Chapter Thirteen #3
“You tell me if he receives any more visitors, yes? I want to know if anyone bothers him, or if we need to move him back to the cells.”
“But the wound on his leg is bad. The air down there in jail is poor. If you move him there, you might as well kill him.”
He looked at her frankly. “We might have to, at that. But for now, we will make sure he lives. He is too valuable.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You mean to ransom him?”
“Yes. It is what is normally done in these things.” He burped.
“What will happen?”
“He will stay in the infirmary until he is well, then he will stay in the cells. He is too valuable; he cannot be allowed to walk free.”
“And then?”
“Then we see how much the empress can pay.”
“What about an exchange? Doesn’t the queen want her husband back?”
He smirked. “Of course she does. He rots sitting in Bristol Prison. But we have the upper hand. When he was captured at Lincoln, that was a setback. But now we have something Maud wants, and now we are in control.” He rubbed his hands together.
“Well met, Bronwyn. You need help, you come to me. I’ll do what I can.
” He looked at her. “I do not give my word lightly. You understand?”
She thought so. She nodded her thanks and returned to the kitchens, where she was greeted by one of the cooks, who said that she was to report to the infirmary, as the doctors were asking for her. She went immediately.
John greeted her at the entrance. “There you are. You made good time. He’s awake.”
Bronwyn looked past his shoulder and saw that Sir Robert was indeed awake, and sitting up. A young woman stood by his side.
“Lady Susanna?” she approached.
“Hullo, Bronwyn. I didn’t think you would be out of the kitchens.” Lady Susanna’s smile faded. “I heard there was a very important patient here and wanted to see for myself.”
“I wanted to check on Sir Robert,” Bronwyn said.
The man in question raised an eyebrow. “Whatever for? You’re just a maidservant.”
Bronwyn said, “When you took sick down in the dungeons—”
“She’s the one who told us and made sure you were moved up here to recover,” John said.” Without her, you might have died.”
“And who are you?” Sir Robert asked.
“John Tynsdale, a physician.”
“You look young to be a physician.”
John’s smile was strained. Bronwyn got the sense he was thinking something uncharitable but was wisely holding his tongue. “You should rest.”
“I’ve rested enough. Where’s my squire?” he demanded.
“Down in the cells. Where you’ll be if you don’t keep quiet.”
“I don’t need to keep quiet.” He threw back the blanket and stopped. “What the?”
The ladies looked away. “Oh, my,” Lady Susanna said.
“What have you bloody done to my trousers?” Sir Robert asked.
“We had to cut the leg off one of your trouser legs to get at your wound. It was festering.”
Lady Susanna looked pale. Bronwyn tried to hide a smile. Of all the indecent things she’d seen in her lifetime, a man’s legs weren’t one of them.
“I need to get up and move.” Sir Robert swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to rise, then wobbled and fell back. He muttered a sharp curse.
John crossed his arms. “You’re weak and your body needs to heal. You’ll need to stay abed for at least a few more days.”
“How many?”
“A week, I’d imagine,” John said. “Don’t know why you’re so keen to get back to jail. It’s miserable down there.”
Sir Robert shot him a dirty look and pulled the blanket back over his legs. “You all can go now. I’ll rest.”
The group turned to leave, when Sir Robert said, “Maid. Girl. Come here.”
Bronwyn turned. Sir Robert was beckoning to her. She approached and stood by him as he kept his mouth shut, watching Lady Susanna and John move away, quietly talking between themselves.
“What is it?” she asked.
“‘What is it, Sir Robert,’” he corrected. “When you address me, use my proper title. I’m not some kitchen friend of yours.”
Bronwyn’s cheeks flamed. “What is it you need, Sir Robert?”
“Don’t be cheeky.” He warned. “I need you to give Theobold a message for me. Can you do that?”
She nodded and bit her tongue. She was still mad at Theobold, but she couldn’t deny her attraction to him. She knew that if Sir Robert asked a favor of her, she would do it. For Theobold, if for no other reason. He would want her to help.
“First of all, does the empress live? Did she escape?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out. We have to act. They’ll want to hold me for ransom, but I need the empress not to cave. She needs to hold strong.” He leaned forward and winced in pain. “I need you to listen in on their plans and find out what’s happened. Can you do that?”
“I…”
“I need your help, girl. There aren’t many I can trust.” He looked at her. “Never mind. I can see it’s too much I’m asking. But if you care at all about Theobold… Well. The Bronwyn he’s not stopped talking about would do it.”
She felt like he was making use of her emotions to his own advantage. Which she supposed was precisely his aim. “Theobold was talking about me?”
“The lad wouldn’t stop. He’s smitten, I’d say.” Seeing he had her attention, his mouth curved into the ghost of a smile. “Never mind about the lad. Sir Miles will know what to do. Do you know if he survived?”
Bronwyn shook her head. “I’ve no idea. I was captured along with some of the other women and the queen freed me and put me to work in the kitchens.”
He snorted. “She’s very trusting; I’ll say that for her. I’d be worried you’d poison me the first chance you got.”
“I think that would be the obvious move, if I wanted my head chopped off.”
He started as if insulted. “You don’t shy away from sharing your opinion, do you, girl?”
“No, I don’t. And my name is Bronwyn.”
Their eyes met. Sir Robert was in his mid-fifties, she guessed, and looked weary from the strain of battle and his injuries.
“I’ll help,” Lady Susanna said, interrupting their conversation. She stood there. “I want to help.”
