The Blue Falcon (31 page)

“
I have nothing!” she insisted.

“
How well is your future fixed when Alaric and Conan learn of our dealings?”

Udele’s eyes were alive with the hate she felt for him.

“
Do not ask too much of me, Tedric,” she warned.
“
Do not make the anger of my husband and son seem a better bargain.”

Udele watched Tedric leave with hardened eyes. She was one of the few to know just how trapped Chandra really was.

Chapter 14

Sir Tedric was fortunate in that the silver he owned had lent itself to a practical use. There were men to be found who did not relish war but would swear to serve a young knight in England. He paid his scutage to Richard, and with twenty new men-at-arms Tedric rode into Cordell. Chandra rode behind him. She did not smile or wave. But Wynne, feeling the exuberance of coming home, beamed in pleasure to those villagers who watched them enter.

Tedric was most anxious to view this holding and set out immediately with some of his men to look through the town. When he was gone, Chandra turned to Wynne.
“
If you tell Sir Tedric one word of our forest guard, I will beat you myself!”

“
But lady, he is
--
”

“
For the time being, Wynne, don’t think. I must see your father at once. Bring him to me before Tedric returns.”

Shaking her head in confusion, Wynne left the hall to go to the small house that her father, Sir William, kept.

Chandra looked about the room. It was orderly, and more benches and trestle tables had been supplied by Agnes, William’s wife and loyal caretaker of Cordell.

“
You have always pleased the nobles in this hall, Agnes. I have no doubts about your talents. I have sent for Master William. When he comes, send him to my chamber.”

Then, with a great deal of worry on her mind, Chandra went to the storeroom to draw out some money and placed it in a bag. She noted with pride that the sum kept at Cordell was not touched by any of the castle folk or residents of the village. And while she hoped this action she took was unnecessary, she greatly feared that Tedric’s hand would find its way into this vault and allow himself more than he
d
eserved of Cordell’s revenues. She intended to avert that from happening.

Not much later, in her chamber, Master William entered and stood before her.
“
We have not much time,” she said, indicating a chair opposite her, a table that served as her writing desk between them.

“
My husband, Sir Tedric, has brought men-at-arms with him,” she said.

“
I saw them, lady.”

“
I believe he will use them as guards,” Chandra went on.
“
I think we will let him do that without argument.”

“
And the forest guard? And the men on the coast?”

Chandra sighed.
“
For the moment, I think it best to show my husband little of Cordell’s secrets. Use care in sending your people in and out of the wood. And this,” she said, pushing the purse filled with coin toward him,
“
should be put in a reserve for a day when some emergency arises.”

William raised one brow.
“
You do not trust the new lord. Your marriage
...
?”

“
Much against my will,” she said, looking down at a parchment and writing, though she did this only to escape William’s eyes. What she wrote did not make any sense to her later.
“
I dearly hope that he will prove a good lord and gentle husband, but in the event that the opposite is true, we must be prepared.”

William’s frown bore down on her.

“
Perhaps my words do not give Tedric his due, William. This will be his burgh too, as he shares it with me. He has in good faith lent me the right to manage my dower as I will, but I have known Tedric to be cruel and wicked, and I fear he can be again. Do you know why I warn you?” she asked coyly.

“
I think so, lady,” he replied.

“
Clearly, an arrow perfectly placed from the wood or the town might well end my troubles as I see them, but it would serve no good in this burgh. You would swiftly see the town in flames. And Cordell would no longer belong to my family.”

“
Aye, lady,” he said, rising.
“
And there is no one to avenge us under misrule?”

“
Medwin is old. Those men-at-arms under his command can protect Phalen Castle well, but I cannot depend on his support now.”

“
And Sir Conan?” John asked.

Her eyes became glassy and looked past him to some distant place. Then she caught herself and looked again at her parchment, taking up the quill and making some marks on the page.
“
I would not lay that burden to Sir Conan now. You do not know the extent of the fief wars that could follow.”

“
Aye, lady,” William replied, but he did not know. The battle would reach a great deal farther than Cordell. It could easily grow to include all of Alaric’s holdings against all of Theodoric’s. Conan could lose everything. And she would not ask him to take that risk.

William stood and tucked the purse into his belt. It was not well hidden, but neither did it seem to draw much notice. He was bowing to leave, when the door of her chamber swung wide and Tedric entered.

Chandra rose.
“
My lord,” she said, still uneasy with this title she must lay to him now.
“
Master William is our head huntsman. You can count on him to bring anything you request from the forest. His talents supply much of what our tables bear.”

“
Food does not concern me,” he said, throwing his gaunt
lets onto her desk.
“
I can see your father’s eagerness to see you wed. This town is like sleeping prey. My men will see it better kept from now on.”

“
Thank you, Master William. You may go.” She turned to her husband.
“
I will rest easier knowing you have seen to the protection of this burgh,” she said. She heard the door close softly as William left them.

“
It is small, as I was promised. But it will do,” he said.

“
It could be larger,” she offered.
“
We could easily extend the farming land
--
”

“
I can’t see the need to waste my time trying to make this piddling acreage into something grand. There are other lands to be had.”

