Emelisse’s eyes widened. “Me?” she gasped. “You would help me escape? I asked Sir Caius last night to help me and although he did not refuse me, his reputation would be at stake if he helped me escape. I truly do not expect him to help me. But…oh, my lady, if you could help me escape from here, I would be forever in your debt.”
Lady de Wrenville’s smile was back and she patted Emelisse on the hand. “Finish eating,” she said. “We will speak of this later, but do not tell anyone. You must let me think on how it would be done so that neither of us is discovered in the plot. Winterhold is a vast and well-fortified place, so your escape would have to be done with great stealth and planning. Mayhap… mayhap I shall speak with Sir Caius about it. I do believe he is sympathetic to you, my dear. He may be able to advise us.”
Emelisse thought about the big, handsome knight who had so ably restrained her. She had to admit that the thought of him made her feel the least bit flushed even if shehadsworn to hate him.
“He was not too keen on my jumping from a window,” she said. “He may not be too keen on my escape, either.”
“There is only one way to find out. I shall ask him.”
“Do you dare?”
Lady de Wrenville looked at her. “My dear, I saw the way he looked at you last night,” she said. “I can see that he has a great deal of compassion for your plight. Mayhap he cannot help you escape alone, but if I were to help him… if he knew he had help, then mayhap he would be more willing to take the chance. He is my uncle’s knight, after all. I will remind him of that and the fact that Covington married me to gain The Marshal’s armies. I still have some power here.”
Emelisse looked at her, seeing that she seemed rather ashamed now that she’d spoken without truly thinking about what she was saying. She’d revealed things she probably should not have revealed.Covington married me to gain The Marshal armies. That’s exactly what Emelisse had said when Caiustold her of Alice de Gras’ true identity. But Emelisse found it particularly sad that Lady de Wrenville knew that, too.
It occurred to her that Lady de Wrenville was perhaps as much a prisoner as she was. But it also occurred to her that, perhaps, Lady de Wrenville was looking for a way to get back at her husband– by helping his prized prisoner escape.
A subtle, yet effective, revenge.
With thoughts lingering on Lady de Wrenville, and on the black-eyed knight who had shown her such great regard, Emelisse resumed her meal with gusto, feeling her appetite return. Hope did amazing things to her heart and spirit.
Hope that, soon, she would find her way out of this horrible plight.
*
The knights’ quartersof Winterhold was full of men on this cold, bright morning.
The tempest that had moved through the night before had dumped feet of snow on the ground, making the entire castle piled high with the stuff. When the snows stopped just before dawn, a small army of servants and soldiers had gone out into the baileys to shovel them out, and even now, they continued to shovel. Winterhold was so vast it would take them days to clear it all out.
Without a cloud in the sky above, it was quite brisk on this morning as breath hung in the air and men dressed heavily against the white stuff that threatened to freeze them out. The common room of the knights’ quarters had a blazing fire in the hearth, warmed wine and bread on a small table, and all of The Marshal’s knights.
Much had happened since last night.
Caius had told them about his second encounter with Emelisse de Thorington, from the moment he told her about Covington’s intention to marry her to Marius to the last nail on the shutters to keep them from blowing apart. He painted a picture of a beaten young woman who’d had her entire life stripped from her, and to add insult to injury, now she was destined to marry the son of the man who had destroyed everything.
No one blamed the woman for going temporarily insane as she had, and Edward had even more interesting things to say about Covington. As Caius finished his tale about Emelisse, Edward was already pouring himself his second cup of warmed wine.
“Covington was a wealth of information last night after he became too drunk to care,” he said. “While you were in the keep wrestling with his lady prisoner, he was running amok at the mouth. Maxton heard him, too.”
Standing near the hearth, holding his hands out over the flame to warm them, Maxton heard his name and Edward’s statement. He nodded as Caius looked over at him.
“I did, indeed, hear him,” he said. “The snowstorm wasn’t the only thing billowing out copious amounts of wind last night. Covington was doing it quite ably to anyone who would listen, which turned out to be us because his knight, Chadlington, was nowhere to be found.”
“He was with me,” Caius said. “We had a rather interesting chat as well. He told me that he is a legacy knight with de Wrenville and only serves him out of respect to that legacy, for his father and grandfather before him. He does not agree with his liege in the matter of Hawkstone and he made that very clear. When Covington ordered Lady Emelisse to the vault, it was Hallam and Lady de Wrenville who moved her to a room inthe keep. Covington does not even know. And there is something else he does not know, so this information goes no further.”
Everyone was looking at him curiously. “What is that?” Maxton asked.
Caius lifted a dark eyebrow. “It would seem that Chadlington and Lady de Wrenville are carrying on a relationship behind Covington’s back,” he said. “I overheard them speaking to each other and it was quite affectionate. Whether or not that affair is consummated is no business of mine, but I thought it rather… interesting.”
Edward snorted. “God,” he hissed. “What more are we going to discover about this place? As far as any clandestine affair between Lady de Wrenville and Chadlington is concerned, I am positive that even if Covington knew, he wouldn’t care. In his drunken state last night, he was quite clear that he married Alice de Gras for the military support she could provide. He called her a mule on more than one occasion, so I feel a good deal of pity for the woman. He has no concern nor affection for her. If she can find comfort with Chadlington, so be it.”
“From what I have seen, she is kind and compassionate,” Caius said, thinking on what Emelisse had said. “She has gone out of her way to make Lady Emelisse feel comfortable and safe, and last night, she was even going to intervene on the lady’s behalf with her husband. Chadlington convinced her that it would not be in her best interests to do so.”
Edward eyed him. “That is a good thing,” he said. “The man wants no interference in his plans for Hawkstone, and he made a point of telling me he would demand the army this morning. The weather is clear and he intends to finish off Hawkstone.”
“What did you tell him?”
Edward picked up his cup and downed the contents in two big swallows before speaking. “I sent a servant for him this morning,” he said. “I have summoned him here, to the knights’quarters where we are all gathered. I intend to tell him that I am taking my army home, that Peter and Kevin are taking the de Lohr army home, and that you will remain with Pembroke troops but that you will not use them until The Marshal is fully updated on this situation and makes the decision to proceed. Cai, The Marshal has to know that this situation is far more than he was told. It would not be fair not to tell him that his niece married a bastard who just wants to use her. This may change the situation for him.”
