Honor & Roses (11 page)

“I need to see what’s happening,” she said.

A small window faced the road, but it was shuttered. She made her way to the window, then put an eye near the crack to peer out.

“What do you see, my lady?” Mary whispered.

“Not enough,” Cecily admitted. “Those men are definitely riding straight toward us though! Armed. About eight? No, at least ten! They’re slowing.”

She paused, hearing Robert shout for the invaders to halt. A blue-robed leper would make the bandits think twice about advancing.

Cecily strained to see what was happening. A babel of voices rose.

“Keep away!” Bertram yelled out. “We have nothing but our lives, but we’re prepared to lose them before you harm those within.”

“Step away, boy,” one of the mounted warriors said. “You’ll all be dead before you can do anything to us.”

“They’ve got women trapped in there!” another one shouted. “We saw them driven in. Let them go!”

Cecily raised her eyebrow. What would a bandit care about women trapped in a house? And did he look familiar? It was so hard for her to see any details through the sliver.

“We’re sick, not stupid!” one of the lepers said back. “We’ll not let you harm those who come to help us!”

“Set some of these other places aflame,” one recommended to the leader, who had not yet spoken. “That will bring them to see how things are.”

“No!” Cecily shouted from within. If a roof caught fire, many people could die. “You can’t do that!”

“What’s that? Who’s within?” a new voice shouted. Cecily’s heart jumped and she focused on the leader. It was Alric!

He removed his helmet, revealing his face. “We come from Cleobury at the order of the lord Theobald.
We
have the force of law, not you.”

There was a grumbling, but he continued, “Let no one move. My men could shoot everyone dead here, without bothering to dismount. Now let’s see who’s hiding inside. If they are women or children, they must be allowed to go free.”

Cecily rushed to the front door and unbolted it. Two archers immediately shifted their aim to the door, ready to fire should any threat arise. Cecily hesitated, still within the darkness of the cottage.

“Show yourself!” Alric ordered.

“Alric, it’s me!” Cecily stepped out with her hands held wide, showing that she was quite unarmed. “Alric, please tell your men to lower their weapons. They’re frightening the residents.”

Alric stared at her in complete shock. After a moment, he recovered. He turned in his saddle and gave a sharp order. The men obeyed, relaxing their guard and lowering their weapons. Cecily had no doubt that they could snap back to attention at the next call, but she advanced toward Alric nonetheless.

He jumped down from his horse and strode toward her.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, even as he pulled her farther from the gathered sick. His voice was low, his expression furious. “What in God’s name is going on?”

“First tell me what brings you and your men here,” she said.

“Your uncle has ordered this place cleared of vagrants and then burned to the ground.”

“Oh, you can’t!” She put a hand on Alric’s arm, as if that could stop anything.

He shook it off, his face stormy and cold. “I have my orders, my lady. Theobald was informed that bandits live here.”

“No, he is mistaken!” Cecily said. “You can see that, can’t you? These are neighbors, not enemies. They have taken an abandoned place and made it useful again. I’ve been told at least one raiding party was frightened into fleeing once they caught sight of the residents! They feared sickness would strike them down if they entered.”

“A sensible fear,” Alric said, his voice still tight. “One I would expect
you
to share. Yet you and these other women are here, in defiance of all the rules and reason. Why is that?”

“We come to feed them and provide some simple care. It’s charity, and it harms none.”

“Yet you don’t tell anyone,” he noted shrewdly.

“My uncle wouldn’t understand,” she said. “But trust me. Cleobury has naught to fear from the people of Meaholt.”

Alric looked around at the assembled group, considering his options.

Behind him, his men remained wary and still. They were more frightened of the lepers than they would have been of two dozen armed bandits.

“Tell everyone to come out where I can see them,” he ordered at last. “I want to take a count.”

Cecily tried to placate him once more. “Alric, please, there’s no need to frighten…”

“My lady,” he said, glaring at her. “If you want to help your fallen sparrows, you will stand aside, not speak another word, and
never
leave my sight. Do you understand me?”

She bit her lip, then nodded. Then she signaled Pavia, Runild, and Mary to join her. They waited as Alric and his men rounded up the sick.

