Now, there was blood everywhere.
Jonathan had been on the wall, monitoring the sentries and not paying a good deal of attention to the soldiers down in the bailey. He could hear them laughing and singing, and he assumed everyone was getting along just fine until they weren’t. The fight had started between just a few men, but by the time he got down there, both armies were embroiled in a fistfight. Inevitably, men began to produce daggers and at least six men were slashed. One of them had been stabbed fairly seriously, and Douglas and Jonathan stood by and watched the de Winter surgeon try to save the man’s life. It was a de Winter soldier who had been stabbed and all indications were that a de Honiton man had done it. As the de Winter soldier bled out in the dark earth, Douglas and Jonathan went into command-and-control mode.
The two knights separated the men, sending all armies back to their respective camps. The sergeants of the de Honiton contingent were cooperative, and horrified at what had happened, and Douglas demanded they turn over the soldierwho had committed the crime. Truthfully, there seemed to be some confusion over who had actually wielded the weapon because no one wanted to incriminate a comrade, but the sergeants were relentless in their questioning.
“You’d better send for Lord de Honiton,” Jonathan said quietly, watching men jostle around in search of the killer. “He will not be pleased if we do not at least tell him what has happened.”
Douglas nodded as he, too, watched the de Honiton sergeants roust their own men. “I know,” he said. “But the man is drunk. He probably will not even realize what is going on here, so let us find the offending soldier before we send for him. We do not need the man trying to figure it all out.”
Jonathan could see his point. “Mayhap not,” he said. “But this is not ideal. No one wants this visit to end badly, especially with an ally.”
“And you were up on the wall when all of this started?”
“Indeed, I was,” Jonathan said. “The men seemed to be getting along splendidly until suddenly, they weren’t.”
“What started the fight?”
“Who knows?” Jonathan said with a shrug. “These things can start so easily, as you know. One moment, everyone is friendly and in the next, the daggers are coming out.”
Douglas grunted in agreement. “I’ve seen it too many times,” he said. Before he could say another word, however, he caught sight of someone heading toward them from the direction of the great hall. The man came closer, illuminated by the torchlight, and Douglas realized who it was. “Here comes Davyss, probably to find out why we’re both out here. I hope Lady Isabel is not looking for me.”
Jonathan could see Davyss on the approach as well. “Why would she look for you?” he said. “Her eye is on Eric, not you.”
Douglas shrugged. “She seems to have taken a liking to me,” he said. “The woman was trying to challenge me to another chess game not ten minutes ago.”
“She wants to be beaten again, does she?”
“On the contrary. She wants to beatme.”
Jonathan grinned. “That is not the same woman who tried to convince us to leave after we first arrived.”
“Nay, it is not.”
Davyss was in their midst now, acknowledging Jonathan with a nod of the head, but his focus seemed to be on Douglas.
“A word, Douglas?” he said.
Douglas could immediately see that he seemed quite serious. Davyss was an intense man as it was, but there was something in those eyes that seemed… edgy. Douglas wasn’t quite sure what it was, to be honest. All he knew was that Davyss seemed stiff, which was an odd state for him.
“Of course,” Douglas said steadily. “What is it?”
Davyss glanced at Jonathan before replying, “Alone, if you will.”
With a shrug, Douglas followed Davyss several paces away from Jonathan and the soldiers who were lingering about. When Davyss felt they were far enough away from prying ears, he turned to Douglas.
“I am not exactly sure how to tell you this, so I will just come out with it,” he said quietly, scratching his shaggy head. “I have been sent here by Astoria.”
Douglas’ brow furrowed. “Astoria?” he repeated. “Why? What does she want?”
Davyss sighed sharply. “She wanted me to tell you that Mira has gone into the storage vault with young de Honiton,” he said. “She said you should know.”
That bit of information lit Douglas up. His eyes widened. “She… shewhat?” he nearly shouted. “She’s in the storage vault with Raymond?”
Davyss nodded, watching Douglas nearly explode with the news. “Aye,” he said, concerned. “She said you should know and—”
That was all Douglas needed to hear. Without another word, he bolted for the keep as fast as his legs would take him. Because he was running, Davyss started to run after him. Jonathan, who had been watching the continued search for the murderer, caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Douglas and Davyss running at top speed toward Axminster’s keep.
Jonathan took off after them. He had no idea why Douglas and Davyss were running, but he knew it couldn’t be good.
