Lady Thief (23 page)

He took the horse blanket, shook it, and
gently covered her shoulders with it.

Her mouth dropped.
“You are certainly
attentive considering your treatment of me earlier.”

He grinned and took his seat at the head of
the cart, urging the horse forward.

Marianne bristled at being ignored.
“William
will find you, and when he does you will lose more than two fingers
this time.”

He looked back at her, smirking, the horse
still moving ahead.
“Told ye that story, did he?”

Since William was not there to be insulted
for his lack of sympathy, she was insulted for him.
“Aye, he did,
you horrible creature!”

She wanted to throw the blanket off her
shoulders.
Let him see that she did not need his kindness, but the
sharp cold had her holding it close.
She hated him all the more for
it.

Robert chuckled again, whipping the horse to
quicken its step.
“He will not catch me until ‘tis too late.
You
sent Archer on his way, something I had not planned.
That sickly
squire is dead, he cannot say ‘twas I who attacked.
And Lord Gray
will search the entire castle for ye before thinking to search
outside.”

Marianne tensed.
He watched outside the
stables while she sent Archer to his wife and child.
Marianne
remembered the prickle of spider legs against the back of her neck,
following her for days.
“‘Twas you all along watching me.”

He nodded.
“Aye.”

“Why do such a thing?
What harm have I or
William ever caused you?”

Robert did not laugh this time, his jaw
tightened.
“If you bare Lord Gray a son, he will have no more use
for Blaise.”

“Blaise?” Marianne could not help her genuine
confusion.
“You speak as though William keeps Blaise for the
amusement of it.
Blaise is his son.”

Robert whipped around to glare.
“Nay, milady,
Blaise is
my
son.
And when Lord Gray has no more use for him
he’ll be sent off, and who will care for me?”

“
Care for you?
” Now Marianne felt
offended for Blaise and fearful for herself.
For the first time she
was glad she kept her possible pregnancy to herself.

Had it been announced she would surely be
dead right now.
“You are not doing this for Blaise, you are doing
it for yourself.
What can you hope to accomplish?
If you wished to
kill me you should have done it.
Now you will be caught and William
will see to it that you can never care even for yourself.”

“You are mistaken, milady.
Despite your
opinions of the lowly servants, I am incapable of truly harming an
innocent creature,”

Marianne felt the red sore on her neck twitch
and recalled how he threw her so carelessly into the cart.
What was
his idea of harming a creature?

Robert continued speaking, unaware of her
thoughts.
“If you stay, Lord Gray would soon have his heir and I
will be doomed to sweeping stables until the day I die.
Even with
this task I am still taking a great risk, yet ‘twas the only option
available to me.”

Marianne could hardly mask her disgust.
“You
cared nothing for Blaise, you used him on the belief that he would
give you a better life on William’s death.”

Robert shrugged his shoulders and turned to
watch the road again.
“‘Tis the boy’s own fault.
He is a man who
has been knighted already.
He should have known better.”

“And what are your plans when Blaise marries
and produces an heir?
You stopped him from wedding me, but you
cannot stop him from wedding another.”

He laughed as though she had spoken some
fantastic tale.
“Milady, I
urged
Blaise to wed ye.
Should he
produce an heir before William, that softhearted fool would never
disinherit them, and I will be free to live comfortably upon his
death.
‘Twas no one’s idea but his own not to wed ye.
And stubborn
fool that he was, I could not convince him that ye were a perfect
match.
He refused to listen to the advice of the man who grooms his
horses.” The last of his sentence came in a twisted grumble.

He faced her again, a hint of a smile.
“If it
pleases ye, milady, his harsh words were written to ye because of
his anger with me.”

It did not please her at all.
“And where do
we go now?
You claimed you cannot kill me.” Marianne reminded him,
clinging to the fact hopefully.

She could see the corner of his mouth lift.
“I am not surprised ye do not recognize this road, milady, ‘tis the
road I lived on while exiled from Graystone.
Ye would have never
ridden on it.
But ‘tis also a shortcut to your old home.”

Marianne’s eyes widened.
“Home?”

“Aye, I’m taking ye to see Sir Ferdinand.” He
turned to look at her again.
“The task yer own father was sent to
accomplish before he took the coward’s way out and fled.”

Chapter Fourteen

William led the
search for Marianne
when James was dragged into the great hall, bleeding from the head
and unconscious, but alive.

The search lasted barely an hour before the
boy awoke, sent a servant girl to fetch his lord, and told them the
identity of his attacker.

William swam in rage.
“Where is Robert!
I
want him found now!”

Archer, who had aided in the search, looked
crestfallen.
“Her ladyship told me to go to Molly, said she would
stay until Robert returned.” He shook his head, clutching his hair.
“I should not ‘ave left.
Should not ‘ave left.”

