Page 18 of Silent Knight: Alexander

Chapter 8

Alex spent the rest of the night in the stable, having offered to bury Dreyfis, but Warren told him he would do it since he was the lord of the castle. He stood watching out the stable door as two servants finally finished digging the grave in the small graveyard attached to the garden. Then, Lord Warren and some of his knights laid Dreyfis’ body in the hole without a casket, and the servants covered up the grave.

Alex didn’t feel right about this at all. He never meant to kill the man, but it happened. And the part that frightened Alex the most was that he lost control of his emotions. Never before had anger overtaken his body like this. Nay, it didn’t feel good at all. But what did feel good was the fact that Charlotte said she loved him and wanted to marry him. He had feelings for her, too. But how could he marry her when he didn’t even truly know who he was?

“It’s all set,” said Dominick, coming out of the darkness, startling Alex. He had been so focused on the burial that he hadn’t even seen the man coming.

“What’s set?” asked Alex.

“I told the servants to leave the shovels in the garden. Later on, when everyone is asleep, you and I are going to dig up the grave of Peter Mowbray.”

A chill ran up Alex’s spine. As much as he wanted to do this, he had already caused enough trouble tonight. He’d killed a man, and he didn’t need to unearth the stillborn that Lady Summer revered.

“I don’t know about this,” said Alex, shaking his head slowly, holding on to the frame of the door. “It doesn’t feel right. I don’t think I can do it.”

“You have to,” said Dominick. “You can’t go on living, not knowing who you are. Besides, I am kind of curious to find out if you really are my little brother.”

“What about Lady Summer?” he asked. “How do you think she’ll react when she finds out someone dug up Peter’s grave? You know she’ll be able to tell since there is snow on the ground, not to mention the ground is partially frozen. It took all night for those servants to dig Dreyfis’ grave. It was because they had to build a fire to thaw out the ground first.”

“If you really are Peter, my mother is going to be happy,” explained Dominick. “Don’t you know how hard it was for her to lose a child? And it wasn’t just once. She had several miscarriages as well.”

“I know,” he said, feeling his heart go out to her. She was a wonderful, beautiful woman and deserved to know if her son was alive. But did she deserve to have a son like him?

“I’ll be back at midnight with a bed of hot coals. Since it was a newborn, the grave shouldn’t be that deep. Someone’s coming. I’ve got to go.”

* * *

“Alex, is that you?”asked Charlotte walking through the dark courtyard. While the Christmas celebration would last for nearly a fortnight, most of the torches and candles had blown out tonight in the strong wind.

Snow swirled around her as she approached the stable to find Alex holding on to the doorframe, staring out the door. She knew he was watching the burial of Dreyfis and feeling poorly about it. Disturbance covered his face.

“Do you want to talk?” she asked, wrapping her cloak tighter around her. It was frigidly cold tonight. The wind went right through her and made her teeth chatter.

“All right,” he said. “But inside, out of the snow and wind.”

When she walked inside the stable, Alex slid the door closed behind them. It smelled like hay and horses and damp earth. “Alex, I don’t like to see you sleeping in here. It’s too cold, and no place for a man to stay.”

“I don’t mind. I’ve stayed in worse,” he said, limping over to a wooden bench and motioning to her to sit. He lit a lantern and hung it on a hook on the stable gate. “What did you want to talk about?”

“I – I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to spend time with you.” She didn’t want to ruin her private time with him talking about Dreyfis.

“Why would you want to spend time with me? I’m a mercenary.”

“You are a wonderful man,” she replied. “I don’t care what you did in the past. I want to spend the future with you.”

“I don’t have another job, Charlotte.” He got up and paced as well as he could with his twisted leg. “All I know is being a hired sword.”

“Then you’ll learn a new trade. Perhaps, you can stay here and help train the knights. You have a wonderful skill with weapons.”

“You deserve someone better,” he told her.

“You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself,” she replied.

“What? Why would you say that?”

Charlotte made herself comfortable on the bench. “Ever since you arrived in Framlingham, you have been pitying yourself because of your leg, and because you aren’t a knight or a noble or have a lot of money.”

“Don’t those things bother you?”