Lord of Fire,Lady of Ice(129)

Della had said one might need the passage to escape. Had she meant to escape him? Were the clues all there, just waiting for him to figure them out? He wasn’t sure he liked where the facts pointed.

“Isa, find Gunther and Roldan. Have them meet me by the gate.” Brant didn’t wait for a reply as he made his way to the stables. He hadn’t slept for nearly a sennight and the exhaustion only fueled him on. His heart pounded in low, hard thuds and his gut hurt terribly. A cold breeze whipped his long tunic about his legs, but he barely felt it.

“M’lord!” Rab ran toward him. “M’lord!”

“Nay, Rab, not now.” Brant held up his hand to stop the boy from coming closer. “I have no time for childish games.”

“Nay, m’lord. It is not a game,” Rab insisted. He jogged next to Brant, trying to keep up with the larger man’s gait. “Please, m’lord.”

Brant stopped at the entrance to the stables. Yelling into the darkness, he barked, “Boothe, my horse!”

“M’lord,” Rab pleaded, his voice cracking in near hysteria as he pulled at Brant’s sleeve.

“Begone, Rab,” Brant said, as he had for the last several days when the boy tried to approach him. He knew the boy was close to Della, but did not have time to coddle him like a babe.

Rab flinched and began to walk away. Suddenly he turned, mustering up his courage. “Nay, I must speak with you.”

Brant lifted a brow. If he hadn’t been so tired, he would’ve found much amusement in the lad’s show of strength. “All right. Be quick.”

“It’s about Serilda. She was here.” Rab took a brave step forward and stopped. “I saw her sneak through the manor. Methinks Edwyn hides her in his chambers, fer she is still in there.”

“Edwyn? And Serilda?” Brant inquired skeptically.

“Yea.” Rab nodded. “I didn’t want to believe it, but I stood guard and watched the door until just now when I saw you. She is still there. She ne’er came out.”

“Boy, I have no time for this.” Brant turned to go. What did he care about the midwife?

“But, m’lord, Serilda is in love with Sir Stuart. He visits her. I have seen him swim across the moat. When I tried to tell Edwyn, he laughed at me and said I imagined it, but now Serilda hides in his chamber. And Sir Stuart, when you played that game, he said that he would take what was his. Was not Lady Blackwell his?”

Brant hardened at the reminder. “Who told you that?”

“I was hiding under a table. No one ever notices me.” He kicked at the dirt. “I meant no harm. I just wanted to watch. Methought you would fight Sir Stuart over m’lady.”

“Go on.” Brant turned the full force of his attention to Rab.

“And Lady Della told me a secret the day she left. I was the last one with her.” He kicked the dirt again. “I promised not to tell what it was.”

Brant froze and suddenly wondered why he hadn’t thought to talk more in-depth to the boy. Every time the child had tried to approach, Brant shooed him back.

“But I know, m’lord, that she was not thinking of leaving Strathfeld. She told me there could be a plague between these walls, but if e’en one person remained within them, she would not leave. She said she would ne’er leave here, leastways, not without me.” Tears came to his eyes. “She ne’er lies, m’lord. Not to me. She would ne’er leave me behind.”

“That was her secret?” Brant asked, confused. A small flame of bittersweet hope kindled in his heart despite the hollow pain that resided there. Although everything pointed against it, mayhap she hadn’t left him willingly.

“Nay, the secret I promised not to tell.” Rab clenched his lips tightly together, as if the secret might slip out.

“Rab, I’m your lord and your leader. You swore your allegiance to me. Do you remember what we said about the field of battle? When you are fighting, there can be no secrets between the men and their leader. If there are, people die.” Brant shook. It took all his strength to keep from grabbing the boy and shaking the secret out of him.

After deliberating, for what felt like an eternity to Brant, Rab nodded. “Yea, I remember.”

“Lady Blackwell is a smart woman. She knows this also, and right now we are in battle over her. She knows you must tell me and will not be angry. If she does get upset, I will take the blame. I will tell her I tortured it out of you.” Brant took a deep breath. Boothe came from behind with his horse.

After some considering, Rab agreed, “Yea, m’lord. You are right.”

Brant took the reins and motioned Boothe away. Gunther and Roldan approached in the distance. “Tell me, Rab.”