Letting the man feel his guilt was punishment
enough.
“‘Tis of no consequence now.” William said.

One of his men at arms called to him.
“Milord, I was stationed atop the outer gate earlier.
Robert left
here with a horse and cart.”

William whirled on the man.
Rage renewed.
“You allowed him to pass?”

The older man reddened under his graying
beard.
“The sun had not completely set.
I saw no reason not to.
The
man said he was off to ‘is brother’s farm to bring more grain for
the horses.”

William could barely contain himself.
“Robert
has no brother!”

Hugh put a hand on his shoulder.
The small
act reminded him that he was lord of this castle and as such, his
men turned to him for their guidance.
Their faults, intentional or
naught, where his own, and should Marianne be frightened, or in
pain, ‘twas his own damn fault.

William took a breath, forcing calm into him.
“What was in the cart?
Did ye see anything?”

The man’s eyes were wild as he struggled to
think.
“‘Twas darkening outside, I only saw ‘im.
I saw nothing in
the cart and paid it no mind.”

“Nothing?” William tried desperately to
ignore his pounding heart.

Hugh scratched his chin.
“So for all we know,
he has killed her already and hidden her before making off.”

“She is not dead!” William refused to believe
that she could be laying someplace cold, dying and waiting for him
to come to her, or already dead.

He grabbed the man’s chain mail and tunic in
his fists, pulling until they were nose to nose.
“There must be
something else!
Something you missed!”

Hugh did not stop him while he handled the
older knight, but Bryce did speak up.

“Yer quite sure there was naught in the cart.
No jugs, sacs, blankets—”

“Now—now that you mention it, sir,” the
knight said.
“I believe there was a horse blanket.”

William nearly laughed.
“A horse
blanket?”

The man did not hear William’s sarcasm.
“Aye,
‘twas spread out inside the cart.
I thought I saw shadows in it but
told myself ‘twas only the gloom caused by rumples in the blanket
and nightfall.”

William released him, calmer solutions taking
shape.
“Were they long shadows, long enough to be the height of a
woman?”

He shook his head.
“Nay, ‘twas why I paid
them no mind.”

William would not give up.
“He could have put
her under the blanket, counting on the night to further disguise
her as it did.
She could have been folded closely into herself,
unconscious or…”

“Dead,” Said Bryce.

William ignored him but turned to his
friends.
“He has no family, and it would not be below Ferdinand to
have hired Robert to take her.
She still lives.”

Nicholas, always optimistic, was the first to
mention the flaw.
“How would Ferdinand have contacted him?
Someone
would have noticed messengers coming from Ferdinand’s castle.”

“And even Robert must know that it would take
days to get there.
He would be surely be caught.
Why the risk?”
Asked Hugh.

William shook his head, seeing what they did
not.
“Ferdinand is staying at Marianne’s old home.
‘Tis just under
a day’s ride from here.
And if Robert thought he had killed James
he would have known I would have searched the entire castle for her
before moving elsewhere.
That would give him more than enough time
to reach his destination and collect his reward.”

Even as he babbled his beliefs, he was moving
around his men, towards the stables where Benedict awaited.
He
would not waste time having new shoes put on the horse for the
ride, and William called orders to have every man suited up.

“We have already wasted hours!
We must be off
immediately.” He did not need to tell Archer to have his horse
ready as the man already ran ahead to see it done.

“I will go with you.” Hugh said, catching up
and striding alongside him.
Nicholas and Bryce caught up as well.
Shockingly, even Blaise.

“If ye say she lives, then we will fight with
ye until we see otherwise,” said Bryce.

“She lives.” ‘Twas Blaise who spoke, a
grudging respect in his voice.
“My hot-headed step-mother would
never allow herself to be killed by a serf.”

William allowed himself a moment to be warmed
by their words before returning to the task at hand.

Then he realized it had been years since he’d
fought a battle, and not all of his weapons would be in good
condition.

“I want every spare man and squire armed and
on a horse.
I doubt there will be enough weapons so the rusted ones
from the armory will have to be used as well.”

“There are no rusted weapons.” Blaise
said.

William stopped to look at him.
“What
happened to them?”

“The armory was one of the places Marianne
visited while on her mission to better your castle.
She made
certain the men had no sleep until they sanded every last blade
clean of rust.”

Love swelling in his chest, William set off
for his wife.

***

William and every man available to him shot
out of the stables.
They rode hard until needing to slow their pace
for the sake of the horses.

Hours passed, the snow fell in heavy clumps
and covered the frozen earth.
It prevented any chance of searching
for tracks to confirm if Robert was even going where William
thought he was.

“Milord,” Said Hugh.
“I do not think they
came this way.”

