Noble Beginnings (15 page)

"So you think people in the castle organized
for..”

"I don't see how it could have been
otherwise," Nora said. "It may not be much, but we do have a guard,
not to mention a gate. To get around those, they'd need information
and keys. It was a fairly impressive effort, too. If they already
managed to get that many men into the castle, it doesn't make sense
for them not to have at least one agent inside the castle
walls."

"Do you have any idea who it is?" Dorran
asked, heart sinking. The idea of conspirators in the castle was
unsettling at best. He found himself wondering, irrationally, how
safe his mother and Adhara would really be in Thea's private
meeting hall. He knew all the people in the room, and trusted them,
but now...

"I have a few," Nora said grimly, "but none
of them are good, and I can't be positive it isn't someone I've
overlooked. Either way, though, I'd like some confirmation
first."

Dorran nodded, even though she couldn't see
the movement, as he followed her down the stairs towards the
castle's small infirmary. There was an edge to her voice and a set
to her shoulders that he had never seen before, but he knew
instantly what it meant. Those assassins had tried to kill at least
two unarmed, unprepared members of this family, and Nora was just
as upset about that as Dorran was.

Before opening the door, she turned to look
at him and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it,
grimaced, and pulled the door open. And because she had given him
no warning, and he had been too preoccupied to think about it,
Dorran was completely unprepared for what, and whom, he saw when
the door swung open.

CHAPTER XIII

"Myriel!" He gasped. Before he could make the
conscious decision to do so, he had already clattered to his knees
beside the cot. Her eyes were half-closed, lips parted; she looked
barely conscious. "What happened?" he said his voice merely a
whimper.

His sister's voice was quieter than usual,
shaken. "As soon as I saw that the situation was under control, I
gathered the servants together and had them scour the castle in
pairs. They found her in the storage closet off the east wing of
the castle. I think she had word of the plot to assassinate the
Duchess, and the conspirators needed to keep her silent. We're
lucky they didn't kill her. Though it looks like they might have
come close to doing just that."

Dorran let the words wash over him as he
tentatively stroked Myriel's forehead with a finger, hoping she
would wake despite the angry, scabbed bump on one side of her head.
She groaned when he touched it, and her eyes blearily rose to meet
his.

It took a moment for her to recognize him,
but when she did, she took a full, pained breath. "It’s you...Lord
Dorran," she said, words slurred. "You may not believe me, but
please...the Duchess is in danger…"

"I know. She's safe now," he said quickly,
stroking her cheek with an absent thumb to help her maintain her
attention on him. "Do you know who did this to you?"

She nodded once, a tiny movement. "It
was...you may not believe me, my lord, but..."

"None of that, we're friends, of course I
believe you." Dorran was babbling now, stomach sinking as he
wondered who might be implicated. "Who?"

"It was...Miss Lyrre...and her mother."

Dorran sat back for a moment, stunned and
blinking, but recovered quickly. "Thank you, Myriel. How are you
feeling?"

"I shall recover, my lord," she replied
steadily, though her exhaustion was evident in her tone.

"I'm happy to hear it. We'll ensure you're
taken good care of," he promised, realizing how awkward and
inadequate the words sounded coming from him at the moment.
"...Thank you, Myriel."

It seemed a struggle for her to raise her
eyelids, but she did so one more time, looking him squarely in the
face. "Anytime, Lord Dorran," she said, and then her eyes slid
shut.

He watched her for a long minute as her
breathing slowed and stretched into the steady cadence of sleep;
then he removed his hand from her own. He didn't even remember
putting it there. When he stood, he looked back at Nora. "Do we
have any other evidence?" he asked quietly, walking over to where
he stood. "I mean, I believe her….how could I not? But..."

She shook her head. "We don't have evidence
yet, but we'll find it. It's unfortunate we didn't hear about this
sooner, but we have some of the assailants in the dungeons, and
there are guards moving to apprehend Lyrre and Lady Alven as we
speak. If we're lucky, they'll still be in their chambers. If
not..." She shrugged. "We'll find a way to track them down."

