Chapter Seventeen
Bronwyn stood, her arm and side bandaged, before the queen.
Also in attendance were Sir Robert, who was given a chair, Sir William, and a few of the queen’s trusted men.
Bronwyn swallowed. She almost felt as if she were in trouble, even though Tristan sat mutely in a jail below, under heavily armed guard.
“Tell us what happened,” the queen said. “Start at the beginning.”
Bronwyn took a deep breath. “For weeks now, someone has been plaguing the empress. Little tricks, that got worse. From an upturned chamber pot in her bed, little drawings of her dying in a fire, to a knife in her pillow, and a sheep’s head placed in her bed when she was asleep.
Horrible things. The empress was worried there was a spy, so she asked me to look into it.
Me and Tristan Langforde, Sir Miles Fitzwalter’s squire. ”
Queen Matilda’s eyes widened slightly at this, and she murmured, “And here I thought military tactics were the way to frighten her off. Apparently, all I needed was a quill and a good servant.” To Bronwyn, she motioned. “Go on.”
“I figured out that it was one of the squires, who was either paying people close to her or blackmailing them, to write her rude notes and let him slip into her room unnoticed. This man was Tristan. But then I doubted myself. Because he died.”
Sir William of Ypres shot her a look. “Don’t be talking about ghosts now, girl.”
“I’m not. But to the empress’s court, he’d died.
He could have been behind it, but it didn’t matter at that point, if he was no longer a threat.
And then when the queen’s armies took over, we were captured.
Peter the brewer seemed responsible—and Mistress Agatha made me think that I’d been wrong entirely about Tristan. ”
She paused to let that bit of information sink in.
“I’d made a mistake, you see. I’d told Tristan before that Lady Susanna, one of the empress’s ladies-in-waiting, fancied him.
He laughed and acted like it was a great joke.
I didn’t know that they had been lovers for months already, and she was already helping him with his tricks. ”
“Such a disloyal young woman. Why would she do this, and go against her mistress?” Queen Matilda asked.
“Because she thought herself in love with him.”
“Hmph. Her loyalty is misplaced. I deplore the use of schemes and intrigues at court, even if they are to my advantage. This all is most distasteful. It leaves a sour note on my tongue. I actually feel sorry for Maud, how she has surrounded herself with traitors and spies. How miserable she must be.” The queen sat straighter.
“Guards, arrest the Lady Susanna. Put her in a cell near the squire Tristan so they may shout at each other all they like. See how long their love lasts then.”
Within minutes, Lady Susanna sat in a nearby jail cell.
Bronwyn continued, “With Lady Susanna helping him, disturbing the empress was easy. And once your armies attacked and the empress was on the run, Tristan could escape here. His plan had changed. His master had charged me with delivering a note to Sir Robert. I don’t know what it said.
But it got me out of the castle and put me in harm’s way.
I suspect they wanted me gone, for the next step in their plan. ”
“Which was?” Sir William asked.
“Once the empress was bothered and feared for her life, killing off her main military commander, Sir Robert, would be sure to ruin her plans in the war. She depends on him. That would be sure to end things quickly.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Queen Matilda said. “That would still mean that my husband sits in Bristol Prison, and then we would have no leverage to use to bargain with for his release.”
“True. But Tristan didn’t know about Maud refusing to take part in the exchange of prisoners.
He was following his master’s orders and only wanted to get rid of Sir Robert.
So he tried, first by attempting to find him in the infirmary, but Sister Joan found him and thought she’d seen a ghost. He’d been hiding in the brewery and the air around Sir Robert smelled like hops.
He’d broken into the store cupboard and stolen some monkshood, a poison, and even shed a grain when Sister Joan had interrupted him.
When I went looking down in the brewery later, I was attacked. ”
The people were unmoved. “Tristan, I suppose?”
“Yes. Only Lady Susanna and the doctors knew where I was headed. So no one else besides her, the doctors, or Tristan would have had the knowledge or opportunity to hit me. I’m just lucky that Rupert and Lady Alice found me.