“Even before the snow there were no cart
trails or horse tracks.” Blaise said unhelpfully, still gazing down
at the ground as though searching for tracks through the white.

William continued to ride, his pace at an
even trot so Benedict might catch his breath for the next burst of
speed.
He inwardly promised the horse plenty of rest, water, oats,
and even a mare as long as he brought him to where William needed
to go.

William had to agree with them, but could not
bring himself to believe that Robert was not taking Marianne to
Ferdinand.
“Aye, Robert must have found another way to Ferdinand’s
manor.
He could not take the cart off the road and through the
woods, nor would he abandon it.
There must have been another
way.”

“A shorter path?” Nicholas asked.

William nodded.
“Which means there is even
less time than we all thought.”

With that he kicked Benedict into speed
again.

***

When Marianne gazed upon the lonely walls of
her home for the first time in two months, she did not feel as
delighted to see it as she once thought she would.

The heavy snowfall and grey sky aged the
house, made it tired and unfamiliar, but only because she knew that
another man owned it.

Robert drove the cart to the stables.
No one
familiar to Marianne came into view, and even though she made no
effort to hide her tied hands, no one came to her aid.

When inside, she immediately noted the change
in the smell.
What had once been familiar to her, a constant
reminder of her brother’s love when her father was too caught up in
his games, now smelled of Ferdinand’s cruelty.

The walls were bare and stripped of
everything of value her father spared when he paid her dowry,
giving off the appearance of emptiness.
Marianne could not help but
think that the lack of objects suited Ferdinand’s hollow-hearted
nature.

This was no longer the place she had played
in as a child, nor was it where she wished to be.
She wished to be
in her real home with William.
Even a shouting match with Blaise
would be preferable to this.

When they reached the house, a servant
Marianne did not recognize was sent to fetch Ferdinand.
Like the
men and women working outside, the servants inside seemed not to
notice or care that her hands were bound in front of her, or that
Robert continued to push her along.

Despite his eagerness to be rid of her, he
made what could be a genuine effort to soothe her.
“I would not
fret, milady.
Sir Ferdinand is old and will pass into the next
world soon, until then, being his mistress will not be such a
horrible thing.”

William’s words of Ferdinand’s liking for
sexual torture came back to haunt her.
Even if they had not, she
knew Robert’s attempt would have been wasted on her.

She was no one’s mistress.

“Fool!”

Marianne and Robert shot their heads up to
the source of the hateful voice.
Ferdinand stood at the peek of the
stairs, his gnarled hands clenching the rail and staring down with
stunned fury directed at Marianne.

“What is she doing here?
Why are her hands
tied?”

Marianne relished his confusion.
He could
punish Robert and send her on her way and she would never have to
think of this horrible experience again.

He descended the stairs at a speed she would
not have thought possible of him.
When he reached the bottom, he
came towards them both and glared up at Marianne before turning his
monstrous stare to Robert.
Though Robert was taller, sir
Ferdinand’s face and horrid stare prompted Robert to look at
anything but the man in front of him.

Robert opened his mouth, stunned by his
welcome.
“I…I,” He cleared his throat and gathered his courage.
“I
have brought Marianne Holton here for your pleasure, milord.”

Ferdinand barked a laugh.
“Lord?
You must
have hopes that your flattery will save you.
What makes you presume
I want her?”

Robert’s grip on her arm tightened, and
Marianne felt his pulse quicken in his grip.
“I overheard sir
Holton mumbling to himself of the reward you offered him should he
bring her here.
Since he has failed I have taken his place and wish
to collect what he could not.”

Ferdinand’s back stiffened, and he eyed
Marianne with cold interest.
There was a promise in his eyes, a
promise to himself.
Whatever it may be could not be good, for it
brought chills to her flesh, and she tried to move away.
Robert
halted her with a jerk on her arm.

“I see,” said Ferdinand.

Robert sputtered.
“Lord Gray does not know I
have taken her, not so soon, and when he discovers what I have done
I will be away with the reward you will pay.
He will never know she
is here.”

Robert did not see the men who surrounded
them while he tried to sell her.
Marianne did.
Ferdinand signaled
one of them with a small movement of his head.

Marianne felt a splash of warm blood spread
across the back of her neck.

She shrieked and stumbled away, slapping the
wetness away.
But now she had it soaking her hands, which was far
worse.

She spun to look at Robert, who held the
spurting wound in his throat.
The man holding the dagger used
Robert’s tunic to clean the blood from the blade before Robert fell
to the floor.

Marianne’s face ran cold at the sight.
She
had never seen a man killed before, and the sight would forever
haunt her nightmares.

She looked down at her bound hands, covered
in his drying blood, and she felt as dizzy as she had been when he
strangled her.
Her knees wobbled.