Promised to the Crusader

‘You speak the truth?’

‘I swear it on my life, lord.’

Newark nodded. ‘Very well, I believe you. If she took nothing with her, she must return. We shall send out men to find her and bring her back.’ He frowned as the page reached the side of his weeping mistress. ‘Yes, take her away out of my sight.’

As the countess staggered to her feet, he held up his hand. ‘Leave the castle in the morning. You may take your clothes and chattels with you—but the silver and gold remains. If you try to cheat me, I shall kill you.’

The countess bowed her head, making no protest as other servants came forwards to lead her away. She could return to her brother and sister-in-law, who would give her a home. She would not linger until the morning, for she could not wait to leave this place—and she would not stay even to see her husband buried. She would grieve for him, but in her heart she knew that her grief would not last long for he had not been a loving husband. She must thank God that the earl had seen fit to spare her. Whether her brother would take revenge for what had happened remained to be seen.

Allowing her servants to lead her away, the countess wondered what had become of her niece. If she could warn her to stay away from the castle, she would do so, but, since she had no idea where the girl had gone she could do nothing. For all she knew Elaine had taken flight to her dower lands. Yet it seemed she had taken nothing with her so it was more likely that she had merely gone riding, as the page claimed. It was a mercy that she had not been in the castle when the earl attacked them, but no doubt he would have her one way or the other.

Weeping, the countess ordered the packing of her things, secretly hiding a few of her jewels about her person. The earl had too much on his mind to order her searched and she did not intend to leave with nothing. She would take what she dared and leave swiftly, before he changed his mind.

She thought of Elaine’s jewels, but decided it was not worth the risk of trying to steal them away. The earl had ordered a watch kept on the girl’s chambers and any attempt to spirit away her things would meet with a sharp punishment.

Elaine must just make the most of her freedom if she could and perhaps reach her dower lands, though now that her uncle was dead there was no one to protect her even there. The countess could do nothing to help her, for she must throw herself on her brother’s charity and hope that he would take her in.

‘Listen…’ Elaine touched Marion’s hand as she heard the owl hooting. ‘I am sure that is Bertrand. He has returned at last.’

‘I knew he would not let us down.’ Marion rose joyfully as the barn door opened and a shadowy figure entered. ‘Bertrand, is that you?’

‘Yes, dear heart,’ Bertrand said and moved to catch her in his arms, holding her close for a moment before turning to Elaine. ‘Ill news, my lady. The Earl of Newark took the castle by a trick for he came under the guise of friendship. Your uncle was foully slain and your aunt mistreated before being told to leave the castle.’

‘My uncle dead?’ Elaine gasped. her hand flew to her mouth—despite her recent argument with him, she honoured both him and her aunt. He was her father’s brother and, though stern, she knew that he cared what became of her. ‘And my aunt?’

‘Told to leave with her goods and chattels, but not the silver or jewels.’

‘Newark intends to have it all. Why could my uncle not see him for the villain he is?’ Elaine asked, a little sob in her voice. ‘Had I wed him he would not have rested until my uncle was in his grave. We dare not return to the castle. Somehow we must try to reach my dower lands—but I have no money with me. We have nothing but the clothes we wear and the food we gathered.’

‘We have a little more,’ Bertrand said. ‘Your chamber was guarded, my lady. I fear I was able to take nothing of yours, but it was easy to enter Marion’s chamber. I have brought some clothing, which you may share, also some silver and pewter that I managed to snatch. I have a little coin of my own and a few of my own things.’

‘Yes, Marion’s clothing will fit me and it may be best if I change before we begin our journey. If I pass as your sister and Marion your wife, we may escape detection and be safer.’

‘Yes, my lady, that is true,’ Bertrand agreed. ‘I am sorry I could not bring your jewels.’

‘I wear the silver cross and chain my father gave me beneath my gown always,’ Elaine said and smiled. ‘Nothing else matters but our lives. If we can reach my dower lands, we can recruit more men to defend us—though I fear the earl will try to stop us before we reach safety.’

‘Once he realises that you do not intend to return to the castle he is sure to scour the countryside for us,’ Bertrand said. ‘Yet if his men ignore a yeoman and his wife and sister they may pass by without noticing us.’

‘I shall be careful to cover my head and face if we are questioned.’ Elaine looked at him gravely. ‘You know that you both risk much by accompanying me. If the earl captures us, you may suffer for helping me to escape.’

‘I would never desert you,’ Marion declared instantly. ‘We love you, my lady.’

