“Surely you can understand that I have no desire to spend the night listening to the lady weep.I would much rather sleep in anticipation of my nuptial night.”Jordan elbowed the guard and winked, drawing a grin from his potential co-conspirator.“Who should know but you and me?”Jordan demanded in a whisper, jingling those coins again.
The guard licked his lips nervously.
“She has a younger sister,” Jordan lied in a lower tone.“Untouched and lovely as the dawn.”The guard’s interest was obvious.“I could arrange an introduction, either by night or day.”
The guard cast a glance over his shoulder, then leaned closer to Jordan.“The jailer would need encouragement, as well.”
Jordan clapped him on the shoulder.“Truly you are an honorable man to think so of your comrades.”He spoke warmly, and the guard smiled.“But in truth, she has only one sister.”
“That part of the wager will be our secret,” the guard said.“Show me your coin.”
“I show you but one until you name your price.”Jordan tossed a coin into the air so that it flashed in the darkness.The guard caught it expertly and bit the silver between his teeth, nodding approval at the softness of the metal.“’Tis yours.”
“Truly you are anxious,” the guard said with newfound suspicion.
Jordan merely laughed.“I have waited long for this wench and I would not have the taking of her sacrificed for a mere coin or two.”
“I will be only a moment,” the guard replied.His gaze darted along the corridor between the great hall and the street before he turned and strode quickly into the palace.
Alienor thought he could not make sufficient haste.She continued to weep, but feared all the while that the guard meant to reveal them.
When the guard returned and confessed his victory in convincing the jailer, Alienor feigned delight in Jordan’s success.She kissed his cheeks and his hands, vowing her devotion to him.He had to pull away to count out the sum of coins for the guard.
“This way,” the guard directed them.
Alienor once again feared that they had been discovered, for the guard indicated a darkened passageway and not the path she had taken originally through the great hall.There was a door in the shadows at the end of the corridor.When it was opened, the smell that rose from the concealed stairs convinced her that they were headed for the dungeons in truth.
But were they being imprisoned themselves?Her heart pounded with the uncertainty of it all and she was sure her distress was obvious.Jordan jested with the guard as they walked and apparently saw nothing amiss.The guard’s casual manner and the way he swung his keys made Alienor doubt her fears.The jailer greeted them with avarice shining in his eyes and she was relieved when she saw ’twas a different man on duty than had been before.She dared to hope that Jordan’s plan would succeed.
“Might I have a moment alone with him?”she begged.
“To what purpose?”Jordan scowled as the jailer led the way toward the cell with jingling keys.“I have taken enough trouble in bringing you here this night for you to be asking yet another favor.”
“Indeed,chéri.I know ’tis foolish, but he knows naught of you, of us, and I would tell him the tale alone,” she explained for their audience.
Jordan waved one hand.“No matter is it to me,” he replied.“Tell him or not, for ’tis of no relevance to me.I have no desire to meet the man!”
“You are too good to me,chéri.” Alienor whispered.She pressed a kiss against Jordan’s ear and let her voice drop to a sultry whisper.“I shall repay your indulgence a hundred times over.”
Jordan winked at the jailer and the man smothered a grin as he unlocked the door to Dagobert’s cell.
“You have a guest, great king,” he announced and there was a rustle in the darkness of the small chamber.The jailer gave Alienor the lamp and she nodded her thanks.
Then she stepped into the cell with a pounding heart.She jumped as the door clanged shut behind her, a gasp falling from her lips as Dagobert leapt out of the shadows, fury lighting his eyes.
“Why didthat snake bring you here?”Dagobert demanded in a low voice, ignoring the quick shake of Alienor’s head.She put down the lamp and closed the space between them with quick steps, raising her fingertips to his lips.She would repay him a hundred times over?The overheard words burned a quick path right to his heart.
’Twas one thing if she was obliged to Jordan for her freedom.’Twas quite another if she had so lost her wits that she trusted him.
He caught her shoulders in her hands and lifted her toward him.“Tell me!”
“’Tis not important,” she argued in a whisper.“You must listen...”
“’Tis important to me!”Dagobert replied.“What lies has he told you?Where is Eustache?”
“I do not know,” she confessed.“I have not seen Eustache since we left Montsalvat.”
“So, ’twas Jordon who paid for your release.”
