She shook her head, even as she realized he had not answered her directly.
“Nay, and the door was still locked.”the narrowing of Alaric’s gray eyes made her fear the worst.“He is not in the stables?”
“I thought not, but perhaps I was mistaken.Let us look again, my lady.I am certain he cannot be far.”With that, he took her hand within the warm breadth of his own as if she were but a child and led her toward the stables.
“I have a dreadful feeling,” she confessed quietly.
Alaric shot her a sharp look.“Do you have the sight, my lady?”
Alienor shook her head.“Never before, but this portent of trouble is most strong.”
“It seems most odd that he was gone.”Alaric said naught more but squeezed her fingers tightly in reassurance.
Alienor was glad of his company in this quest.
A cry of alarm rose from the smithy just as they gained the stables and Alienor’s mouth went dry with fear.She glanced up to see Alaric’s lips thin into a grim line, the expression making his visage more harsh and forbidding than she had ever seen it before.She shivered with foreboding and he must have felt the tremor, for his grip tightened on her hand and his gaze dropped to hers.
“Fear not, my lady,” he murmured, but she heard the lack of conviction in his tone and knew she was not alone in her trepidation.
’Twasin the smithy that they found the slaughtered unicorn.
Even fearing the worst could not have prepared Alienor for the scene and she could scarce look upon it.The profusion of blood, the smell of freshly killed meat, the senseless violence of the gentle creature’s death was all too much for her to bear.That the beast had been brutally killed and not the victim of some accident was obvious.Its head was fairly decapitated from its body, and the long slash that split its ribs left its innards spilling out onto the dirt floor of the smith’s shop.
Its single horn was missing, the place where it had been crudely hacked out of its skull still oozing blood.Had it been killed for the reputed healing powers of the horn?It seemed as though the killer would have them believe that was the only justification, but the sheer brutality of the killing spoke of hatred and murder.
When she spotted the silken cord and its golden rings lying amidst the bloodstained white fur, memories of her wedding day assaulted her.In that moment, Alienor fancied she could feel the smoothness of that silk cord beneath her fingers once again, and could feel the sunlight filtering through the stained-glass windows in the chapel with their enigmatic pictures.She recalled the warmth of the cord when it lay against her husband’s neck as he came to her in the night and the bile rose in her throat.
She did not care that she fell to her knees in the bailey and voided her stomach.She felt only the heat of her own tears scalding her cheeks and dismay in her heart.The reassuring strength of Alaric’s hands closed over her shoulders and she welcomed his support even in her despair.When her retching finally stopped, Alaric left her side.Alienor knew instinctively that he fetched the cord, but she had neither the strength nor the will to ask him for the token of her husband’s wedding ring.
She buried her face in her hands as she knelt on the new grass, uncaring of who saw her in this state.She would never know her husband’s gentle touch again.Without the premise of the unicorn and his change of form, Dagobert would truly disappear into hiding.
She was effectively a widow now, a widow who bore a babe.Too late Alienor regretted that she had not shared this news with Dagobert, knowing that the pregnancy would have pleased him.She could not care any longer that the source of his pleasure might have been only in the continuation of his line.
She wanted only to think of his pleasure and joy.
Alienor did not hear the anger expressed by those around her.She was unaware of the watchful presence of the king’s knight Jordan.She was only dimly aware that ’twas Alaric who swept her up into his arms and carried her back to the solar.
“She must be told,”Dagobert insisted when he and Eustache finally were able to confer without the threat of being overheard.
“We cannot risk it,” Eustache replied, as resolute as ever.“Already the stakes have been raised and your claim must be suspected.”
“I would not see her in such distress.”
His companion shook his head.“You still do not see the import of this, for your wits are so fogged with desire for this woman.”
Dagobert flung out his hands in exasperation.“My wife thinks me dead!How can it be unkind to grant her relief...”
Eustache sprang toward him with an outstretched finger, silencing the younger man with a touch before he could continue.The knight’s voice dropped low and his gaze was intent.“Aye, that she does believe as much, and she has more sense than you for that.”
Dagobert was impatient with the notion, for his concern for Alienor filled his thoughts, but Eustache continued.
“The lady thinks you dead because someone has tried to kill you,” he said slowly.“Make no mistake, my friend.Someone is trying to force you out of hiding.”
Someone had tried to kill him.
The battle had already begun.
“I would still confide in her,” Dagobert spoke with quiet insistence.
