Fire Dance (48 page)

Rufus flung orders like stones from a slingshot. "Out! All of you! The fire spreads upward! Empty every chamber and everyone out of the hall! Hurry! Do not let the people panic. Force them to retreat bravely, like soldiers.
Go!
"

Chretien grabbed the king's arm, entreating. "You must go ahead, Sire."

"If their king has no courage, they will see it." Rufus stubbornly placed himself at the end of the evacuation.

Alain swept his gaze in all directions, searching for stragglers, while the knights and soldiers grabbed whatever valuables they saw.

"The fire," whispered Rufus, so low only Alain could hear, "if it is what the lady believes it to be, might do anything. It could grow and lick upward through whatever passage it could find. Yet surely it cannot consume rock. Can it?"

"If it is truly Greek Fire, who knows what it can do?" replied Alain. "Melisande did not. We must take no chance. If it reaches the chambers from the storage rooms below, it could next take the wooden floors of the chambers. The beams are thick, but they will resist only for a while. From there, it could spread upward to the chambers, and outward to the dais, into the hall."

Alain appraised the small windows, each a pair of narrow openings, with double arches at the top, and divided vertically by a small stone column. Shutters narrowed them further. He could make it through if he kicked out the column and shutters, but he wasn't sure about Rufus.

Rufus caught the direction of Alain's eyes. "Forget it, friend. I've grown too fat. We'll take the stairs in an orderly manner."

"You should have gone first, Sire. All of England depends on you."

"Or my successor," replied Rufus as casually as if they merely strolled along the allure. "Do not forget that, Alain. All kings have successors, even if it is no more than a younger brother."

As they dashed down the stairs, Alain's eyes roamed about for signs of fire. So far, no more than an oppressive heat. Praise God.

Please, God, keep her safe.

"I did not know you had changed your heir, Sire," Alain said calmly, belying his fear.

Rufus passed him a knowing gleam as he took the stairs two at a time. "It will be Henry, no matter what I say, for he will have the crown on his head even before Robert blinks. But it keeps Robert happy to think England will be his. Henry is clever. Robert cannot even manage to keep his friends from stealing his hose. The crown will be secure with Henry."

Smoke. Smoke wriggled through the walls, collecting and billowing, rising. The paired doors, flung wide, and the narrow kitchen exit were the only ways out. A child whimpered.

"Never fear," shouted Rufus. "There is time. I am your king, and I come last. Do you think I would risk myself thus?"

A mother calmed the crying child as murmurs of reassurance spread. They would make it out safely. The hall was emptying rapidly, and flames did not yet lick through the walls.

A woman cried out. "My baby! Someone stop her!"

Lynet!

The red tabby, King Rufus, yowled as it dashed past them and up the wooden staircase behind them. The little girl screeched and scurried up the stairs on hands and knees after it.

"Sweet Jesus! Alain, they're going back into the fire!"

Rufus spun around to run back to the stairs.

"I'll get her, Sire. Just get the people out." Alain tugged at Rufus' arm, but the king ran on.

"You get the babe, I'll get the cat."

"The cat? Let the cat go."

"We promised all out safely, and the babe will go easier with the cat. Nay, I'll not risk the babe for it, do not fear, but we'll manage. Go, Alain."

The agile king dashed up the stairs just as tongues of fire burst through the wall by the dais and lapped at the supports below them.

"Sweet Christ, it's hot!" Rufus yelled.

The cat ran screaming to the balcony's end before the little girl reached it. She picked up the squirming animal by its belly, while it lashed out its legs at her. No claws, Alain guessed, for the girl was still holding him.

Alain grabbed the girl as Rufus snatched the cat. The animal suddenly turned into a screeching mass of razor claws as Rufus grappled for his grip. Rufus tore off his cloak and swaddled it around the complaining beast.

"I hate cats!" he screamed, mounding curses atop his words.

Flames cut them off, consuming the stairs and the supporting frame of the balcony. Trapped.

"The far chamber!" Alain screamed to Rufus.

"The chambers are also ablaze."

"Aye. Stay by the outer wall. Mayhap we can make the window. It's only a short drop to the ground."

Mayhap he could persuade Rufus to leap over the rail and out through the hall. But that would mean giving up on the cat and child, something Rufus would never do.

Rufus eyed the spreading fire below, then the still untouched far chamber. "Aye. Go."

Alain balanced the tiny girl her on his hip as he ran. She coughed from the choking smoke. He spotted a garment hanging on a peg, jerked it free and threw it over the child's head.

"I can't see!" cried the girl.

"Never mind, sweeting. It's to keep you from coughing. I won't let anything hurt you."

Alain slid with his back against the outer wall. Smoke thickened, choking him. Fire broke through the thick planks of the floor near the center of the chamber, and the planks behind them sagged into the fire. Too late to go back.

Rufus jammed the cat at Alain, who held both child and cat while Rufus threw all his weight into a mighty kick against the stone column. Again, again, he kicked. The post wobbled. Rufus kicked again. Once more, Rufus hurled one stocky leg and all his weight against the column. It collapsed and tumbled outward to the ground. Two more kicks sent the shutters flying to the rock below.

