Ruby - Book 1 (Daughters of the Dagger Series) (21 page)

Ascilia excused herself, and with head down
she left the ladies’ solar.

“Ruby,” said Linette, “I do think whoever is
after you is gone now, as no attempts have been made on your life
in a while. But I still don’t understand why someone is trying to
kill you. How could anyone not like you?”

“Well, Nyle could probably give you a few
reasons, although we have been getting along beautifully lately. I
think I will have to talk to Nyle about removing all the guards.
Actually, I already dismissed the ones from the solar door. I
figured as long as I was in here with the rest of the women I was
safe and there was no need for them to stand there. I told them to
come back this afternoon when we are finished.”

“And my brother agreed to that?” she asked
curiously.

“Well, he actually doesn’t know about it,”
Ruby admitted, pulling her needle with a long thread through the
cloth. She admired her handiwork and nodded, realizing she was
improving at stitching.

“I’m surprised the guards left,” said
Linette. “After all, they know how adamant Nyle is about
security.”

“Well, actually, I had to tell a little lie.
They think the order came from Nyle.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” warned
Linette.

“I felt so sorry for them standing there all
day without even having anything to eat or drink, so I sent them to
the kitchen. What does it matter?” she asked. “They won’t be gone
long.”

She looked out the window, hearing the cry
of the falcon, and realized she had forgotten about her special
appointment for a lesson in falconry with Darby today. The
falconer, Bertram, had approached her just this morning telling her
that her lesson would be early this morning instead of in the late
afternoon.

“Oh, I almost forgot, I have to go to the
mews,” she said, getting up and putting her stitching in a basket
by her feet. Tibbar crawled over to inspect it and she pulled it
away and handed it to Linette.

“I thought your lesson was later,” said
Linette.

“It usually is, but for some reason I guess
Darby needed to reschedule for this morning. But you should see the
progress I’m making with Jibbs.”

“Jibbs?” she asked, reaching out for the
baby.

“My falcon,” she reminded her. “You really
should come watch some day.”

“Did you want me to go with you?” Linette
asked.

She opened the door and looked out,
realizing no one would be shadowing her, and liking the idea. She’d
like to have Linette along but she knew the ladies were just
finishing up the tapestry and she didn’t want to take her away at
this time. Besides, Tibbar was starting to get restless and while
Oralie loved the child she just didn’t have the same touch as
Linette.

“No, I will be fine. After all, it’s just
Darby I’ll be with and we both know he is harmless. I rather like
the boy.”

“Aye, so do I.”

She bid Linette goodbye and kissed Tibbar
atop the head. Then she headed out of the castle and over the
courtyard. She was late so she hurried, not stopping to talk to
anyone along the way. She poked her head inside the mews and looked
around in the darkness, but did not see him. She took a step inside
and called out his name. “Darby? Are you in here? ’Tis Lady Ruby,”
she said, “I am here for my lesson.”

She heard a slight noise from the back of
the mews, and went back to investigate. She saw a cloaked person
standing there with something in his hand and at first thought it
was Darby. That is, until she realized it was the falconer coming
toward her with the look of a killer in his eyes and a club in his
hand that he was raising above her head.

“Lady Ruby? Are you in here?”

She heard Darby’s voice from behind her and
shouted out. “Help me,” she said, just as the club from the
falconer came down to hit her. She tried to dive out of the way,
but he still managed to graze her across the back of her shoulders.
She fell to the ground and her head hit against a wooden brace.
Feeling dazed and lightheaded, she looked up to see the falconer
coming after her, and she found herself instinctively reaching for
her dagger. When her hand came up empty, she realized she no longer
carried her dagger and because of this she just may lose her
life.

Locke shot forward through the darkness just
then with his sword drawn, and she noticed Darby right behind
him.

That’s all she remembered before her world
went black around her and her eyes closed, removing everything from
site.

