The Beauty Bride (The Jewels of Kinfairlie) (42 page)

“My
husband and I met numerous times abed, so many times that I lost the count,” Madeline
said, feeling a stubborn urge to witness how James faced the truth. She had
done nothing wrong in treating her legal husband with honor! “Rhys is most
anxious for sons. We were wed. How could I deny him his nuptial due?”

James
blanched and released her hand. He stepped away, his hand upon his brow, and
was clearly distressed by these tidings.

“Had
you been so concerned with my maidenhood, you might have troubled to send word
to me that you yet lived!” Madeline turned her back upon James. She found herself
trembling, so great was her anger. Vivienne slipped a hand into hers, then gave
her fingers an encouraging squeeze.

Rosamunde
stood with Cradoc, her brow furrowed. “I will aid Rhys, if it can be done,
before my departure,” she said. “I owe him a boon, for he ensured that my name
was never linked with the failed coup in 1415. I would never have been
permitted to drop anchor in many ports without that surety.”

“Aye,
that is true enough,” Padraig said with a nod. “Our necks are not stretched
thanks to his silence. I, too, will help.”

“I
will aid Rhys, as well,” Elizabeth said with uncommon resolve for her age. “He
is the get of fairies,” she said when the others regarded her in surprise.
“There may not be much I can do, but I will do whatsoever I can.”

“Do
not forget me!” Vivienne said. “I will not stand aside while a man who can tell
such stories is cheated and killed.”

Alexander
smiled at Cradoc and then at Madeline. “My blade is in Rhys’ service.” He
tapped a jingling sack of coins upon his belt. “Let us see him hale first, then
I will return his coin and win your annulment, Madeline.”

Madeline
regarded the sack of coins with horror. Now that the prospect of annulment was
so imminent, it did no seem so desirable, after all.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen

Cradoc
and Rosamunde conferred, then crept to the crest of the hill to watch the
proceedings far below. When they returned long moments later, Rosamunde looked
resolved and Cradoc seemed skeptical.

“The
sole unguarded path into the keep will be through the drain,” Rosamunde said,
speaking in a tone that allowed no argument. She flicked a glance between those
pledged to aid Rhys. “Someone must enter the fortress through the sewer that
leads to the sea, then open the gates for the remainder of us.”

“I
will do it,” Alexander said. Vivienne and Elizabeth protested, but he shook his
head. “It is too dangerous for either of you and I am more slender than
Padraig. Cradoc must remain with the rest of you, for he alone knows who is
friend and who is foe.”

“He
speaks good sense,” Cradoc said to Rosamunde.

“It
happens on occasion,” she agreed with a wink for her nephew. The company turned
to climb to the crest of the hill, but James seized Madeline’s elbow and held
her back.

“I
see no reason why we should risk our own hides,” He said sourly. “Let us flee
now, Madeline, let us make haste to my father’s abode. Leave your siblings to
resolve this matter, if they insist upon it. The horses are unguarded, we could
be gone before they could halt us.”

The
very idea of abandoning her family after they had come so far to aid her, no
less Rhys, was utterly abhorrent to Madeline. “I thought you only desired a
maiden for your bride,” she reminded James, pulling away from his grasp.

James
nodded, then shrugged. “True, but a man must make some sacrifices to ensure his
father’s favor. I will still wed you, though you are soiled.”

He
could not have chosen a worse word.

“I
am not soiled! I have been saved from the folly of wedding you!” Madeline
turned her back upon the astonished James and ran after her family. She caught
Rosamunde’s sleeve in her hand. “Rhys loves nothing more than Caerwyn. I would
see it safely in his keeping. I am smaller yet than Alexander. Let me take this
task.”

“But,
Madeline, it is too dangerous!” Alexander protested.

“I
can hold my breath longer than you, you know it well.”

Alexander
colored at Cradoc’s confused glance. “I used to sneak into the bathing chamber
and dunk my sisters while they sat in the tub. Madeline learned to hold her breath
and remain so still that I oft feared I had killed her.”

“Then
Papa near killed him for so tormenting us,” Vivienne said.

Cradoc
smothered another smile and Padraig chuckled openly.

“It
is not amusing, if the prank granted her a useful skill,” Rosamunde said. “I
say that we let Madeline do this deed.” The others nodded, but before they
could speak, James interjected.

“Madeline!
You cannot do this thing!” He snatched at her arm, as if he would forcibly
restrain her.

Madeline
removed her arm from his grasp. “Rhys saved me from Kerr’s assault. I owe him
no less than to reciprocate in kind.” She granted her former suitor a cool
glance. “You desire me only to ensure your own leisure, but what will happen
when your father dies? What will you do if he ceases to admire your music? Do
not say he will never do so - how else did you find yourself in France? It has
happened before and it will happen again.”

Madeline
turned her back upon James and met her aunt’s approving gaze. She removed the
velvet sack from around her neck and kissed it before passing it to Rosamunde.
“I would ask you to take this in safekeeping for me.”

“It
is warm,” Rosamunde said as she fingered the velvet.

“It
probably carries my own heat,” Madeline suggested but Rosamunde shook her head.

Smiling,
Rosamunde loosed the cord and let the stone fall into her palm. The entire
company gasped in awe at the magnificent stone. Madeline could not believe how
it had been transformed. It could have been a drop of sunlight. Indeed, the gem
was so radiant that no one could look directly upon it.

Rosamunde
laughed. “It was like this upon your mother’s wedding day,” she said, her voice
husky.

She
dug in her purse and removed something gold. It was a setting for the stone,
wrought of golden wires that caught the stone in a fine cage. Rays extended out
from the stone, like beams of light spreading from the glowing stone. The whole
pendant hung from a fine golden chain, which Rosamunde put around Madeline’s
neck. The stone nestled in the hollow of her throat, its heat warming her
through.

