Alienor noticed the quick look that flashed between her husband and his companion.By that, she knew that there was some measure of truth in the man’s words.
“I learned much of coercion at my former master’s knee,” Eustache muttered.
Alienor shuddered at the thought of anyone being tortured within the keep.
The knight who spoke so boldly was untroubled by the threat and grinned at the older man.
“Aye, and such coercion can be a time-consuming endeavor, especially when practiced on one so young and well rested as myself.”He fixed Dagobert with an assessing look.“Even if I knew Jordan’s path, he would surely have arrived at his destination before you could learn the truth of it from me.”
“Remove him,” Dagobert ordered.’Twas clear to all that he was annoyed by the truth in the young knight’s words.The servants departed with the knights in tow, Giselle and the other women carrying their discarded weapons.Alienor was left alone with the two men, though they seemed unaware of her presence.
“We have dogs who could follow his scent,” Eustache suggested when the footsteps on the stairs faded.
Dagobert shook his head.“’Twould be futile and you know it.The road goes leagues before it forks clearly and is cursed by any number of goat paths that could be used by a cunning rider.”
“And the way is traveled by so many that the scent would be muddled,” Eustache concluded, earning an answering nod from his lord.Eustache frowned down at the blood on the flagstones, his expression thoughtful.“’Twas almost as if he deliberately drew you out,” he said finally.
Dagobert laughed but it was not a merry sound.“’Twas exactly thus,” he admitted, throwing a glance in Alienor’s direction that chilled her heart.
He did remember her presence.He simply did not wish to acknowledge her.The realization tore at her heart.’Twas not her fault that Jordan had used her as a pawn in his game!But Dagobert’s expression told her that he feared she had some part in his uncloaking.A quick glance to Eustache revealed the open hostility that lurked in that knight’s eyes.
“’Twas a dark day...”Eustache began, but Dagobert waved him to silence, gesturing toward the hallway.
“Come.We will decide our plan in confidence.”He surveyed Alienor once more, his expression inscrutable, before he strode from the room.Did he blame her for these events?The door closed with finality behind the two and Alienor leaned against the wall.She set down the dagger and surveyed the ruin of the chamber in disbelief.
Her husband had returned to defend her, only to cast her aside.Truly, this match had been cursed from the day she had entered Montsalvat.
Dagobert wasin turmoil and the sensation was unwelcome.He had always been driven to his goal and fixed upon its attainment.The restoration of his legacy had been the focus of his life since he had been twelve summers of age.His marriage had brought him conflict, an awareness that he could not have two primary goals, and on this day, he knew he had failed at one.It vexed him that he had not been able to nobly end the battle with Jordan, and irked him yet more that the villain had fled virtually unscathed.He had itched to strike the killing blow, but honor demanded he restrain himself.He despised that Alienor had been assaulted by Jordan—and in the solar itself, where she should have been safe—but Dagobert’s strongest condemnation was for himself.That truth burned.He should have realized that she had struck the visiting knight for an inappropriate suggestion—but he had learned a code of behavior from the cradle that would not permit a knight to act or speak as Jordan had done.The crime was unthinkable.
But yet, he should have guessed.He closed his eyes and saw her again, her kirtle torn, her eyes filled with fury and defiance.Praise be that he had reached the solar in time.
He could have asked Alienor for the truth.It was that simple and that complicated.He had refused to take the chance of her identifying him within the household.And now that the secret was revealed and the news traveled to Paris, all went awry, and Dagobert should have been concerned with saving the quest.
Instead, he wished to make amends with his lady wife.He had failed Alienor, by cleaving to the demands of his quest instead of tending to his wife and marriage, and Dagobert knew it well.
Worse, he knew the quest still had to be his priority.
“’Tis the woman who has brought all of this upon us.”Eustache paced the width of the chamber for the umpteenth time.“You should never have wed the woman, knowing so little about her.The match should never have been made on the basis of her similarity to Arpais.”
“You would question my memory of one of my closest friends?”Iolande demanded from her chair across the room.
Dagobert closed his eyes, certain that he was doomed to hear this argument run its course yet again.On this day, he had little patience with it.
“I would question your wisdom in promoting this choice!”Eustache replied.“Perhaps she contrived that my lord should be revealed!”
“She was nigh raped in her own chambers!”Iolande snapped.“That is a high price to pay for the uncovering of a truth.”
“Who can say what she will do?What do we know of her nature and alliance?It might all have been contrived,” Eustache insisted.
When his mother’s eyes flashed, Dagobert rose to his feet.“While I would question the wisdom of you both for wasting time with such abandon.Speculation does not serve our cause.”He noted that both of them flushed in embarrassment as they fell silent.“Fortunately, you have given me time to reflect upon my path.I have decided to ride out this day and go into hiding.”
“No!”Iolande protested, rising to her feet.
“No!”Eustache argued, stepping toward his lord in concern.
“There is no need,” Iolande added, but Dagobert shook his head.
“There is every need,” he insisted.“Jordan knows the way of things and makes his way to the king or some trusted messenger of the crown.When news of our plan reaches Paris, asortiewill undoubtedly be sent to Montsalvat to ensure my demise.”Both gazes dropped and Dagobert knew they had reached similar conclusions.“I will not endanger the keep and all those within it with my continued presence,” he concluded, fighting the sense that he was alone in the world.
