A Dishonorable Knight (54 page)

"Scrawny? Lady, you wound me to
the quick!" By the cool light of a nearly full moon, she saw him grab his
chest and pretend to be injured.

Elena laughed and thought that, while
he might have reminded her earlier of Gareth, he now seemed very much like
Cynan. Suddenly realizing that she did not know his name, she requested it.

"My name is David, good lady, at
your service." He executed a little bow and leaned toward her. In a
conspiratorial whisper, he added, "And I am a good sight more fun than
those two up there, as, I can tell, are you."

"Even though you escort a fallen
favorite of the king's into exile?"

"The king's loss is my
gain."

Elena laughed again and decided she
would make it another league or so. Nonetheless, she was relieved when they
came round a bend in the road and found the small inn perched beside the road.
The windows were dark, but the brusque guards pounded on the wooden door until
the innkeeper answered.

"We've need of rooms."

The old man in his nightshirt and cap
rubbed his eyes and surveyed them.

"Now old man."

Elena wondered if Richard was aware
that the training of his troops was greatly lacking in chivalry and patience.
It occurred to her that lately, Richard himself was greatly lacking in chivalry
and patience. The old innkeeper moved back to allow the men to enter and as
David passed he said, "Many thanks, good father. Though my comrades are
too exhausted to say it, we are very sorry to wake you from your well-deserved
slumber."

Elena, spurred on by David's
courtesy, smiled at the surprised old man and added, "Yes, we thank you
for your service." Again she was amazed at the response that small phrase
seemed to evoke in people.
First Annie the seamstress, now
this innkeeper.

With white nightshirt billowing, the
old man deposited the two surly guards in a dank room at the back of the inn
and then showed Elena to a room upstairs. David elected to stand watch outside
her door.

"We shall need to be on the road
shortly after sunrise, so if we could have breakfast waiting for us, you will
be well rewarded," David told the man.

"Of course, Sir Knight."

"Sir Knight? Ho I like the sound
of that. But not me, cousin."

Elena smiled wearily at the old man
as he passed back by her room and then she shut the door and collapsed fully
clothed on the bed. She was asleep before she could even think of undressing.

***

Moments later, a pounding on the door
woke her. She lifted her head from the lumpy pillow and forced her eyes to
part. They were momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight that poured in the
small, thick window. The pounding came again and Elena pushed herself up and
staggered to the door. David burst in and quickly closed the door behind him.

"Lady, did you help free Gareth
ap
Morgan."

Still sleep befuddled, Elena said,
"What
?!
"

David shook his head. "It
doesn't matter. Either you are innocent and I must help you or you did help him
and it will be my honor to help you."

"What are you talking
about?" Though she whispered, panic made her voice squeak.

"More of the king's guards have
arrived. They are outside waiting for the innkeeper to rouse our fellow
travelers. They are here to haul you back to Nottingham to stand trial for
helping a traitor escape." Elena began shaking and her eyes opened so wide
they hurt. "Don't worry, Lady. Even now the innkeeper's boy is saddling
our horses. We will be away before they realize what has happened."

"Why...why are you helping
me?"

"Because I am indeed Welsh, my
lady, known more often as Dafydd rather than David and I would not see Richard
execute another person to satisfy his paranoia over losing the throne. Come
now, and step quietly."

Torn between confusion and terror,
Elena allowed David--no, Dafydd--to lead her out of the room and down the
stairs. At the foot of the staircase, he paused and peeked around the corner.
Turning back to her, he said, "They are still outside waiting. We must
sneak out that back door where we will find our horses. Are you ready?"

Elena barely managed a nod, but
gathered up her skirts for the run. When Dafydd said, "Now," she
bolted after him, ducking out the partially opened back door. A young boy
closed it behind them and then gestured for them to follow him. They ran across
the small patch of hard-packed dirt to the stables where their horses were
ready and waiting. Dafydd quickly helped Elena into her saddle and then leapt
onto his own horse. He swung his horse around, nearly trampling the young boy
who was holding a sack.

"Here," he said.
"Grampa put some food in here for you."

"Thank you lad," Dafydd
said softly with a grin. He scooped up the sack and led the way into a tall
field of wheat behind the inn.

Her heart pounding with fear, Elena
kicked her mangy horse to follow Dafydd's. They tore down row after row,
sometimes trampling the tall strands of wheat. They were soon out of the field
and Dafydd led them up a narrow wagon trail, casting worried glances over his
shoulder from time to time. Afraid she would lose her balance and tumble to the
ground should she risk a look behind them, Elena clung to her horse and
concentrated on following as closely behind Dafydd as she dared.

After what seemed like an eternity,
Dafydd led them into a cove of trees that soon turned into an ever-thickening
forest. The weak morning sun barely penetrated the dense span of trees overhead
and the
horses
hooves made only a dull thud on the
mossy ground. The palpable silence combined with the hazy light lent a sense of
security and Elena slowed her horse. Dafydd also slowed his mount until the two
horses were even.

"Is something wrong, Lady
Elena?" he asked in a whisper.

"No. I just thought we were far
enough away to be safe."

"Safe from immediate detection,
yes. But there were easily six soldiers sent by Richard. Combined with our two
amiable traveling companions, they have enough to spread out over a goodly
distance and track our progress. If it would not overburden you, I think it
would be advisable to continue as fast as we can until the horses tire."

"Of course," Elena agreed.