‘Yes, I know it and I thank you. I pray that we shall reach my dower lands safely. Once there we can at least try to defend ourselves.’

‘At least you were not in the castle when he took it,’ Bertrand said. ‘We have the advantage for he will not know where to look. I know you must both be tired, but we ought to leave soon. If we ride through the night, we may get ahead of them.’

‘Will the earl not send men to your dower lands?’ Marion asked.

‘We must try to get there first,’ Bertrand said grimly. ‘Yet we should not go directly south, as he would expect. We shall ride to the east and then double back and that way hope to avoid his patrols. If we are fortunate, he will not send men out until the morning and by then we shall be well ahead of them.’

‘But our horses have carried us all day…’

‘I have brought fresh ones,’ Bertrand said. ‘We should turn your palfrey loose, my lady. If it returns to the castle seeking its stable, the earl’s men may waste time searching for you.’

‘They might think I was thrown.’ Elaine smiled. ‘You have done well, Bertrand. I think we should ride now and continue through the night. We may rest for a little time when we have put some leagues between the castle and us.’

‘You are weary, my friend,’ the dark-skinned servant watched as his master dismounted. ‘Allow me to see to the horses this night. You were sick for so long and you have not yet recovered your strength.’

‘I should have died had it not been for you,’ the knight replied and smiled. In the moonlight his face might have looked handsome to a casual observer, for the deep red welt that marred half of it was hardly noticeable because of his hood of mail. The scar ran from the corner of his left eye to his chin and was still painful to the touch even after many months of healing herbs and lotions applied by the faithful Janvier. ‘Had you and your family not taken me in that day…’

Janvier smiled, his teeth gleaming white against the dusk of his skin. ‘You forget that you saved mine and my whole family when the Christian knights rampaged after Saladin’s men wreaked vengeance on them for the murder of the Moslem prisoners.’

‘Do not remind me of our shame,’ the knight replied wearily. ‘I grow better every day, Janvier, but I will admit that I am tired this night. If we rest for a few hours in the morning, I shall feel much better.’

‘You should go home to your family, my lord.’

‘I have duties to perform before I may rest,’ Zander replied. ‘Tom’s body lies in a place of peace, but his family knows naught of what happened to him. First I must speak with his family, tell them he died bravely and was buried with honour—and then I must seek out the lady of whom I told you.’

‘You will ask her to wed you?’

‘No, not yet, for I must also seek revenge for my father, but if she has not married I shall pledge myself to her, as her protector and her servant—if she wishes it.’

Zander touched the red welt on his cheek. The pain was less now than it had been when it was first inflicted. He’d lain for weeks in a fever and afterwards he’d been too ill to remember who or where he was. It was Janvier who had carried him back to his home and helped to care for him as he raved and cried out in his agony, Janvier who had insisted on accompanying him to England, when he recovered enough to travel.

‘Do you think any woman would wish to marry me now?’ he asked, a touch of bitterness in his voice. ‘Even if she remains unwed, I cannot ask such a sacrifice of her.’

‘If she loves you, it will be no sacrifice. You should at least ask her, my lord. If she has waited all these years, it is your duty to offer her the chance to be your wife.’

‘Perhaps…’ A sigh was on his lips. ‘I dare say she forgot me long ago. She was beautiful, Janvier. Why should she wait for me?’ He pushed the grief from his mind. ‘We must rest now, my friend, for we have a long way to travel yet.’

‘You push yourself too hard.’

‘No, I am better now, merely unused to riding for long periods. If I do not make an effort, I shall never recover my strength. A man who cannot defend himself has no place in this world of ours, Janvier. I went to the wars because I thought our cause was just—and I hoped to win honours and wealth. I won both—but what profit a man if he gain the whole world, but lose his faith and his belief in his fellow man?’

‘You are the most honourable knight I know,’ Janvier said and grinned.

‘And you the best friend a man ever had. I do not know what lies ahead—but I shall make a life for us both here somewhere in this land or another if I prove unwelcome here.’

‘Inshallah,’ Janvier genuflected. ‘What Allah wills shall be. Whether it be your Christian god or mine, we are in His hands.’

‘Yes, it is so, though sometimes I wonder if God is but a comforting myth we humans invented for our own purposes.’

‘You are weary, my lord. Rest and eat. As your strength returns so will your faith.’

‘If I knew how to pray, I would pray you were right.’

Zander inclined his head and sat down on the blanket his servant had placed for him beneath a sheltering oak. The weather was mild enough, but after the heat of foreign lands he was shivering. He hugged his cloak about him and hoped that it was not a return of the fever that had plagued him for so many months.