Epilogue
‘I’m pleased we can have a few private words together,’ King Edward said as the door of his chamber at the Tower of London closed behind them.
‘I’m at your service.’ Eldric walked further into the room, noting the fact that there were no guards or attendants visible. ‘Are there more questions you have, sire?’
With the door closed, no sound from the hallways and joined chambers reached them, though he knew there were many conversations going on.
Eldric had very thoroughly given his account of the fire at Swaffham that had taken a large barn with many supplies and the lives of Hugh of Shoebury and Alice of Swaffham.
It had all run perfectly to plan. Alice and Hugh had started the fire. The burning building, so far from town, hadn’t been noticed until it was mostly flames. No person or animal had been hurt.
Chaos in the town had ensued, and it had taken hours before people realised Hugh and Alice were missing. Eldric knew they’d made it. The two saddled horses and another laden with provisions and coin had no longer been tied to the nearby tree.
They were safe, free, and he felt a surprising pang of envy at the life they were embarking on together.
In another two weeks, when he was far away from the King, Hugh would get a message to him. Then they would plan what to do with the Half-Thistle Seal he carried.
Until the King had ordered a private word with him, Eldric had felt confident that Edward believed all accounts of the fire. Alice’s sisters and their husbands, grieving, had been convincing when they had spoken of the flames, the confusion, and what and who they lost. Her father, struck blessedly silent by the King’s presence, had looked the part of a grief-stricken father. Mitchell had given an accurate account of the restoration project’s financial loss.
But it was the handing back of the costly hunting horn that had seemed to appease the King most. He’d clenched it in his hands as if grateful for its return.
Now, Eldric wasn’t so sure what the King believed. He was suspicious that the royal chambers were vacant. Edward always had attendants.
Edward swept past him to a table laden with food and drink, but he did not pour himself wine nor pick from the delicacies artfully arranged. Instead he sat, and indicated that Eldric was to sit across from him.
Adjusting the chair to accommodate him, Eldric kept his expression neutral. The King offered him the courtesy of sitting, but did not offer any refreshment. Either this was a short briefing over his duties, or the King was letting him know that he wasn’t worth the courtesy of a drink. If so, it might mean that Edward did not believe Hugh and Alice had died in the fire.
The King rotated the hunting horn in his hands. ‘I understand that Hugh was once your friend.’
‘It had been many years since I had seen him.’
‘But it was good to share news, even for so brief a time?’
‘It was very brief time, Your Majesty.’ Eldric carefully skirted the full question. It wouldn’t do to discuss his shared conversations with Hugh.
The King’s brows rose, but he nodded. ‘My time with Alice was far too brief. It was a terrible tragedy...the fire, and the loss of income for the merchants and the town.’
It had been wasteful, burning the entire barn, but it had seemed to convince the King that Hugh and Alice had died. No one would burn all that simply to conceal two traitors. Still, Eldric remained uneasy. And it had everything to do with Edward’s steady judging gaze.
‘I appreciate the workmanship on this horn.’ Edward touched the horn’s wider bands. ‘Did you know there are two tales told here? One is of kings warring and the other of lovers torn apart. Here, by the mouth, we see the lovers joined again, their arms cradling a child between them. It does not show what happens to the kings.’
Eldric was right to be uneasy. The King was toying with him. ‘And you think the craftsman should have depicted what happened between the two countries?’
‘Of course what happens between countries is important...’ The King’s mouth quirked, as if in self-deprecation. Eldric knew better. Edward had a healthy knowledge of his true worth.
‘But perhaps I am biased,’ Edward continued, ‘and the craftsman simply believed that what happened between the two lovers was the more important tale.’ He paused and raised his gaze. ‘Do you hold such a belief?’
Eldric had no intention of stepping into that verbal trap. He kept his eyes on the horn. ‘Perhaps the craftsman was trying for some...balance. Perhaps he thought the horn would be too heavy for the user with more silver bands, and therefore didn’t tell of the kings. Or perhaps the price of silver was too costly.’
Edward rotated the horn again, as if contemplating the truth of Eldric’s words. ‘Both valid reasons.’ Edward gave a curt nod. ‘In truth, I do find the horn elegantly designed like this. And, since a king’s power and rule is for ever, it isn’t strictly necessary to tell his story. There is the comforting thought, too, that the love between a man and woman has some worth.’
Like a man facing the executioner’s block and axe, Eldric felt every reflex in his body suddenly snap tight. Foolish reflexes. As if there was anywhere he could go to escape, or anyone he could fight against. He had been neatly and swiftly outmanoeuvred.
‘Here—I want you to have it.’ Edward held out the horn to him.
Eldric was obliged to take it, but he could not quell the slight tremor in his hand. The King did not give anything away without a price, and he more than suspected the price of this particular gift was...his head.
‘Why?’ he asked, knowing he might be insulting the King, but knowing he was a dead man anyway.
The King shrugged. ‘You gave me wise and clever words regarding balance. I want to give it to you as a token of my regard. I believe you are a man who appreciates the power of a king’s rule, but also understands the endurance of love.’ He waved his hand towards the horn. ‘Look for a moment—is it not beautiful?’
Eldric looked down at the intricate silver bands and felt as if he was bowing his head before the axe fell. ‘It is very beautiful.’
‘And very precious to me, as it was my wife’s.’
Edward had been devotedly married to Eleanor for over thirty years. If there was any ruler who understood matters of kingdoms and hearts it was him.
‘I will take care of this,’ said Eldric, with all the reverence of a vow.
‘Oh, I know you will.’ Edward’s eyes lit with his own private joke. ‘In any case, you may have need of a hunting horn.’
Eldric looked around the room again. The brightly plastered walls were mostly hidden by heavy green draperies to keep in warmth. But with their fabric pooling on the floor, they might also hide any feet, if someone was behind them.
‘Is there some service, some mission you require of me?’
‘Not me. The horn is for your own endeavours.’
He only had one endeavour, and that was to bring an excruciating death to the man who had killed his friends and sliced his arm. How could the King possibly know?
Eldric thought he had avoided every verbal trap the King had laid before him. But somehow he had been caught and snared. He now knew that someone had been watching him and reporting on him for months, if not years.
His mind raced on what had been seen and by whom.
‘Isn’t there something...or someone...you’re after?’ Edward continued. ‘You could use that horn. And I’ll grant you any other assets you might need for your efforts. I don’t like you to be distracted.’ Edward grabbed the flagon of wine. ‘You can go now.’
Distracted. The roaring in Eldric’s ears slowed his processing of the King’s words.
When he understood that he had been unequivocally dismissed, Eldric forced his body to bow, turned and counted each step across the stone floor. By the time the doors closed behind him and he walked the empty corridor back to the hall he knew two facts.
First, he would never live far from the executioner’s axe. If the King didn’t know with certainty, he at least suspected that Hugh and Alice were alive. Edward might understand matters of the heart, but he governed by his own rules. His retribution was swift, and often devastating.
The King had made it clear that Hugh and Alice’s fate was in his hands. As long as balance was kept, secrets would be as well. Eldric had given Hugh and Alice a vow. He would work and fight to his last breath to keep it.
Second, Edward had just granted him all the time and resources he needed to find his enemy. How the King knew Eldric was tracking him, or why Edward was giving him the means to pursue him, he didn’t care.
If there was a price attached to the King’s gift he would ensure it was The Archer who paid it.
* * * * *
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Keep reading for an excerpt from CAPTAIN GREY’S CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL by Carla Kelly, the first book in the trilogy.
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