The soldier nodded confidently. “Believe it, my lady, for it is true. All of Canterbury is in an uproar right now and it is swelling outward, like the ripples on a pond. Soon, all of England will know what has happened.”
Vesper had visions of Val swinging his sword at a resistant priest, following orders from a petty king. She was beginning to feel nauseous. “But… but if it is true, then he was only doing his duty, don’t you think?” she breathed. “Surely he would have only done such a thing on Henry’s order.”
The soldier shrugged, reaching out to snatch a cup of wine when a servant appeared with a pitcher. “That is what my garrison commander believes, also,” he said. “But the murder was witnessed by many and I have it on good authority that de Nerra cut Canterbury’s head off!”
He said it with relish. That was enough for Vesper. She let out a strange choking sound and leapt to her feet, staggering from the table and heading for the hall entrance. McCloud, who had been listening to the despicable tale with great amazement, took off after her. He grabbed her before she could reach the door.
“Vesper!” he demanded in a harsh whisper. “Where are you going?”
Vesper was in a panic. She was starting to weep uncontrollably. “I… I do not know,” she said. “I… I could not listen to anything more. Papa, did you hear what he said?”
McCloud nodded grimly. “I heard.”
“But it cannot be true!”
McCloud was a bit more worldly than his daughter was. He understood the depths of the politics in England and to hear that Henry gave such an order, to Val no less, did not surprise him.
“One cannot deny the facts if there were witnesses,” he said. “It was only a matter of time that such a thing could happen with the relationship between Henry and Canterbury. Henry must have ordered Val to do it and, of course, he could not refuse.”
Vesper was struggling for calm, wiping at the tears that were popping from her eyes. “It must have been horrible for him.”
“I am sure he did not relish the task.”
“Then he must be in a great deal of trouble now,” she said. “It does not matter if the king ordered him to do it. Everyone will be after him to punish him!”
McCloud knew that. His thoughts drifted to Val, a man who had enjoyed the king’s respect and the respect of his peers forso long. He was a paragon of virtue, a man with the world at his feet.
But now… God help the man if he really did kill the archbishop. There were enough royal guards in England to protect him from the rage of the faithful when they discovered who killed the head of the church.
Val de Nerra would be a man with a target on his head.
“Then let us pray that Henry intends to protect him,” he finally said. “Surely the king has realized that Val will be the target of everyone’s anger in spite of the fact that Henry gave the order.”
Vesper had succeeded in calming herself, but only mildly. All she could think of was Val and the trouble he must surely be in. These soldiers had been sent to spread the word of the assassination and, with it, name the man who had accomplished it.
De Nerra.
“No one will care that he was carrying out Henry’s wishes,” she said, her nausea coming in waves. “Soon enough, Val’s name will be spread all over England, relegated to the ranks of men such as Brutus and Cassius, or of the Romans who put Jesus Christ upon the cross. Assassins who were the most hated of men. Val does not deserve to be among them, Papa, if he was only doing his duty. It is not fair.”
McCloud sighed faintly. “Nay, it is not,” he said. “But we cannot help him. I wish I could.”
The weight of Val’s troubles was sitting heavily on Vesper, her heart aching for the man so desperately. She couldn’t stand that he was in such terrible trouble. Whether or not he’d been operating under Henry’s orders wasn’t the issue; it was the mere fact that Val, the sweet and intelligent and generous man she’d come to adore, was in terrible trouble.
She had to go to him.
“I am going to Selborne,” she said, suddenly pushing past her father and heading out into the bright winter’s day. “I must see Val. He must know that there is one person in this country that does not hate him.”
McCloud stumbled after her. “Wait,” he said, trying to grab at her as she walked. “Vesper, wait. You cannot go, child. You must remain here, safe at Eynsford.”
Vesper was walking faster than he was, avoiding his snatching hands. “If I was in trouble, I am sure he would come to me,” she said firmly. “I will not let him go through this alone, Papa. He must know that he has my support.”
McCloud managed to get a hand on her, pulling her to a halt. “Wait,” he said again, getting a grip on her with his other hand. “You are not thinking clearly. If you go to Selborne, you will put yourself in harm’s way. Val is in the middle of a tempest and the last thing he needs is to worry about you. You must leave him to fight his battle, Vesper. Think of yourself and understand that you must remain safe.”
Vesper pulled herself from his grasp, her expression something short of anger. “I have spent my entire life safe,” she said. “Safe here at Eynsford, living a good and pious life. But that ended when you came to me those weeks ago and told me what was happening with you and my brother, and how you expected me to make a good marriage in order that you and Mat should not have to live like animals. It wasyouwho cruelly took me out of that safe world, Papa, and when you did, I met Val. The days I spent with him were the best days of my life and I thought the joy therein was something I could never repay him. But now, I see how I can repay him– I can show him my support when all of England is turning against him. I am going to him and you will not stop me.”
McCloud could see her determination. She was like stone; hard and unmovable. He knew he could plead with her untilthere no more breath left in his body but, still, she would go to Selborne. There was no changing her mind but, in truth, he understood her point of view and he appreciated her staunch loyalty.
Loyalty, as Val had shown him without question for their entire association until that fateful day with Mat. McCloud thought that Val had executed his son because he had no more loyalty towards him, but that wasn’t the truth. It was McCloud who’d had no loyalty to Val as he’d tried to scheme against him. He’d greatly wronged the man. Realizing that, McCloud knew what he had to do.