“You
need have no fear of losing this now,” Rosamunde said, “for its radiance will
light your path and its chain is short enough that it cannot slip away.”

“But
the chain could break,” Madeline whispered, fingering the stone as she feared
losing such a prize in the sewer of Caerwyn.

“These
bonds are stronger than you can guess.” Rosamunde kissed Madeline’s brow. “You
have chosen aright, child. The Tear declares as much more clearly than can be
spoken. It is time to aid Rhys.”

* * *

Madeline
was terrified.

She
and Alexander crept down the steep hillside, that they could slip into the sea
unobserved. With every step she was certain that they would be spied, that some
archer would dispatch an arrow with deadly accuracy and their quest would be
lost.

But
they reached the shore with no more incident than scratches on their hands and
knees. They left most of their clothing hidden on the shore, each wearing only
a chemise. Alexander insisted that they each keep their belt and a small knife.

“You
must move quickly,” he counseled, concern furrowing his brow. “We do not know
where the drain will end, though likely it will be in the lower realms of the
keep.”

“In
the dungeon?” Madeline guessed.

Alexander
grimaced. “We shall hope that it is not within a cell.”

Madeline
shook her head, though she was far from certain. “It cannot be, for then
prisoners could easily escape.”

“Unless
there is a grill fixed atop it.” Alexander’s frown deepened. “There should be
air within the drain, for is must run level with the ground to come from the
keep to the sea. Remember to turn your face upward, if any water comes rushing
down the drain.”

“Will
it?”

“Who
can say?” Alexander caught Madeline’s shoulders in his hands. “I wish I could
do this. I wish that you were not to be in such peril.”

“But
the way may be narrow, and I may have to hold my breath long...”

“I
know, I know.” Alexander forced a smile. “I wish also that you did not make
such good sense, Madeline.” He hugged her tightly and his words were hoarse.
“Be safe. Be swift. Be blessed in this task.”

Alexander
took Madeline’s hand before she could answer him, this brother who could easily
make her chest tighten with the vigor of her love for him. He led her into the
sea, the waves pulling and pushing at them as they waded ever deeper.

They
kept only their heads above the surface, though the waves oft deluged them.
They clung to the rocks of the coast like barnacles upon the hull of a ship.
Madeline hoped that their dark wet heads, if any noted them, would look
sufficiently like those of otters or seals that no alarm would be cried.

They
had only to follow their noses to find the opening of the drain. Turds bobbed
on the ocean surface, closer together as they drew near to the gaping dark
hole. It was bored into the cliffs and unobstructed by any grill.

“It
must have been wrought by the Romans,” Alexander said with awe. “Papa always
said they were more plentiful in Wales, for they mined metals here.” He slid
his hand along the stone, admiring how it had been chipped away. “Caerwyn must
be old.”

Madeline
nodded. “Rhys said as much.”

At
the mention of her spouse’s name, the siblings looked at each other. “Are you
certain?” Alexander asked. “The hole here is large enough for me.”

“It
will not remain so,” Madeline insisted. She kissed his cheek, knowing that her
effort might be doomed to failure. “Father taught you more than you realize,”
she said softly. “Kinfairlie, and our siblings, are safe in your hands,
Alexander. Be well.”

Madeline
plunged into the dark tunnel, before her brother could say something that might
make her weep. Her breath came quickly already, though she knew that she would
have to control it to find success. Her heart thundered in her chest, so loudly
that she feared the sentries would hear its pulse carried through the dirty
water in which she moved.

The
tunnel closed more tightly around her with every step, the smell of slops
assaulted her, the water moved less vigorously and thickened to a slurry. It
was up to her knees and it was cold, though she supposed it would have been
more revolting had it been warm. She could not hear the sea any longer, she
could not spy a glimmer of light. There was only the smell of the water and the
gentle incline of carved stone beneath her feet.

And
the impetus that was Rhys tugging her onward. The stone around her neck cast a
faint glow, a ray of light that kept her from madness. At least she did not
proceed blindly.

Madeline’s
fears remained at bay until the tunnel narrowed abruptly to the width of her
shoulders. She stood hunched in the larger corridor and considered the hole
from which muck spilled. There was no other way onward. She reasoned that this
must be beneath the keep itself, for she felt she had walked forever. Perhaps
the type of stone had changed here. Perhaps the hole narrowed even more farther
ahead.

She
refused to consider that she might become stuck. She had to help Rhys. Panic
would serve them both poorly. Madeline climbed into the hole, stretched out
supine. She half-dragged herself, half-writhed, the stones digging into her
back, and somehow she made progress. She was not certain how far she moved or
how fast, the darkness assailing her as it had not before.

Madeline
began to be afraid.

Water
rushed suddenly over her, water smelling of urine and dirty pots. Madeline
grimaced and clung to the stones, holding her place as it washed over her with
a vengeance. Her heart raced, she thought of her parents trapped beneath the
darkness of the sea. Had their last moments been like this? She feared to
drown, she knew that she would never be found that none would aid her...

And
then she recalled Rhys, telling her tales aboard the ship. She thought of his
conviction that they were safe, and she was reassured. She heard again the
rhythm of his voice and the memory made her smile.

Indeed,
she could have wed worse. She could have wed James.

If
she and Rhys saw their way through this challenge, if still he desired her as
his wife, Madeline knew that she would remain gladly by his side. Perhaps one
day, he would come to love her. Perhaps she should appreciate the man’s deeds
and his valor more than any sweet words he could offer.

Perhaps
she should see the merit of what she had been granted and savor it.