Secret Heart (27 page)

“
Where is
that pestilential woman?” Walderon demanded. He bent such a
scathing glare upon his henchman that Burke, tough though he was,
visibly shook under the force of his master’s
displeasure.

“
My lord,
we cannot find Lady Sanal.” Burke cleared his throat as if to
steady his voice before speaking again. “We have looked
everywhere.”

“
Not
everywhere, obviously,” Walderon said, his glare becoming harder
and colder. “If you had looked
everywhere,
you’d have found her and
brought her to me here in my private office, as I ordered you to do
hours ago.”

“
Perhaps,
Lady Sanal has left the castle,” Burke suggested.

“
No, she
has not. The men-at-arms at the main gate have not seen her. Nor
have the two sentries who guard the postern gate. No one has seen
my cursed wife!” Walderon slammed a fist down on his writing table,
the violence of the gesture making Burke back up a couple of steps.
“Enough of this. I have wasted too much time already. If Lady Sanal
does not wish to accompany me to Calean City to witness the
presentation of my petition to King Henryk, which is certain to be
followed immediately by his confirmation of me as the new lord of
Thury, then let her stay behind. I’ll take care of her when I
return. Are the horses saddled? Have you at least seen to that
simple matter?”

“
Aye, my
lord.” Burke bobbed his head. “The men-at-arms and the squires are
mounted and waiting in the outer bailey. We are ready to leave
whenever you want.”

“
What I
wanted was to leave early this morning. It’s a long ride to
Calean.” Walderon headed for the door. “Come on, Burke. If you
delay me, I swear I’ll have you flogged.”

“
I am at
your heels, my lord. As always,” Burke added under his
breath.

The door
clicked shut. Silence filled the small office. In the secret
passageway behind Walderon’s private room, Sanal pulled her face
away from the peephole and sagged in relief. For the moment she was
safe and she could relax the shield she had erected to hide herself
from Walderon’s dark, searching Power.

Her own
Power was minimal, an accident of nature according to her mother,
for neither Sanal’s parents nor her grandparents had possessed any
magical ability. The Power was usually an inherited trait, but it
could on occasion crop up unexpectedly, like a sudden alteration in
a plant or an animal. Not wanting to be thought different from
everyone else in her family, Sanal had spent her childhood hiding
her ability. Thus, unused and concealed, it had remained largely
undeveloped, though so far she had been able to prevent Walderon
from learning her secret.

She sent
a prayer of thanks to heaven that she wouldn’t have to ride to
Calean with Walderon, there to play the meek and obedient wife as
she listened to his false version of Chantal’s death. He’d likely
weep a few tears as he reported how the ship’s captain had said the
poor girl was accidentally swept overboard during a storm. As
Chantal’s only surviving blood kin, Walderon was now free to lay
claim to Thury.

“
You will
never know how fortunate you are that I am not with you, Walderon,”
Sanal muttered. “I couldn’t bear to listen to any more of your lies
without contradicting you and telling the truth, even if you were
to kill me afterward.”

Unsure how long the search for her would
last, she had brought food and a pitcher of wine with her, taking
care that both were covered so spiders or other vermin could not
fall into, or upon, her provisions. She relished the thought of
swallowing a spider even less than she liked the idea of
confronting her husband.

Sanal had
thought carefully for several days before making her decision to
enter the system of narrow corridors and steep stairways that lay
hidden within the thick castle walls. She was amazed that Walderon
didn’t know about them. But then, never, not in her most intensive
explorations of the castle, had she seen a building plan. Such a
plan must have existed at one time, drawn by the architect and used
by the masons and carpenters. Perhaps, the first lord of Thury had
destroyed the plan after the castle was finished, so no would-be
invader could learn the secret and use it.

Sanal knew that some of the older servants
were aware of the inner passageways, but Walderon was not the kind
of master to whom underlings confided secret information. They,
like Sanal, found it safer to conceal much of what they knew.

