Sapphire - Book 2 (16 page)

“The hound has caught scent of a deer,” said
one of Roe’s huntsmen, holding back a hound that was sniffing out a
trail straight in front of them. “I believe it to be a hart or a
stag and it is just ahead.”

“Archers, position yourselves at your
trees,” called out Roe. “Huntsmen, follow along and bring the dogs,
but keep them tethered until we spot the prey. Men on horseback,
follow me.”

Roe led the way on his horse through the
woods in the direction the hound had signified. He knew that being
on horseback, they had an advantage. The animals they hunted had
learned to run from men. However, they did not fear man when he
rode atop a horse. He supposed the deer saw no threat in another
four-footed animal and therefore trusted them in this position. Roe
continued on through the forest with Henry and the others just
behind him. Then he stopped upwind of the deer, seeing it through a
small clearing munching on leaves. Actually, there was a group of
them - one female, several young ones, and one large male.

“Do you see that?” he whispered to
Henry.

“Hart of ten?” his uncle asked.

“I believe it does have ten tines on its
antlers,” relayed Roe. “This is the prize kill I’ve been waiting
for. The size of it is unbelievable.”

Roe waited until the kennelgrooms, huntsmen
and the hounds arrived, then signaled to the men to get their
attention.

Hand in the air, he took another look back
to the deer. The female lifted her head, obviously knowing
something was amiss. Females had a sense about them that seemed to
know things.

“Release the hounds!” he called, and they
all moved forward in a line, flushing out the deer, moving them
back towards the archers hidden in the trees, waiting to make the
kill.

Roe loved the feel of the chase of the hunt,
feeling more alive than ever. He charged through the woods with the
wind in his hair as he dodged branches expertly as he raced
forward, pushing the deer toward its imminent death.

“Remember to leave the hind and the young,
he told them. “We want the Hart of Ten only.”

The plan worked expertly, as they flushed
the deer right toward the archers waiting in the trees. Leaves
crunched and branches snapped underfoot. White flashes of tails and
the back ends of the deer leaping through the foliage could be
seen. Then the rain of arrows, and the thrashing of the stag as an
arrow hit its mark, lodging itself into the deer’s flank.

Roe stopped his horse and pulled a bow from
his back, preparing to make the final shot.

“I’ve got it,” said Henry, pulling his own
bow from his back, though he knew it was the lord of the castle’s
privilege to make the final kill.

“Leave it,” Roe instructed, but Henry raised
his bow anyway.

Without waiting for him to obey, Roe
released an arrow and brought the deer to the ground as it lodged
right through its heart.

“I wanted the kill,” snarled Henry, spotting
the hind and raising his bow to her instead. She had several young
ones with her, and Roe worried they would not survive the winter
without their mother.

“Lower your bow,” he warned him. “She has
knobbes with her.” Roe could tell the calves were under a year old.
If he left the mother to care for them through the winter, they
would have more meat to hunt in coming years. “Lower your bow I
warn you.”

“Nay. I’ll have a kill on this trip as
well.” Henry released his arrow and it lodged into the female deer.
But his aim was not true and he missed his mark, hitting her
instead in the back quarters of the hind. Frightened and running
for its life, the deer took off through the forest.

“Damn you, uncle,” spat Roe. “I told you to
leave it. Now it’s injured and we need to follow in order to finish
it off before it’s found by poachers.

Roe started to follow the deer, but his
uncle didn’t move. “Henry, I suggest you come with me to hunt down
this wounded animal. After all, you are the cause of it, now let’s
go.”

“Fine,” he spat, showing his reluctance, but
following Roe anyway.

Roe couldn’t believe his uncle’s greediness,
nor could he tolerate the way he still thought he was the one to
give the orders. He saw something within the man that worried him,
and he knew he needed to keep a close eye on him as he felt the man
could not be trusted.

They traveled far, hunting down the injured
deer. It was obviously very frightened and confused, as it made its
way along the outer perimeter near the coast instead of being
swallowed up by the forest. And then, before he realized it, he
found himself on stretch of land surrounded by the sea on three
sides. That is, the pebbly strand of Dungeness just outside of
Lydd.