Then Tristan tried to poison anyone who could recognize him, see he was alive and well, and give him away, which meant Theobold, Sir Robert’s squire, the brewer, and Sister Joan.
He’d poisoned some bread and had walked right into the cells, convincing the guards that he was bringing some late-night food and drink for the prisoners.
They had seen me and other servants before, so they probably didn’t think anything out of the ordinary. ”
“How do we know what you’re saying is the truth?” the queen asked.
“Ask Mistress Agatha Carre. Tristan caught her lying and blackmailed her to do his bidding. He was behind it all. She might deny that Tristan was blackmailing her, but I doubt it now that all has been exposed.”
“Find her,” the queen said, and a guard quit the room.
In moments, Agatha was brought in. She glared at the pair of guards and said, “I don’t know what sort of court you’re running here, but I don’t care to be so rudely treated. I want these guards whipped for their impertinence. I want—”
“Mistress Agatha, please withhold your demands for the moment. There are some questions we’d like to ask you,” the queen said.
Agatha turned and curtsied. “Your Grace.”
The queen motioned Sir William close and whispered behind her hand.
As they talked, Agatha waited, then sniffed loudly.
She clearly disliked being summoned, then ignored.
She looked down her nose at Bronwyn. “Proud of yourself, aren’t you?
Think the empress will treat you better and give you some reward for finding out who was behind it all, eh?
I could’ve told her that myself. Peter always had it in for the empress.
He and Tristan were working together the whole time.
I was just waiting for the right moment. ”
Bronwyn snorted. “And would that be before or after Tristan decided to blackmail you?”
Agatha’s eyebrows narrowed. “You’ve got a sharp tongue, you little wretch. What makes you think you can talk to me that way?”
Bronwyn went on the offensive. “He knew just like I did that the night of the empress’s so-called poisoning, you were faking. Why did you do that to her?”
She shrugged. “The woman was getting full of herself. She needed to be taught a lesson.”
What a vengeful creature, Bronwyn thought. “So he threatened to tell the empress what you’d done unless you did what he asked. He’d slaughtered the sheep and with your help, hid it in the empress’s bed.”
Agatha gave a sharp nod.
“I’m guessing you helped slip the note in the empress’s Book of Hours as well.”
“Yes. But I didn’t write it. The brewer did. He wanted to play a little trick on the empress too, but when Tristan caught him and saw his inky fingers, he knew who was behind it. He threatened us both unless we helped him.”
“So Lady Alice had nothing to do with the tricks on the empress,” Bronwyn said.
Agatha shook her head. “Lady Alice did nothing. Useless as usual. Lady Susanna had been helping from the start. But she was always watching, every move I made. It was unnerving. The stupid wench, she fancied they were in love. Tristan didn’t have to blackmail her.
She’d do anything he said, the silly woman. ”
The queen interrupted. “How disgusting. I actually feel sorry for Maud. She clearly struggles with whom to trust. What a pity she put her faith in you.”
Agatha shot her a glare but wisely kept her mouth shut.
The queen turned to Bronwyn. “So, it’s true, then, that this Tristan was behind these nasty pranks on Maud. But how did you know that Tristan was the same person who killed the nun?”
“Because she, the brewer, and the squire, Theobold, were the only people who could recognize him when he walked around the prison cells and raise the alarm. And with Sister Joan in jail, she could tell the other prisoners what she’d seen.
Hiding in the brewery, Tristan wouldn’t know if she had already raised the alarm or not.
He’d only have to act and try to eliminate the problem. ”
“So she was his target,” Sir William said.
“I think so. It’s why the brewer started talking about ghosts when he saw him and likely knew what he was about. That didn’t save Sister Joan, however.” Bronwyn looked away. She’d liked the young nun.
“But they weren’t the only ones who came from the empress’s camp. There was yourself, Lady Alice, and the other nun, Sister Rebecca. Why weren’t all of you targeted as well?”
“Honestly? I think it was only a matter of time before he did. Moving targets are a lot harder to take out than ones sitting in jail cells.” Bronwyn repressed a shudder at the thought and imagined Lady Alice drinking a poisoned cup of wine, or Sister Rebecca dying from a knife in the back at church, or…
“So that brings us to tonight. What can you tell me of this?” the queen asked.
