Cast Love Aside (4 page)

“Now that we have what we came for, I do
believe it's time for us to be on our way,” Braedon remarked,
surveying the sleeping men-at-arms. “We knew the effects of herbs
and poppy syrup in wine wouldn't last very long and if we're wise,
we'll be gone from Manoir Sainte Inge before anyone wakens
completely.”

“We cannot leave two ladies here,
undefended,” William declared. “Erland's men will naturally be
irritated when they discover they’ve been tricked and that their
master is gone. They’re sure to take their anger out on the
women.”

As if to emphasize the validity of the claims
of both men, a man-at-arms tried to push himself off the floor,
groaning and blinking his eyes, only to slump back into
unconsciousness again.

“You’re right, William,” Magnus admitted,
giving way far too easily to what he secretly longed to do. Women
were not included in the orders he'd been given back in England,
but neither had he been commanded to leave innocent bystanders to
an evil fate. Lilianne in particular was in danger for, thanks to
Braedon's loose speech, she knew that he and his men planned to
convey Erland across the Narrow Sea. What the men-at-arms would do
to make her tell what she knew was too horrible to contemplate. The
only other option, that of killing both Lilianne and Alice before
he left the manor in order to keep them from talking, was equally
unthinkable. Not even to ensure the safe completion of his mission
would he murder women.

Though he had spoken softly to William,
Lilianne heard him.

“Yes,” she said, sounding remarkably pleased
at the idea of departing from her home in the company of strangers.
“Alice and I must go with you. It’s the only way for us to be
safe.”

Over Alice's bowed head she regarded him with
shining eyes and an eager expression. That look was all the reward
Magnus wanted from her, and it was far more than a man in his
position had any right to expect. For just a moment he allowed
himself the pleasure of drowning in her violet eyes. Then Braedon
coughed rather pointedly and Magnus remembered that he was supposed
to be in command of their expedition.

“You will need your cloaks,” he told
Lilianne. “It will be cold on the water.”

“Water?” Alice repeated in a trembling
voice.

“Don't be afraid,” Lilianne said. Sliding an
arm around Alice's shoulders, she began to guide her toward the
stairs. “You must see that this is the wisest course for us. We
will be perfectly safe with these honest knights.”

“Bring nothing but your cloaks,” Magnus
ordered, his voice gruff because he was feeling guilty about his
strong sensual reaction to Lilianne. Nor was he sure he could live
up to her naive expectations. She hadn't the faintest idea how
dangerous the next hour or two could be. “Don't stop to pack any
belongings. Meet us at the manor gate. If you aren't there when we
pass through it, we will leave you behind to deal with Erland's men
as best you can.”

“He doesn't really mean it,” Lilianne said to
Alice.

“I do mean it,” Magnus told her. “Get
yourselves to the gate as fast as you can.”

“Alice, you wait here,” Lilianne said. “I'll
run upstairs to our rooms and collect the cloaks, and then I'll be
right back.”

“Of course, I'll wait. How can I do
otherwise?” Alice wailed.

As she unclasped her hands and held out her
arms, her wide grey sleeves fell back, allowing Magnus to see for
the first time how her wrists were bound together.

“Sir William, what have you done to her?”
Lilianne gasped, apparently only then realizing that her friend was
tied.

“She bit my hand,” William said. “I had to
restrain her. But if Alice will promise to cause no more trouble,
I’ll unfasten the thong.”

“That seems fair enough to me,” Magnus said,
amused by the notion of William having to fight off the fragile
looking little novice.

“Wait!” Lilianne commanded. She laid one hand
over Alice's bound wrists. Her violet gaze moved from William to
Braedon, and finally to Magnus, who stood frozen in place by the
fierce determination in those wonderfully expressive eyes. “Alice
will make no promises until all three of you swear that, at your
first opportunity, you will force Erland to tell you where he has
hidden my brother.”

“Is that what all of this is about?” Alice
asked, looking around the hall at the snoring men-at-arms. “This
was done for Gilbert's sake?”

“Not entirely,” Magnus told her. To Lilianne
he added, “I’ve already given you my word. You require no other
oaths from me, and my men will count themselves bound by my
promise. Lilianne, get your cloaks. William, untie Alice. Then, in
the name of heaven, let us be gone from this place before something
else unexpected happens.”

