Chapter 2
SHREWSBURY CASTLE
“ W atch out, Robin,” Regina Blake spoke to her brother who had been the new lord of Shrewsbury Castle for the last three years now. “I’ve been working with Cloud and he’s learned a new skill.”
Regina was not only the noble daughter of Madoc and Abbey Blake, but she’d been a falconer for many years now. Her love of birds, that she’d gotten from her father, led her to end up training falcons and hawks. She even joined the men on hunting trips and helped out to catch game with her birds of prey.
“The only thing that bird is good at is eating,” scoffed Robin. “When you moved your birds here when you took up residence and I agreed, I didn’t know how costly they’d be.” Robin was her older and only brother. He was three years her senior, her age being twenty-one now. Regina’s older sister, Martine, who married David the innkeeper, now lived at Blake Castle with their Uncle Corbett and Aunt Devon. Regina’s younger sister, Dorothy, or Dot as she now liked to be called, was visiting from their parents’ home in Blackmore and had been Regina’s best friend her entire life.
“Robin, stop complaining,” said Dot with a smile on her face. The girl was always smiling. “You should be happy that Regina moved her birds to your mews. She is the best falconer around.”
“Thank you for your confidence and praise, Sister,” said Regina, glad to have someone on her side. “Robin, if I must remind you, I was the one who talked Father into building a pigeon coop for you so you can now receive and send messages back and forth with your carrier pigeons like the rest of our family. You should be thanking me for moving in with you instead of complaining.” She held up her left hand with her young goshawk, Cloud, perched atop the leather falconer’s glove. She loved every one of her birds and cared for them as if they were her children. Cloud was the youngest and had been taking to his training so well that it made her more than pleased.
Their father, Madoc, used to raise and race carrier pigeons back when he was a thief. Before he even knew he was a noble. Because of him, all the family members, even the MacKeefes in Scotland, were able to send and receive quick messages back and forth using the talent of those little birds.
“Yes, Regina, I am grateful,” Robin ground out. “However, I’m not sure Father likes the fact that your birds of prey have taken down several of his pigeons now, including one of his favorite doves.”
“Don’t blame my birds for that.” Regina scooped a piece of raw meat out of the food bag at her side and fed it to Cloud. The goshawk eagerly gobbled it down. She’d been building trust with her newest bird by taking it with her everywhere she went and giving it lots of treats. The sun lit up the bird’s colors of brown and white mottling on its back. Its cream colored underparts and the wavy bands on its tail revealed it was still a young goshawk. “If you would stop letting the pigeons out of the coop to fly when you know I am training my birds, it would stop happening.”
“You are always training, it seems,” remarked Robin.
“Well, that is my job,” she responded.
“That’s why she is so good at it,” added her sister.
“Father is at the coop right now, Regina,” Robin told her. “Mayhap you should put that bird away until he leaves to head back home.”
“Not until after I show you Cloud’s new skill.” Regina looked over to the end of the open field where her apprentice, Roger stood waiting for her signal. Roger had been the apprentice of Shrewsbury’s last master falconer, Cassian, who was now retired but still helped out in the mews. When Regina moved into Shrewsbury Castle with her brother and his wife, Cassian was forced to step down when she took over the position of Master Falconer. Roger continued as her apprentice instead. “All right, I’m ready, Roger,” she called out, holding the bird up higher in the air. “Get ready, Cloud. This is your big chance to prove that you’ll be the great hunting bird I know you will be.”
Roger was near a row of hedges. He held the end of a string that had a lure attached to the end. The lure was a fake rabbit that Regina had made out of an old shoe. She’d tied real rabbit fur around it. Roger started to run and pulled the string with the lure behind him. The fake rabbit bounced over the ground after him, symbolizing a real rabbit hopping away.
“Go get it,” she told her bird, sending Cloud from his perch on her arm. The bird focused on the pretend rabbit, flying with lightning speed to the lure. It dove down and clutched the lure tightly in his talons. Regina had filled the shoe with rocks for weight, so the bird couldn’t lift it and fly at the same time yet. That was the first step of the training. Cloud called out to her proudly, clutching the lure and hopping with it, trying to bring the fake kill back to his master.
