The Beast of Renald (The Northern Knights) (30 page)

‘Nay. What was taken has been found.’ Darc turned his sharp gaze back on the sniffling midwife once more. ‘If what you say is true, woman and I do have my doubts. For I remember all too well the lies you told then. Nonetheless, my men will escort you and the boy to the castle till I decide what it is I am to do with both of you. If what you speak is not truth, you will feel the lash despite your age.’

‘My lord!’ Caroline exclaimed in a whisper as she whirled on him. But ‘twas for naught as she saw he had stormed away and was almost out of sight and the guards had swarmed them.

He’d been right.

She had wanted something from him last night, more than his pleasuring. Her innocent
hear me
  had been a ruse. But he had ignored the lie in her eyes. All women were sly. When would he learn and stick to knowing the truth of that? Darc fumed as he paced to and fro as unwieldy rage grew within him.

For six years he had hoped, prayed…. had wanted to think it all had been a non-stop nightmare.  One he’d lived out daily over the years and had hoped for a different outcome.

Did Caroline truly expect him to accept that traitorous woman’s word? That…That boy, who looked so much like him, had his eyes, his nose, brows, jaw, and chin and though for one so little those shoulders he’d himself had inherited from his giant of a father.  Nay!

Adelay had said she’d murdered his son. If she had not, Raven would have taunted him and tried to use the boy against him if the boy had lived.

Unless Raven did not know the boy lived…

Darc stopped pacing and pivoted on his heel to watch the guards pass by with the trio he’d left. Caroline’s hunched shoulders bothered him and he winced when he saw Kelbie and Laur appear at the castle doors to greet her, the woman and the boy. Darc stepped back further under the trees near the maze. He turned away and walked toward a large tree, larger than all the others in the small area.

It was not possible. The truth would have come to light much sooner. Would it not have? And did it hurt so badly because a part of him believed it?

Darc fought to maintain his balance as he took a step back, staggered by what the woman claimed.

Adelay had shared Raven’s bed. Was the boy his or his brother’s?

The boy’s eyes were not the clear blue of Raven’s but were more like his own, cerulean blue with green flecks in them, changing with mood, with the flicker of light. In the brief moment he had been mesmerized by the sight of the boy, locked gazes with him, he had seen it. Then Adelay’s words came back to him that she wished it had been Raven’s seed she’d carried.

Nay! He could not, would not accept it.

He’d searched till he’d been called to William’s side and battle. There he’d spent his grief. There he’d shed the sorrow for the loss of his son. His love, his grief lost in others blood, the carnage and unforgiving brutal results of war. There the truth had hit him and it had come hard and claimed his heart.

His son was as dead as the witch who had killed him.

Darc dropped to his knees in the grass in front of the spot where the grave had been made for his son. A grave that held no bones, but the bloody and torn tunic his son had been clothed in.

All these years and the possibility that his son, his heir, his flesh, raised as a serf right under his nose all this time truly lived. Guilt seized him in its painful grip.

Had he not spent most of his time in Normandy when not leading a campaign battle for William mayhap he would have discovered the child himself. Deep anguish ripped a hole down to his gut and Darc reached out and laid his hand on the stone marker with his son’s name carved into it. Michael Anthony Darc Renald.

He refused to believe it. 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Caroline wallowed in pity for her husband over the next few days. Their cordial truce broken under the weight of the discovery of his son in the village.

Caroline believed to her very soul the child was his even if her husband did not. He had spoken not a word to her since he’d brought Agnes and Cal to the castle. She only knew she was blocked access to both of them by Darc’s men when she had tried to see them where he locked them away on the west wing of the castle. Since he refused her a word, she had no idea what was happening. She deduced his interrogation of the woman had been fruitful despite his black mood for he did not carry out his threat of the lash.

Aye, Caroline knew he warred with himself over it and she wished he would allow her in. But he avoided her like the plague. By end week she was angry and hurt that he would not trust in her to share in this sensitive matter with her. But the other part of her tried to understand.

She made herself sick with worry and busied herself with her lady of the manor duties and Kelbie.