Sanal,
herself, had learned the secret soon after coming to Thury. She had
been shadowing Chantal and Jenia, as Walderon had ordered her to
do, and she’d seen the girls pass behind a wall hanging and not
come out again. A bit of searching on her part had shown her
several other hidden doors and an hour of experimentation with
fingers made nimble by years of needlework had revealed how to open
and close them.

She had
kept the girls’ secret and she had been careful not to reveal any
hint of her discovery to Walderon. Sheer disgust of her husband
prevented her. She heartily disapproved of his treatment of Chantal
and Jenia, but she hadn’t dared to oppose him. Husbands owned their
wives and unless affection intervened to soften a man’s rule, a
wife was wise to tread cautiously. Walderon loved no one. Sanal had
learned over the years to be extremely cautious.

She
feared the corruption of Walderon’s Power, the vile and selfish way
he had desecrated an inherited ability that, in Sanal’s opinion,
ought always to be used for the benefit of others. She wasn’t sure
what Walderon’s ultimate goal was, but she knew in her soul that if
he ever learned she possessed any Power at all, he’d find a way to
turn it against her while using it to make himself stronger than he
already was.

Fumbling
carefully in the dark she found the stool she’d brought into the
tunnel along with the food. She sank onto it and rested her head
against the stone wall. She needed to think, for she still hadn’t
decided exactly what to do after she left the safety of the
passage.

Every
instinct warned her not to return to her own chamber, for there
she’d have to face whatever orders Walderon had left concerning
her. The alternative was to flee the castle by the escape route
that lay at the end of the lowest passage of all, where a secret
door opened at the base of the castle wall. The question that arose
to torment her was, where should she go once she was
outside?

Sanal
knew of only one person who would be courageous enough to take her
in and protect her. Even if she could reach him, which wasn’t a
certainty because she’d have to walk a long distance, she hesitated
to put him into danger. If Walderon found her, he’d kill her, and
then he’d kill the man who had befriended her years ago and
promised to help her, if ever she needed help.

To bring
bloody death or, worse, death by Walderon’s corrupt Power upon the
one person in all her life who had shown her naught but kindness
was quite beyond Sanal. Not even the years with Walderon had
brought her low enough to use a good man so cruelly. She did still
retain a vestige of the youthful conscience that once had guided
her actions. It was the same conscience that troubled her
constantly of late and was making her weep as she sat all alone in
the dark.

“
Fool,”
she admonished herself, wiping her damp cheeks. “Walderon is right
when he says it’s better not to care for anything but oneself and
one’s own advancement in the world. But he has gone too far. Now
that I know what he has done to Chantal, and probably to Jenia,
too, I cannot allow him to continue on this path. I have to do
something to stop him.”

Walking
at Roarke’s side, Jenia entered a small anteroom situated just off
King Henryk’s large audience chamber. In anticipation of the coming
journey she was dressed in a sensible russet wool gown and sturdy
boots, both provided by Garit in the basket he’d sent to Auremont,
and her long hair was bound into a single tight braid.

Without discussing the matter with Roarke,
Jenia had decided what she must say when she met King Henryk again.
It was her duty to make amends to the king she had wronged. So, the
moment he entered the anteroom, accompanied by Lord Serlion, Garit,
and Lord Giles, she stepped forward.

“
My
lord,” she began, not waiting for permission to speak, “I have done
you a great disservice. I am deeply sorry for the harsh words I
spoke against you the last time we met. I propose to make a public
apology before your entire court, and to declare that I was sadly
mistaken about your involvement in Chantal’s death. It’s the very
least I can do.”

“
Consider
your apology made and accepted,” the king responded. “From the
charges you made against me yesterday, it’s clear someone wanted
you to believe in my guilt, perhaps with the thought that if you
should ever escape you would do exactly as you did, and come to me
to accuse me before witnesses. But now, if you declare to my court
that you were mistaken, some of my more suspicious nobles will
likely conclude that I have coerced you into making such an
announcement. Locating the real culprit and bringing him here to
Calean City for public judgment will do far more to remove any
taint of suspicion from me than a mere apology could
do.”