“Good boy,” Regina called out, at the same time giving Roger a wave, happy with the way things had gone. She beamed with pride, feeling like the parent of a skilled and talented child. “Did you see that? Did you see how he caught the lure?” Regina walked across the field toward the bird. Dot and Robin followed.
“Yes, that was great,” said Robin sounding perturbed and as if this didn’t interest him in the least.
“Cloud will be a valuable hunting bird,” agreed Dot, keeping up at Regina’s side. “Mayhap someday I can learn to be a falconer too.”
“Nay, Dot,” growled Robin. “We need at least one woman in our family to become a real lady. You’d be better off spending your time in the ladies solar stitching instead of in the hot and smelly mews like your sister.”
“Robin, how can you even say that? Dot can do whatever she pleases,” scolded Regina. “Besides, being a falconer does not make me less of a lady. I think it makes me a stronger and more talented woman.” She approached the bird and held out her arm, luring him back to her with another piece of meat. Cloud looked up and spread his majestic wings, releasing the lure and then flying to her, landing once again on her outstretched arm.
“Nay, our brother is right,” said Dot shyly. “I do like birds, but what I enjoy even more is singing like a bird. Mayhap I’ll be an entertainer someday.” She stood a bit taller and prouder.
“Good for you. You do that,” said Regina, running a finger over the bird’s head.
“Here comes Father,” announced Robin, squinting his eyes in the bright sun and gazing across the training field. “Something seems wrong.”
“Children,” said Madoc, approaching at a run. He held a scrap of paper in his hand. Madoc’s long dark hair had begun to show signs of graying lately. Still, Regina thought of her father as one of the handsomest men she’d ever known.
“What is it, Father?” Robin ran to meet him and they conversed softly before approaching the girls. By the looks on their faces, Regina realized it was of utmost importance. And it didn’t seem to be pleasant.
“Roger, please take Cloud back to the mews for now and check on the rest of the birds to make sure they have what they need.” Regina handed the goshawk over to her apprentice who took the bird with a gloved hand as well. The boy was tall and skinny and about the same age as Regina.
“Yes, my lady,” Roger said with a nod and did as instructed. As soon as he left, her father spoke.
“While I was caring for the flock at the coop, one of my flyers came in unexpectedly with a message.
“From where?” asked Regina.
“From home. Your mother sent it.” Concern showed on Madoc’s brow.
“Oh no! Is Mother all right?” asked Regina.
“She’s fine,” said Madoc. “Unfortunately, her note says that your grandfather has died.”
“Nay. That is so sad.” Dot wiped a tear from her eye. With her turned up little mouth even when the girl cried she didn’t look sad but Regina knew her emotions were real.
Regina’s father looked more serious than she’d ever seen him and she could tell he was deeply disturbed.
“I need to return at once to Blackmore Castle,” he told her. “I’ll have to make plans for your grandfather’s funeral.”
“Father, that means you’re the new lord of Blackmore now, since Mother’s father died, doesn’t it?” asked Robin.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” Madoc answered. “We all knew this day would come, and now there is much to do.” He shook his head and looked down at the ground. “We’ve been expecting this for some time with his illness. Still, your mother will be devastated to have lost both her parents now.”
“I think we should all go back to Blackmore at once,” suggested Regina. “Mother will need our support at a time like this.”
Instead of agreeing, Robin and Madoc exchanged an odd look that Regina did not understand.
“What is it?” asked Regina. “There is something you two are not telling us, isn’t there?”
“Yes, I think so too. Is there something else we need to know?” asked Dot, wiping her eye with her sleeve.
“I think it is best if I go home alone,” Madoc told them.
“Why?” asked Regina. “We all need to be there for Grandfather’s funeral.”
“Nay. Something has arisen here at Shrewsbury and it is best if Robin stays back to handle matters,” said Madoc. “Besides, Sage is still feeling quite ill. It would be better if Robin doesn’t leave her or ask her to travel right now.”