He grinned his approval and spurred
his horse to a faster pace. Elena followed suit and wondered to herself,
Now
why couldn't Gareth have spoken so gallantly when he was
dragging me through the Welsh mountains?
Unbidden, his words
of the day before popped into her mind.
"I loved you even when I
hated you." Why on earth should he have ever hated her? With commendable
self-deprecation, she allowed that perhaps she had been a trifle difficult, but
that had been before she had, well, grown up. Elena paused in thought to hold
onto the lip of the saddle as she urged her horse over an enormous fallen tree.
Safely over, she returned to her musing.

Elena wondered what would have
happened between she and Gareth had they not clashed so much those first weeks.
If he truly had loved her then, perhaps he would have confessed it sooner and
she might even now be safely ensconced in Eyri Keep.

Well, she decided, there was nothing
to be gained from might-have-beens. It was better to look to the future and
wonder what it held for Gareth and her. Would he seek her out after the
confrontation between Richard and Henry? Would he live to seek her out? No, she
would not think of that possibility. Of course he would live--she willed it so
and sweeter disposition or no, she was still as determined to have her will.
Very well. If he did live, of course he would come for her and she would accept
him only after making him grovel for forgiveness for abandoning her. There was
only so much a lady could take, after all.

***

They rode through the seemingly
endless forest for hours, the only indication of time passing was Elena's
rumbling stomach for the forest grew no lighter than it had been in the
morning, so dense was the foliage. When she thought she should faint with hunger,
Dafydd finally stopped by a small spring and allowed the horses to drink and
rest.

"Shall we see what the good
innkeeper has provided for us to eat?" he asked as he helped her down from
her horse and fetched the bag the young stableboy had given them.

"It could be dried beef and I
would eat it, " Elena replied as she sank to the soft ground by the
cheery, burbling stream.

Dafydd untied the leather thong that
held the bag closed and peeked inside. "Looks like we have bread and
cheese." Reaching into the burlap sack, he pulled forth a huge loaf of
dark bread and a hunk of cheese protected in its cloth rind.

"I apologize for the lack of
table linens, and tables, for that matter," Dafydd said as he presented
the loaf to Elena with a flourish.

Elena laughed wearily while she tore
off a piece of bread. Taking a bite, she reveled in the softness of the fresh
loaf. "After the last month, linens and tables are the exception rather
than the rule!"

"Traveled a bit, have you?"

Elena was surprised. Given that he had
mentioned Gareth this morning, she had assumed Dafydd was well aware of their
adventures. "Did Gareth not get a chance to tell you all that we
accomplished in such a short span of time?"

"Actually, I don't even know Sir
Gareth. Well, I know
of
him, but I've
never been introduced, and until he was thrown into the dungeon, I didn't know
if he was a supporter of Henry Tudor or not. In fact, I'm still not sure if his
job there at Nottingham wasn't the same as mine: to learn what we could of
Richard's intentions."

"But I thought--"

"That since we were on the same
side, we knew of each other's existence? No, that would have put both of us in
danger if one were captured and tortured."

"Then you were there to spy on
Richard?"

"In a nutshell, yes. But was
that not your position?"

"I didn't even know Gareth was
spying on the king. He told me he had changed his mind and decided to support
the king after all. Even after I had saved his life and offered my help,"
she said with a frown.

Dafydd cleared his throat and shifted
his weight from foot to foot. He paid particular attention to slicing a wedge
of cheese and handing it to her before speaking. "I'm sure it was for your
own safety. War and spying are not lady's pastimes."

"Perhaps not, but it seems I
have been in the middle of it since the Woodvilles attacked Richard's
entourage."

"It was the Woodvilles,
then?"

"Yes, they wanted to help
Elizabeth escape."

"I don't blame them. So Richard
has put you in the middle by hounding you for that information?"

Elena laughed. "If only it were
that simple." In between bites of bread and cheese, she gave him a brief
version of her travels through Wales, carefully leaving out those parts that
had nothing to do with the conflict between the Lancasters and the Yorks.

"Had I a cap, I would take it
off to you, Lady Elena. You have done more for Tudor's cause in a few weeks
than I have seen since I left Wales last year."

"I've done nothing to help or
hinder him. I've merely been dragged from one assignation to another."

"But you don't mean to tell me
you support Richard?" he asked incredulously.

"Two days ago, I did not really
care who was king. And since I have left Richard's court, I guess I still don't
care whether he rules or a Lancaster rules. How much does it really affect the
land? A few taxes here, some scant improvements there. I am more relieved that
I will not have to fawn over the king and live with the cattiness of the other
ladies-in-waiting."

Dafydd shook his head. "I
suppose you are right in some respects, but does it not matter to you
that--" He stopped himself and stared at a leaf on the ground for a
moment. "Do you really see no injustices in England that should be
corrected?"

"None that I know of,"
Elena said unsurely.

"In Wales, there are English
priests in our churches, in our cathedrals. English lords dispense
justice--their form of justice, not ours--and
an Englishman
is always given preference over a Welshman in any dispute. We have seen more
Englishmen in Wales since Richard became king than I or my father can remember."

Uncomfortable, Elena shrugged and
concentrated on eating. Trying to change the subject, she asked what their
route would be.

"If we continue along this basic
direction," he answered, gesturing with his chin to the barely discernable
path they had been following, "we will exit the forest a few miles north
of your father's manor. We can then backtrack on the main road and we should be
safe from Richard's soldiers. It is my hope that they spent the morning
searching for us and then gave up and returned to Nottingham. I assume your
father will have the means to take you further on to safety?"

Elena nodded absently, but her
thoughts were of the innkeeper and his wife in Wales. Her stomach clenching
around her meager meal, she hoarsely whispered, "Do you think they will
harm the innkeeper and his grandson?"