The king looked down. "Sweet Jesus. You said it was but a little drop."

"Not so far as the others. Not even the height of the balcony."

It was probably not the drop that worried Rufus, but whether he could get through the narrow window, even with the post kicked out. But they had no other choice. The flames surrounded them.

"You first, Sire."

"I will go last. If I did not make it through, none would. You jump down, then catch the babe and the cat."

"I cannot leave you, Sire."

"Curse it, De Crency. You'll do as I say. If you can by God give that bride of yours your faith, you can give it to me. Now
go!
"

Hardly a time to argue. Alain leapt into the window and threw himself through it to the rocky slope below, his feet skidding beneath him. He landed on his seat, and scrambled to his feet, kicking away the debris to gain better footing.

Almost before he had recovered his balance, Rufus threw down the screaming bundle that contained the cat. Alain laid it aside and let the cat wriggle itself free.

Rufus already dangled the crying child by her arms.

"Don't cry, sweeting. Don't cry. Don't be afraid." Rufus begged the child, then let her drop. Alain caught her just before her feet reached the ground. "Run down the hill, sweeting," he said. "Find your mama."

But from the corner of his eye, he saw Gerard came running up for the babe. He turned back to Rufus.

"Curse it. I'll never eat another pudding as long as I live."

Rufus was stuck.

"A ladder!" Alain yelled. "Someone get a ladder!"

Rufus disappeared back in through the hole. But there he was again, a leg through, his bulky body sideways, head ducked to work past the protruding middle of the double arch. One arm passed through beyond the window, and pushed against the frame as Rufus's big belly wedged again into the small cavity.

Rufus sucked in a huge breath, then suddenly exhaled all the air he had, shoving at the same time. His body lurched past the frame. Hanging by only one leg, Rufus grabbed the remaining protrusion of the double arch, brought the free leg up while the other came away from the window. Rufus sprang away and down.

Alain ran to his king, saying more grateful prayers than he thought knew. There had been no question of how Rufus would land. On his rump. He was merely fortunate that he managed to get enough of his massive, muscular legs beneath him to give a bit of spring to his landing.

The heat of the rampaging fire forced them away. Running down the rocky slope, Rufus scooped up the red tom cat from where it crouched behind a large gray boulder. Alain dashed alongside, trying to take the cat, but the king ignored him until they reached the bailey.

The upper bailey swarmed with villeins and knights who had gathered whatever they could save. Women with children, pots and cloths scurried about seeking loved ones. Soldiers leading horses and donkeys from the threatened stables bustled toward the relative safety of the lower bailey, away from the blazing hall.

Beside Alain, Rufus turned back to watch the conflagration. The cat in his arms had given up the struggle, seeming to understand at last that Rufus would by God see his namesake cat safe.

"We have been wrong, Alain," said Rufus, his eyes watering and nose running as they watched the flames leap through the roof where the lead had been melted away. "We are not going to Hell. Hell has come to us."

* * *

"I did not know, lady," Dougal protested. "I thought only to drive back the Normans and keep my land."

She understood that. No one had known. Fyren had bought her silence well, though it was she who had paid the coin. "And if the Norman king chooses to forgive you," she said, "mayhap you still will keep it. But if you will survive now, pledge your swords to Rufus. If not, I am prepared to die with you. I will see this land suffer no more, Dougal."

"Not to the Norman, but to you, lady," said Dougal. He laid his sword on the stone floor.

"Nay, keep it with you, lest we never see it again. We must find our way out, now."

"You do not know?"

"I know it. But it is a dangerous way. Bring the torches. Without the light, some will fall into the pit where Fyren's victims lie. The blaze rages behind us, blocking the passage to the hall, and the one that leads out through the bolt hole. Soon the air here will become unbreatheable. And even if the fire dies down, it will leave the rock too hot to walk upon. The only way out is past the pits."

The pits that still terrorized her dreams.

Melisande squeezed between the pillars that nearly blocked their way and climbed down the opalized terraces that gleamed eerie pastel colors from the rush lights held above their heads. Her path lay to the right, then climbed again, but it was not steep. "Have a care, here. The rock is wet and slippery. There is another cavern below, and it is a long way down."

The knights formed a single line behind her, sidling with their backsides against the rock wall until the hole they faced was passed. Again, she pointed upward.

"This rock has fallen from the ceiling. We must climb over it and pass through that narrow space above. Have a care beyond, for it drops down quickly. You must find the places for your feet, and move to your left until you reach a place where you can stand. There is very little room, but I think it will hold all of us before we must move on again."

The knights followed, their only sounds coming from their careful breathing, the shuffling of their boots, and the clinking of mail against the rock. Each took his turn, held the torch for the next, and reached the opposite face of the enormous boulder safely. Only the last had trouble finding his footholds, and was saved by the careful directions of the man who had preceded him. Melisande counted the knights, and saw that all were still with her. This upcoming section she feared, for it doubled back close to the fire.