“Sage is a healer,” Dot pointed out. “She sure seems to be ill quite often lately. Can’t she cure herself?”
“Not from this.” Robin exchanged looks with their father once again.
“You’d better tell them, Robin. It’s been too long now,” said Madoc.
“Tell us what?” asked Regina.
“Oooh nooo,” wailed Dot. “Is Sage about to die too?”
“Nay,” said Robin, swishing his hand through the air. “We didn’t want to say anything sooner because Sage is superstitious. But you might as well know that she is nearly five months pregnant. With twins, or so the midwife thinks.”
“Pregnant? With twins? That is so exciting!” exclaimed Regina. “Then she swatted her brother on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner? What is the matter with you for keeping this from us? We are your sisters and need to know these things.”
“I wanted to tell you, but Sage and Martine thought it best to wait until the morning sickness stage passed even though it seems to be taking forever.” Robin shrugged.
“Martine knew about the pregnancy as well and yet you didn’t tell us?” Regina crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She felt left out that her brother would have told their older sister but not her and Dot. Especially since Martine was the one whom Robin used to never get along with at all.
“Martine is pregnant, too, remember,” Robin told her. “My wife needed someone to talk to who knows about these things.” Robin tried to dig himself out of the hole he’d fallen into by not telling his sisters the news sooner.
“Well, we are happy for her,” said Regina, flashing a smile. “Still, that is no reason to stop Dot and I from accompanying Father back home for Grandfather’s funeral.”
“Nay, it’s not,” agreed Robin. “However, that isn’t quite what Father meant.”
“There is no reason so important that would keep me from going home right now,” stated Regina. “Mother is in need of comfort. So don’t even try to stop me.”
“There has been a string of burglaries lately,” announced Madoc.
“Where?” asked Regina curiously, not having heard of any.
“For the past few weeks they have been happening on the road outside of Shrewsbury,” Robin explained. “However, in the last few days things…important things…have gone missing from right here inside the castle walls.”
“There is a thief in the castle?” asked Dot.
“Shhhh.” Robin held a finger to his lips and his eyes scanned the surrounding area. “I have a feeling it might be someone who lives here. Keep this quiet for now.”
“I’m sorry to hear this,” said Regina. “What does any of this have to do with me or Dot?”
“None of this has to do with Dot,” stated Madoc. “Actually, I think it would be nice if Dot accompanied me on my journey home, after all,” he told them. “Martine is already there. So if two of my children attend the funeral, it will be sufficient.”
“Wait! What about me?” asked Regina. “I don’t understand why I am being forbidden to go back with you. Is it just because I live here now?”
“Nay. I’ve summoned someone who might be able to help us,” said Madoc. “The man is a thief-taker and lives right here in Shrewsbury most of the time.”
“Who is he?” asked Regina.
“His name is Hunter Chase,” her father answered. “He is the son of an old friend of mine from years ago. Do you remember I told you about Robert?”
“He was a dungeon guard here at Shrewsbury before we were born, right?” asked Robin.
“Yes, that’s right,” answered Madoc. “Plus, he knew me when I once helped out in the mews.”
“Father, wasn’t he also the man whose fault it was that you were imprisoned here when you were a thief?” Regina didn’t understand how this man named Robert could have remained her father’s friend after having turned him in and almost costing her father his life.
“I’ve forgiven Robert, may he rest in peace,” said Madoc. The man had been dead now for some time, so Regina wasn’t sure why any of this even mattered. “Regina, you are forgetting that Robert also helped to save your Uncle Garret from being executed, as well as rescued me the second time I was imprisoned.” There was a lot of past history right here at Shrewsbury Castle and most of it wasn’t pleasing. That was the whole reason why Regina’s parents hadn’t taken ownership of the castle when offered it by the king. Instead, they’d stayed in Blackmore with her mother’s parents and let Robin be lord and inherit the castle instead.
“What are you trying to tell me?” asked Regina, knowing this wasn’t just a conversation about memories anymore.
