Chapter 11
The next morning, I woke up alone. I hadn’t even felt Sebastian rise and leave the room. I agonized over my actions in the middle of the previous night but didn’t regret them. I simply wondered what would happen when Sebastian learned of my interference. Ester was the only one with a key, and I wouldn’t let her take the blame.
Pushing such worries aside, I dressed without Miriam’s help and went downstairs to check on our guests. With Betty’s assistance, I got Rosamund and Phillipe to both eat some boiled oats and drink a little tea, and then the Monvílles announced they wished to go home.
I understood this and walked out with them to the courtyard.
By the time Jarrod, Rolf, and Kai joined us, Sebastian still hadn’t made an appearance, and I wondered where he was. Was he too embarrassed to face everyone?
The Monvílles had brought a wagon for their luggage, but it was full. I even noticed the bottom of a half-covered harp near the end of the wagon’s bed. Why would they have brought a harp? I didn’t ask.
Concerned about Rosamund riding a horse though, I suggested that Jarrod loan them another wagon—which he gladly did. I piled blankets in the back and made a bed so she could rest for the half day journey.
This morning, Lord Allemond had thawed a good deal and was surprisingly friendly to Jarrod and Rolf.
“Tomorrow then?” Allemond asked.
“Yes, we’ll meet you at the old hunting lodge in the north quarter,” Jarrod answered.
“Good. I’m sure you’ll find everything in order, but I think it’s best you check for yourself.”
With that, our guests rode out.
Jarrod wasn’t happy, but he didn’t seem angry anymore. At least the land deal was progressing. I turned and went back into the keep before he could say anything to me, and I found myself walking down the passage toward the kitchen. Though I still fretted over the situation with Lavonia, I had a duty to perform today.
As I entered the kitchen, Cora was the first person I saw, and I stopped upon seeing the dark bruise on the left side of her face. I could only imagine the scene that had taken place in here last night.
“Are you all right?” I asked instantly.
“Yes, my lady.” She sounded on the edge of tears.
Ester was making bread, and we locked eyes for a few seconds. Two women in a conspiracy.
“I assume there is a good deal of food left since so little of it was served,” I said. “How many of us will be needed to carry it down?”
Ester frowned slightly in puzzlement. “Carry it down?”
“To the village.”
It was common practice for the lady of any noble household to have all the leftovers collected the morning after a banquet and then help take them down to the nearest village to be given to the poor. Ester didn’t appear familiar with this custom, and so I explained it.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “The master wouldn’t like that, and I wouldn’t ask him about it today.” She paused. “Did you ask Lord Sebastian?”
I hadn’t, and considering his probable state of mind, I decided not to try.
Leaving the kitchen, I felt the need for fresh air and walked out the back door into the garden. This place always cheered me with the vegetables, berries, and herbs.
Slowly, I made my way toward the hen house, and then I heard a familiar voice: Sebastian.
“This is where she hid them, out here so they could further spoil. You should have seen my father’s face. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from this.”
“Well, at least one thing has come of it,” a male voice answered. “You’re finally spending some time with me.”
“Daveed, don’t push me,” Sebastian warned. “Not today.”
I paused in mid-step. Sebastian was out behind the hen house with Daveed, his handsome friend from the guards, the one who didn’t like me.
“When should I push you?” Daveed asked, sounding petulant. “I never see you anymore, and you spend every night with that slip of a girl.”
“She’s my wife. What would you have me do?”
“You said she’d never choose you.”
“Because I didn’t think she would! What young noble woman wouldn’t choose Rolf? He’s the eldest son. But for some reason, she did pick me.”
“Then don’t pretend you’re not enjoying it.”
“Daveed! Not today. I mean it.”
They both fell silent
A feeling of discomfort grew in my stomach. I didn’t understand this conversation. What did Daveed mean by accusing Sebastian of spending his nights with me, as if this were something wrong?
Footsteps sounded, and Sebastian came around the side of the hen house. At the sight of me, he didn’t even break stride.
“Megan, where are the Monvílles?”
“They’ve gone.”
“Are you looking for me?”
“No, I was just walking, but I’m glad to see you.”
Reaching out, he grasped the back of my head. “You’re the only one who never asks anything of me. Why is that?”
“I love you,” I answered simply.
“You do, don’t you?”
Letting go of my head, he offered me his arm, and I took it. But as we walked back toward the keep, two things troubled me. First, he hadn’t even mentioned checking on Lavonia or letting her out. This was both a blessing and a concern to me. Second, I couldn’t stop thinking on his strange conversation with Daveed.