“Simple. Sir William and I hatched a plan. We agreed with the physicians in the infirmary that I would pretend to be a patient and hide and pretend to be asleep, to surprise Tristan when he came in and catch him in the act. Sir William?”
Sir William spoke up. “We didn’t know if the man would try to attack Sir Robert again, or if he’d try to kill the others down in prison again, so we had our men hiding in both areas.
I was down in the cells hiding with some of the guards with the doors closed but unlocked.
The guards manning the post were the same as usual, so no one would be the wiser. ”
“Let us see what Lady Susanna has to say about all this. Bring her to us,” the queen commanded.
In minutes, the noblewoman was brought up from the cells, heavily guarded. “I tell you, it’s all a mistake. You’re wrong. It was an innocent mistake,” Lady Susanna protested. She was held back by the arms by two guards, and her face was pale. “Your Grace, I don’t know why I was sent to jail.”
“Ha. A likely story. Your Grace, this young woman is either naive, stupid, or lying through her teeth. I cannot believe she didn’t know what she was doing,” Sir William said.
“Lady Susanna, we know that you were helping the squire, Tristan Langforde, in his plans to kill members of the empress’s camp, and that you were informing on others. What have you to say for yourself?”
“Why would I want to kill anyone?” Lady Susanna said. “I wouldn’t want to harm anyone.”
Sir William barked a laugh. Lady Susanna reddened. The other knights in the room exchanged dubious looks.
Sir William paused. “One of the prisoners died before we could save him.”
Bronwyn’s heart pounded in her chest. “Who?”
Theobold. Is he alive? She dreaded to think.
“The brewer,” Sir William said. “He’d gone mad, kept raving about ghosts walking the halls. Then he clutched his chest and collapsed. Died within minutes. Nothing we could do. His was the only death.”
Bronwyn’s shoulders relaxed. Theobold was safe, for now.
Bronwyn said, “Lady Susanna, I recall the other ladies at Maud’s court teased you, for having a secret lover.
But you seemed to only start romancing Tristan recently.
Was he your lover?” Bronwyn asked. She knew the answer, but if she could get the noblewoman to admit it here, in front of everyone, they might be able to get more information from her.
Lady Susanna glared at her. All thoughts of friendship had disappeared from her face, and she spat at her. “I’m not saying anything.”
Spittle hit Bronwyn’s chin, and she wiped it away.
“Young lady, this might be your one chance to escape the noose. Would you die for that young man?” Sir William asked.
She glared at him mutinously.
“It’s true,” Mistress Agatha said. “They were lovers, have been for months. She was always watching and she helped Tristan from the start. She was involved in every little plot to hurt the empress. And if you let her stay here at court, she’ll try to destroy you too, Your Grace.”
“Guards, take these two women away. I find their presence foul,” the queen said.
Mistress Agatha and Lady Susanna were removed, the former hissing and cursing.
“So Bronwyn stopped the murderous squire, Tristan,” Queen Matilda said.
“With a little help from Sir Robert and the guards,” Bronwyn said.
“No need to be so humble, girl,” Sir Robert said brusquely. To the queen he said, “I was just waking up when I heard the squire reveal it all. He confessed and was going to try and kill me. I was as weak as a newborn kitten. Tried to throw a knife at the boy but missed. She saved my life.”
“I am glad to hear it.” Queen Matilda gave him a demure smile and looked at him kindly. “Sir Robert, are you sure we cannot tempt you to join us? We could use a man of your stature and gravity. Your skills on the battlefield are renowned.”
Sir Robert looked at the queen for a minute. He paused, as if thinking. Is he truly considering her offer? Bronwyn wondered. Then he slowly smiled and shook his head. “Your Grace, I appreciate your offer, but I am loyal to the empress.” He stood. “By your leave, I will return to my cell.”
Queen Matilda nodded. “Guards, take him. See he comes to no harm.”
Sir Robert was led away. Queen Matilda shook her head and tsked. “What a disappointment.”