“Yes. About that.” Madoc cleared his throat. “I would stay here and help track down the thief myself, but now I am needed back home now as you can see. However, Hunter will find the thief for us. I have complete confidence in him. He is damned good at his job.”
“But?” asked Regina raising a brow. “I know there is more. Tell me how this man has anything to do with me.”
“Hunter will need an alias,” explained Robin. “We don’t want anyone to know what he does for a living. If so, and the thief is inside the castle walls and finds out, we’ll never be able to catch him. The nobles and knights are becoming quite concerned and I cannot let them down.”
“What, pray tell, is this man’s false identity going to be?” she asked, getting a bad feeling that she wasn’t going to like their answer.
“Father thought of it, actually,” said Robin, shifting his weight back and forth. “Go ahead and tell her, Father.”
Madoc scowled at Robin. “Coward,” mumbled Madoc from the side of his mouth.
“Someone, please tell me before I am forced to shake it out of the two of you,” snapped Regina.
“Regina. Daughter.” Madoc stepped forward and took her free hand in his. “You have followed in my footsteps with your love for birds, and that pleases me to no end. You not only train our hunting birds, but I’ve taught you to care for the flock in the coop as well.”
“Robin knows how to take care of the pigeons, too,” said Regina. “And Roger is here to tend to the birds in the mews in my absence. So what is this really about?”
“Father thinks it is best if this thief-taker pretends to be working here at the castle,” explained Robin. “I mean, doing something besides catching a thief.”
“Good idea. Give him a job,” said Regina swishing her hand through the air. “I am sure there is something you can find for a commoner to do. Perhaps he can rake out muck in the stables or wash dishes in the scullery, it doesn’t matter to me.”
“That’s not exactly the job we had in mind,” mumbled Robin.
“Then what?” she asked, not really caring what this man would do.
“Hunter is going to be your new apprentice,” said Madoc with a quick flash of a smile.
“What?” Regina’s eyes opened wide. “Nay.” She shook her head in frustration, ripping off the falconer glove and sticking it under her arm. “Falconry takes years to learn and his presence will be temporary. I cannot and will not teach the craft to someone who doesn’t even care about birds at all. It is only for those with a true passion for the art. Besides, I already have an assistant. Roger and even Cassian still helps me out. I don’t need more people in the mews or the birds will become frightened.” She continued her rant, not giving either of the men a chance to talk. “Besides, this Hunter man isn’t a noble. Only nobles can be falconers. Everyone knows that!” Her ire was spiked and her heart raced. What kind of game was her brother and father playing? She didn’t like this idea one bit.
“Don’t get your feathers all ruffled, Sister,” said Robin, chuckling softly at his play on words. “It is the perfect ploy, actually. Hunter will be able to keep a better eye on everyone while he is working with you. Plus, he’ll have access to the entire castle, being a noble.”
“But he’s not a noble!” Regina ground out.
“Nay, but everyone will think he is once you tell them so.”
“And if I refuse to help?” Regina crossed her arms over her chest again and her chin jutted up in the air.
“Regina, your brother needs your help,” said her father in a soft voice. “Please. I had intended on aiding him, but now that your grandfather has passed away, I am needed back home.”
“I don’t know.” Regina pouted. “I would really like to be home to comfort Mother in her time of need instead of helping a commoner pretend he is someone that he isn’t.”
“One of the castle guards has had his sword stolen,” Robin told her.
“I am sure he just misplaced it.” Regina wasn’t going to give in so easily.
“Sir Elwood’s horse has gone missing, too,” continued Robin. “Not to mention the brooch I gave Sage for our anniversary has mysteriously vanished into thin air.”
“What?” Regina blinked several times in succession. “Sage’s brooch that looks like a hawk in flight in gone? That is terrible. How could that have happened? And how can anyone lose a horse? Really, Robin! What kind of castle are you running here?”
“Now do you see why he needs your cooperation as well as the help of Hunter Chase?” asked her father. “It hasn’t been easy for Robin to be accepted as the new lord of Shrewsbury.”
