A Witch's Tale (21 page)

The
expression in his dark eyes wasn’t angry or accusing as he joined her. “I would
know your true name before I go meet your lover in the field, Lady,” he
demanded softly, his dark eyes devouring her face in the dawn’s early glow. “I
can hardly call you Mad anymore.”

“It
is Madeline,” she whispered and tensed to see him there, wondering how he found
her. “What is it you want, Sir Rohan?”

“I
thought that obvious. Why were you sneaking about the barn?” he demanded, eyes
filled with anger now. “Did you do something to my horse? Did you mean to lay
me low?”

Madeline
glared up at him. “As I recall, you grabbed me and forced me to tend to your
horse, Sir Rohan. I was there to watch Gavin compete.”

Sir
Rohan accepted her explanation with a look of suspicion. “You came back the
next day, Mistress Madeline. Why? And do not lie of it.”

“We
both know Lord Strathmore won’t allow this match to be fought fairly, Sir
Rohan. I was there to find out if you were a party to his schemes.”

“I
don’t need to cheat to win!” Rohan snapped in response. “If you think I’m
pleased Strathmore has embroiled me in these plans of his, think again. It
appears I am owned by him should I win the day.”

“I
would hope your honor will keep you from going through with what he asks of
you, Sir Rohan.”

Rohan
smiled tightly at her words. “You learned of that? You should also know I
intend to win this day. I do not know what the man means to do and no longer
care. Does that alleviate any concern you have for de Mortaine?”

Madeline
looked relieved. “My thanks. He has been through much to arrive at this day. He
deserves to reclaim his birthright honestly, if at all.”

“What
of you, Madeline?” he asked suddenly. “Do you leave with de Mortaine after the
tournament?”

“I
will go my own way. Gavin will have a wife should he win.”

“I
think we both know the lady in the tourney is no prize,” Rohan grumbled. “I’ve
seen such rolls on a sow and her voice makes me long to choke her silent.”

She
giggled at his words. “You speak ill of a lady who could be your wife.”

“Pray
do not remind me,” Rohan said with a scowl. “The thought of taking that
creature to wife makes me question whether it is worth it.”

“She
is a trueborn lady,” Madeline protested and looked confused. “Isn’t that what
all knights want?”

“I
cannot speak for de Mortaine, but that trueborn lady is not what I would seek,”
he said and his dark eyes met hers with sudden intensity. “Should de Mortaine
leave you here, where will you go?”

“I
am not completely without means, Rohan,” she told him and shrugged. “I will
leave London; find a village somewhere and start over.”

“I
can’t believe de Mortaine would allow you to get away.”

“We
had an agreement when I came here with him. I leave after today.”

Rohan
reflected her disclosure without expression. “You undervalue yourself,
Madeline. The man is a fool if he lets you leave tomorrow.”

Before
Madeline could wish him luck, he strode away and mounted his horse, looking
back at her before he continued on to the tournament grounds. She felt a
strange flutter in her stomach to recall the way the handsome blond knight
looked at her in those few moments.

I once
met a witch from Rodmell,

Who
screamed like a bat out of hell,

She
jumped on to her broom,

And flew
out of the room,

I only
asked her how to spell!

Anonymous.

She
brushed away her disturbing thoughts as she busied herself with packing her
things. She would leave at first light on the morrow. A heavy feeling filled
her to leave. She had priceless memories of her time here. The stories she had
for her own grandchildren one day, if she was so blessed, made her smile and
linger over her treasured moments at the king’s coronation festival.

The
day wore on and she soon changed and made ready for Alastair to collect her.
She gazed at her reflection in the new mirror one of the men borrowed. She
turned this way and that to see the way the gown fit. She had to admit the
result of her handiwork would rival any lady in the king’s box.

Madeline
painstakingly braided the crown of her hair into plaits; weaving them with
matching ribbon. The rest of her dark red hair hung in loose waves to her
waist. She looked like a trueborn lady and promised herself she would not cry
if Gavin won the day.

Her
knight would become a lord this day and restore his family’s honor. She should
feel happy for him, but dreaded seeing his hand joined with Lady Lucinda’s at
the feast that night.

No,
she would not go. She would come back here and await daybreak. Gavin would be
far too busy getting his due from his king and the other nobles to see her slip
away. Confidant that was for the best, she took one last look at her image and
left the tent.

She
saw a silk covered litter stop in front of the tent and knew before the lady
stepped down and approached who she was. The brunette was beautiful with her
large, long-lashed hazel eyes and gleaming chestnut hair artfully arranged. Her
regal clothing only accentuated her presence as she approached, her
condescending gaze sliding over her insultingly.

“I
had to see the woman Sir Gavin brought with him to the tournament,” she said
with an amused glance as her eyes raked over her rival. “I can see I needn’t
have worried.”

“What
do you want, Lady Strathmore?”

The
woman’s eyes widened slightly at her address. “You know who I am then?”

“Your
reputation preceded you, my lady.”

Her
lovely face hardened at the jibe, hazel eyes narrowing. “Whatever will you do
when Gavin wins and marries my pathetic stepdaughter, I wonder? I shudder to
think of your options.”

“That
isn’t your concern, Lady Strathmore. Gavin and I part ways tomorrow. I am well
aware he marries should he win. What is it you want?” she demanded and her blue
eyes filled with anger the woman would come here just to bait her.

 “I
just came to warn you, Mistress Farrand,” she purred with a pleased look at her
rival. “I had an interesting visit from one of my kinsmen. I believe you might
know of him? The Baron de Valmont is my cousin. He and his son came to see me
when they arrived. We can both agree when it is known you are a condemned witch
on the run what will happen to you.”