* * *

Nyle rode over the drawbridge of the castle
and in to the courtyard, having had accompanied the reeve and the
bailiff on his demesne as he settled the villeins dispute over a
pig and a patch of land. He also saw to collecting unpaid taxes and
giving his approval for a serf to marry. ’Twas time consuming, and
after checking the status of the crops and paying a visit to
inspect the granary as well, it took up his entire morning. He had
hated to leave Ruby once again, but he had his manor to run and had
no choice. But he knew she was in the ladies’ solar sewing this
morning and that his guards were posted outside the door so she’d
be safe.

“Lord Sheffield, Lord Sheffield, come
quickly.”

His eyes shot over to the mews where the
falconer’s apprentice was running toward him and waving his arms
wildly. He couldn’t imagine what the boy wanted.

“Lord Sheffield, your wife is in danger, she
needs your help!”

“What the hell!” He jumped from his horse
and pulled his sword as he ran toward the mews with his heart
beating rapidly. He had no idea what the boy was talking about, but
had a sinking feeling in his gut that Ruby was not in the solar
with the ladies where he had left her this morning.

“Out of my way,” he shouted, rushing past
the boy and into the mews. He heard noises from the back of the
building and ran up to see Locke with his sword drawn and under the
chin of the falconer, Bertram. The falconer was a big man, but was
prone on the ground and had his hands raised above his head.

“God’s eyes, Locke, what is going on?” asked
Nyle.

“Well, he thought he could take me down
since I only had one good arm,” said Locke. “But I showed him that
I had two good feet as well, and here he is!”

“Where’s Ruby?” he asked, his eyes scanning
the grounds. Then he saw her in a heap laying a short distance away
on the ground. He ran to her and dropped to his knees.

“Ruby, sweetheart, are you all right?” he
asked. She moaned and opened her eyes slowly and Nyle could feel
the swelling at the back of her neck.

“We walked in to find ol’ Bertram here
trying to club her down,” relayed Darby from behind him.

“Good thing I saw her coming this way when
we got back from town,” said Locke. “I followed her and kept an eye
on her just like you said, Lord Sheffield.”

“Why aren’t you in the ladies solar sewing?”
asked Nyle, helping Ruby to a sitting position.

She sat up and rubbed her head. “The
falconer told me Darby wanted to have a lesson this morning,” she
relayed.

“That’s not true,” said the boy. “Lord
Sheffield, I had naught to do with this, I assure you. I would
never do anything to harm your wife.”

“That’s true,” said Locke. “Besides, he was
with me all morning.”

Nyle got up and stormed over to the
falconer, pulling him up by the neck of the tunic. He slammed him
into the wall, pulling his dagger from his waist and holding it to
his neck. “You worked for my father for years,” said Nyle. “Why
would you try to kill my wife?”

“I needed the money,” he said. “I didn’t
really want to do it, but my family is poor and I have many
children to feed, my lord. I really did not want to harm her. I had
no choice.”

“Of course you had a choice. Why didn’t you
just tell me you needed money, and I could have helped you
out?”

“I don’t know, my lord, I am sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t going to get you out of this
mess. You will be executed for this, but not before you tell me who
paid you money to kill my wife.”

He just shook his head and clamped his mouth
shut. “I can’t. If I do, my family will be harmed. I am sorry, but
I just can’t tell you.”

“Then I’ll just kill you right now you
bloody bastard!”

“Nyle, no,” came Ruby’s soft voice from
behind him. “He has a family and children. He needs your help,
please don’t kill him.”

“He tried to kill you, Ruby. You don’t know
what you are saying.”

He turned to see a crowd of people rushing
into the mews. Several of his men, and right behind them was his
sister and her handmaid.

“Oh my goodness!” shouted Linette, rushing
over to Ruby. “Are you all right?” she asked, collecting her into
her arms.

The crowd gathered around, waiting for Nyle
to do something. As much as he wanted to kill the man, he needed
him alive in order to find out who was behind this.

