Chapter 6 #3
So, all had known the risk. That told Amaury even more about the threat. He glanced up to see Luc shake his head once. “What did the king say?”
Roland almost laughed. “What kings always say. Father warned us of the excuses he might offer. The demands upon his purse were legion. He would have peace in all his demesne.”
“He could not favor one lord’s demand over that of another,” Oswald added bitterly.
“I wonder if Marnis had also sent a messenger,” Amaury mused but the two men before him shrugged in unison.
“If he was there, we did not recognize him.” Roland lifted a hand. “We came home to this.”
“The keep burned to ash,” Oswald added bitterly.
“And Father dead in the crypt,” Roland said.
Amaury nodded. “What of his ring?”
“It was gone,” Roland provided, dashing Amaury’s hopes that his brothers had claimed the signet ring. “And every soul from Montvieux had vanished as surely as if they had never been in residence at all.”
Where had the villagers gone? Amaury considered that the miller might have taken the initiative to lead his neighbors to safety. But where would they seek refuge?
“Edmund came to us,” Roland continued. “That first day, as if he knew that we would return.”
“Marnis has spies everywhere,” Oswald added in an undertone, sparing a glance for Amaury’s tent and the lady within. Amaury felt a chill at the implication.
“He said Father had died in his sleep, and insisted that he had himself laid him to rest as was right and proper.” It was clear that Roland did not believe this tale, and truly, Amaury found it difficult to believe that Edmund, older and frail, could have conveyed his father’s corpse to the crypt and into a sarcophagus alone.
“He said the ring was already gone when he found Father.”
Oswald scoffed at that. “As if the people of Montvieux had stolen it.”
Amaury also doubted this tale. How could Gaultier de Marnis offer him Montvieux unless that man had both the seal and the signet ring in his possession? He could not. And it was not hard to believe that Edmund had lied to Roland.
“He also said he knew naught of the fire that began the next night.” Roland spat at the ground, his eyes blazing. “He always was vermin. You warned Father, but he would not heed your counsel. At least Edmund is in his rightful place, in that pit of vipers at Marnis.”
Amaury nodded slowly, seeking to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. Would Isabella confide more in him if he asked?
He doubted as much, unless he apologized, which he fully intended to do.
“I could not fathom why Father would die in his sleep,” Roland said. “He was hale when we left, and his own father saw more than eighty summers.”
“We could not find a wound upon him, though,” Oswald said. “We looked.”
“That he was poisoned explains all,” Roland said. “Are you certain?”
“My companion, Lothair, is a skilled healer,” Amaury said, choosing to keep the stone and its powers secret. “He discerned the signs.”
Lothair waited only a moment before he nodded grimly.
“You should let her flee your side, as she threatened,” Roland said with urgency. “It can be no good thing to have one from Marnis in your own bed.”
“They are all deceitful,” Oswald said. “And see naught but their own advantage.”
“She will betray you,” Roland continued, but Amaury shook his head.
“Isabella is my lady wife, and our lives are now bound together. I hope that she is not a pawn of her father, but I would grant her the benefit of the doubt.”
“It may be the last grant you make,” Roland said beneath his breath.
“And yet, the pledge is made, and it was made that I might recover Montvieux,” Amaury said with some impatience.
“The result being that we must find a way forward and make every effort to reclaim our legacy. I ride to Marnis on the morrow, to treat with the Lord de Marnis and accept his affirmation of the promises made to me by his son.”
“I would not enter that keep, were I you, Amaury,” Roland said. “You may never leave it alive. Even the lady warns you against repercussions.”
“I follow the path most likely to restore Montvieux to my hand. Though my choices are limited, I must use them to succeed.”
His brother sat back, discontent, and they all stared into the fire for long moments.
“I will go with you,” Roland offered finally.
“You are next in the succession,” Amaury said to him.
“You will remain here, then if there is a trap, it will close upon only one of us.” He felt the volatility and resentment in his brother, and knew that all could easily go awry if Roland disobeyed him.
Sebastian was not the only one inclined to be impulsive.
The balance was delicate and Amaury was not even certain that he could be sufficiently diplomatic to succeed.
“Father must be avenged,” Roland insisted.
“But first the culprit must be named and there must be proof,” Amaury said. “Until then, we accuse no one of such a heinous crime, for a man’s name can be his sole asset. The best justice is won through the law and the courts.”
His brother sighed and nodded reluctant agreement.
Amaury chose to change the subject. “Do you know where the villeins sought refuge?”
“They might have been slaughtered in their beds,” Roland said grimly. “When Father could not ensure their defense.”
“But Father was the sole addition to the crypt,” Amaury countered. “I wager they fled, and wonder where.”
“They might have been captured,” Oswald said. “They might be imprisoned at Marnis.”
“Then I will enquire on the morrow, when I escort my lady wife to visit her father.”
“You should not go there,” Roland repeated. “You should not willingly enter a hall of such treachery and deceit.”
“Yet I must and I will.” He smiled at his brother, though he knew his gaze was grim. “This is the sole means of regaining Montvieux that I see. If the Lord de Marnis offers the holding, he must possess the seal, thus my discussion will be with him.”
His resolve must have been evident for the discussion faltered then, his brother and companion going to tend their steeds and talk to their men. Luc, Thierry and Lothair remained with Amaury.
“Do you believe the destrier and the deer to be the sum of it?” Luc asked quietly and Amaury shrugged.
“I hope as much. They are both angry, and I cannot blame them for that.” He looked over the desolation of Montvieux and acknowledged that they all had been cheated.
“Be wary on the morrow,” Lothair advised Amaury, who nodded agreement.
“I intent to do as much.”
“I could linger,” the Viking offered.
“Nay, go and meet Sebastian. He will be better with a challenge to occupy him.”
“And you will be easier with Lothair keeping watch over him,” Luc murmured to general agreement
“And the villagers?” Thierry asked. “Is it true your brother does not know their location?”
“I believe it is, but I also have an idea where they might be found.” Amaury smiled for his friends, for he did not believe matters were as dire as they clearly did.
“First, I will go to Marnis, and perhaps I will have the chance to confer with Edmund. I will take a watch now, for Lothair had best sleep before the morrow.”
“But it is your nuptial night,” Thierry protested.
“And she is vexed with him,” Luc added in a teasing tone.
“It is my turn,” Amaury insisted, though the twin brothers nudged each other and laughed. He felt the back of his neck heat. In truth, he needed time to compose a fitting apology.
His fellows then retired again for the night. Amaury nodded to the boys tending the meat and the fire, then walked the perimeter of their camp. He did not know yet what he would say to Isabella, much less how he might restore the amity that had briefly blossomed between them.
She might be asleep and awakening her would be unkind.
Amaury was wide awake, his thoughts churning with possibilities. Thierry would relieve him when the sky lightened in the east. For the moment, he would reflect upon what he had learned, and strive to think of the words to regain his lady’s regard.