about him. He smiled, but his eyes had a different expression, almost avid,
like a wild animal. I could barely stand for him to kiss my cheek in greeting.
Then the look was gone and I felt ashamed, because he was courteous enough. He
took me around my father’s castle, asking how much I remembered. There were new
clothes, a palfrey if I wished to ride. He even regretted that his sons were
not there to keep me company, but…”

“But,” he
prompted.

“It seemed
false, as if he was playing a part.” She lowered her head. “That sounds stupid,
I know.”

“Nay,” he said,
pressing his lips to her hair. “It sounds like an instinctive sense of danger.”

“Oh, you
understand,” she said thankfully. She looked up and lifted a hand to his cheek.

He smiled
slightly and captured her hand, kissing it then tucking it against his chest.
“Anyone who has been in battle would understand, darling. You felt vulnerable,
therefore more alert to anything that seemed wrong.”

“Aye, and there
were other odd things. I asked if I could go to the chapel to give thanks for
our safe journey. He agreed, but said there was no priest for the moment. And
there were no women among the servants, or anyone I knew from my childhood. He
said he had only opened up the place for my arrival, but that didn’t make
sense. ’Tis an important castle between Gloucester and Tewkesbury, and serfs
were still working the fields.
Someone
must have lived there all those
years, a steward or bailiff at least. I thought it strange, and he saw the way
I looked about, because he suggested that I would be more comfortable eating in
my chamber and that Ella should sleep there, also.”

“So, while
playing the kind guardian, he was determined to keep you away from anyone who
might say something about him. Ella didn’t count. She knew nothing.”

“But I was free
to go where I wished within the keep and pleasance. He must have known I would
encounter people.”

“If his
men-at-arms were silent, sweeting, you may be sure his servants would be
likewise. And besides, you’d just spent ten years in a convent. He probably
reasoned you wouldn’t be comfortable speaking to strangers, especially men. I
wager you hid your doubts behind a veil of shyness. Hell’s teeth, you were even
shy with me.”

That earned him
another smile. “Fortunately I didn’t encounter him as often as I encountered
you. Indeed, those first few days were quite pleasant. I explored all the
places I had known as a small child. I even remembered how to get into the
secret room, after a few attempts.”

He raised a
brow. “There’s a secret room?”

She nodded,
becoming more animated. “More than one. I used to play hide and seek in them
with my brother. He was eight years older than me, but would play with me
sometimes.” A look of sadness touched her face briefly. “He told me that the
original wooden castle burnt down in King John’s time, and the King ordered it
to be rebuilt in stone. ’Twas John who commissioned the hidden chambers. One is
high up inside one of the walls of the great hall, and has a peephole, like a
lepers’ squint, hidden by the banners hanging there. You have to open a small
section of the wall in one of the wardrobe chambers to get in, and once inside
you can see and hear what is happening below. The other is off the lord’s
private solar. They’re linked by a hidden stairway that starts behind the chapel
altar. There may even be a peep there, too, but I never found it.”

“A set of spy
holes.” His mouth quirked. “Aye, from the tales I’ve heard, that sounds like
John. Always fearful that people were plotting against him.”

“Was he? Well, I
thank God for it,” she said fervently, “because ’tis how I heard them talking.”

Hugh went very
still. “I think you’d better continue,” he said grimly. “What happened next?”

“I asked Lord de
Beche about my lands and the people I’d known, but he kept brushing my questions
aside. Then a few days later, he told me I need not concern myself with
business because he had received permission to marry me from the King. I
couldn’t believe it,” she said, her voice rising in remembered incredulity.
“Prioress Edith had told me a marriage had been arranged, but
he
hadn’t
mentioned it, so I thought nothing had been settled. ’Twas not just that he was
so much older, but that he would have the right to touch me, to kiss me— I felt
sick at the thought. And he was watching me as if he knew what I was feeling.”

“Did you refuse
him?”

“I was too
stunned to say anything. He started smiling, as if my reaction pleased him, and
said the wedding would not take place immediately. He was waiting for some
friends to arrive, to join the festivities. I was so relieved to have some time
that I simply stood there staring at the floor.”

“That pose of
meekness was probably the smartest thing you could have done,” he said
thoughtfully.

“But inside I
was desperate. I had told Prioress Edith that marriage was what I wanted. How
could I refuse because I didn’t like the way he looked and couldn’t bear his
touch?”

“I think she
would have understood, sweetheart.”

“Mayhap. But
then the others arrived, and I was instructed to dine with them in the hall
that afternoon.” She shivered and her voice dropped to a whisper. “There were
three of them, sitting at the high table, just staring at me—so cold and
assessing. He introduced me as his betrothed, even though we hadn’t exchanged
any such vows, and they smiled just as he had.”

Hugh stroked her
hair. “Do you know their names?”

“I suppose he
told me, but I was too busy wondering how soon I could leave the hall to bother
with names.”

“It doesn’t matter,”
he assured her. “Someone will know.” He winced inwardly when he realized he’d
spoken as if de Beche might not live long enough to give him the information.
He hoped Annith hadn’t noticed. “And then?”