“I must go with you in any case, my lord,”
Alice said to Magnus. “Under no circumstances can I allow Lilianne
to travel alone with men, no matter how well-intentioned they may
be.”

“At least Erland chose a sensible companion
for his niece,” Magnus muttered. “Lilianne, if you do not move this
instant, you and your friend will embark without cloaks to keep you
warm.”

Having seen Alice unbound, Lilianne all but
flew up the stairs to seize her heaviest cloak. Disobeying Magnus's
command to bring nothing else, she reached under her mattress to
grab the leather bag containing coins and a few pieces of her
mother's jewelry that she had hidden where her uncle wasn’t likely
to find them. The small treasure trove was intended for the day
when she escaped Manoir Sainte Inge to rescue Gilbert. She fastened
the bag securely to her belt.

She wasted no time in going to Alice's drafty
chamber, but instead pulled her second-best cloak out of the
clothes chest under the window. She knew how thin and worn Alice's
own cloak was. Lilianne had noticed the neatly stitched patches
when Alice first arrived at Manoir Sainte Inge, and she had been
disgusted with Erland's refusal to allow the girl better protection
from the damp seaside chill, or to assign her to a more comfortable
bedchamber.

That, Lilianne resolved as she hurried back
down the steps, was a situation she intended to change at once, now
that Erland had nothing to say about what she did or where she
went. She would insist that Alice be treated like the gentlewoman
she was.

When she reached the hall again Lilianne
found William rubbing Alice's wrists while he apologized for having
fastened the leather thong so tightly. Lilianne had thought the
thong was remarkably loose, but she decided to say nothing to
contradict William's well-meant attentions.

“Magnus and Braedon are on their way to the
gate,” William explained to Lilianne. He took the heavier cloak
from her and wrapped it about Alice's shoulders. “I stayed behind
to escort you, in case any of the men-at-arms should waken. There,
Alice, you’ll be warm enough now. Lady Lilianne, are you ready? We
must go.”

“Yes.” Choosing not to protest about Alice
wearing her best cloak, Lilianne fastened the clasp of the second
cloak at her throat, then took Alice's hand. “We will follow
you.”

Scarcely had they reached the courtyard when
they met Magnus and Braedon returning to the manor house, Magnus
still with the unmoving Erland draped over his shoulder. Lilianne
marveled at his strength.

“The sentries at the gate are awake,” Braedon
told them. “We could hear them talking about how they fear Erland
will learn they’ve been drinking wine and sleeping on duty.”

“If we try to leave that way we'll face a
battle that will delay us until all of the men-at-arms are awake,”
Magnus said. “We have to find another exit.”

“Isn't there a postern gate?” William
asked.

“This is a manor house, not a castle,”
Braedon reminded him.

“There will be a second gate,” Magnus said
calmly. “We only have to find it.”

“I don't recall one on the plan we
memorized,” Braedon said.

“Yet another inaccurate detail provided by
Royce’s contact,” William muttered. “I’d like to put my hands
around that lying Norbard’s throat.”

“Norbard has been your contact here?”
Lilianne exclaimed in disbelief. Aware of all three men staring at
her, she went on, “Norbard is Erland's steward and his closest
aide. Where my uncle goes, Norbard is usually at his side. He led
the men-at-arms on the day Erland took Gilbert away. Are you saying
Norbard is an English spy?”

“Never mind,” Magnus said. “Just tell me if
Norbard has returned to the manor.”

“He has not,” Lilianne answered in a bitter
tone, for she disliked the man who had made a point of being rude
to Gilbert. “Everything Norbard sees or hears, he reveals to my
uncle,” she added.

“Just as I feared,” William remarked with a
sigh. “Norbard is almost certainly a double agent.”

“Magnus,” Lilianne said, again putting her
trust in him as she revealed a family secret, “I know of a passage
that leads directly to the beach. Would using it help you?”

“Which beach?” Magnus asked. “The manor sits
on the very tip of the promontory. As we came ashore earlier, I
noticed there is no way to get around the promontory at beach
level. The rocks jut too far into the sea.”

“The passage opens into a cave,” Lilianne
said. “The mouth of the cave faces west.”

