Raven’s Rise Page 5

  In fact, Ernald first ignored her completely, until she was widowed. After her affliction began to plague her, he teased her for her visions and her strangeness. But then Ernald also began to press Otto to let him marry her. Otto always turned down the idea, but Ernald revived it often.

  Despite her words to Rafe earlier, she was well aware that Ernald watched her. How had Rafe put it? Like a wolf watches a sheep. Yes, it was time to get away from Dryton, even if a nunnery was her only other option.

  If that’s the price I pay to see my son again, then I’ll pay it, she thought. And she’d pray for the saints to intercede with a better ending, if they chose to. Either way, she’d get free of Dryton and the Yarboroughs.

  She felt lighter as she thought of leaving Dryton at last. She’d been stuck here for far too long, within the dreary walls and the dour lands around. The journey, at least, would be new. She would see new vistas and new towns. Perhaps she’d get to meet a few interesting people along the way.

  If she was lucky, maybe they’d travel along a route that would let her see a spectacular sunset, like the ones she remembered as a child. Dryton, confined in a wooded valley, never had sunsets like the ones she dreamed of, all gold and red beams in the sky, opening up as if it was heaven itself.

  Closing her eyes, she imagined the scene, hoping to make it real. The colors seemed to burst in her mind, and she felt lighter and lighter, more joyous every moment. She could almost touch the sky…

  Angelet drew in a shuddering breath. Too late, she realized what was happening. This was no idle dream, but the start of another fit. She scrambled out of her little hiding place. She had to run to find some sort of help before the seizure worsened, leaving her unable to move.

  As she reached the altar and turned to the door of the chapel, she saw the same bright colors of her sunset, but now the color streamed in through the doorway, dazzling her. And in the midst of the vibrant, violent burst of light was the black outline of the figure she had seen so often before. Her angel.

  “Help me,” she said, reaching out to it. Pain stopped her from going any further. Her arm struck something at her side, and then she was falling, falling, falling, and everything went dark.

  Chapter 6

  After warning Angelet to remain hidden until the corridor was silent, Rafe had left her. He went to the dormitory, a long, low roofed room where male guests could stay. There were several mattresses laid directly upon the floor. No walls divided the space—it was little more than a barracks. Rafe was quite familiar with the set-up, after serving as a soldier and a knight.

  His new companions were settling in. Simon, Laurence, and Marcus all took beds in a row. They were sitting on the middle one, about to start a friendly game of dice, so Rafe joined them.

  The group was just starting the betting when a local guard walked in with the news: Otto wanted to speak to Angelet, but she could not be found. Ernald must have given his own account of the incident, just as expected.

  Rafe told Laurence and Marcus to start searching near the outer walls of the manor, while he and Simon would begin with the buildings.

  “Won’t the residents know where to look?” Laurence asked. “We’re strangers here.”

  “Then perhaps we’ll see something that they’ve overlooked,” Rafe countered.

  About half an hour later, though, no one—local or stranger—had located the elusive, lovely Angelet.

  Simon eventually gave a sigh and kicked a wall with his foot. “I swear we’ve been through every hallway and room three times by now. Still no sign of the lady. How can she simply vanish?”

  Rafe said calmly, “There’s no magic or mystery at work here. I’m sure she’ll be found, and all will be explained.”

  “God willing,” said Simon. “To be out of a job before it begins! My father will laugh at me. He’s a carpenter, and my older brother’s a carpenter, and Lord, I don’t want to be a carpenter too. I was sure the soldiering life couldn’t be so difficult, yet I’m failing from the first. How can we escort the lady through half the kingdom when she can’t be located inside one manor house?”

  “She’ll be found.” Rafe smiled, then looked around. “Come, let’s try another tack. We’ve scoured the manor house, so let’s go outside. Perhaps she’s somewhere else on the grounds. Someplace where she might not have heard any commotion of those looking for her. Someplace quiet and peaceful…”

  Simon’s eyes lit up. “My God…the chapel!”