* * * *
The following morning, Jarrod and Rolf prepared to ride out. Apparently, the night of the disastrous dinner, they’d made a plan to meet Lord Allemond to inspect some trees in regards to the upcoming land deal.
Sebastian, Kai, and I walked out to the courtyard with them. Ten of our guards were already mounted and waiting. Daveed was among them.
Wearing their chain armor and swords, Jarrod and Rolf looked every inch the hardened men I thought them to be. I hoped they might find some middle ground to form at least an outward-appearing friendship with a man like Lord Allemond, but it didn’t seem likely.
Jarrod swung up onto his horse, and I stood below him.
“Should we wait dinner for you or should I just have Ester keep something warm?” I asked.
“We’re meeting in the north sector of his lands,” he answered. “It’s almost a half day’s ride out and then back again. If we’re not home by dinner, go ahead and eat.”
I nodded and stepped back, but as I turned, I saw Sebastian standing beside Daveed’s horse. He had one hand on the horse’s shoulder, and Daveed was leaning down so they could speak without being overheard.
There was nothing unusual about this. It was common for a lord of any keep to speak with one of the house guards. Still, the discomfort in my stomach rose up again. They both looked so intense.
Finally, Sebastian patted Daveed’s leg and stepped away. “All right,” he said. “I’m sorry again, and I’ll see you tonight.”
Rolf was watching them. Then he looked at me. I held his gaze without flinching.
Jarrod wheeled his horse and the entire contingent cantered toward the gate.
Kai, Sebastian, and I remained in the courtyard until they were out of sight.
“Well, we have the place to ourselves,” Sebastian said. “Rather a pleasant thought. What shall we do with our day? How about a game of cards?”
I smiled. “You two play. I thought I’d see about hanging some wildflowers to dry. That way, next winter we can have a little color on the table when we need it. Also, I need to make sure Betty and Matilda have seen to cleaning the guest rooms.”
“Industrious thing,” he teased.
He and Kai headed off together, and I went to my duties.
The day passed slowly for me as I alternately dreaded and expected Sebastian to give an order regarding the fate of Lavonia. He never said a word. Even though I’d already ensured her safety, it troubled me that to his knowledge, she’d been locked in a room without water since the night before last. Had she still been in there, she’d be suffering terribly. How long could a person live without water?
Not long past dusk, I met Sebastian and Kai in the great hall.
“Your father said we should go ahead and eat if they hadn’t returned yet, so I’ve ordered dinner be brought in.”
Kai nodded. “I am getting hungry.”
I was gratified that relations between him and myself had improved somewhat, though we still seldom spoke. When we were in a room together, he often followed me with his eyes, but he was no longer hostile. I believed in time, he and I could be friends.
The three of us sat down at the table.
Betty and Matilda carried in trays of beef, potatoes, and carrots. As the beef was left over from the dinner party, I thought it might jog Sebastian into mentioning Lavonia. It didn’t.
“Betty, is there bread?” Kai called.
“Yes, my lord. I’ll fetch you some.”
She had just turned away when a loud crashing sounded from somewhere at the front of the keep. It took me an instant to realize it was the front doors being opened hard and fast enough to slam against the walls.
“Sebastian!” a male voice nearly screamed. “Sebastian!”
Everyone in the hall froze for a second or two, and then Kai was running. Sebastian was on his heels and I ran after, down the passage for the front doors.
We reached the open doors to find Daveed on his knees panting for breath. He was bleeding from a wound on the side of his head, but he saw us coming.
“Kai . . .” he managed say. “Your father . . . get your father.”
Kai ran past him as Sebastian skidded to a stop and dropped to his knees. “Daveed, you’re bleeding.”
I hurried after Kai, thinking to find the contingent in the courtyard and learn what had happened. But there was only one foaming horse waiting, with Jarrod draped over its back. Other guards from the barracks were running out by now.
Kai got to Jarrod first. “Father!”
Reaching up, he struggled to lift Jarrod’s prone form off the horse. Once he’d done this, he dropped down while holding his father in his arms. Jarrod was unconscious and his skin was nearly white. There was an ugly slash across his stomach. His chain armor hadn’t protected him.
As the other guards reached us, several knelt to see if they could help Kai with Jarrod. I knew a few of them by name.
Captain Marcel swung his head left and right. “Where’s Lord Rolf? Where are the rest of our men?”
“We need to get Lord Jarrod inside and into a bed,” I said.
Kai’s face had turned nearly as white as his father’s. “Captain, take him. Do as your lady says and get him inside.” He jumped up and ran back to the open doorway. “Daveed, where is Rolf?”
I came up behind Kai to see Daveed’s anguished expression.
“I’m sorry,” Daveed choked. “He’s gone. They’re all gone. We were ambushed.”