“So help me,” Alric declared, “if anyone tries to hide, I’ll burn their covert and the rest of the hamlet too.”

Hearing that, the sick hastened to follow Alric’s orders.

He told his men to treat the residents gently, but he was thorough in examining all the buildings and places where someone might hide.

After a short while, he came back to Cecily. “It appears that Meaholt does hold only some sick and infirm. No bandits, unless some of these people are pretending.”

“They’re not,” Cecily said. “I’ve tended to nearly all of them. Trust me, they’re exactly what they appear.”

Alric gave her a long look. “Speaking of appearances, let’s discuss what you all appear to be—women who routinely sneak away from a place of safety while telling no one who might be in a position to help. Cecily, this is your work.”

Pavia said, “Do not blame her, Alric! It was my idea.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Alric said shortly. “This is all Cecily’s doing, and anyone with half a mind would know it.”

Cecily loved Pavia for her gallant attempt to draw Alric’s ire away from her, but she knew that the only way to restore his trust was to talk to him and make him understand.

“May I speak to you, Alric? Just you and me?”

He frowned, but led her away from the group somewhat. “Speak, my lady, though I warn you I’m in no mood to hear it. Do you realize my men nearly shot you while you were in that house? I would have been responsible for your death, all because you couldn’t be bothered to tell the truth about your activities!”

Cecily suddenly understood Alric’s rage. He was worried about her.

“But no one did hurt me. I’m safe,” she said, “and I will remain so, now that you’re here.” She reached out, putting a tentative hand on his arm. This time, he didn’t pull away.

“Cecily,” he said. “Tell me what’s been going on. What have I missed?”

“I wanted to help the people here,” she explained. “That’s all. You know Theobald. He would never understand. He wants to keep me locked up in Cleobury until I’m married, and I can’t abide that. But you must see that whatever he told you is wrong. If you put this place to the torch, you’ll have driven two dozen souls from the only home they have left.
Please
, Alric.”

He looked back at the clutch of buildings and the people gathered in the middle, all waiting anxiously to hear what would happen next.

Then he turned back to her, frustration in his eyes.

“My lady,” Alric said in a low voice. “What would you have me do?”

“My uncle was misinformed,” Cecily said, trying to stay calm. “He would not have you keep following orders he knew to be bad, would he? Let’s go back together and explain that to him.”

Alric said, “He’ll have a fit when he hears his niece was among lepers and beggars.”

“That’s all too true,” she acknowledged, but then brightened. “But if you’re with me, he’ll be more likely to listen. He trusts your judgment.”

He grimaced. “So you’d have me simply ride back with all my men, who I’ve just brought all the way here, and tell a lord that I’ve elected to ignore his orders?”

“Well, no.” Cecily said. “Since your men are here, they could be of great help. Could you instruct them to chop some firewood and make some repairs to these houses? The residents are too weak to do all that on their own.”

Alric looked back at his men again. “It shall be done.”

“Oh, thank you!” Cecily said happily. “I can help.”

“You will do no such thing,” he said, though all the anger was gone. “
You
must come back to Cleobury with me immediately. No arguments, my lady. Theobald would have me killed if I knowingly left you behind in such a place.”

Despite the gentle tone, Cecily recognized the iron in that voice. “I will do as you say.”

He gave her a grateful nod. “I’ll leave instructions with the men and then we’ll return to the manor.”

Alric did exactly what he promised. He ordered some of the men to work on the most essential repairs. “See to the roofs, especially. The rain is more like to harm the houses than cold. We’ll come back before the autumn to attend to other repairs.”

He also told Martin and Oswin, the burliest of the men, to chop more firewood and help gather it nearer the houses.

“Even that of the lepers, sir?” Oswin asked doubtfully.

“Leave it outside that house,” Alric said. “But the sick need the heat of a fire nearly year round. The more firewood is available, the better their chance to recover. Or at least to die comfortably,” he added, realizing that several of the residents would likely never leave Meaholt alive.

