Chapter Thirteen
In a large room in Devdan Castle,Richard was shoved to his knees by two guards. His hands were bound behind him. A large wooden cross hung on the wall before him.
“Sir Richard le Breton,” a voice said from the darkness. Clunk. Shuffle. Clunk.
Richard’s lip was cut where a guard had punched him. He had been overpowered in the cathedral by the bishop’s soldiers.
“Have you come to put a sword throughmyhead?” the bishop asked.
If only he could. If only his hands were free. He needed no sword to end this Satan’s spawn’s life. But he remained silent.
“You have no words for me?”
“I have many words for you. None you would like to hear.”
The bishop emerged from a dark corner of the large room in his white vestments. “You dare to enter a holy place of worship after what you did?”
It was a statement that required no response from Richard, and he kept his mouth closed.
“What were you doing there? Seeking repentance?”
Richard kept his head bowed, even as his teeth clenched and his hands fisted.
“Or were you looking for something? Or someone?”
He knew! Devdan knew why he was here. He knew that Richard was looking for the boy.
“Where is the woman?”
“If you’re looking for a woman, you are in the wrong profession.”
The bishop’s eyes narrowed on his thin face. “What was her name? Mercy Brooker.”
Dread sliced through Richard. He hoped Mercy was nowhere near this castle or the bishop. But he had been betrayed by that priest, so she must have been also. “I don’t know her.”
“More lies?” Clunk. Shuffle. Clunk. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Not from one such as you.”
Taunts would not work with him. It had been eighteen months since the murder of Becket. He had grown used to them from knights and peasants alike. “What do you want with me?”
“The murderer of the Archbishop Thomas Becket?” The bishop laughed and it came out as a high-pitched crazy sound. “I could execute you and be called a hero.”
“I don’t think anyone would call you a hero. Child-stealer, maybe.”
The bishop’s laughter suddenly stopped. “We all have our crosses to bear.”
“Where do you keep the boys?”
“They perform God’s work. Even the innocent must labor in the service of our Lord. That is something you know nothing about. Heretic.”
“Is that what you plan to do? Bore me with your insults?”
The bishop’s lips thinned. “You should speak to me with reverence. Do you know who I am?”
Richard slowly lifted his gaze to the bishop. “I know who you are.” His lips curled in disdain. “When I was young, a younger man, really only a boy, told me about a priest. A priest who…did things to him. Touched him in inappropriate ways. Made him touch the priest. He told me the priest’s name and I have never forgotten it.” Richard’s lips twitched with anger. “Tell me. How is that God’s work?”
Devdan sighed softly. “I repent and am forgiven every night.”
Richard shot to his feet. “You have no intention of repenting! You use those children for your repugnant sexual urges.”
