"Aye, my lord, news indeed," the farmerblurted. "I only discovered an hour past, when I went to unload the wagonand feed the stock, that my fine roan mare was stolen from the stable. I foundthis" —he held out a piece of dove-gray fabric—"hanging from a nailon the sideboard. I've never known a Welsh rebel to dress in fine velvet, mylord. Then when I arrived here to report the crime, SirBurnelltold me about your lady . . ." He grew silent, looking extremelyuncomfortable.
Guy's pounding heart seemed to fill his throat as hetook the tattered fragment and rubbed it between his fingers. "It's fromLeila's cloak," he said. "Were you able to find any tracks after thestorm?"
"Aye, my lord, I followed what was left of thehoofprintsfor a good distance before I came here. Theyheaded west for about a half mile, then turned sharply south at the RiverUsk."
West and south, Guy thought, puzzled. Leila should haveridden directly to the east if she was heading for London. Then where the hell. . . ?
His gut instinct suddenly gave him the startlinganswer.
"She's gone to her brother," he stated withcold certainty. "I would swear it. There would have been no other reasonfor her to ride south."
"God's teeth, my lord, why would she have donethat?" Henry exclaimed, shaking his head. Then he glanced sharply at Guy,incredulity in his eyes. "Does she know of the trial by combat?"
"Yes. We were together whenBurnellgave me the news. What of it?"
"She said something to me, my lord,thenight you were wounded. It might explain—"
"Speak up, man!" Guy demanded.
"Philip had just left the hospital, and Lady Leilapitied him, even though he had struck her. She said that Philip was only tryingto protect you, and that if she believed someone she loved was beingthreatened, she would do the same. She would try to stop it."
Someone she loved . . .
Henry's words seemed to ring in Guy's brain, floodinghis heart with bittersweet joy.
Had Leila left him out of love? She had acted sostrangely after hearing that he would fight Roger. Had she gone to her brotherin hopes of somehow preventing the trial by combat? Surely she knew Roger wouldnot be swayed by tearful pleas. She would have to give him something, promisehim something. But what? All she had to barter with washerself. . .
"Mount up," Guy ordered, his realizationchilling him to the bone. "I have no illusions that Roger will releaseLeila if I make a formal demand for her return. Though she went of her ownaccord, she will be his prisoner now. And I have no patience to makepreparations for a lengthy siege. By the time we reach theGervaisfortress, it will be dark, and there will be no moon tonight to betray ourmovements. We'll scale the walls and take them by surprise."
"And if Roger and his men already expect us, mylord?" Henry queried, his face clouded with doubt.
"Unlikely. After his mistreatment of Leila atWestminster, I'm sure Roger believes the last place I'd expect her to go wouldbe to him. And he probably thinks I'm still too ill to get out of bed even if Idid guess where she was, the bastard! I imagine that he and Maude are raising agoblet right now in honor of their unexpected good fortune." Infuriated bythe thought, Guy seized Griffin's reins from his squire, adding grimly, "Ifthe fortress does prove heavily guarded, we'll just have to fight all theharder."
As the two knights nodded in assent, Guy clenched histeeth against the pain and hoisted himself into the saddle. He pulled hisrestless war-horse hard about,thenrode to thegatehouse, where he turned and faced the crowded bailey. Forty armored knightsand almost a hundred men-at-arms stared back at him, silent and waiting.
"Prepare your hearts for battle," he roared. "Weride against RogerGervais! "
Chapter 27
Guy watched from the trees as a small force of thirtymen-at-arms carrying hastily constructed scaling ladders crept stealthilyacross cleared ground toward theGervaisfortress.When they received his signal, their orders were to clamber over the curtainwall and open the massive gate to the remainder of his forces.
He took a deep breath and said another swift prayer ofthanks that there was no moonlight. A cold drizzle continued to fall and a mistwas rising from the river, but as yet it wasn't thick enough to grant themextra cover.
"My lord, someone approaches along the road fromthe village,"cameHenry's tense whisper.
"Damn!" Guy hid himself behind a huge treetrunk, signaling for the rest of his men to do the same. Their horses had beenleft a quarter mile to the north as an added precaution against discovery. Whenthey got inside the castle, theirs would be a battle fought on foot and hand tohand.
Guy peered around the tree, his gaze keenly piercingthe darkness. He counted three men on horseback. Excitement gripped him as herealized they were headed for the castle, offering his forces an unforeseenopportunity. If they could take down these men, three of his own knights couldproceed in their place and, when the gate was opened for them, the rest of hismen could rush inside . . .
Guy gestured for five knights to follow him. Swordsdrawn, they crouched in the ditch at the side of the road until theunsuspecting travelers were almost upon them,thenattacked with silent swiftness. The three men were yanked from their saddles sosuddenly they had no chance to cry out, and their mounts were quickly calmed.
Only when the captives were dragged into the trees didGuy discover one of the men was dressed as a priest. As the twoGervaisknights were mercilessly dispatched, their throatscut,the clergyman was propped up against a tree, a bladepressed beneath his fat double chin.
"Please do not kill me! I beg you—"
"Silence!" Guy hissed, towering over him. "Speakonly to answer my questions. Is that understood?"
The priest bobbed his head, his wide eyes showing whitein the darkness.
