Chapter 30 #2
“No, wait. Wait,” she cried, torment rising in her throat. “Mary, do you run like the wind and find my lord, or Sir Lanval,. Tell him—”
She began chasing after the rapidly departing figure. “Where is he? You have to tell me that, at least. Please, please John, or I cannot go with you. I won’t.”
“We ride for the crossroads,” he said reluctantly.
Lily turned toward Mary, urging the maid to flee. “The Rean, Saint Ives crossroads, tell my lord, Mary. Make haste.”
So full of anxious thought was she that she did not see the sinister look on John Percy’s face as he took a rolled parchment from his pouch and slipped it into her forgotten basket.
* * *
“Now we end this,” Edward told Lanval, and with a nod he nudged Windfar forward into a canter. His men looked on until he melted into the dark and then took up their positions; every one of them knew their part.
The trees around Edward stained the path with shadows. An uncanny silence held fast the darkling night, save for a single owl speaking rumors to the slender crescent of the moon.
Down through the woods he went. Man and horse as one. Every nerve, every muscle coiled in anticipation.
He found the crossroads deserted, as he expected. Windfar, sensing caution, slowed to a trot as they came out from the trees and rode into the wide circle where four roads met.
There in the center stood a way marker. Upon it hung a grisly sight.
The all but naked body of a young woman, bloodied and torn. Edward, for one moment, felt his heart stop. He instantly knew it was not his wife. The legs alone spoke clear, but horror grasped him by the throat.
He reeled in his emotions and tamped them down, taking up his battle stance. Pieces moving on a board, remember? He told himself. This is how he had survived every conflict he’d fought.
He’d been in readiness for weeks.
From the minute Lily had been reported missing, he knew. He’d positioned his pieces on the board and clothed his acuity in the calculating mindset of a military leader.
He dismounted, patted the horse, and spoke to him in a low voice. The animal instantly turned and made for the woods.
Edward removed his gauntlets, his movements measured and unhurried. He unsheathed his knife and made his way to the way marker to cut the poor girl down.
He had to use every bit of his height to reach the rope, which disadvantaged him, as no doubt was the purpose in the first place.
He would not willingly oblige his adversaries, so he was hardly surprised when he heard the air rustle at their approach.
From three sides of the wood, his enemies finally came upon him: Percy, Pravel, and Lambert Keeling.
Lily’s three vanished knights from Salliswoods.
A bird called from deep inside the woods confirmed his guess. He did not even bother to turn around, but continued to cut the woman down and lay her upon the ground.
Finally, he turned about, his back to the marker post.
A quick scan assured him that Lily was not among them.
Each man had a sword in hand and a grimace upon his face. They came creeping down the slope to the open circle with stealthy limbs and hate emanating from every part of them.
Another birdcall sounded from the woods. Edward watched in silence, his gaze narrow and deadly.
“How gratifying,” said Pravel, “you fell for the bait, just as Lily said you would.”
“I am supposed to believe you, Pravel?“ said Edward, stepping off the marker’s plinth. “And was this,” he indicated the said dead girl, “poor unfortunate supposed to trick me into thinking it was my wife?”
It was Lambert who answered. “If you like, it signifies nothing. What it’s meant to show you is the length my sister will go to get her way.”
“And what way is that, Lambert? You would know, naturally, as you are your sister’s close confidant.
Not so? The thing is, you see,” he added with cold contempt, “you forget. Lily has had ample time to reveal to me the relationships between the two of you. And I would call you downright unbrotherly.”
“What would you know? It’s play-acting our Lily does, and she’s good at it.
She fooled you, didn’t she? In truth, it’s your demise she wants.
She wants to be free of you. She is willing to kill for it,” said Lambert.
“And has,” he added with a smirk in his voice, pointing to the bloody body of little Mary.
“We needed something to hook your interest. A dead body seemed likely to get your attention,” said Percy with a high-pitched giggle. “But she enjoyed the killing.”
“We wanted you alone, see?” said Lambert.
Edward glanced about, pretending to look for her. “If, as you say, she is part of your scheme, where, pray, is the charming lady? “
“Don’t be afeared, she will join us soon,” said Pravel. “She will not forego watching you die, Ravensworth, you may be sure. You’re not leaving these crossroads alive, in any case.”
In that moment Edward became aware that there was someone moving among the trees behind the three men. Yes, he told himself, it was Lily. It was too slight to be one of his men and in any case, they knew to remain completely hidden until he gave the signal.
The shadowy shape limped into view, and Edward’s breath came free once again. In silence, he thanked the merciful Almighty for the sight of her upright and on her feet.
Without seeming to notice her lest he alert his enemies, he watched her creeping forward, step by stealthy step. He sent another prayer of thanks for Master Finch’s training. None of the enemy had noticed her. Shortly, she would reach the crossroad and step out from under the trees.