Lords of Honor (58 page)

He watched in horror as t
he yellow-haired man rested the blade against
His wife’s
cheek
.
He made a small slice
.
Blood trickled down
.

“Tell me what I want to know
this instant
, and I will leave you with this one small cut
.
Tell me a lie and I cut out your eye
.
Tell me nothing and I will carve my initials in your face so no man, not even your husband and brother will ever be able to
gaze
upon you again
.”
Davitt lowered his knife to her face again
.
“Tell me now or lose your eye!”

“Libby
!
Move
Libby
.
Roll away
!
Tell him the scrolls are in London
.
In a safe house
!
Save yourself, Libby
!”

Micah
pushed himself to a half reclining position
as his eyes flew open
.
“Libby
!
Libby
!”
He reached out, grabb
ing
Gabriel Chynoweth by the coat
.
He
pulled himself up
.
“Did you see that, Gabriel?”

“I saw, Micah
.
I saw it
.”
Gabriel tried to calm his friend and ease him back
against his pillows
.

Micah swung a leg off the side of the bed
.
He t
ried to stand
and
failed
.
He fell
limply
back
upon the bed again
.
He still clung to Gabriel’s coat
.
He
pleaded
, “Libby needs help now
!
We have to help her
.
It
i
s Davitt
!
He has my knif
e
.
He’s going to kill her
.
Go
.
Go
!
Save my Libby, damn you
!
Go
now
!
Why are you all still here
?
Davitt has Libby
.
He means to cut out her eye
!
To kill her
.
Please, g
o
help her
!
”

Owen
was in the room when Micah sat up
.
He
heard
every word Micah told Gabriel
.
He
turned and
silently
left the room
as Micah
pleaded behind him
.
Briskly
he walked
down
the
hallway
.
He
entered
his
room
.
Owen loaded
his weapons
.
He hid them and
extra
ammunition in his coat, clothes and boots
.
He didn’t get his cape or his rifle
.
Harry would have him locked up if
he thought he was going solo
.
H
e knew it
.

Owen
easily
walked past
Micah’s door
.
Wyldhurst and Lachlan were holding him down
.
Micah was still
pleading for them to get
Libby.
Micah’s wife.
His
sister.
A tear trickled down Owen’s cheek as he thought of the hell Libby was going through, and Micah right along with her
.
He w
ent downstairs and left the house
.
He saddled his horse
in the stable
.
He t
ook a
hunting
rifle and some
shot
for it from
the
cupboard
in the stable room
.
He r
ode out
, t
oward Cadbury Hill
.
Dusk was upon them, it would soon be
dark.

Charlie caught up to him down the lane
.

“I’m not going back
.
Harry will lock me up,” Owen
shouted
defiantly
.
He
swung his horse around
.
He
raised his rifle to aim
it
at Charlie.

“I’m not going back either, Owen
.
I’m coming with you
.
Libby is like a sister to me, same as my own sisters
.
You are like a brother to me
.
Micah is
our good
friend
.
I’m coming with you
.
We’re wasting time here
.”
His solemn blue eyes met Owen’s.

“Let’s go get Libby
.”
Owen nodded
as he
lowered the rifle
.
“First we’ll stop in the Pub at Templecombe and have a
very quick
pint, in case we are being watched
by Brown Coats
.
We’ll leave our horses near t
he
rear
and sneak out the back
of the tavern
then be on our way
.
Are you armed?
”

“Of course,
” Charlie chuckled
.
“
I’ve four pistols
, six knives
and I took a hunting rifle from the stable just as you did.”
Charlie grinned.

“You watched me?” Owen asked.

Charlie merely nodded
, grinned
and
urged his mount forward.

After Wyldhurst and
Lachlan
got some laudanum down Micah
,
he quieted
.
Two
teary-eyed and exhausted
ladies sat holding his hands.

Sophia rose to get her needle and t
hread to
repair
Micah’s
s
titches
where they
tore
his skin
during his exertion to try and leave his bed
.

“Owen and Charlie are gone
.
I can’t find them anywhere,” Newt
hurried into the room
.

Harry nodded
.
“They’re gone
.
I can’t blame them after what Micah told Gabriel
.
But Charlie is very cool-headed
.
I trust he will keep Owen from doing anything rash
.
In fact, I’m certain that’s why he went
.”
Harry looked
to
each of
his colleagues
currently
standing in the room
.
“
Study the map in Micah’s office
.
Make certain you
know where Arthur’s Well is
.
G
o get Libby
.
Come up the side near the well
.
Watch for the signal from the Angel
.
Bring her back.
”

The rest of the
Avalon Society members left
Horethorne Hall
just
twenty minutes after
Owen and Charlie.

Matthias Halfknight and Harry stay
ed with the ladies and Micah
.
Four
of Gabriel’s men and Elveston kept watch
downstairs
.
Arthur Trevelyan, Gabriel’s cousin headed the outside guard
which consisted of the men who were employed by Micah at Horethorne Hall
.

Libby saw Micah in the mist
.

“They are coming for you,
sweetheart
,
Owen and the others
.
Stay away from the man with yellow hair
.
He means you harm
.
Wake up, Libby
.
You need to be awake now
.
I will see you soon.”

Libby
opened her eyes
.
She
heard som
eone enter the tent.
She s
aw a man with dark hair
.

“She’s compliant
, n
ot moving
.
She’s g
ood and drugged still
.
Her eyes are glassy.
”

“Leave me alone with her.” Another voice came from behind the dark-haired man.

“Crow said you are not to kill her until we have the scrolls
.
They may want to see her
before we make the exchange
,” t
he dark haired man
warned before leaving
the tent.

“I won
’t kill her, y
et
.
I
have not
decide
d
whether I want to disfigure
her face
and
enjoy
her
charms
or
just
kill her
.
I wish to choose the option that will bring
Wincanton
the
ut
most pain.
”

Libby looked toward the tent opening
.
She s
aw a man with pale yellow hair
.
His
eyes
were so
light and pale
a green color
they looked unnatural
.
She saw the gleam of a knife in the man’s hand.

“So, you are the wife of Wincanton
.
Lady Wincanton?”

Libby nodded slowly
.

“I should rather carve his skin, but alas, he is not her
e
.
I’ve heard he was dead, or close to it
.
I hope it is truth and not a rumor
.
Good riddance, I say.”

No
!
He
is
not dead
.
Could not be dead
!
This man was trying to frighten her
, to g
oad her.

“Do you know where the scrolls are?”

“What scrolls?”

“What scrolls
!
Do you take me for a fool, you li
ttle bitch
?
What scrolls
!
If you are Wincanton’s wife, you know where the scrolls are
.”
He brought the knife to her cheek
.
“So tell me, Elizabeth Wychcombe, Lady Wincanton, if you do not I shall cut out your eye
.
I wan
t your brother and your husband
,
if
he lives
,
to think of me every time they
gaze
upon you
.
Providing, of course,
I decide to let you live
.
I want them to never be able to forget me.”

“I cannot tell you, sir, because I do not know the location of the scrolls
.
They were moved to another location upon our arrival in Templecombe
.
Where
,
I do not know
.
I am not privy to Avalon Society business
.
None of the ladies are
.”
Libby lied
.

She tested her hands, to see if she could move them
.
She said a quick prayer
to Archangel Michael
for protection
.
She t
hought she saw the white
outline
of an angel behind the yellow-haired
man
, though she could not be certain
.
Libby fervently h
oped
that
if this wasn’t a dream the angel was real
.