Madeline
froze at her words, reminded of the gold the man had on his person. She knew
instinctively it came from her, paid to the baron for some unknown purpose as
yet.

“What
do you want?” she asked, realizing with a word this woman could have her put to
the torch.

Lady
Blythe smiled as she allowed her to wonder at her game. The lady liked to let
her twist to think of what she wanted of her. “I wished to know how you did
what you did to Hugh.”

She
wished to discuss magic? What could she possibly want to keep her silence?

“I
did nothing. It is all in his head,” Madeline replied, sensing the evil in the
woman. It oozed from every perfect pore of her face.

“Come
now, Mistress Farrand, rendering a man impotent with a word is not exactly
nothing,” Lady Blythe remarked and smoothed her pale, blue velvet skirts. “We
both know you’re a witch and a very skilled one.”

“I
will ask you again what it is you want.”

“I
have need of someone with your power,” the lady informed her with a tight
smile.

“I
don’t think I understand,” Madeline began with an edge of panic in her voice.

“Oh,
I think you do, Madeline,” Lady Blythe said sweetly and glanced over where
several of the king’s guard loitered. “One word from me and what was started in
Valmont is assured. Do you wish to test me?”

Madeline
shook her head and felt a sense of dread as the lady bade her servants
disembark with the litter and leave them alone.

“Now,
we have much to discuss,” Lady Blythe murmured and stepped to the tent. “Come,
you have no choice in this, Girl. I need only cry out and those guards will
have you bound to a pyre within the hour.”

Madeline
followed her inside the tent and the lady took a seat, looking about the
interior with interest, in no hurry to state her demands.

“What
is it you want?” Madeline asked finally.

Lady
Blythe smiled and made herself at home, rearranging her elaborate silk skirts.
She knew she had Madeline where she wanted her and took her time.

“I
wish to be rid of my husband, for one,” the lady said with a smirk at
Madeline’s indrawn gasp. “Oh come now, you should know what he intends for poor
Sir Rohan after Gavin is discredited. He’ll allow him to marry the pathetic
Lucinda if only to get an heir. Sir Rohan will find himself dead of some
mysterious malady. Then he controls Rivenhahl as he means to.”

“Why
does he want control of the estate?” Madeline asked in a quiet tone, stalling
for time, hoping Alastair was on his way.

“Who
can say with Samuel,” she admitted with a slight scowl. “Whatever it is, you
can be sure it doesn’t bode well for our new monarch. He does like his petty
plotting.”

“Why
do you not hire anyone to do this thing?” Madeline demanded and paced, eyeing
the woman suspiciously. “One hardly needs magic to do murder, my lady.”

“Oh,
do not worry. I do not ask you to kill him. That was to have been done many
days ago and that errand was not accomplished yet,” Lady Blythe informed her
coolly. “It appears the baron and Hugh went missing before they could see to
it. No matter, they were handsomely rewarded and will do it before this week is
out.”

Madeline
felt the blood drain from her face to know where the de Valmont’s attained such
a fortune in gold. They got it from Lady Blythe to kill her husband. The
fortune in gold was but feet away from her, her kinsmen she hired to do the
murder nibbling on scraps in the cage next to the table she sat at.

“What
is it you ask of me?”

“It’s
too late now to stop what Samuel intended, but it pleases me to see him dead
before he gets his wish,” the lady went on. “I would have liked to see Gavin
reclaim Rivenhahl. The property lies near Strathmore. He would have grown quite
bored with little Lucinda and returned to me.”

“Sir
Rohan has no plans to throw the match,” Madeline argued and eyed the woman
closely, trying to ascertain what her husband had done.

“My
husband has his way in all things,” she said with a chuckle. “He has already
seen to it. Sir Rohan will have no say in it.”

“What
has he done?”

Lady
Blythe smiled cattily. “There is little harm in telling you of it. One of his
hirelings has split Sir Rohan’s horse’s hoof. The animal is not showing signs of
it yet, but soon the animal will go down; and Sir Rohan with it.”

“How
does that implicate Sir Gavin?”

“My
husband’s own personal groom will bear witness that Gavin left the barn
sheathing his sword prior to the match. The rest will be merely speculation,
but enough to assure the king and others he did the animal harm.”

Madeline
thought of Sir Rohan’s beautiful charger named Goldwyn. She wanted to weep at
what the proud creature would endure. It would have to be destroyed if what she
said was true. Knowing how Sir Rohan adored the animal made her stiffen with
anger.

“And
what do you want of me?”

“I
once knew a woman in our village that could do such things as you,” Lady Blythe
admitted and her hazel eyes met hers deliberately. “I believe you know of Minerva
Farrand? She was your grandmother, was she not?”

“She
died six months ago. What has she to do with this?”

“She
ran from our village before she gave me what I paid her for,” Lady Blythe said
with a tight smile. “Just think of this as doing what is already owed to me.”

“What
is it you asked of her?” Madeline saw the lady’s gloating smile and knew
whatever sent Minerva fleeing had to have been one of the things forbidden
them.

“Samuel
has been unable to give me a child,” she said and her fingertips tapped upon
the table. “Little Lucinda bears a striking resemblance to our steward back at
Strathmore. I can be sure the problem lies with him. If I’m to hold Strathmore
when he is dead; I need his heir.”

“If
he is unable, what do you need of me?” Madeline asked and shook her head. “I
cannot make the man fertile, if that is what you ask?”

“Oh
I have spent enough time in Sir Rohan’s bed to assure me I could have
conceived. I need you to make sure of it, and that it is a boy, before my
husband dies by my cousin’s hand.”

Madeline
regarded her in sudden fear. What she asked was within her ken. Minerva might
have been able to help her husband. Interfering with such was forbidden for
them. Breaking the laws of nature would bring the Goddess down on her head for
certain.