“Gone?” Sebastian repeated.
Several guards came up behind us carrying Jarrod, and I moved forward, going with them to the tower and then up to Jarrod’s room.
“Lay him on the bed,” I said.
Events were happening too rapidly for me to take in, and I’d not fully absorbed the announcement about Rolf, so I focused on the matter at hand: Jarrod’s wound. It was still bleeding. Had it penetrated his stomach though, he would already be dead.
“Send for water,” I ordered Captain Marcel.
I was no physician, but I needed to clean around the wound to better see with what we were dealing. Kai, Sebastian, and Daveed entered the room.
“Sebastian, help me with this armor,” I asked.
As my husband moved to assist me, Kai looked down at us. His entire body was rigid.
“Daveed,” he said. “Where is Rolf?”
The room fell silent, and Daveed wasn’t looking at anyone. “Dead, back where he fell. Right as we rode up to the lodge to meet Lord Allemond, men came out of the trees . . . maybe thirty of them. We were outnumbered. They struck Rolf down first. Six of our men were dead before I got my sword from its sheath, but then I saw Lord Jarrod fighting, and he took a wound across his stomach and fell backward across his horse . . . but he didn’t fall to the ground. I dropped my sword, jumped off my horse, and ran to him. I got up onto his horse with him in front of me. I grabbed the reins and tried to get him out. Somehow, we broke through and I just kept pushing the horse.” He dropped his head. “I left everyone else behind.”
The room fell silent again, but now Kai was shaking.
“You did the right thing,” I said to Daveed. “What else could you do? Had you not tried to save Lord Jarrod, you’d both be dead.”
Sebastian looked to me in gratitude, but I’d only spoken the truth.
“It was Allemond?” Kai demanded. “He planned this? He’d been planning it before arriving here as a dinner guest?”
Daveed nodded. “He must have.”
“Then he’s dead!” Kai spat. “Captain, prepare the men! All of them. We’ll attack tonight and burn Monvílle Hall to the ground.”
“No,” Sebastian said, stepping forward. “Captain, stand down. Kai, we can’t attack the Monvílle estate. That place is a fortress, and we’ll never get past the gates. The Monvílles’ outer wall is high enough for archers. We’ll only lose more of our men.”
“We can’t just do nothing!” Kai shouted. “They killed Rolf!” His eyes were wild, and he whispered, “They killed Rolf.”
Sebastian grabbed his shoulders. “I didn’t say we’d do nothing.”
Kai jerked away. “Then order our men to ride!”
He seemed almost out of control in growing grief, and I suspected Sebastian was right. An open attack would only further injure the Volodanes.
I stood. “It is a great offense for the lord of one house to ambush the lord of another in such an underhanded way. My father is on the Council of Nobles, and so is Allemond. Let me write to my father and tell him what happened. We can bring shame to Allemond and force the council to punish him.”
Sebastian nodded. “Good. Kai, listen to her. We have to do this correctly. Let the council punish him. I swear we’ll take revenge, but I won’t allow any of our men to be killed in a futile attempt.”
As he said this, I realized that with Rolf gone and Jarrod incapacitated, Sebastian was in charge of the keep.
Captain Marcel seemed to realize it too, as I saw his body relax. Even though he was loyal to Jarrod, he must have agreed with Sebastian here.
I looked back to Jarrod. “Everything else can wait. We need to help him. Is there a physician within riding distance?”
Sebastian shook his head. “Not that I know of.”
“There’s Abigail,” Kai said, his voice still tense with anger. “I can ride and get her.”
“No,” Sebastian answered instantly. “He wouldn’t want that.”
“Who is Abigail?” I asked.
“A wise woman from the village just beyond our own,” Kai answered. “She’s a skilled healer. I’ve seen her at work.”
“She’s a witch,” Sebastian said, “and Father wouldn’t want her touching him.”
This time, I agreed with Kai. I feared that Jarrod needed to be sewn up, and I had no training in such matters. If this Abigail was a skilled healer, I thought Kai should already be running for his horse.
But Sebastian was so adamant that I couldn’t gainsay him in front of the others, so I held my tongue.
Kai’s anger faded. He looked defeated and helpless.
Sebastian sent everyone out except for Kai, himself, and me. Miriam brought water and bandages and then she stayed as well.
The rest of the night was long.
We managed to clean and bandage Jarrod’s wound, but nothing we did could stop the slow bleeding. He never woke up.
In the early hours of the morning, he died.
Kai knelt beside the bed with his face pressed down on his father’s shoulder.
Sebastian reached down to touch Kai’s back. “I’m sorry.”
