“Nonsense.You will remain here in Tulley this night, for it is the only sensible course.”
“But...”
“The rains will begin shortly, Quinn.I smelled as much in the air this morn as soon as I rose.Indeed, they might have begun already.And when the first spring rain falls in Tulley, it is no time for man or horse to be on the road.There will be a veritable deluge.The river Helva will swell its banks by the dawn, and tomorrow, after noon, the sun will reappear.”He nodded with confidence.“It is always thus.The snow will have vanished within a week.”
“All of it?”Quinn asked, skeptical.He recalled violent rains in Sayerne in his boyhood, but could not believe the entire valley experienced such a rapid thaw.
“All of it,” Tulley said.He wiped his mouth on his napkin.“And so this day, instead of riding forth in such inclement weather, you will undertake a small task for me.”There was steel in his tone.
“But my wife will expect me to return to Annossy, sir.”
“Did you leave the holding secured?”
“Aye, sir.The gates were to be kept closed in my absence.”
“And there is no reason for any to leave Annossy in such weather as there will shortly be.”
“But the brigands...”
“Will undoubtedly also keep to their shelter.Perhaps they will be too foolish to do as much and will drown.”Tulley waved off Quinn’s objections.“Far better for you to earn my favor with the rapid fulfillment of this task.”
“I would not have Melissande concerned.”
“Would you not?”Tulley laughed.“You have a reluctant bride, Quinn, and I see the truth of it well enough.Let her miss you a little.”He leaned closer and winked.“Court the favor of the lord you have just irked instead.”
Quinn noticed that Heloise’s eyes were sparkling and she seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh.He realized that she must have been confronted by Tulley’s firm opinions before.“Of course, my lord,” Quinn said, inclining his head.“What would you have me do?”
“A party arrived last evening.They crossed the Beauvoir Pass and are armed.I would know who they are and why they arrive in Tulley.They take their rest at the inn in the village.”Tulley gave Quinn a look.“At least, I assume they remain there, and possess the wits to keep to shelter when foul weather arrives.”
Quinn thought Tulley could have sent a messenger, but did not say as much.It would be unwise to provoke his overlord before the seal of Sayerne was in his hand.“Aye, my lord.”
“I do not like parties of armed men arriving without announcement,” Tulley complained.“And this is the third party to come through the pass in little more than a week.First, there was your party, then the others who proved to be your comrades.”
Quinn was startled that Tulley knew this.
The older man nodded.“Aye, they were watched as they rode up the valley and when you greeted them upon their return.”He gave Quinn a look.
“They are three of my companion knights, met on crusade.We had parted ways for the journey home and agreed to meet at Sayerne in the spring.”
“And were there more of you?”
“Aye.”
“Then perhaps these men are more of your fellows.One, I understand, is missing an eye.”
“Luc,” Quinn said softly and Tulley eyed him.“I cannot say, my lord, but one of the knights whose arrival I yet anticipate, Luc Douglas, lost an eye in battle.”
“I suspect my instincts are right, then.Go, find their names and their reason for entering my lands, and return for the evening meal to tell me of them.”Tulley rose then and gestured to Heloise to follow him.Quinn also rose and bowed, then retrieved his gloves and cloak.The twins, Thierry and Luc Douglas, had ridden separately from Palestine with Rolfe de Viandin.Quinn hoped this was their party, for he would be glad to see his comrades again.
As he left the stables and stepped onto the road that wound down the hill, passing through the village en route to the gates, he saw that it had started to rain.He looked up at the darkening sky as the onslaught became heavier and smiled.
Even the weather obeyed the command of the Lord de Tulley.
As he walked, he thought of Gaultier and his scheme to wed a rich woman.’Twas not a bad plan, and he was hardly the first man to pursue it.But Quinn did not like that after Marie’s marriage, Gaultier had come to Annossy.He had lied about Tulley dispatching him, and Quinn took that as a very good assurance that his original guess about the intentions of Annossy’s Captain of the Guard was exactly right.
If naught else, the man had no right to such an exalted position at Annossy, and Quinn would see that remedied immediately upon his return.
Chapter 13