The deer was stumbling now, and he knew it
wouldn’t be long before it could go no further. It left a clear
trail of blood, and Roe decided to put it out of its misery before
it suffered any longer. He lifted his bow and shot the arrow that
brought the deer to the ground.

“Nay, that was my kill,” shouted Henry from
beside him, his weapon still raised, but the arrow never having
left the bow.

Roe jumped off his horse, noticing the
fishermen along the coast and also the sheepherders on the marshes
with their flocks. They noticed him, and made their way toward
him.

Henry saw them as well, and jumped off the
horse. “We need to get the deer out of here quickly and away from
these peasants.”

Roe pulled his sword from his side and
looked at the people coming forward. He recognized Alice’s
brothers. He also noticed that the herders as well as the fishermen
looked gaunt and hungry. He thought how they must be suffering from
the loss of their shipment of wool. He still didn’t have the
answers for them that he’d promised, and had to do something to
make it up to them.

“Go to Lydd and see if the baron has
returned to his castle,” he told Henry. “If so, find out what you
can, as I highly suspect he is behind the smuggling.”

“Nay, I will stay and help you get my kill
back to the camp.”

Roe just shook his head, knowing the man
thought he deserved the deer when he didn’t.

“You may have wounded the thing, but it is
from my forest and I took it down. As the lord of Rye, I am making
the decision that this deer isn’t going anywhere.”

“What are you saying, Roe? You aren’t really
going to leave it for these commoners, are you?”

“They’ve had a bit of misfortune and lost
what would have provided the money to feed them and keep them warm
throughout the winter. They are down on their luck, and I will
leave it for them in promise that I will find their stolen shipment
of wool soon.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“I most certainly do.”

“But these people are under the fealty of
the baron. He can see to them instead.”

“I don’t see that happening. Now go to the
castle and find out what you can. I am going to offer these poor
people this meat and hopefully it’ll make them trust me enough to
tell me anything they may know to give me the answer of not only
who stole their goods, but also where the smugglers might be right
now.”

Henry reluctantly did as ordered, but Roe
had a feeling deep inside that his uncle knew more about the
smuggling than he was letting on.

* * *

Sapphire stopped her horse behind the Bucket
of Blood, not wanting to be seen entering the front of the
establishment and especially this early in the morning. It would
not do well for a lady to be talked about going into a place like
this. And though she didn’t want to bring the guard, she figured
she’d had no choice. She didn’t want trouble like the last time she
was here.

“Lady Sapphire,” said Erin, dismounting. “I
really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Neither do I,” said Dugald from atop his
horse.

The guard stayed silent and just scoped the
area with his eyes. She’d paid him well to not only come protect
them today but also to keep his mouth shut around Roe. She knew Roe
would be furious if he knew she’d come back here, but she had to do
this for Erin and Dugald. She knew how much the young couple was in
love and she needed Auley O’Connor to know that Dugald was not the
woman-beater he thought him to be.

Sapphire dismounted and Dugald hurriedly
followed, taking the reins of all three horses and tying them up to
a tree. The guard dismounted and stood a short distance behind
them.

They walked into the back door of the pub
that opened into a kitchen. One servant stirred a pot above the
fire and jumped up and curtsied when she saw them.

Sapphire just nodded. “Good morning,” she
said, finding herself pulling her mantle around her just like she’d
done the last time she’d visited this place. “Would you know where
we could find Mr. O’Connor?” she asked the woman.

“He is stayin’ in the room just at the top
of the stairs,” said the cook. Sapphire thanked her with a smile
and followed Erin through the kitchen with Dugald and the guard
right behind. She stopped and turned around.

“You two stay here for now,” she said, “as
I’d like to approach the man first with just his daughter.”

“That’s fine with me,” said Dugald, settling
himself atop a wooden bench pulled up to a table in the kitchen.
The cook rushed over and offered him food.

