She held Kit firmly against her, panic clawing inside of her. “Who told you I was lying? Simon? He just doesn’t believe me! Bart?”
Bishop Devdan swiveled his head to the men.
Mercy followed his stare. Simon stepped aside and Walter moved forward. A whispered gasp escaped Mercy’s lips and her chest tightened with betrayal.
“It’s for the village, Mercy,” he whispered.
“He told me everything,” the bishop said. “He told me your plans to take your beautiful boy and run away and deny the Lord’s orders.”
Mercy shook her head as tears welled in her eyes.
Kit opened tired eyes and turned his head.
“He told me you lied to the village men in order to conceal a criminal.”
The betrayal ran even deeper and again Mercy shook her head. She looked at Walter, but he would not meet her stare.
“He told me you protected a man who killed Archbishop Becket.”
Simon’s lip twisted in contempt.
“He told me that you wanted him to kill me.”
Treachery sliced through her, but even more so, desperation. The bishop knew everything! Mercy could do nothing but deny the allegations. She glanced at the guards and shook her head fiercely. “No,” she whispered in denial.
“Another lie?”
“No. No! It’s not a lie. I would never want to kill. It’s a sin,” she stated emphatically. “It’s a sin.”
“Hmmm,” the bishop mused. “It seems to me this village is in need of much redemption.” His gaze dropped to Kit. He reached an old, wrinkled hand out to the boy.
Instinctively, Mercy pulled him away from the bishop’s tainted touch.
The bishop’s dark gaze snapped to hers.
For just a moment, Mercy saw fierce anger burning in his orbs. Then, it was gone.
He seemed to weigh the situation for a moment, staring down thoughtfully at the boy. “I need to have something so I know you are truly repentant.” His lips twisted. “Give me the knight.”
Mercy’s heart dropped. Desolation swept through her as she realized there was no escape for her or for Kit. She knew Abbey’s desperation. “I don’t know where he is.”
The bishop leaned in. “A shame.”
She realized he had known this already. It was all a plan to get Kit. She placed Kit’s feet on the ground, eyeing the soldiers. “It’s not time,” she whispered.
“You need to show me that you are truly sorry for the sins you’ve committed.”
Mercy’s trembling hand tightened around Kit’s arm. They were here to take him from her, to punish her. She remembered Abbey’s soul-wrenching cry when they took Luke. Desperate, she knelt and embraced Kit. She held him tightly, tears entering her eyes. She would do anything,anythingto save him. “I love you,” she whispered, and pressed a kiss to his head. Her heart pounded with anguish. “Run,” she whispered to him. Then, she pulled back and gently but urgently shoved him toward the forest. “Run!”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Kit dashed toward the forest.
“Stop him!” the bishop commanded.
Mercy ran after Kit, but only to interfere with the soldiers’ pursuit. She stepped in front of them, following Kit and purposely slowed her run, giving Kit time to enter the forest. One of the soldiers shoved her aside. She fell to her knees, scrapping her knee and palm on the ground. She watched them from her hands and knees as they disappeared into the forest after Kit in the rising sunlight. “Run,” she whispered, half to Kit, half in prayer.
Clunk. Shuffle. Clunk. The sound stopped directly behind her. Tremors moved through her.
“You have not been penitent.”