“
My lord,
I thank you for your understanding,” Jenia said, making a deep
curtsey. “I intend to join the party that will depart from Calean
City this morning. Together, these good men and I will uncover the
truth.”

“
Roarke?”
King Henryk looked at him, frowning. “You are the knight I
originally assigned to find Lady Chantal. How do you feel about
taking a woman along? Jenia is obviously determined, but I will
leave the final decision to you.”

“
I want
her with us,” Garit spoke up. “Jenia and I have agreed to join
forces in the quest to find Chantal’s killer.”

“
I have
no objection to including Jenia,” Lord Giles said. “In fact, I
believe she may prove to be especially useful to us. She does know
Thury Castle well, having lived there for a time.”

“
I asked
Roarke,” King Henryk declared with regal firmness, though with a
twinkle in his eyes.

“
We are
taking twenty men when we leave Calean,” Roarke answered his king.
“Garit has promised to supply thirty men-at-arms from his troops at
Auremont. Altogether, they should be more than enough armed force
to offer adequate protection for a lady. From my previous
experience with Jenia, I do not think she will delay us at all. She
rides well enough to keep up with any man, and she has the heart of
a valiant knight.”

“
As you
wish, then.” Looking from Roarke to Garit to Lord Giles, King
Henryk went on, “I have a particular mission for you to carry out
in addition to your personal goal. I believe you know Sir Durand of
Granvey.” He indicated a man who had entered the anteroom almost
silently.

Wondering
if King Henryk wanted the man to travel with them to Thury, Jenia
looked him over carefully. His slim, erect figure reminded her of a
bowstring drawn taut just before the arrow is loosed. His long
auburn hair was slicked straight back from his face and fastened by
a leather thong. Impressed by his open expression and by the lithe
grace that was apparent even when he was still, Jenia ventured a
smile in his direction. He returned only a faint smile, though his
eyes twinkled with silvery fire, hinting at easy humor. “I know
Durand well.” Lord Giles stepped forward to clasp the young man’s
hand with open pleasure. “He trained with me for seven years. I’m
glad to see you again, lad. Where have you been? I’ve heard nothing
of you recently.”

“
That’s
because I’ve been living in the Dominion,” Durand informed him with
a mischievous grin. “Surreptitiously, of course.”

“
On
assignment from me,” King Henryk said as Roarke and Garit also
shook Durand’s hand in friendly greeting. “Durand reached Calean
City just a short time ago. I asked him to join us to repeat to you
what he has already said to me.” With a gesture he invited Durand
to speak.

“
Domini
Gundiac is gathering his army in two separate locations,” Durand
said, not wasting words. “The first is a threat to southern
Sapaudia. The second position is near the Nalo River, where a
formerly derelict bridge has recently been repaired. I crossed that
bridge on foot, in the dark of night, and I inspected it as best I
could without being caught. I have no doubt it will easily support
men, warhorses, and supply carts. And that, sirs, threatens
northern Sapaudia. As a result of these and other observations I
made while in the Dominion, I do believe Domini Gundiac is planning
an invasion in the very near future.”

A shocked
silence followed this news, until Jenia found her voice. “The
bridge you mentioned lies near Catherstone Castle, which makes me
wonder if Lord Walderon has aught to do with those repairs.
Catherstone is his ancestral home.”

“
As I
recall,” Roarke said, “Walderon’s illegitimate son acts as his
father’s seneschal at Catherstone. I believe there is a daughter,
too.”

“
Neither
offspring has ever attended court,” King Henryk noted. “Walderon’s
true heir is his legitimate son by Lady Sanal. The boy is being
fostered with one of my nobles until he’s old enough for
knighting.”