Timestruck (23 page)

Getting away from the church unseen wasn’t
difficult. Getting into the private wing of the palace was.
Charles’s personal guards were well-trained, and the man on sentry
duty was most unwilling to allow the king to be disturbed in the
middle of the night by people who demanded entrance through a small
side door that led directly to the royal apartments.

“Come back in the morning,” said the guard,
“and present yourself at the main entrance. Explain your business,
and you’ll be conducted to Charles.” With that, the guard slammed
the door shut in their faces.

“You don’t understand!” Fardulf shouted,
pounding on the door. “I am a deacon of the church of St. Peter and
a respectable man. I bring news of vital importance to Charles. You
must admit me!”

“Fardulf, calm yourself,” Dominick
ordered.

“Our errand is urgent!” Fardulf
exclaimed.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Dominick
placed a restraining hand on Fardulf’s shoulder. “Stand back, and
allow me to speak with the guard.”

Dominick rapped briskly on the door. When the
annoyed guard jerked it open again, Dominick spoke at once, talking
right over the guard’s command to stop making so much noise. In a
firm voice Dominick stated his name and title for a second time and
was insisting that he must see the king promptly when Charles
himself appeared. The king was barefoot and wearing only a pair of
trousers evidently donned so hastily that he kept them up by
holding them to his waist with one hand.

“What in the name of heaven is all this
noise?” Charles demanded. “Dominick, is that you? Why are you here
so late? Come in and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Count Dominick, you must leave your sword
outside,” said the guard.

“Never mind,” Charles said brusquely. “Let
him in.”

The guard stood back to let Dominick and his
companions file through the small entry hall into a slightly larger
room.

When Charles saw Gina, he quickly fastened
the drawstring on his trousers and accepted a short cloak the guard
handed to him. With the cloak slung over his shoulders to cover the
upper half of his body, Charles ran his fingers through his pale
hair. Thus prepared, though still barefoot and bare-chested, he
faced his unexpected visitors with the regal dignity that was
natural to him, a dignity that did not require costly robes or a
golden crown.

Fardulf was so overcome that he fell to his
knees before Charles.

“Well, Dominick?” Charles quirked an eyebrow
at the younger man and awaited an explanation.

“My lord, with your permission, I’d like the
guard to remain with us while Fardulf speaks,”’ Dominick said. “I
don’t believe we have been followed from St. Peter s church, but if
we have, there will be two of us ready to defend you.”

“Why should I need defending?” Charles asked,
his tall body suddenly still, his handsome face alert.

“I will let Fardulf explain,” Dominick said,
turning to the deacon. “Now is the time to tell your story. When
you are finished, Gina and I will add what we know of the matter.
On your feet, man.”

“Fardulf is something of a hero, my lord,”
Gina added, seeing how the deacon trembled and wanting to encourage
him. “Go on, Fardulf.”

“It was my turn to rise early and light the
candles before Matins,” Fardulf began, and went on to recount the
events of that night from his personal point of view. He ended by
showing the king his torn robe, and then thanking Dominick and Gina
for their aid. “They told me I must come to you at once, my lord,
so here I am.”

“Did you recognize any of the traitors?”
Charles asked in a voice so low and calm that it was possible to
imagine he wasn’t at all upset by what he had learned.

Unless one looked into his eyes. The usually
warm and humorous blue gaze of the king of the Franks had turned
hard as stone. Seeing that look, Gina knew the conspirators were
going to pay dearly for their treacherous scheme.

“I never saw their faces,” said Fardulf. “All
of them kept their hoods pulled well forward. It was almost as if
they wanted to remain hidden even from each other, though it was
plain that they were old comrades. I believe I did recognize one of
the voices I heard, but I cannot accuse any man of such dastardly
intentions unless I am absolutely certain of his guilt.”

“I’ll not blame you for being scrupulous,”
Charles said. “If you see or hear anything that definitely puts a
name to any of those faceless figures, come to me again and tell me
of it. I will not forget what you have done, Fardulf.”

“It was no more than my duty,” Fardulf
responded, standing very straight.