“You’re risking a lot, aren’t you? By helping. Are you still loyal to the empress?”
Lady Susanna balked, as if Bronwyn had just asked her to stand on her head. “That is a very personal question. But yes, I am loyal. And I want to do my bit.”
She didn’t say to whom she was loyal, Bronwyn thought. But if Lady Susanna was in fact loyal to the empress, why then had she locked the squires away the night before the empress’s coronation? It spoke of trickery. Bronwyn just didn’t understand why.
“You? But you’re just a lady-in-waiting,” Sir Robert said to the noblewoman.
Bronwyn snorted. At least his underestimation wasn’t just restricted to her; it was his view toward all women, it seemed. “She’s a lady-in-waiting and can go almost anywhere.”
“I sit with Matilda,” Lady Susanna said.
“She could see things that other people might not, as can I,” Bronwyn added.
“That’s true. Servants are overlooked,” Lady Susanna said with a half-smile at Bronwyn.
“Sir Robert, what do you think the queen’s forces will do now?”
“If my half-sister escaped? She will regroup and likely send an envoy to begin negotiations, or at least a messenger. If she didn’t, she would be here with us. So we have to assume she escaped,” he said.
“Where would she go?” Lady Susanna asked.
He shrugged. “Gloucester. Oxford more likely. Not London.” He looked closely at them. “Keep your eyes and ears open and report back to me with any information you overhear. Bronwyn, tell Theobold I am well. Lady Susanna…”
“I shall report back too. I know where my loyalty lies.” She bobbed a curtsey and swept away.
Bronwyn followed and found Lady Susanna waiting for her outside the infirmary.
“It’s good to be working together. How exciting.
I’m glad to be able to help. Although… I’ll be honest. I did mention to the other ladies that you fancied Rupert.
I know it’s not true because Lady Alice tells me so.
” She giggled. “But then… It’s true, then, that you and Theobold are together?
I wouldn’t blame you, you know. He is quite popular at court. Many ladies find him attractive.”
Bronwyn looked at her. “What about you, Lady Susanna?”
“Me? No, I have my own man.” She blushed.
“Tristan, you mean?”
Her blush deepened. “Fine. I’ll admit it. I do, I mean, I did fancy him.”
Bronwyn looked at her curiously, leaning in ever so slightly. Had the noblewoman just had a slip of the tongue? Or did she know more about Tristan’s supposed death?
“I’m sorry about what happened to him.”
Did she wipe away a tear? Bronwyn wasn’t sure.
She hadn’t meant to disturb her. “I was thinking I would visit Winchester Castle and visit his body to pay my respects. Would you like to come with me? We could speak to the priests there about laying his body to rest. It would be a kindness.” She thought uncharitably, In this heat, his body was likely to smell.
“I want to confirm that Sister Joan was mistaken. She wasn’t seeing ghosts, and she needs solid proof that she didn’t see Tristan walking around. ”
Lady Susanna gasped. “No.” She clapped a hand on Bronwyn’s wrist. “You can’t leave. Don’t do that.”
“What? Why not?”
“It’s wrong. You shouldn’t go disturbing his body when he is at rest. The priests and other folk there likely already buried him.
You’ll just bother everyone. Besides, you’re a prisoner here.
You can’t just go walking around wherever you feel like it.
Matilda won’t let you leave. How would it look for her to just let random prisoners leave whenever they felt like it? ”
Bronwyn blinked at her. She had become so used to being able to go anywhere in the castle as a servant, she’d lost sight of the fact she was a prisoner too. She would need to slip out somehow. “I only meant—”
“I know what you intend. You want to go digging around in his things and figure out where he was going the night he died. But it’s wrong, and I’ve got half a mind to tell Matilda what you’re planning. She won’t think highly of any servant who’s going about disturbing bodies.”
Bronwyn’s mouth dropped. “Lady Susanna…”
The noblewoman’s grip hardened on her wrist. “I mean it. Leave it alone. He’s dead. Why can’t you just let him rest in peace?” She blinked back tears.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“Don’t lie. I’ve heard enough about your scheming ways from Lady Alice. I didn’t always pay her attention, but I do now. Don’t bother his body. The kindest thing you can do is leave him be. He doesn’t deserve your attentions.” Lady Susanna released her wrist and sniffed, lifting her chin.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you now.”
“Where will you go?” Lady Susanna asked, one eyebrow raised.
“The brewery, I think. I want to know if that herb we found on Sir Robert’s person came from there.”
She curtsied to Lady Susanna and walked away, feeling the other woman’s eyes on her retreating form. Why such a strong reaction from Lady Susanna? Had she really been that attached to Tristan? From what Bronwyn had seen, he didn’t care for her at all. She had been a passing fancy to him.
Bronwyn entered the small castle brewery.
The place was largely empty, and she walked amongst the barrels, smelling the air that was scented of hops, oats, and fermenting barley.
She hadn’t much of a taste for ale and preferred wine when she could have it.
But as she walked, relishing the quiet, she couldn’t help but wonder at the figure standing over Sir Robert, with the strand of hops.
She walked along rows and rows of stacked barrels that led up to the ceiling.
As Bronwyn walked along, the scent grew stronger, and she followed it, when there was a sound. A footfall.
She wasn’t alone.
She whirled around. She wished she had a weapon. A knife, a broken bottle, anything.
“Hello?” she asked.
Maybe it was the local brewer. Another servant, or two, caught amidst a tryst.
There was silence.
She started to walk away and turned around a corner, when something hard struck the back of her head and everything went black.