15 #2
Dominic looked grim. Despite his certainty of Meg’s love, Dominic found he had little liking of his wife’s affection for her childhood friend, Duncan of Maxwell.
“But,” Simon continued grimly, “I fear the hell-witch Amber has taken Duncan’s soul.”
“Is he dead?” Dominic demanded.
“No. Nor is he alive, not in the way we knew him.”
“Explain.”
The quality of Dominic’s voice made Sven shift and look at his lord’s mantle uneasily. The eyes of the great pin glittered with reflected firelight as though intelligent, alive, and every bit as savage as the man who wore it.
“It is as I told you,” Simon said distinctly. “Duncan remembers nothing of the time before he came to the Disputed Lands.”
“Are you certain?” Dominic asked. “Could he not be like Sven, pretending to be someone he isn’t in order to spy out the land?”
“I prayed that was the truth,” Simon said.
Meg simply shook her head. Tears glittered in her eyes as she remembered Duncan’s forthright nature.
“He is not like Sven,” Meg said, “an actor capable of many roles.”
“A man may learn to act when his life depends on it,” Dominic pointed out.
Meg closed her eyes for a moment. When they opened again, they were those of an unflinching Glendruid healer. It was the same when she spoke, her voice devoid of all emotion.
“Continue, Simon,” Meg said. “I would hear more of Duncan’s transformation. I would hear everything.”
Uneasily Simon looked at Dominic. There was nothing in Dominic’s face to comfort Simon.
“I showed no sign I recognized Duncan,” Simon said, turning back to Meg. “He kept staring at me as though trying to decide if he knew me.”
“How was he introduced to you?” she asked.
“As a man whose memory was gone.”
“What did they call him?”
“Duncan,” Simon said.
“Why?”
“Because he is dark and a warrior. At least, that is what Erik said.”
“Did they explain how Duncan lost his memory?”
“Nay,” Simon said savagely. “Erik said he found Duncan in a storm, senseless and naked but for that amber talisman you had given him.”
“Sven?” Meg asked.
“I heard naught but what Simon did.”
“The talisman saved his life,” Simon said.
“How so?” Dominic asked.
“Erik was expecting Duncan of Maxwell or his knights. A common stranger would have been killed as a spy or an outlaw. But a stranger wearing an amber talisman was different.”
“They took Duncan to Amber the Untouched,” Meg summarized.
Simon looked curiously at her, wondering how she had known.
“Yes,” Sven said quietly. “It is said that all things amber belong to her.”
“Yes,” Meg said.
For the space of several slow breaths she looked into a distance only Glendruid eyes could see.
“Did you know, small falcon?” Dominic asked Meg softly. “Is that why you gave the talisman to Duncan?”
“I dreamed of amber,” she said. “And I dreamed that Duncan was going into great danger.”
Dominic smiled slightly. “I knew about the danger while wide awake. ’Tis why I sent Duncan to secure Stone Ring Keep. Only a powerful warrior could take an estate in the Disputed Lands.”
“And only a wealthy knight could hire enough fighters to hold such an estate,” Simon added.
“Aye,” Dominic said. “’Tis why King Henry arranged a wedding with the daughter of Charles, the Baron of Deguerre.”
“Don’t count on the marriage,” Simon said bluntly.
“Why not?”
“The people of Sea Home were making wagers on how soon Amber would wed Duncan the Nameless, the one man whom she could touch with pleasure.”
“God’s teeth.” snarled Dominic. “Duncan must be mad. Lady Ariane arrived here three days ago!”
Simon looked surprised. “I saw no strange men or servants in the bailey.”
“She came alone but for a lady’s maid and three knights to guard her dowry,” Meg said.
“The knights left as soon as they saw the dowry safely inside the keep,” Dominic added.
“Hardly the way I would expect a great baron to treat his hounds,” Simon muttered, “much less his only daughter.”
“The baron was much put out by having to marry his daughter to a Saxon,” Dominic said neutrally.
“Then the baron may be pleased to get his daughter back.”
“If Duncan jilts Ariane, he will have no means of supporting the knights he must have to hold Stone Ring Keep,” Dominic said flatly. “And I, along with my unruly vassal, would suffer the displeasure of both the King of England and the King of Normandy.”
“All this,” Meg said quietly, “at a time when the last of the warriors you sent with Duncan are only now straggling back to Blackthorne Keep on foot, muttering about lightning from a clear sky that drove their horses mad.”
“Are you quite certain,” Dominic asked Simon, “that Duncan hasn’t forsworn himself and cast his lot with Erik?”
“Never!” Meg said before anyone could speak.
“That is what I feared at first,” Simon said calmly. “It would have explained much.”
“And?” Dominic asked.
“Rather quickly, I decided it wasn’t a simple matter of betrayal. If it had been, Duncan would have given me away to Sir Erik.”
Sven nodded, silently agreeing. “It would have meant Simon’s death.”
“So you decided he was bewitched,” Meg said, “and truly didn’t know you.”
“Yes. What else could it be?”