“’Twas started last week when we stopped here briefly while Lord Durwyn sought the king at yon manor. There was no time to finish it then.”
“So you have finished it now. Then you must kidnap people everywhere you go?”
He shook his head. “It is sometimes necessary to hide one or more of us. With these pits, a man can completely disappear from sight, in the middle of the day, with no trace or clue left for his pursuers.”
“Ah, so youhavebecome thieves as well as murderers under your brave lord’s guidance,” she sneered. “Now do I see the necessity for these pits.”
Her scathing contempt infuriated the man, so that he shouted at whoever had come up behind them with the requested items. “Gag her!”
It was done with swift efficiency, her binding. She managed half a scream before cloth was stuffed in her mouth and tied off. She was then pushed to the ground, her knees bent to her chest, a rope wound tight around her to keep her in that scrunched-up position. It was not even necessary to bind her hands separately, the rope looping around her so many times keeping her arms tight at her sides, yet still her wrists had been tied at her back, merelyto add to her discomfort, no doubt. And they had tried to deny doing this before with other victims? Craven churls, the lot of them.
But the moment she was dropped into the pit and the cover was pushed into place, sealing out every trace of daylight, she no longer thought of Durwyn’s men. Pitch blackness. The air was so thick with the scent of newly cut earth that she could barely breathe. And it was cold. Who would have thought a tightly enclosed space could be so cold? Or was it her own blood, freezing with fear?
How long? Surely if a challenge was issued, it would be seen to right away. But they wanted Selig to cry off. She was being used to that end, but at what success? His compliance was certainly not guaranteed. The revenge he had been unable to extract from her he wanted out of Lord Durwyn, and he wanted it badly. She had realized that when he told her about Durwyn. So what would a man do who didn’t love his wife? See to his honor first, then merely hope he could find the wife before she was murdered?
She was so afraid that Selig would do just that, she already counted herself dead. And not another thing needed to be done to have Durwyn’s threat carried out. Why bother to drag her out of the pit just to cut her throat? Leaving her there with no escape and no hope of ever being found was just as effective and much crueler. This pit would be her grave and she would die knowing it.
Chapter 45
“WHAT DO YOUmean, you cannot find her?” Selig asked, sitting up from his slouch against the wall, where he had been staring at Durwyn on the far side of the hall, savoring his anticipation of the coming fight. The man had only one hour left to live. “Where have you looked?”
“Everywhere,” Turgeis replied.
It was the look of worry that was revealed, just briefly, in Turgeis’s expression that was responsible for the panic that burst on Selig without warning. “Where in Loki’s realm were you?” he demanded. “You are her shadow! I trust you to always know where she is when I do not!”
“She did not let me know she was leaving her room. I have not seen her at all this morn.”
Selig’s raised voice drew Royce and Kristen. Kristen asked her brother, “Have you seen her since you came down?” When Selig shook his head, she added, “I did, briefly. She was on her way out to the bailey.” Then she asked Turgeis, “Did you check Selig’s hall? She could have gone there.”
“She would not leave Wyndhurst alone,” Turgeis insisted. “She is not that foolish.”
“If she were…upset…she might not have been thinking of caution,” Kristen replied hesitantly.
“For what reason would she be upset?” Turgeis demanded, a growl entering his tone.
“She isalwaysupset,” Selig answered before Kristen could, relieved now that Erika’s whereabouts had been guessed at. “Why would today be any different?” Then he turned to Royce. “Would you send someone to make sure she has gone home? I will not be able to concentrate on my fight with Durwyn unless I know she is safe.”
“Do you want her returned here?”
“If she left early, she may not even know that I fight. She can be told, but the decision will be hers if she wants to return for it. I would not force her to watch if she has no interest—”
“God’s mercy, spare us such self-pity,” Royce cut in, laughing now. “You know very well your wife would want to be here.”
Kristen’s conscience would not let her remain quiet any longer. She opened her mouth to confess why Erika had likely left, and her part in it, but she didn’t get the chance. One of the servants was shouting for Royce as he raced toward them, and when he arrived, out of breath, terrified, what he had to say made her confession irrelevant—for the moment.
Only Selig could not understand what Royce was told, and demanded, “What?” when hesaw so many grave faces turning in his direction.
Royce answered, “The message he was given is for you, and you will not like it.”
“Tell me.”
“‘You will claim you are mistaken in your accusations against Lord Durwyn, or you will never see your wife again. And the king is not to know of this, or you will never see your wife again.’”
Selig lifted the servant up by one hand. “Who gave you that message?”
Royce had to repeat the question in Saxon, and after listening to the man’s frightened response, he told Selig, “Put him down, man. He did not see who it was. He was approached from behind, told exactly what to tell you, then pushed into the crowd. When he turned, there were too many men about to know which one had spoken to him.”
“But I know whosentthe message,” Selig said and started across the hall with deadly purpose.