“
Tedric, your dreams are bigger than your ability
--
”

“
The beautiful Chandra,” he said sarcastically, reaching out a hand to caress her cheek.
“
The fair damsel. You’ve grown accustomed to hearing about your beauty and strength, haven’t you? You’ve learned to enjoy the worshipful look of every young lad that passes. In time you will feel less like a goddess.” He turned to walk toward the door that joined their chambers.
“
Send Wynne to me,” he said.
“
I have need of her.”

“
Tedric, she is a young lass and does not know the ways of
--
”

“
Never mind, Chandra. The lass knows more than you credit her for. She would not thank you for your interfer
ence.”

“
You must not take advantage of her naivete. She does not know
--
”

“
Very well, I will find her myself,” he said, leaving the room.

With a touch of panic, Chandra ran hurriedly to the hall below, where she found Wynne with her mother. She brought the girl to her chamber and made her stay close. For several days Tedric gained a fair amount of amusement from the way Chandra kept the girl under her protective wing. She even had the girl place her pallet beside Chandra’s bed to sleep there at night, until Tedric strode in and asked Wynne to leave them in privacy. Tedric was not gentle, and he used her body to please himself just as he used her land to get him the money he needed for more profitable ventures.

She warned Wynne to be careful to keep herself from being alone with Tedric.
“
I am afraid he will take advantage of you,” she said.
“
He looks at you in a way that frightens me.”

But Wynne’s look clearly said she pitied Chandra for so badly misjudging a good man.
“
You do Sir Tedric wrong, I fear. Lady, he has been nothing but kind to me.”

She could do nothing to make the girl see. In truth, while the castle folk were a bit wary of their new lord, as they would be with any new lord, Tedric had done nothing to cause them to fear or hate him. In the time he took to acclimate himself to Cordell, he did not act any less than a chivalrous and honorable knight.

But hardly a week passed before Wynne came to attend her one morning with eyes downcast, dark circles under them. She had been crying.

Chandra sat on the edge of her bed while Wynne knelt to hold the slippers to her feet. She put a finger under the maid’s chin to raise her face.
“
Wynne?” she questioned softly. She gasped at the large bruise on the maid’s cheek.

Wynne let her head fall into Chandra’s lap, and all her pent-up anger and humiliation bled itself out in tears. Chan
dra lightly stroked her hair and back, knowing what had
p
robably befallen the lass. It was a long time before Wynne’s crying ceased.

“
Did he hurt you badly?” Chandra asked.

It was a moment before Wynne could speak, and when she did, she could not look at Chandra.
“
He did not beat me much,” she said.

“
Look at me, Wynne.”

“
Lady,” the girl choked,
“
I cannot!”

“
Lift your eyes. It is not your fault.”

“
Lady, how you must hate me. How foolish I have been!”

“
I do not hate you,” Chandra said consolingly.
“
You could not see Tedric’s cruel nature. He kept it well hidden.”

“
You tried to warn me,” she sobbed.

“
I should have done more. I should have sent you from this house when I suspected. Truth, I thought he would seduce you to his bed. Even I did not see that he might take you by force.”

“
I am so ashamed.”

“
You needn’t feel shame. You had nothing to say in what happened. Now you must stay close by me and out of his way as much as you can.”

“
What does it matter now?” Wynne asked weakly.
“
I am already spoiled for any marriage. He cannot hurt me any more than he already has.”

“
You need not be his slave,” Chandra said sternly.
“
You are a servant to me, and your duties do not involve Tedric.” But she feared there was little she could do to prevent Tedric from taking what he pleased.

“
Your parents, Wynne. Do they know?”

Wynne shook her head and yet another tear fell from her eye.

“
I will have to attend to that,” Chandra said resolutely.

In the hall later she encountered Tedric. He leaned against the wall and smiled lazily. He took perverse pleasure in assuming that his act had been discovered. Chandra’s glare proved he was right.

“
Where do you go so early this morning, my lady?” he asked insolently.

“
I go to ask Master William not to avenge his daughter’s rape. I pray he sees the wisdom of my pleas.”

Tedric threw back his head and laughed heartily.
“
Re
venge? From a simple serf!”

“
You are a bigger fool than I imagined, my lord,” she said through clenched teeth.
“
Had you not given thought to an arrow as you rode past the wood? A knife while you knelt at mass? Tedric, your guards cannot protect you from every
thing. They offer little protection from the simple villagers you pass every day in your own halls.”

“
Should any harm come to me, do you think my father and my brothers would allow it to pass? When will a common serf free himself from my lordship with the point of his knife?”

Chandra met his cold gray eyes with determination in her own.
“
When there is nothing more you can take from them, Tedric. That is when.”

***

The season of Christmas drew in on the land with blowing cold and swirling snow. The town of Stoddard did not have the look of a gay village, for the people there labored hardest just to keep their small huts warm. And the hall was likewise very cold, the servants working constantly to keep the fires blazing. Many townspeople sought haven in the hall if their homes were inadequate against the storm.

Lady
Edwina served a steaming brew
by her own hand to some who huddled there. The fur lining of her mantle kept her warm, and she had drawn from her own coffer certain cloaks to warm those in the hall.