  “Good thinking,” Rafe said, happy Simon had picked up the idea Rafe so carefully suggested. “Let’s go there.”

  Rafe entered the chapel with Simon on his heels. Next to an upright, carved wooden crucifix, a candle set in a heavy wrought iron candlestick burned on the altar, the only light in the space. Rafe was a little surprised, since he expected that Angelet would have lit at least a few other candles while she was waiting there, as they had agreed.

  “The other candlestick is missing,” Simon said then.

  “What?” Rafe turned to the other man, who was staring at the altar in puzzlement.

  “The other candlestick.” Simon pointed to the altar. “I stepped in here earlier, and there were two candlesticks, each flanking the crucifix. They should always be lit. Yet now there’s just one. That’s strange.”

  “Someone may have needed light,” Rafe hazarded. It was a ridiculous suggestion, and he knew it. No one would have taken a heavy candlestick from the altar itself. There were other candles in more humble holders to be used. Something was not right. “Lady Angelet?” he called out. “Are you here?”

  There was no answer.

  Rafe made his way up the center aisle. “Lady Angelet, people are looking for you. If you’re at prayer, we can at least tell everyone where—”

  He broke off, because when he reached the altar, he saw a pool of white of the ground. A woman’s skirts. Angelet lay at the far side, the heavy candlestick nearby, its light now doused. “Jesu,” he muttered.

  Behind him, Simon asked, “What is it?”

  Rafe knelt beside Angelet, reaching for her hand. It was ice cold, and she didn’t react at all to his touch.

  “Oh, dear God,” Simon said, now seeing what Rafe saw. “Is she dead?”

  Rafe bent to her face, and felt the slightest puff of breath from her open lips. “No. She’s alive. Go get help!”

  Simon dashed off immediately, and Rafe turned to the unconscious woman at his feet.

  “Angelet,” he said, quietly. “Wake up. We’re alone. You need not act now.”

  She did nothing, said nothing. Rafe realized that whatever was happening now, it was no act to explain away her absence. Something serious happened to Angelet, leaving her alone and helpless on the cold stone floor.

  Moments later, several people entered the chapel.

  “Thank God,” Rafe muttered. He raised his voice. “Over here!”

  “I sent out a cry, sir,” Simon said. “This is Bethany, one of Lady Angelet’s maids.”

  After Bethany, Ernald came in, along with a few of the manor’s guards.

  The petite maid looked down at Angelet’s prone body with narrowed eyes, then spoke. “So that’s why we couldn’t find her. She had another seizure and couldn’t hear us calling.”

  The utter lack of concern in her tone made Rafe tense up. “This happens often?”

  “Often enough,” Ernald said. “Sometimes months go by between her fits, but it’s no surprise to see another.”

  “How do you care for her now?”

  “Naught to be done,” Ernald said with a shrug.

  Bethany added, “When she rouses, she can go to her bed and rest till the headache fades. She always has a headache afterwards.” The maid gave the last bit of information as if it were a grave personal failing on Angelet’s part.

  “You would just leave her here till she wakes on her own?”

  “There’s no waking her now, sir. Trust me, we’ve tried all manner of tricks. Screaming in her ear, banging pots, striking h
er…she sleeps on.”

  Rafe was appalled at the maid’s list of abuses. He couldn’t rely on the manor’s inhabitants to care for her, so he’d have to do what he could. He gathered Angelet in his arms. She did not weigh that much.

  “I’ll carry her to her bed,” he announced.

  Ernald blocked his path. “I should do it.”

  “Then why didn’t you pick her up?” Rafe asked. “I’ve got her, so let me by. Jesu.”

  The lordling sneered but stepped aside. “Bethany, show him the way,” Ernald ordered.

  Bethany led them out of the chapel and across the courtyard to the manor house. Rafe followed, trying to keep his stride steady so as not to disturb Angelet more than necessary.

  Not that she seemed the slightest bit aware of her surroundings. Her head lolled against his shoulder and one arm slipped down, dangling toward the ground.

