“Lady Emelisse de Thorington is my prisoner,” he said. “But if you wish her removed from the vault, I will honor that request.”
“I want to talk to her,” Caius chimed in, his face taut with disgust for Covington’s behavior. “Have your man take me to the vault and I will retrieve her.”
Covington almost denied him, but he thought better of it. There were two enormous knights in the room who could probably do him great bodily harm if he refused. The giant– d’Avignon– told him not to push him.
Covington wouldn’t.
Yet.
He looked at Hallam.
“Take him to the vault,” he said. “And take the lady someplace more… suitable. But do not let her out of your sight.”
Hallam simply nodded, opening up the door as Caius closed in behind him, but not before he and Edward exchanged glances. The meaning was clear– Edward would continue to interrogate de Wrenville while Caius spoke with de Thorington’s daughter to get her side of things. The entire situation was a wild mess and they needed to get to the bottom of it before Edward mowed Covington down and claimed Winterhold for his own.
It might very well come to that.
Leaving Maxton with Edward in case the man tried to throttle de Wrenville, Caius followed Hallam from the solar.
Caius thought they would head out into the night, wherever Winterhold’s vault happened to be, but Hallam came to a halt just shy of the entry door and faced Caius.
“Lady Emelisse is not in the vault, my lord,” he said quietly. “I had her removed earlier today.”
Caius eyed him suspiciously. “Youremoved her?” he said. “Where is she?”
Hallam shook his head. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “She is in the care of Lady de Wrenville, but Lord de Wrenville does not know that. He thinks she is still in the vault. I movedher because I agree with you– the lady should not have been put in the vault.”
Caius wasn’t sure if he believed the man. He was de Wrenville’s knight, after all. He could have been telling him what he wanted to hear, but in spite of his suspicion, he nodded his head.
“I want to speak to the lady, so you will find her for me,” he said.
Hallam agreed. “I will,” he said. “But I must seek Lady de Wrenville to find out where the prisoner is.”
“I will go with you,” Caius said. “But first, you will remove your weapon and I will remove mine. We do not go into this armed, either one of us.”
There was no debating that statement. Hallam didn’t even try. He didn’t blame Caius for being mistrustful, given how Covington had just behaved. Without another word, Hallam dropped his broadsword at the door and Caius did the same. He removed the daggers that were positioned around his body as well, laying all of them to the side of the entry where they would be out of sight.
With the weapons finally put away, Hallam put a finger to his lips in a gesture of silence and headed back the way they had come. They had to pass the closed solar door, and did so quietly, before mounting the wide, broad spiral staircase built into the corner turret of the keep.
Up they went.
The upper levels of the keep were disorienting because the keep itself was so big, but Caius remained close to Hallam so he wouldn’t get lost. Also, he didn’t want Hallam turning on him in any way, so the closer he stuck to the man, the less chance there would be of that happening. If Hallam decided to get clever, Caius was more than a head taller than the man and could easily throw an arm across his neck, either immobilizing or killing him.If Hallam was going to try and betray him, Caius didn’t care which one it was. He would be in defensive mode.
In fact, he was already in defensive mode.
Their trek to the upper floors of the keep didn’t take very long. Hallam brought him to a large set of carved oak doors on the third level and knocked softly. When there was no immediate answer, he knocked again. Finally, one of the doors slowly opened and a well-dressed maid cautiously appeared in the weak light.
Hallam spoke first.
“Where is Lady de Wrenville?” he asked.
“I am here, Hallam.”
A voice came from inside the chamber and a woman abruptly came into view, garbed in silks and jewels. She was older, with a plain face. When she smiled, however, she had lovely straight teeth, and she smiled when she saw Hallam. There was clearly joy in her eyes when she looked at him. But she caught a glimpse of Caius behind him, a massive knight lurking in the shadows, and her smile vanished.
“Sir Hallam?” she said, fear in voice. “What is the…?”
Hallam cut her off, but he wasn’t unkind. “This is Sir Caius d’Avignon,” he said quietly, quickly. “He has been sent by William Marshal. He wants to speak with Lady Emelisse.”