Charles ordered his guard to see Fardulf to
the door by which he had entered and to find a man-at-arms to
escort the deacon safely back to the church.

“Now that we are alone,” Charles said,
looking from Dominick to Gina, “I will hear the rest of it. I am
sure there is more than Fardulf knows. That’s why you wanted him to
speak first, isn’t it? He said the conspirators mentioned young
Pepin.”

“I believe Pepin is nothing more than a pawn
to them,” Gina said quickly.

“Have you proof of that assertion?” Charles
asked, turning his cold blue stare on her.

“He loves you!” Gina cried.

“Love can lead to terrible crimes,” Charles
said. “Dominick, I will hear you first, then Gina.”

Dominick began to speak, starting with
Pepin’s unexpected arrival at Feldbruck and his attempt to convince
Dominick to join the conspiracy.

“Pepin feels slighted in favor of his more
able-bodied brothers,” Dominick concluded his account. “He believes
you do not love him, and his sense of honor was sorely wounded when
he was declared a bastard and then, later, when you ordered
Carloman re-baptized as Pepin. Even so, he insisted to me that the
worst punishment he wants to see inflicted upon you is confinement
to a monastery. When I warned him that the traitors would most
certainly take your life, he was horrified. I doubt if he has yet
considered the inevitable end of the plot, which is that once he
has served his purpose, he will have to be killed, too.”

“Furthermore,” Gina said, breaking into
Dominick’s remarks on Pepin’s behalf, “Pepin has that dreadful
Father Guntram talking at him all day, every day, constantly
scolding and criticizing and forever lecturing him. It’s enough to
drive anyone to desperate measures.”

“Fastrada recommended Father Guntram as
Pepin’s tutor and spiritual advisor,” Charles said. “She has every
faith in the priest.”

“The queen hates Pepin,” Gina stated flatly.
“Did you know she met with Father Guntram yesterday?”

“That is impossible. Father Guntram is with
Pepin, and they are still a day’s journey away from
Regensburg.”

“Pepin may be a day’s journey away. Father
Guntram was here, in the palace. I saw him with the queen,” Gina
insisted.

Charles stared at her again for a long
moment, those blue eyes boring into her. Gina returned his gaze
without fear. Then he said, “Tell me everything you know of this
matter of the plot.”

She did as he ordered, confirming Dominick’s
story and Deacon Fardulf’s tale and adding her own feminine
impressions of the situation, hoping Charles would not discount
them. She also spoke bluntly of Pepin’s feelings about Fastrada and
said she thought Pepin was justified in disliking the queen. Gina
didn’t think Charles would be angry with her for being honest.
Surely he knew what kind of person Fastrada was.

“There is a general feeling of resentment
against the queen,” Dominick said quietly when Gina was
finished.

“I have heard the complaints about Tassilo’s
fortune,” Charles retorted impatiently. “I do not want to hear them
repeated yet again.”

“It isn’t just the treasure,” Dominick said.
“I thought it was, until I came to Regensburg and began to listen
to what your nobles are saying amongst themselves. Fastrada is too
selfish and cruel ever to exercise power fairly. While you were
away in Bavaria, and Fastrada ruled in your name, she undertook the
ruin of all who disagreed with her on any subject. Nor did she
cease her machinations after you returned home.”

Dominick halted there, not mentioning what
Fastrada had tried to do to him. The sharp look he gave Gina warned
her to say nothing of his marriage and divorce. After a moment of
reflection, Gina decided he was right. If Dominick brought up his
own situation, Charles could dismiss his observations, claiming he
had a personal complaint against the queen.

But Gina feared that Dominick’s remarks would
make no difference. Charles was emotionally attached to his wife,
and he wasn’t likely to institute divorce proceedings just because
his nobles didn’t like her.

“For the moment, let us concentrate on
forestalling the plot against me,” Charles said. “That is the most
urgent issue. Can either of you put names to any of those hidden
faces?”

“I don’t know any of them,” Gina said, glad
that she couldn’t speak the words that would condemn any man to
certain death.