“He ordered that
the meal be brought in, but I couldn’t eat anything. He demanded to know why,
and I said I had been feeling unwell all day. He acted the concerned guardian
then, and told me to rest. I returned to my chamber, determined to ask Ella if
she had heard anything, but she wasn’t there, and neither were her clothes.”

He frowned.
“Everything was gone?”

“Aye. At first,
I thought she’d been moved to another chamber, but one of the servants came to
tell me that Ella had been sent back to Gloucester. For some reason that was
more frightening than all the rest. I waited until I was sure the servant had
gone, then I went to the hidden room to see if I could hear the men talking.”

She said it so
calmly, Hugh didn’t think he’d heard aright. When the words finally made sense
he had to close his eyes and clamp his teeth together to keep from exploding.
It was no use yelling at Annith now for risking discovery instead of fleeing
immediately. The time for that was long gone, and the end result was that she’d
saved herself.

But in that
moment he wished de Beche was standing before him so he could smash his fist
into the man’s face before he killed him. The need for violent reprisal was so
strong, so overpowering, his entire body was braced for battle.

Annith looked up
as though sensing the storm raging within him, and moved so she could kiss the
rigid underside of his jaw. And with that gentle caress, drew him back from the
brink.

“Tell me the
rest,” he said gruffly, holding her closer.

“I had some
notion that if I knew when the marriage was to take place at least I could
prepare myself. But they had moved to the solar, so I crept down the stairs to
the second chamber. ’Twas so dark. I couldn’t use a candle in case they saw a
light where there shouldn’t be one. They seemed to be laying down bids, who was
going to be second or third or fourth. Then one remarked that the wench didn’t
appear eager for the wedding and if she refused to go through with it would
they get their money back. That was when I realized they were talking about
me.”

“Oh,
sweetheart.”

She pressed her
face to his shoulder and got the rest out in a breathless rush. “De Beche said
if I refused to obey the King there was always marriage by force, which was all
the better for them, and after they had taken their turn with me for a night or
two there would be no reason to keep me alive. Dead women don’t speak, he said.
He would have my lands, he didn’t need more sons. And…and…he asked if they
would like to conduct another auction to see who would choose the manner of my
death.”

“What!” Hugh
drew back so he could see her face. “Holy God! You don’t need to tell me what
the first auction was about. I can guess only too well.”

“I didn’t,” she
said. “But I understand now. They had bid to see in what order they would force
me after
he
had finished, hadn’t they.”

He nodded. He
could do no less than give her the truth, no matter how horrifying.

She gazed up at
him, her eyes stark with the knowledge of what might have happened to her, and
yet steady with the certainty that she had survived unharmed.

“When you make
love to me,” she said softly, “’tis more wonderful than anything I could have
imagined. But I can see how terrible it would be for a woman in the hands of
men who are so lost to evil their very souls have ceased to exist.”

“Nor will they
exist much longer,” Hugh grated before he could stop himself. But she surprised
him.

“Aye, they must
be stopped. As rabid dogs are destroyed, lest they kill more innocents.” She
touched his face fleetingly. “Oh, Hugh, I think they’ve been doing this for a
long time. I didn’t understand all of it, but
he
was gloating that they
didn’t have to play their games with serfs or servant girls this time. Or even
with wives who had some knowledge of men. They had a lady who had been kept
away from the world since she was a small child, who was completely innocent.
Imagine how she will react when she understands what is happening to her, he
said, and they all laughed.”

She shuddered.
“They sounded inhuman. Like demons who had crawled out of the pit. At that
point I stopped listening. At least, I don’t remember any more.” She stiffened
suddenly. “
That
’s what I dream about: crouching in that dark little
room, trying not to make a sound in case they hear me, when all I want to do is
scream and scream and scream. I was too afraid even to move. And then, after a
while, I
couldn’t
move. I could barely breathe. I felt frozen.”

“Frozen with
shock,” Hugh said grimly.

“Eventually all
was quiet and I managed to start thinking. I went back to my chamber, and put
some clothes under the bedding in case anyone came to check on me during the
night.” She looked up with the first tiny spark of mischief since she had
started the dreadful tale. “One of the girls at the priory told me she did that
when she crept out to the herb garden one night. No one ever found out.”

“She has my
everlasting thanks,” he muttered. “And the boy’s clothes?”

“Oh, I’d found
them in a chest in one of the wardrobe chambers when I was looking around the
castle. They had belonged to my brother. I suppose the servants stored them
away after he and my mother died and I was sent to the priory, and then they
were forgotten. They were old and a bit musty, but they fit well enough. I
didn’t think of safety, just that I’d be able to run faster in hose. ’Twas
easier to climb over the wall of the pleasance, too. It abuts onto the orchard
and there is an old wooden fence at the far end. That’s how I got out. I
thought if I could reach the priory, I could write to the King, telling him
what I had overheard, and begging him to help me.”

Hugh shook his
head, amazed that Annith had been able to think at all.

“Earlier today I
told Prioress Edith that your courage terrified me,” he said quietly. “But I
didn’t know the half of it.”

She gave him a
smile of such sweet certainty, he felt his heart shake. “Prioress Edith told me
before I left that she would pray for me. I think God heard her prayers and was
watching over me. And then He led me to you.”