Father Martin stepped closer and pressed the wax into Amelia’s hand. “Then he’ll need proof before the steel.”
The wax was cold against her palm.
“Keep it,” he said. “The true parish seal. I took an old broken piece from my chest. It may not be enough, but it will begin the questions.”
Amelia closed her fingers around it. “Thank you.”
A shout came from the hall.
“You must go.”
“Where?” Amelia asked.
“The chapel house,” Dame Margaret said grimly.
“That doesn’t sound like an upgrade.”
“It is not meant to be. Sir Roger said she was to go there if Ashcombe was seen on the road.”
Ashcombe. Thomas was coming.
The chapel door burst open. Osric stood in the passage, damp from rain, big-shouldered and thick through the neck, his fair hair plastered to his brow. He had the family eyes, unfortunately, but none of Dame Margaret’s restraint. Behind him stood the red-faced man Amelia had glimpsed earlier, the one with the cudgel and a lifelong commitment to unpleasantness.
“There you are,” Osric said.
Dame Margaret stepped in front of Amelia. “She is at prayer.”
“She can pray where Sir Roger tells her.”
Father Martin lifted his chin. “This is the Lord’s house.”
Osric smiled. “Then the Lord can open the door for her.”
He seized Amelia by the arm.
Dame Margaret struck him. Not hard enough to do damage, but sharp enough that the sound cracked through the chapel like a snapped branch.
Osric stared at her, one hand to his cheek.
“Aunt.”
“Take your hand from her.”
His face darkened. “Sir Roger gave the command.”
“And I gave you manners when you still pissed in the rushes. I see only one of us succeeded.”
Under other circumstances, Amelia would have applauded.
Osric’s hand tightened hard enough to bruise. “Move.”
The red-faced man came around the other side. Amelia had one second to decide whether to fight in the chapel and risk Father Martin, Dame Margaret, and Joan being punished for it, or let them move her to wherever Belmaine wanted her and look for a better moment.
Dame Margaret’s eyes met hers.
Fine.
Amelia let Osric drag her toward the covered passage. It grated against every bone in her body.
