Chapter Fourteen
“Bronwyn?” a voice asked. “Bronwyn?”
Her eyes fluttered and she let out a groan. The back of her head hurt. She opened her eyes and saw Rupert and Lady Alice standing over her. “Huh? What happened?”
“I saw Lady Susanna and asked if she’d seen you,” Lady Alice said. “She said yes, but then you parted ways, although you’d mentioned you were going to the brewery. Were you really that thirsty?”
“No, it wasn’t that.” Bronwyn started to sit up.
“Whoa, careful there. Slowly.” Rupert helped her, putting a hand to her back.
Feeling groggy, Bronwyn looked around. The ground was cold where she lay, and the air was heavy with the scents of oak barrels, hops, beer, ale, and barley.
“What were you doing down here, anyway?” Rupert asked.
“Sister Joan found someone standing over Sir Robert in the infirmary, but she scared them away. Whoever it was left a bit of herb behind, and the brewer recognized it as one of the hops he’d use for making beer. So I came down here to have a look. We need to—” Bronwyn stopped.
Rupert and Alice knelt across from her, but they were on different sides. She swallowed. “I came down here to see if I could find where the reed came from when something hit me from behind.”
She reached to the back of her head and felt something sticky. Her hand came away with a few drops of blood. They looked dark on her hand.
Lady Alice turned pale. “Oh, my. Could it have been an accident? Did you bump into something and hit your head?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t like this,” Rupert said. “You shouldn’t be wandering around here alone. What if you were attacked?”
Bronwyn shrugged. “I’m glad you two found me.”
“Tell us more about the person standing over Sir Robert. What was he doing there?” Rupert asked.
“Or her,” Lady Alice added.
“I don’t know, as I wasn’t there,” Bronwyn said. “Sister Joan spotted them. I wondered if perhaps it was a person who worked down here, or maybe had escaped during the fighting and was hiding out here.”
“So you went looking for them alone?” Rupert asked. “Never mind. I know the answer to that question.” He rose to his feet and started walking.
“Where are you going?” Lady Alice asked.
“To see if anyone’s here. If so, they’ve got a lot to answer for. You two stay there.”
A few minutes later, he returned. “Nothing. If there was someone there, they’re gone now. Let’s get you out of here.”
Bronwyn got to her feet and wavered a bit, but under the watchful eyes of Rupert and Lady Alice, made her way back up the steps. Rupert said, “You should go to the infirmary.”
“I’ll take her,” Lady Alice said. “She shouldn’t be alone.”
“It’s all right. I’m fine,” Bronwyn said.
“Nonsense, your hair is all bloody. It’s disgusting. Come along.” Lady Alice brooked no argument and began walking ahead.
Bronwyn snorted softly. It was clear Lady Alice expected her to follow.
Rupert said, “You decide to do any more investigating, you let me know. I don’t want you to do this by yourself.”
She smiled, too brightly. She didn’t want Rupert to report her to the queen. She still wanted to find out who had been behind these incidents that plagued the empress. “I’m fine.”
“And look what happened to you. I’d—”
Lady Alice interrupted. “She said, she’s fine. Let the girl be. Bronwyn, come on. I’m waiting.”
“Bye,” Bronwyn told Rupert as she walked away.
Rupert shot her a frown and walked off. “I’m going to have the brewery searched. Don’t come by here again alone,” he called.
Bronwyn and Lady Alice walked together. “He’s right, you know,” Lady Alice said once they were out of earshot. “You shouldn’t be doing this all alone. You should have help.”
Bronwyn didn’t want to say the obvious, that she had no one to help her. With friends and enemies on both sides, there was no one she could truly trust. Not really.
Lady Alice let out a little sigh. “I’m mad at you. I was mad at you.”
“Why?”
“Because that night when you saw us in the stables, and he came running after you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to see you two…” Bronwyn started.
Lady Alice shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. I didn’t care. I wanted people to see. To know that we were together. Even if it meant my reputation might be… blackened by it. I want him. But he cares for you, and I see it now.”
Bronwyn glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you see? He was with me, and I was in a state of undress, yet as soon as you showed any kind of unhappiness, he came running after you. I’ve never felt so insulted in all my life. He should have stayed with me. Any ordinary man would have. But not him. Not Rupert.”
“Oh.”
“I suppose that’s why I care for him so much. He’s extraordinary. But it cut me to the quick to see him running after you. Then I realized, he views you like a little sister. He wants to protect you, look out for you. That’s why he went running.”
Bronwyn had, for a moment, allowed herself to hope. She should have known she’d be wrong. “That must be it.”
“I’m sure of it. Why else would he leave me like that?
It makes no sense.” Lady Alice tossed her black hair over her shoulder.
“Now, what we are going to do about this mess? Clearly, someone doesn’t want you snooping around.
Normally, I’d agree with that thought, but this won’t do. You could’ve been hurt.”
“I was.”
“You’re lucky we found you,” Rupert said. “You shouldn’t be wandering around the castle alone like this. It’s not safe.
“Well, never mind,” Lady Alice said. “I will help you solve this and find out who is trying to kill Sir Robert. I have no doubt that whomever Sister Joan found standing over him meant him harm, and now you, too. We just need to figure out who that might be.”
“And why would someone want to kill him?” Bronwyn wondered.
Lady Alice shot her an even look, as if the answer to that were obvious.
“Why now, I mean. He is captured and in ill health. He is going to be ransomed off soon. Why would anyone want to kill him? He’s a prisoner here, and he’s worth more alive than dead.”
“Perhaps someone is afraid of what he knows. Maybe he’s been privy to some secrets.”
Bronwyn shrugged. “I don’t doubt it. It still doesn’t explain why someone would attack him now.”
“I would think that one of Matilda’s men would want him dead. Maybe out of revenge for all the lives he’s taken.”
“Maybe. But to do that would run a great risk, since both the queen and Sir William of Ypres want him kept alive.”
“I can’t help but think that someone must have a good reason for wanting him dead. Maybe one of his own men?”
“The only men of his here are in prison. They can’t get out,” Bronwyn said, thinking of Theobold.
“Then it must be someone else.” Lady Alice stopped. “I know. I’ll tell Matilda and suggest she assign a guard to watch him.”
Bronwyn smiled. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy that.”
Lady Alice put her hands on her hips. “It doesn’t matter if he appreciates it or not. We need to keep him alive. The empress depends on him.”
“What about Sir Miles?”
“Empress Maud’s cousin?” Lady Alice looked around, as if to see if they were at risk of being overheard. “I think he has not Sir Robert’s war record, or way with the men. I see Sir Miles as more of an ambassador figure. It’s such a shame his squire died. Lady Susanna was quite beside herself.”
Bronwyn paused. “Lady Alice, what do you say to a little visit back to Winchester Castle?”
“I’d say you’re wasting your time. Not to mention my going would attract attention. We’re not supposed to be wandering around too much, you know. We are prisoners, remember. Why do you want to go?”
“There’s someone I want to visit.”
“Oh, no. You’re getting that look on your face. I know that look. It only means one thing.” Lady Alice shook her head.
“What?”
“That you’re going to land us in trouble, and me somewhere disgusting I do not like. The last time you had that look on your face, we left a castle via the privy, if you recall?”
“I do.”
“So do I, despite trying to forget. Forgive me if I don’t wish to repeat the experience. I’ll see what Rupert finds out from his search of the brewery instead.” Lady Alice walked away.