“Are you sure?” Magnus asked with remarkable
calmness, considering the growing danger of their position.

“My father took me there once, when I was a
little girl,” Lilianne said. “I haven't been in the passage for
many years, but I do recall how Father and I stood just inside the
mouth of the cave to watch the sun setting into the sea.”

“All right, then,” Braedon said, grinning at
her. “We beached our boat just under the cliff on the west side,
below the manor house.”

“Where is this passage?” Magnus asked. “How
do we reach it?”

“The entrance is down below, in the storage
cellar,” Lilianne answered. “We’ll have to walk through the hall
again. The stairs to the storage cellar are in the kitchen.”

“Show us,” Magnus ordered.

“The men-at-arms will be waking up,” Alice
warned. “What shall we do if they try to stop us?”

“We fight,” Magnus said. Unsheathing his
sword, he started up the steps to the manor house entrance.

Lilianne followed him, with the others close
behind. Understanding the need for haste, once she was inside she
raced ahead of Magnus, making for the kitchen door.

In the hall the men were, indeed, beginning
to wake up. Most of them looked groggy, shaking their heads and
staring dully as Magnus and his companions hurried past. Only one
man was alert enough to stagger to his feet and challenge them.

“Wait!” he cried. “Who are ye, and where d'ye
think yer goin'?”

Magnus marched right past him. Lilianne was
already at the kitchen entrance, but Alice was behind Magnus, with
William at her side. The man-at-arms grabbed at her, catching her
cloak.

“I shaid, wait!” the man-at-arms yelled,
slurring his words and weaving on his feet as if drunk.

He got no further in his attempt to halt
Alice's progress. William tapped the man on the shoulder and when
he turned his head to see who was interfering, William landed a
hard punch on his jaw. The man-at-arms went down like a felled
tree.

“Oh, my!” Alice gaped at William as if she
couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. “What have you
done?”

“He deserved it for his rudeness to you,”
William said.

Aware of the conversation behind her,
Lilianne glanced around Magnus's large frame to discover what was
happening. William had an arm at Alice's waist, urging her onward.
Braedon, sword in hand, was walking backward, watching the
sluggishly stirring men-at-arms.

“Keep moving, Lilianne,” Magnus ordered. He
hadn't bothered to look over his shoulder, apparently believing his
companions were sufficient as a rear guard.

When they reached the kitchen they found the
servants sleeping on the stone floor. Even the youthful spit boy,
whom Lilianne expected to find awake, was curled up next to the
hearth with an empty wooden cup near his hand. The six birds
impaled upon the spit were roasted black and the smell of burning
fat filled the air.

“I see no danger here,” Braedon said, looking
around at the peaceful scene.

“Which way?” Magnus demanded of Lilianne.

“Follow me.” She started for an arch at the
rear of the kitchen, then paused. “We'll need a torch.”

“I'll take this one.” Braedon grabbed a
flambeau from a nearby sconce. “I doubt if anyone here will miss
it.”

Lilianne waited no longer, but started down a
wide staircase, with Magnus at her heels. The stairs ended in the
storage cellar, which was full of barrels and baskets. Most of the
containers were empty, for the previous season’s harvest was nearly
depleted and the new harvest wouldn’t begin for several weeks.

“If we're going into a tunnel, we'll need
more light,” Braedon said. Looking around he found a wall bracket
next to the stairs and used the flambeau he was carrying to ignite
a second torch.

“We'll have to move two of those barrels,”
Lilianne said, pointing to the side wall. “The door is behind
them.”

“I'll do it.” William left Alice's side to
hurry forward.

“Be careful,” Magnus warned. “Try to leave
the barrels looking undisturbed. I'd rather not be followed, if we
can avoid it.”

“Right.” William dragged the two barrels away
from a low door. “This looks as if it hasn't been opened for
years.”

“It probably hasn't, not since before my
father died,” Lilianne agreed. “The latch may be rusted shut.”

“Let me try it.” Magnus reached forth his
large hand to grasp the latch. The door slowly opened, swinging
wide on well-oiled hinges. “It's not rusted at all. In fact, I'd
say this exit has been used recently. It has been disguised to make
it appear to be rusted shut.