Jumping up, Kai moved away. “Are you?”
Turning, he strode from the room.
* * * *
The next few hours felt like a matter of going through motions.
Alone, I prepared Jarrod’s body for burial, and as I finished, Sebastian walked in to see the results.
I’d cleaned away any remaining blood and dressed Jarrod in a dark blue tunic. I’d combed his hair.
“Thank you for this,” Sebastian said.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Kai’s right, you know,” he went on. “I don’t feel sorry. I would change this outcome if I could. I’d have protected them had I known, but I’m not in mourning. Does that make me wicked?”
From what I’d seen, neither Jarrod nor Rolf had ever offered Sebastian a single kind word in his life.
“No,” I answered. “I don’t really know how I’d feel if my own father died, but I don’t think I could mourn him.”
Sebastian leaned down and kissed my head. “Bless you.”
I could see how much he needed my absolution. Perhaps it was wrong, but I used this moment of solidarity. I used his moment of weakness.
“Would you allow me to let Lavonia out and dismiss her?” I asked. “Whatever she did, the damage hardly matters anymore.”
“Mmmm?” he responded, still looking down at his father.
“Lavonia, the kitchen maid. Would you allow me to send her off?”
His expression darkened, and I could see he’d not forgiven her. But as I’d said, his reasons for holding her accountable hardly mattered anymore.
I stood tense.
Finally, he waved his hand. “Do as you see fit.”
“I’ll see to it now.”
Before he could change his mind, I left the room and walked down to the main floor to the west passage. Upon reaching the kitchen, I found Betty, Matilda, Cora, and Ester.
Breakfast trays had been prepared.
“Oh, my lady,” Betty asked. “Is it true? Is Lord Jarrod gone?”
I nodded. “I’ve prepared him for burial. Lord Sebastian will decide the rest of the arrangements.”
The women made appropriate sad sounds, and I turned to Ester. “Lord Sebastian has given me permission to release Lavonia and dismiss her. Will you assist me?”
She started and then relief crossed her features. “Yes, my lady.”
I wanted everyone out of this part of the keep so that she and I could pretend we’d brought Lavonia up and taken her out the back door.
“Cora,” I said. “Please help Betty and Matilda with the trays this morning.”
She blinked but didn’t argue. Kitchen girls rarely carried trays to the hall.
All three of them left, and Ester met my eyes.
And so, because Sebastian was preoccupied with the deaths of his father and brother, he never learned that I’d already released Lavonia.
* * * *
After leaving the kitchen, I went to my room and wrote to my father. I held nothing back regarding what Allemond had done to lure out Jarrod and Rolf and then have them murdered. I asked him to bring the matter to the council and to seek justice.
I didn’t know if anything would come of this. Allemond and my father were men of the same ilk, and they didn’t view the Volodanes as equals. But I wrote with passion and laid the case out clearly.
Once it was finished, I wanted to show the letter to Kai, so that he would know what I’d written. I owed him that much. He’d been overruled and pushed aside. Though he’d been wrong in wanting to launch an open attack against the Monvílles, I still felt he’d been right in wanting to ride for the wise woman. Whether Jarrod would have approved or not, we should have tried every option available.
I went first to Kai’s room, but he wasn’t there. Then I made my way downstairs to the great hall. It was empty, so I walked into the courtyard and headed toward the barracks. Sometimes Kai could be found there.
As I reached it, Daveed came out the main door. His head was bandaged.
“Are you well?” I asked.
His animosity toward me was gone. Perhaps he was grateful I’d justified his actions last night.
“I will be.”
“Have you seen Kai?”
“I saw him go toward the barn earlier. He’s in a bad way.”
Turning, I went to the barn and slipped inside the large front doors. The smells of hay and leather reached me. Light filtered down from high windows, showing dust floating in the air. Looking across the open area in the front section, I saw Kai sitting on a crate with his face in his hands. His body wracked once.
I went to him.
All thoughts of showing him the letter vanished. He was in too much pain. Sebastian might not be in mourning, but Kai was. He had cared for his father and Rolf. Worse, I feared a rift between him and Sebastian.
“Kai?” I whispered.
He didn’t look up.
“No matter what has happened,” I said softly, “Sebastian only did what he thought was right. You have to forgive him.”
“Why?” he asked so quietly I almost didn’t hear it.
“Because you love him and because he’s all you have left.” I paused. “Except for me.”
His body wracked again, and I reached out for him. He was so tall that even while sitting on the crate, his head was nearly level to mine, and I pulled him against me. Thankfully, instead of drawing away, he buried his face in my neck, grasped hold of me with both arms, and wept.
I held him as best I could.