The Tolls of Death: (Knights Templar 17) Read Online Free

instead of his master,’ said the second pensively.
    ‘Is that what you wanted, man? You’d embezzle money due to your master?’
    ‘No, of course not. That would be treason! But my master will want me to settle any missing debts. I’ll have to tell him that you both passed by without paying the toll levied here.’
    ‘Your master? What’s his name?’
    The man-at-arms made an irritable gesture.
    Reluctantly, Serlo moved forward and slid the bar from its rests, swinging the gate wide. ‘Sir Henry of Cardinham, lord of this manor. Not that he’s here right now; he lives in his own big palace near the King, so I hear. He’s part of the King’s household, so you shouldn’t cross him. Nicholas is his castellan. He’s there in the castle now, I expect, and he has a foul temper – so I shouldn’t try to plead ignorance about the tolls and evading them.’
    ‘Oh aye? Then we’ll be careful, won’t we, Richer?’ the larger man said. ‘If our new master is so brutal, we’ll have to watch ourselves!’
    Serlo heard his laughter, and felt the shock of the words like a wave that broke over him. He peered at the second man, and recognition kicked in his bowels. It was mutual.
    ‘So,
little
miller, it’s you! You weren’t a miller when I was last here.’
    ‘Some of us have bettered ourselves in the last years, I suppose,’ Serlo said defensively.
    ‘Aye, that’s true enough,’ the man called Richer said softly.
    As the two meandered away, up the lane eastwards towards the castle, Serlo could only wonder what Richer atte Brooke was doing back here in Cardinham.
    After all, it was fifteen years since he’d fled the vill, when all his family had died in a fire.
    Gervase, steward of Cardinham Castle, watched Nicholas leave with a sense of relief. It was hard enough keeping the men working
without
having the master of the castle hanging around, watching everything with that stupid grin plastered all over his face. It made Gervase feel queasy. Nick had once been his best friend, but now … Well! It was better that the fool should go and leave his steward to do his work without interruption.
    He sighed, leaning on his staff. Before Nicholas had married the pair of them had grown into an easy, comfortable relationship; they had become close. As castellan, Nicholas was responsible for the law all about the manor, while Gervase was in charge of the maintenance of the estates. Under them, the manor had flourished. And then, six years ago,
she
had arrived, the Lady Anne, and Gervase had lost his companion.
    Cardinham Castle had, until then, been a quiet place. Sir Henry had won favour with the King, and was today a member of Edward’s household, surviving the many twists and turns of politics. He had been given an estate in Kent, once the possession of a man who had been proved to be a traitor, and lived with the King. He had not been to Cardinham for at least twenty years, so the place was more or less under the permanent control of Nicholas and Gervase his steward.
    Anne had been a forlorn traveller, only sixteen years old, orphaned by the Scottish wars and half-starved by the famine. Nicholas had seen her, this sad little chit, and apparently been immediately smitten. His heart was hers. It was a strange sight, the grizzled old warrior so besotted. It was more than simple lust. If it had been only that, he could have taken her and been satisfied, but there was something else about her that attracted a man. Gervase had felt it too. She was fresh and fragrant –
lovely
; bewitching to any man with red blood in his veins. Even her melancholia was entrancing. It made a man want to slay dragons to lay at her dainty feet. She was adorable.
    When the two made their oaths at the church door, Nicholas holding her hands with reverence, as though he was holding thehands of an angel, Gervase had felt his heart swell with pride, a sense that the manor was honoured. He had looked at his friend’s smiling face, glad to see him so