“Before tonight, as a result of all the
questions I’ve been asking, I know the names of two of the men
involved,” Dominick said, his face grim with the realization of
what he was doing. “The gathering at the church altar confirmed
what I had previously learned. One of the names mentioned was that
of Count Gerold of Konz. The man who spoke Gerold’s name was his
cousin and best friend, Lord Utred.”

“So.” Charles’s face was as solemn as
Dominick’s, and his voice was steady. “Noblemen who have fought by
my side, whom I counted as friends, men whom I have honored with
lands and titles, now choose to betray me to my death. Dominick,
find a man-at-arms. I have commands to give.”

Before Gina and Dominick left the palace near
dawn, Charles had ordered his palace guards to surround the church
of St. Peter, to keep it secure and to see that the priests were
safe. A troop of men-at-arms who were directly attached to Charles,
rather than to any of his nobles, was sent into the streets of
Regensburg to maintain order. And Charles had sent a message to the
church in which he stated that he would definitely be attending
morning prayers.

“I must show myself,” Charles said when
Dominick protested that last decision. “We cannot keep news of the
plot secret for more than a few hours. You know as well as I do how
quickly rumors fly. One of those rumors will certainly be that I
have been slain. My public appearance will put an end to such
speculation and reduce the fear of violence.”

With his calm insistence they had to be
satisfied, for Charles refused to alter his decision.

“All will be well,” he said, bidding them
good night.

“I am so glad this night is almost over,”
Gina said when she and Dominick had returned to his house and were
alone in his bedchamber. “When I realized what was going on in that
church, I was sure we were both going to be murdered.

“We can rest easy now,” she said, putting her
arms around Dominick’s waist. “Thanks to Fardulf, and to us, the
villains will be caught.” She didn’t add what they both knew, that
the villains would be brought to trial and those found guilty of
plotting against Charles would be publicly executed. She wished she
and Dominick could be on their way back to Feldbruck before the
trial began. She certainly didn’t want to witness any executions.
For the moment, all she wanted to do was hold Dominick tight and
forget her earlier fears.

“I ought to be angry with you,” he said,
laying his cheek against her hair. “It was incredibly foolish of
you to follow me.”

“I know.” She snuggled closer to him. “But
when I saw you sneaking out of the house, I was sure you were going
into danger. I couldn’t let you go alone.”

“What a remarkable woman you are.” He put a
finger under her chin so he could tilt her face upward and kiss
her.

Passion flared suddenly, burning all the
hotter after the peril they had been through together. The
realization that they were safe after facing death added a special
savor to the moment. Gina tore her mouth from Dominick’s and reared
back in his arms to look at him. She caught his face between her
hands, studying him as if she had never seen him before, seeing the
molten silver of his eyes and the sensual longing in his parted
lips. They were standing so close that she was immediately aware of
the swift hardening of his manhood.

“Dominick,” she whispered.

His lips curved in a smile of understanding,
a very masculine acknowledgment that she was his to take, when and
how he wanted. He began to remove her clothing. It wasn’t done in
haste, but he didn’t dawdle, either, and his smooth, deliberate
movements intensified the desire that was building inside Gina.

Dominick’s attention was so intensely
concentrated on her that she would have to have been a marble
statue not to respond. Gina was not a piece of stone; she was a
woman in a world that was still new and intriguing to her, and
Dominick was the most fascinating man she’d ever known. He was a
rare and heady combination of irreproachable honor and earthy
passion, of practical common sense and breathtaking romance. He was
also the one man she had ever been able to trust for more than a
single hour.

Dominick caressed her breasts as he claimed
her mouth, touching her as if he could not get enough of her, as if
she was everything he wanted or needed, and as if he was determined
to imprint himself on all her senses.

Gina was well past the time when she was shy
of him. She returned every caress and handled his masculinity with
tender firmness. It was wonderful to hear Dominick’s moans of
pleasure as she stroked and fondled him, and it was wildly exciting
to her to watch him grow larger and harder. His unashamed desire
for her stirred a warmth deep within her, a yearning that left her
weak and trembling. He knew it; he was attuned to her every wish,
and he did not make her wait much past the moment when she began to
fear she would go mad with wanting.