Supping with Kelbie in the hall, she lifted her head and met Darc’s gaze as he entered and came to an abrupt halt. He turned sharply and walked out of the castle doors. Aye, Caroline turned her attention back to Kelbie, her heart aching. ‘Twould take much to repair the rift this time.

One guard rushed past her down the gallery corridor above the hall, then another and Caroline turned around to see where they were off to. She heard a loud commotion below and looked over the thick railing. Several of her husband’s men were all but running out the castle doors. Caroline shared a worried look with Laur.

‘Take him, Laur.’ Caroline said and pushed Kelbie firmly by the shoulder toward the servant. She heard Laur soothing him as she walked quickly toward the stairs.

Caroline made it outside in time to see the last foot soldier making his way down toward the crowd gathering around the mill. Soon voices rose and she started in that direction.

What was going on?

She was almost upon the crowd when she saw the bodies. As the crowd muttered in horror and moved about she caught a glimpse of one. A woman.

Caroline gasped in horror, her hand flying to her mouth. Nesta!

What had driven her former maid from the wood here? A sharp tug on her arm stopped her from moving forward further. Without turning Caroline knew who it was.

‘I-I  know that woman. What has happened here?’ She heard herself saying.

‘Who is she?’ Darc’s face looked set in stone, but she saw the emotions in his eyes as he turned her around taking her in the opposite direction of the mill on the other side of the wheat field.

More concern welled in Caroline at the sight of three of his guards up ahead, waiting.   She tried to snatch her arm out of his grasp.

‘Tis my former maid. Nesta.’

He nodded and she saw that he was remembering when she had told him of her life back at Halvard’s.

‘I am sorry but there is naught you can do for her now.’ His eyes darkened and his hard tone was rough. ‘I need you back inside, go with the guards.’

Alarm made her clutch at his forearm. She had not recognized the other poor lost soul and she said a prayer for them both. ‘Darc, will you not tell me?’

‘Get back to the castle and await my return. Nay. I will speak of it soon enough. Just go.’

Caroline wanted to refuse when the guards surrounded her but ‘twas too late. Looking over her shoulder she could see Darc’s dark head as he made his way back through the crowd. Foreboding gripped her and she practically ran back toward the castle, the guard’s right next to her. She knew Kelbie was safe and with Laur, but she needed to have him near her. The tension she’d felt in her husband’s grip and his firm tone heightened her worry and Caroline closed her eyes for a moment as her gut churned over the latest deaths. Poor Nesta!

Caroline waited with bated breath for Darc as she watched him talking with his assembled knights in the great hall seated far across the room from the lord’s table. He had said little to her after the latest murders other than she was no longer allowed in the village. Caroline had not argued and his relieved expression had bespoke much. Aye, she knew the last thing he needed right now was her arguing over getting her way. Still she wanted to be included in what was going on.

When he finally came to join her at the lord’s table, she said nothing and waited for him to speak. He laid down his orders in an angry tone. Caroline listened.

After a while he said, ‘Again, I am sorry about your maid. You can say a prayer for her or visit the chapel if need be. I suspect she and the man that accompanied her came back here because they had nowhere else to go. Their bodies were nigh starved to death and full of lice.’

Caroline closed her eyes at what he had not said. She imagined many that had run from Halvard’s the day of the siege had not fared well or if any had survived. Tears burned behind her lids. Nesta had made it here only to have her throat slit.

‘There is a spy here working for Raven.’

Caroline opened her eyes and looked at him, a chill settling over her. She watched him as he looked around the room at his soldiers until his gaze came to settle on the bailiff, the young foot soldier Melbert and Gan.

A look of satisfaction came to his face before it masked back into the dark expression he’d worn earlier and Darc cut her a sharp look as he told her. ‘Another guard and Melbert will be at you side.’

Caroline let out a pent up breath. Though she still did not wish for more men to follow her every move, she was glad his words had cleared the sweet-faced Melbert of his suspicions. Still, she could not help but keep her displeasure at bay at the thought of more guards at her heels and she said tersely, ‘If that is what you wish.’