Pavia said she’d stay with the women and oversee the work. “I know what needs to be done, Sir Alric,” she said confidently. “And in any case, I must see our horses returned to the stable at Bournham.” She gave him an arch look. “You see, even if Lady Cecily is our guide, we all participated in this venture. Let us all share the blame.”

“I’ve no doubt Theobald will have something to say about that,” Alric warned. “God protect you from his wrath. I know I can’t.”

“Then pray for me,” Pavia returned impudently, evidently not worried about her cousin’s anger.

“Take care,” Alric said. “I am taking Cecily back directly. Make sure no one else leaves Meaholt without armed escort. I do not want to hear any ill news today.”

* * * *

Alric and Cecily rode their horses on the track back toward Cleobury. The air was warm, and she shifted uncomfortably on her mount. Normally her wool gown was quite comfortable, but today she felt sticky and sweaty, half due to the exertion of the morning, and half due to how her skin flushed whenever she thought of arguing with Alric.

They rode in silence, only the sound of hooves breaking the tranquility of the midday woods.

He was riding ahead of her, and suddenly reined his horse in till she drew level.

“I should not have spoken to you as I did when I saw you at Meaholt.” He didn’t look at her, and she thought he sounded upset.

Still, Cecily was relieved he said something. “It’s the heat making us short tempered. Father Anselm says it affects the humors in our bodies, overheating even the coolest mind.”

“I expect my reaction would have been the same even if I’d found you there on a midwinter day. You ought to have told someone what you were up to. Why didn’t you tell
me
? You know I never would have gone to Theobald with the news.”

“But you might have prevented me from returning to Meaholt, and they need me.”

“If you need to go, then I’d never prevent you. But I would have seen that you had a trustworthy escort,” he added. “You’re far too valuable to risk.”

“Next time, you can join us,” she offered.

“Assuming Theobald doesn’t send me away for disobeying orders.”

“He won’t,” said Cecily. “We’ll convince him together.”

By Alric’s choice, they were riding back to the manor by a different road, this one a fairly narrow track north of the main road, and one Cecily didn’t know well. When she caught a glimpse of silver glinting at her from the forest, she halted.

“Wait. Do you see that?” she asked.

“What?” Alric had his hand on his sword hilt before he even turned around.

“Nothing to fear,” Cecily said. “Follow me.”

She rode forward before he could stop her, though he swiftly rode Rolande to cut her off. “I’ll go first,” he said, still cautious.

But he discovered nothing more than a peaceful pool at the end of the trail. “There’s nothing here,” he said.

“There’s water!” Cecily slipped down from her saddle. “I want a drink. Don’t you?”

They let the horses drink before tethering them to a nearby tree. Then Cecily knelt down to scoop water up to her mouth. “Oh, the water is so cool! Come and drink.”

Alric was looking all around. “I might remember this place,” he said.

“I think we came here a long time ago, with a whole crowd of children,” said Cecily. “Look, there’s the tree Luc climbed and jumped into the pool!” How she’d adored swimming. Like many children growing up near lakes and rivers, Cecily learned to swim at an early age, and she wanted nothing more than to slip into cool water now.

Maybe she should. “Alric, my uncle might be more inclined to listen to me if I’m not covered in dust and smelling like a hay bale. I’ll be cleaner if I took a swim.”

Alric looked startled. “You can’t. Not with only me here.”

Cecily blushed, realizing that he was correct. Swimming as children was one thing. As adults…

“I forgot,” she murmured. “Never mind.”

“Wait a moment. You can swim,” he said, changing his mind. “I’ll walk back to the main track and wait. Call when you’re, um, presentable again.”

Alric made a show of walking away, toward the track where it was most likely someone might come by.

Soon, Cecily was alone amid the green of the forest and the cool water of the pool. She waited a moment, but heard and saw nothing. Alric was gone.

She stripped out of her clothing and laid it aside. Then she waded into the water, her feet touching smooth rounded rocks at the bottom.

The water was bracing enough that she squeaked a bit, but soon she floated in the middle of the pool, reveling in the coolness. All the heat of the morning, the sweat of her work, and the smells of the medicines she used were replaced with pure clean water.