“It’s been three years now,” spat Regina. “He has had plenty of time to be accepted.”
“Change isn’t always easy for people,” said Madoc. “It seems most of the nobles and knights of Shrewsbury were hoping for a new lord that was a little…older than Robin.”
“More like Father’s age,” said Robin, a disgusted look painting his face.
“Oh.” Regina dropped her arms to her side. “I’m sorry about that, Robin. I had no idea you were having trouble being accepted here.”
“It won’t matter once I find the thief and imprison him. Then, I’ll earn the respect I truly deserve,” Robin answered.
“You mean once the thief-taker finds him,” Regina corrected him.
“You know what I mean. I will be helping Hunter every minute, so it will be by my efforts as well.”
“Yes. Yes, I guess you will.” Regina’s heart went out to her brother. He had been so proud to become lord of a castle at such a young age. Irritatingly cocky about it, actually. But by the stress showing on his face right now she could tell that it wasn’t as wonderful as he had hoped it would be.
“Regina, I think Father’s right. You should stay here and help Robin.” Dot suddenly sided with the men. “I will comfort Mother and give her your regards. This way you can be here for Sage as well. I am sure knowing that she is going to birth twins when she already has little Martin to look after is a lot for someone who has been feeling so ill lately.”
Guilt ate away at Regina. She couldn’t abandon her brother or her sister-by-marriage in their time of great need. Still, she wasn’t sure she wanted to train this man named Hunter to do anything that involved her birds. She only wanted him to catch the damned thief and get out of here as soon as possible.
“Well, I…” She wasn’t sure what to say.
“This robber will stop at nothing,” Robin added. “Your birds are valuable and very coveted by all. They would bring in a lot of money for a thief. It would be best if you were here to keep an eye on the mews.”
“What?” That took her by surprise. “Do you really think this petty thief would actually try to steal my birds?”
“He’s already been bold enough to enter the castle and steal a valuable brooch. Not to mention, he was able to walk out of here with a horse without anyone noticing,” Robin told her. “I don’t think this thief is petty at all. He’s after wealth, and lots of it. This is on a whole different scale than a bandit you meet on the road. I am sure he would not bat an eye about taking one of the most valuable things that a noble can own. A hawk or a falcon, that is.”
Robin was saying all the right things to upset her and he knew it. Whether it was just to get her to agree or if he were truly concerned, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t—wouldn’t take the risk. The last thing she wanted was for Cloud or any of her birds to be in grave danger. They were like children to her. Regina would do whatever it took to protect them.
“All right.” She sighed and nodded. “I will not put my birds in danger.” Regina felt as fierce as a mother bear watching over her cubs right now. “I will do what you ask, but I will not like it.”
“Thank you, Regina,” said Robin. The stress tainting his face diminished. “I am sure doing the right thing will make you feel better about all of this in the end.”
“The only thing that will make me feel better is to know that I am here to watch over my birds. And I promise you, while I am here, no one will get close enough to even touch them. So, let’s get this thief-finder in here fast and hopefully he’ll do his job and be out of here in a few days.”
“Thief-taker,” her father corrected her. “Although I’ve sent a missive by carrier pigeon to my brother, William, I am not sure if he will have had time to go to the woods to find Hunter. Being a master tailor, your uncle is very busy, you realize. Therefore, I want you and Robin to go to William’s home and see if you can be of any help. You might have to track down the man yourself. I hear he’s been very busy with jobs lately that cause him to travel.”
“Does this man live in town?” asked Regina. “It shouldn’t be hard to find him.”
“Nay. He prefers the solitude of the woods,” said Madoc.
“Well, what if we can’t find him?” asked Regina. “Then what will you do?”
“Hopefully, luck will be on our side,” answered her father. “Now go. Find him and bring him back to the castle quickly before anything else is stolen.”
“Fine,” Regina answered, thinking this all a fool’s task and something that a page could do just as easily as she. “I will go, but I swear this man is already naught but a thorn in my side. I do not like this idea in the least.”