“I need to stay with you,” said the guard.
“As it is my responsibility to protect you, my lady.”

“I’ll be fine,” she told him. “I don’t want
Erin’s father alarmed by seeing you. Just keep a keen ear and if I
am in danger I will call for you.”

“Aye, my lady,” he said, and went to stand
next to Dugald.

“I am nervous, Lady Sapphire,” said Erin as
they walked out to the pub area and up to the base of the stairs
leading to the upper rooms.

“You need to confront you father, Erin. Just
tell him how you feel about Dugald and make sure he knows the boy
never did anything to hurt you.”

“I will, my lady, but please stay with me by
my side.”

“I am here, Erin,” she said with a
reassuring smile and a pat to her shoulder.

She had every intention of climbing the
stairs to the room that held Auley O’Connor, but when she looked
upward, she froze in her tracks. That was the same room she and Roe
had shared after he dragged her up these stairs thinking she was
naught more than a whore. It was also the same room where she’d
felt for the first time in her entire life completely sated. Her
cheeks flushed just remembering it.

“You go,” she told Erin. “Bring your father
down here and then we can talk. I’ll just wait here for you.”

“All right,” said Erin, looking upward, then
climbing the steps slowly.

Sapphire waited in the pub area, glad no one
was here yet this time of day. She paced the floor and looked
around, noticing a dying fire at the far hearth. But at the second
heart, though logs were stacked, ’twas void of fire and looked
clean – as if it’d never been used. She heard a creaking sound
coming from the hearth and a soft hooting that sounded like an owl.
She was about to investigate when she heard Erin calling her from
the top of the stairs.

“He’s not here, my lady.”

Sapphire lifted her skirts and moved
quickly, stopping just at the bottom of the staircase. Looking up,
into the semi-darkness, she spoke to Erin.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s not in the room,” said Erin. “He must
have already left. I’m not sure where to find my father.”

“Erin?”

Sapphire spun around, seeing Auley O’Connor
close to the hearth that was void of fire. He was crouching, and
stood up and peered through the darkness to see them. It startled
Sapphire, as she knew a minute ago no one was in the room, nor did
the front door open while she was standing there. ’Twas almost as
if the man appeared from thin air. She didn’t understand from where
he’d come.

“What are you doing here?” He sounded
excited to see her until he laid eyes upon Sapphire. “What’s going
on?” he asked. “Why is she here?” His eyes bore into Sapphire,
making her feel uncomfortable and unwanted.

“Father, it was Lady Sapphire’s idea we come
to speak to you.” She descended the stairs and stood next to
Sapphire now. She seemed nervous and slightly scared of her own
father.

“Well you need to leave. Both of you. Now.”
He oddly looked over his shoulder into the dark room as he said
it.

“Mr. O’Connor, I think you need to know that
your daughter and Dugald are very fond of each other.”

“Don’t talk to me about that damned
stableboy. I don’t want to hear it. He hurt my daughter and I don’t
want him near her.”

“No, I didn’t,” came Dugald’s voice from the
door to the kitchen.

“You’re here too?” The man didn’t look at
all pleased.

“Mr. O’Connor, I love Erin, and I promise
you I never hurt her and never will.” He walked over and put an arm
around the girl.

The innkeeper glanced nervously over his
shoulder once again and walked closer, seeming to try to herd them
toward the kitchen.

“Fine, I believe you, now go.”

“We want to get married,” Dugald added, and
Sapphire just held her breath waiting for the innkeeper to explode
with anger.

The man looked at them and his eyes
narrowed.

“Are you with child?” he asked suspiciously.
“Because if you are, Erin, I’ll kill the damned boy with my own
hands.”

“Father! Don’t say that. And no, I am not
with child but we would like to have children someday.”

“That’s right, Mr. O’Conner,” said Dugald,
“and we would like your permission to get married.”

“What!” His eyes opened wide and his face
reddened. He obviously was not fond of the idea.

“Erin, ever since your mother left us, I
have raised you by myself. We have always been together, just the
two of us.”