  “Simon,” Rafe ordered. “Her arm.”

  Simon, who’d been like a faithful shadow, now circled and gently laid Angelet’s arm across her stomach. His expression was still stunned, and Rafe knew the young man was highly disturbed by Angelet’s condition.

  The little party made its way through the manor house. A few other residents stood by as they passed. Some muttered, a few crossed themselves hastily. None offered to help.

  On the upper floor, Bethany opened the door to a corner chamber. “This one, sir.”

  Rafe passed through the doorway to find a small space enclosed in darkness. He saw the narrow bed as a faint patch of lighter color and laid Angelet down on it. “Light a candle,” he ordered the maid.

  Bethany did so, grumbling about Rafe’s officiousness.

  Ernald came in then. He looked at Angelet, lying on her bed, then at Rafe. “You can go now, sir knight.”

  “She can’t be alone.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Ernald said.

  Rafe almost laughed out loud. As if he’d let Ernald near Angelet after what he’d seen earlier that night. “No.”

  “I’m her family. You’re nothing.”

  Simon, who’d been silent thus far, now stepped forward. “That’s an insult!”

  “Simon, stand down,” Rafe said quietly. He thought for a moment. “Please find someone who can tell us more of what’s going on. Lord Otto, if that’s what it takes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ernald snapped, “Bethany, come with me. I would speak with you.”

  After they left, Rafe sat on the stool next to the bed, leaning against the wall. He waited, listening to the shallow breathing of Angelet.

  He wasn’t sure why it felt so important to remain beside her, other than the pure shock of seeing her so lively, and then a short time later so still. He also didn’t trust the household to look after the lady, not after Bethany’s callous response to seeing Angelet helpless on the floor.

  About a half an hour passed, during which time Angelet didn’t stir even the slightest bit. Rafe stayed at the bedside, watching her to make sure she didn’t worsen. Not that he’d know what that would look like.

  Then there was a stir in the hall. The lady of the manor walked in, flanked by two new maids. One bore wine and the other some cloth and a bowl of warm water.

  Rafe stood up.

  “I am Katherine,” the lady said. “Your man Simon found me and told me what occurred.”

  “Will she recover?” Rafe asked.

  “She has before.” The lady directed the maids to put down their things, and began to give them a series of detailed instructions. Then the older woman said to Rafe, “I will stay with her through the night. You may retire, sir knight.”

  “I’ll stay outside in the hall,” he told her. “In case there’s need.”

  Katherine blinked, and then seemed to focus on him for the first time. “You’re the knight my husband will charge with escorting Angelet to the nunnery, are you not?”

  “I’m one of the soldiers.”

  “You take your duty seriously.”

  He could have given simple yes, but something in him made him retreat. He did not want the lady to see just how profoundly Angelet had affected him. “Expediency, my lady. I can’t get paid for a job if the client dies first.” Rafe smiled as he spoke, the same smile he always used to charm.

  Lady Katherine gave him a long, searching look. Then she said, “You may wait outside the room. Though with Angelet, all we can truly do is wait for her to come back to herself.”

  Rafe nodded and took up a position just outside the door. The maids exited a little while after. But Lady Katherine remained inside. The slight sounds of movement, the rustle of fabric and the clink of the dishes suggested she was doing something. Then things quieted down.

  An hour passed. Another. Rafe must have dozed, because he jerked awake on hearing some small sound.

  “What is it?” he asked out loud, reaching for the dagger at his side. His brain was muddled, and his instinct was to expect a battle.

  No one was there, but he heard the sound again, a soft moaning. It came from Angelet’s room.

  He took a breath, then eased the door open. The candle had burned low, but still illuminated the room. Lady Katherine sat in the only chair, her head nodding over her chest.

  Angelet, however, appeared to be waking. Or at least her sleep was no long the deep catatonia that gripped her before. A thin sound escaped her lips.

  Rafe sat on the edge of her bed, there being nowhere else to sit. He leaned over, putting a hand to her head.