He glared at her, his hand frozen mid-way to his cup. ‘Nay. It is what I demand.’

Anger exploded in her at his harsh response. Her emotions were stretched thin and though she could only imagine the weight and pressure he bore on his shoulders, the fact that he still seemed mad at her was too much. She needed comfort and his coldness and distant mood was intolerable.

Caroline forgot about all else for a moment. Why must he speak to her so? She did not deserve his continued ill-treatment and she shot to her feet. This man would never understand her!

His startled expression had little effect on her as she stepped down from the dais. ‘As you demand? That is all you know what to do.’ She all but growled at him over her shoulder.

When she got near the young soldier she said loudly, snapping. ‘Come, Melbert.’

The young soldier looked back at her husband. Caroline did not turn to see Darc’s response, nor did she care. As she headed for the solar which held Kelbie, Laur and Mildred she heard Melbert’s boots hurrying to catch up to her. He was not the root of her anger and she felt bad.

Caroline blinked back her tears. She would spill her grief for Nesta and the closeness lost betwixt her husband and herself later.

A dark cloud of gloom hung heavily over Renald castle and all within over the next few days. Caroline’s heart broke with each passing day as anxiety became her close friend as she watched Darc come and go without much said between them. The sun was bright this day but she felt no warmth from the sun that shown through the kitchen windows.

She had not eaten well in the past few days due to the sickness that had been coming for the past few days. She thought it was because of all that had happened. But now, for the first time since the murders; she had a bit of an appetite and had ventured into the kitchen for a bite. The noon day meal had been cleared away as early eve approached and Cook was just finishing up her platter.

Though the smell of the food made her stomach lurch, Caroline knew she had to eat something of substance and she swallowed back the wave of sickness.

Walking back toward the stairs she was stopped by Gan. The hairs on the back of her neck rose when he stepped too close. When she had woken at dawn, Melbert had not been there, but the other guard had been. She had wondered at first, but had said naught for he had been with Melbert all week. But now he was nowhere to be seen.

‘What is it?’ she asked, hoping the thick-necked guard did not hear the nervousness in her tone.

‘My lady, your husband requests your presence.’ Gan drawled.

Caroline’s fingers gripped the platter tighter, panic starting in her belly. She opened her mouth and saw the other guard come around the corner. Slight relief filled her as he approached.

‘I will take the tray, my lady.’ The man said and took it from her hands. She hesitated. Then the guard smiled. He’d been ordered by Darc along with Melbert to be at her side. If her husband had suspicions about him he would not have set the soldier to her side. Right? Caroline thought. But looking back at Gan, she was not so sure.

‘Where is my husband?’ she lifted her chin and asked him.

Both men responded. ‘By the maze.’

Caroline frowned.

The soldier turned on the step. ‘All is well, my lady. I would take you, but he ordered me to stay with your son.’

At that Caroline relaxed a little. She was letting her overworked imagination get the best of her with all that had happened. She smoothed her hands down the front of her gown and with a nod fell into step a few paces away from Gan as they headed for the castle doors.

‘Where is Melbert?’ she asked Gan.

‘He hurt his leg during the drills this morn, my lady.’ Gan replied without a pause in step.

Worry quickly made Caroline forget about her uneasiness. ‘Is he alright? How bad is it? Oh, is he in much pain? I must go see him.’

She had quickly grown fond of the boy in the sennight he had been in her company.

Gan arced his hand in a dismissive wave. ‘He is being seen too. Not much pain at all. He’s a tough lad.’

The grin on Gan’s face brought the uneasy feeling back to her gut and Caroline glanced nervously down around the gate house once again. Everything looked normal.  

‘Come my lady, my lord waits.’

Caroline gave him a wary glance. She could not shake the feeling of danger that rattled her.

She had wondered at first why Darc wanted her to meet him here. He would not have sent the man for her if he did not trust him. Though she was a mite uncomfortable as she followed behind Gan’s large bulky frame and grew even more disconcerted the more he kept looking back over his shoulder watching her, Caroline continued to follow him nonetheless.