But we're outmanned enough just keeping the
castle secure and these would-be assassins imprisoned, Dorran
thought. Instead of contradicting the steel in his little sister's
voice, though, he settled on a different question. "How long was
she in there?"

Nora looked away. "I don't know," she said
quietly. "When was the last time you saw her?"

Dorran stomach knotted. Had it been...? "Two,
maybe three days," he muttered finally. "She showed up briefly the
day before yesterday, I think, but she was in and out before I got
a chance to talk to her. She seemed preoccupied..." He wondered
whether she'd already heard hints of the plot by then, or whether
she'd been caught during her first attempt to eavesdrop. "She's
been busy for a while, sort of in and out, and I told her she
didn't need to come by every day if she had too much to do. When
she never showed up this morning, I thought..."

"I don't know how long she was in there,"
Nora said. "It might have been considerably shorter than that. And
even if it wasn't, Myriel doesn't expect you to follow her every
movement."

Her voice was matter-of-fact, but Dorran knew
she was trying to comfort him, something she was not very skilled
at. He smiled at her in thanks for at least putting forth the
effort, then he shook his head. "Is she going to be all right?"

Nora nodded tentatively. "From what I
overheard Berta saying, she should be fine with a day or two of
rest."

Dorran glanced over at the old healer, who
was banging away with a mortar and pestle in the corner with the
same lighthearted air she'd had when he was a child and he had come
to her for a poultice for a skinned knee.

Oh, he remembered, and quietly walked up to
her, waiting patiently. When she turned around, he explained his
need for poultice materials. Within minutes, she had him fit out
with a bowl for heating water, a large pitcher of twice-boiled
water, and a bag of herbs. She ran through the instructions for how
to use them quickly and efficiently, and after thanking her, Dorran
returned to his sister. "All right, now I'm ready."

"You're sure you're not about to bleed to
death?" Nora asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He gave her a flat look. "Quite sure."

"Good. Then let's go," Nora said, putting a
hand on his arm. "We should see whether or not the guards have
caught our suspects yet."

Dorran nodded, but couldn't help throwing one
more glance over his shoulder at Myriel's still form as they
left.

It took perhaps another hour before the
guards managed to find and arrest Lyrre and Lady Alven. They were
found in the lowest levels of the castle. They were hiding like
mice near what had once been an ancient escape route. The guards
brought them, hands bound, to the main hall, where Thea and her
family sat awaiting them.

"Have your guards unhand me!" The arrogant
cry burst from Alven's lips the moment she caught sight of Thea. "I
demand to know what is going on? Why have you bound us like common
riffraff?"

"You know perfectly well why you have been
detained," Thea said coldly. "I have decided to give you a chance
to defend yourself, Lady Beatrice. I expect you to be cooperative
in exchange for this favor."

Dorran shivered internally at the tone in his
mother's voice, but focused his attention on the two accused nobles
instead. Lady Alven was struggling to meet Thea's eyes, and Lyrre
was staring at the ground, either from guilt or to show
non-resistance, Dorran couldn't tell.

"Now," Thea said. "Do you know the men who
attacked me? I expect the truth."

Alven kept her head held high, saying
nothing.

"Lyrre?" Thea asked, her tone a hair softer.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

Lyrre's eyes darted up at that. She looked
from Thea to her mother to Dorran, scanning every face around the
room before lowering her head. "I'm...I don't know, my lady."

"I see." Thea looked unimpressed. "In that
case, shall I tell you what we have discovered so far?" She waited,
then took their silence as a signal to continue. "A few hours ago,
several of my servant raised the alarm about unknown, armed men in
the castle. Nora went to fetch whatever help she could, and Adhara
and I tried to retreat to my private chambers. On the way, however,
we were assailed by nearly a dozen men, and had to barricade
ourselves in a room on the way for our own safety. Had my son and
his friends not arrived a few minutes later, we would likely be
dead. None of the men that were captured have mentioned any plan to
take us alive."