  “Angelet?” he asked quietly. If Lady Katherine woke, she would not look on the scene with much sympathy. “Angelet.”

  Her brow wrinkled up, a sign of some internal pain.

  Rafe immediately bent and laid a kiss on her forehead, hoping to soothe her. He pulled back to find her eyes now open, staring at him in wonder.

  “What has happened?” she asked. “I was waiting for you in the chapel, and…” she trailed off. “Oh.”

  “You remember?” he asked.

  “It’s coming back. You found me?”

  “I did. You were near the altar, unconscious.”

  “It happened again,” she said in a small, hopeless voice. “I hoped I would be free of it for some time, but luck was not with me. Well, perhaps it was, if you found me.”

  “Simon and I both found you, and brought you back here when your own servants showed no inclination to do so.”

  Then she blinked, seeming to realize something for the first time. “You stayed with me.”

  “Just outside. Lady Katherine remained here. See?”

  She looked over, but immediately returned to him.

  “But you hardly know me, and you stayed.”

  “Well, you needed me to,” he said.

  “It was most kind.”

  “Self-interest, nothing more,” Rafe said. “If you die, I’ll have no one to escort to the nunnery, and then no one gets paid.” He leaned over as he spoke, his fingers sweeping strands of that unusual silvery blonde hair from her face.

  Angelet smiled. “Your words are harsh, but your gesture too tender. Part of you is lying to me, Sir Rafe.”

  “No knight leaves a lady in distress. What else can I do for you? Do you need food or drink? There’s wine here.”

  “I need only rest. I hate this part most of all, when I can barely rise from my bed. My head hurts so.”

  He put his hand to her head, very cautiously. “Where?”

  “Behind my eyes, but also at the back by my neck, and, well, everywhere.”

  Rafe began to stroke her head with his fingers, moving lightly from her temple to the base of her neck. “Does that feel better or worse?”

  She closed her eyes. “It’s…not worse.”

  Good enough. He continued to do it, to soothe at least a little of the pain. Angelet shifted to lie on her side, her hands tucked up under her chin, her eyes closed. Rafe glanced over her. The dip of her waist and the rise of her hip showed plainly under the blanket, the sort of curve he liked to see in bed. />
  He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been alone with a woman that hadn’t led to pure carnality. Yet here he was, alone with a beautiful woman and thinking of nothing more than how to heal her.

  Well, not nothing. She’d certainly caught his interest, even though she was not his usual type. But he had no intention of acting on his impulses in this situation. The idea of taking advantage of a helpless woman was repellent.

  After a moment she whispered, “You said there was wine? I am thirsty.”

  He reached to the table, where a glass of wine stood. Then he slipped his free arm behind her shoulders. “Just rise a little, so you can drink this down.”

  Angelet dutifully sipped several times. “Enough,” she said at last.

  Rafe eased her down, then replaced the goblet on the little table. “How do you feel?”

  “Less thirsty,” she said, with a tiny smile. “I’ll take what victories I can.”

  “Sleep, Angelet,” he said. “I’ll stay here.”

  “That’s good,” she whispered, her eyes closed. He remained by her side until she drifted off again. Then he moved back out to the hallway. He used the old tricks he learned on campaign to stay awake during sentry duty, and only when dawn colored the sky did he allow himself to relax.

  * * * *

  Later in the morning, Otto himself came to Angelet’s room. Rafe stood just inside the door as the lord looked her over. “How are you, girl?”

  “Better,” Angelet replied. “I am most grateful someone found me and brought me to my room.” She didn’t say Rafe’s name, probably to maintain a bit of discretion.

  “Well, I shall remain with you this morning,” Lady Katherine said. “You will need some bread and a little broth, I think, to revive you.”

  “That would be most welcome,” Angelet said.

  “Quite a commotion you caused last night,” Otto told Angelet.

  “The fit came on without warning,” she said. “As they always do.”

  “You knocked the candlestick off the altar,” Otto said. “It’s damaged.”