Stuart, Elizabeth Read Online Free Page A

steadying breath. "Man, lad... at least most of the time I think
so."
    The
boy hesitated, looked him over with eyes that were obviously unsure. "We
were told you were dead. Burnt to a crisp, so men swore."
    "But
I'm not as you see."
    "Your
pardon, but I can't see anything of the kind."
    Robert
glanced down at himself. He was soot-blackened and singed, his surcoat and mail
liberally spattered with blood. No wonder the lad was unsure. But if that were
the case, why had he held the door? "A bit of this blood is my own, lad. To
my knowledge demons don't bleed."
    The
boy crept out of the shadows. In age he appeared to be some nine or ten years,
though he was gaunt as a reed, his dark hair long and matted.
    Robert
jerked his head toward the rear of the hall. "Who's back there?"
    "None
you need worry about. Only servants. The men-at-arms have all fled above. The
cowards!"
    The
boy's contemptuous tone amused him. "Lucky for me they hadn't your pluck,
lad. Have you any notion of their count?"
    "Less
than the fingers of both my hands. No more. The rest all went out at the first
sound of fighting."
    There
was a sudden increase in the noise from outside. Geoffrey was calling
frantically. Robert stepped back to the door. The flames were nearly out; the
oaken supports had never caught. "All's well," he called down. We
hold the hall."
    "We
hold the bailey and gatehouse as well," Geoffrey shouted. "Wait,
Robert! Don't go any further. I'm coming up."
    Within
seconds men were pouring into the hall, conquering the shadows with torchlight
and herding the cowering, terrified servants from beneath benches and tables
and gathering them near the hearth.
    In
the confusion of giving orders and preparing to take the rest of the castle,
Robert lost the boy, then found him standing unobtrusively against the wall. "You,
boy, I've not yet offered my thanks. We'll speak later. I've not forgotten your
aid."
    He
turned to Walter le Foret, the knight responsible for the men holding the hall.
"Mark that boy well. Guard his life as you would my own, for it's just
possible we owe this hall to him.
    "And
now," he continued giving a nod to the cold-eyed veterans ringed about
him, "I've a notion to rid my castle of some vermin. Quarter to those who
throw down their arms. And to those who don't," he said coldly, "no
quarter."
    ***
    The
smell of burning lay heavy in the room. From down the corridor came the faint
sounds of shouting, then screaming. The intruders had reached the women's
quarters.
    Jocelyn
slammed the door to the outer chamber and dropped the bolt, amazed to discover
that her hands were steady, still followed the command of her brain. If only
she had awakened sooner, if only her bedchamber fronted the bailey instead of
the rear wall. But she'd chosen this room herself for its quiet and because
from here on a clear day, she fancied she could see the Welsh hills.
    She
turned back to Adelise, her thoughts whirling, fighting for a plan where no
plans were possible. "It's too late to reach the back stair," she
said, forcing a steady tone. "The men must have won the hall before we
were even awake. When I find that wretch Edgar of Tutbury, he'll wish he'd
never been—"
    She
broke off. Adelise looked near to swooning, and Hawise was already moaning,
working quickly toward hysteria. Besides, it was likely the surly garrison
captain was already dead. And she was wasting precious time.
    "Quick,
back into our chamber!" she said, gesturing toward the small inner room
the sisters shared. "Dress yourselves in whatever you can get on quickly.
These doors won't hold them off long."
    At
that, Adelise cried out, and Hawise began a high-pitched wailing. Jocelyn moved
toward them. "Stop that noise! Hawise, help your mistress. Quick now, or
I'll put you outside that door myself!"
    Catching
hold of her sister, Jocelyn half-pushed, half-carried Adelise back into their
bedchamber. The room was in darkness save for the narrow circle of light
illuminated by the single night