She paused to let that sink in, then
continued. "They have not confessed to the source of their orders,
but I suspect that they will it is only a matter of time. Now,
however...Beatrice, you were found trying to escape the castle in
secret, mere hours after this assassination attempt, before I had
announced to even my closest advisors what had occurred. It would
be in your best interests to throw yourself on my mercy now by
telling me all you know. Were you acting alone, or were you given
another incentive? Speak, or so help me you will never spend a day
in the sunlight again."

Alven remained silent, glaring faintly at the
ground. Her expression gave away nothing but minor annoyance. As
for Lyrre, she had let her hair fall forward to hide her face.
Dorran wondered what she was thinking.

Thea sighed. "Very well." She turned to one
of the castle guards. "Lock them in the dungeons. I want them
treated well, but separate them. I do not wish them to communicate
with one another. They are to have no visitors unless I expressly
allow it."

The guard nodded and led the two disgraced
nobles from the hall, a few of Dorran's fighters following closely
behind.

Thea leaned back in her throne and sighed,
her hands twisting in her lap as they often did when she was
nervous.

"What are you thinking, Mother?" Adhara asked
quietly.

"I am trying to understand their motives,"
Thea answered. "At the very least, we must assume that they helped
to coordinate the attack. The men were all after me, so it was
unlikely they were attempting to flee for their own safety. It is
obvious to assume that they became involved for the sake of
personal gain, but it would be most helpful to know what that gain
would be. Did they plan on getting Lyrre to marry Dorran so they
would have control over the duchy if that was the case the attempt
would have been better served after she had secured his hand. I
don’t know what it is but something is missing and once we find out
what it is we will start to see the whole picture."

Adhara paused for a moment before continuing.
"Do you think they were enticed by some outside group?"

Thea smiled dryly. "Something along those
lines. I don't think this was a naked bid for power on Alven's
part, if that's what you mean, or even on Lyrre's. If Alven is
nothing else, she is capable and knows how to pretend
subtlety."

Adhara nodded and then fell silent; Nora
spoke next. "Mother, we should take precautions to ensure that if
there is another attempt on your life, you are not so
defenseless."

Thea looked grim. "You are quite right, Nora.
I shall make a point of having a bodyguard with me at all times in
the future, but are you willing to take up such a practice
yourself?"

"No," Nora answered quickly. "With the tasks
you have appointed me, Mother, a bodyguard would only hinder me. I
am decent in self-defense and more than decent in stealth. I am
sure that a bodyguard would be more hindrance than help."

Dorran coughed, and they turned to look at
him. "Stealth didn't work very well for Myriel," he pointed out. "I
will admit that your knife work is impressive, but it wouldn't hold
up in any length of a fight. Do you think you might be able to keep
one other person nearby, at least?" He blinked as an idea occurred
to him. "Actually...I have a young fighter who I think you might do
well with. A youth named Marcus who's sly and quick on his feet.
Would you be willing to accept his protection?"

Nora considered this for a moment, and then
agreed. Dorran found Tam in the crowd and asked that he make sure
word was sent to Marcus; by the time he returned, Nora and Thea
were quietly discussing some fine point of strategy or intrigue. He
wasn’t sure which one but when it came to those two ladies they
almost went hand in hand. They made no attempt to involve him in
the conversation, so he turned to Adhara instead, who sat with her
hands in her lap, examining them closely.

"Are you all right?" Dorran asked.

She smiled politely at him as she nodded.
"I'm unhurt. Those bastards barely managed to lay a hand on
me."

"I'm glad." Dorran paused. "I don't suppose
you keep a knife on you like Nora does..."

“No," she said. "I'm not any good with one. I
would most likely only end up stabbing myself if I tried to use one
in a pinch. Though I'm starting to think that I should learn."

"It might be a good idea," Dorran admitted.
"I have to admit, I never imagined you needing to use one."

"I have, but I never quite got around to it.
I'm just glad Nora's quick on her feet." Adhara sighed, a thick
frown forming on her face. "By the way, how is Myriel? I heard that
she'll recover, but nothing more."