“Tell me now, who hired you?” he asked the
falconer. The man looked out to the crowd of people and his eyes
widened in fear. He just shook his head.

“Nay. I will never tell you.”

“Take him to the dungeon,” said Nyle
lowering his dagger and pushing the man forward. Several of his men
grabbed hold of him and dragged him through the mews as he
struggled against him. The birds were all frightened and squawked
and fluttered their wings from atop the posts.

“Everyone out of here!” Nyle shouted, making
his way to help his wife to her feet.

“Why the hell did the guards let you leave the
solar in the first place?” he ground out.

“Oh, Nyle, I am sorry,” said Ruby with tears
in her eyes. “I told them to go. They thought that you gave the
order. I didn’t think I was in danger any longer or I wouldn’t have
done it.”

“Well, obviously you were. And don’t do
something so stupid again.” He looked to her waist belt where her
dagger should have been, but knew that she had refused to wear it
since she’d killed a man. “And from now on you will always wear a
dagger at your waist, like it or not.”

“I won’t touch that murderous dagger again,”
she told him. “Please, I can’t.”

“Then I’ll get you another and you will wear
it. And you will never go anywhere without someone with you as well
as several guards at your side until I find the person behind all
this, do you understand?”

“I do,” she said, holding her head.

“Linette, take her to the great hall and
have the healer look at her,” he said. “Make sure you stay with her
and don’t let her out of your site until I get there.”

“Aye, brother,” she answered, helping Ruby
to walk through the darkened mews.

“Guards, go with,” he ordered his men who
were standing there as well.

“Aye,” they answered and headed away with
Ruby.

“I will stay with her as well,” said
Ascilia, walking behind them.

For some reason, that did not make Nyle feel
safe. He didn’t like the woman and couldn’t wait until she
left.

“Look at this,” said Darby, pulling
something from beneath the hay. He handed it to Nyle.

“This is a pouch with the king’s crest on
it,” he said. He opened it and reached inside and brought forth a
whole handful of gold coins.

“What is that?” asked Locke, looking over
his shoulder.

“It’s the motivation to kill a woman to help
feed one’s family,” replied Nyle.

“Who do you think would pay that much to
have someone killed off?” asked Darby, surveying the fistful of
gold.

“Someone who has a lot to lose by letting
one of my wives live,” he said under his breath.

“Like who?” asked Locke.

“I have an idea,” he said, “but first I want
to see if I can get more information out of the falconer.”

“Let’s go,” said Locke, putting his sword
back in his belt.

“There is something else I am going to need
to do as well and very soon,” said Nyle.

“What would that be, my lord?”

“I want my wife to be able to protect
herself and for that, I need to buy her a dagger.”

“We have many daggers in the armory,” said
Locke. “You don’t need to buy one.”

“She won’t wear a dagger that may have
killed someone,” he said. “Besides, she is my wife and I have never
even given her a wedding ring. Nay, Locke, I need to find her a
suitable dagger that is meant for a very special lady.”

Ruby’s head and the back of her neck hurt
like hell, and instead of going to the great hall, she had Linette
take her to her solar so she could lie down. Ascilia said she would
find the healer and send him up, and Ruby wanted nothing more than
to just go to sleep for the rest of the day. She was sorry now she
had gone against Nyle’s wishes and sent the guards away. She
realized it was a stupid move that had almost cost her her
life.

“Linette, I have done Nyle wrong one too
many times,” she said, climbing atop the bed with her gown still
on, and not caring.

“Ruby, you could have been killed today,
what were you thinking?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, laying her head
back on the pillow and closing her eyes.

“But all I know is that I can’t live like
this anymore.”

“I agree. But I don’t know what the answer
is, do you?”

“Nay. But all I know is that Nyle is going
to be so angry now that that poor falconer doesn’t have a chance of
not being executed.”

“Well, he should be. Ruby, he tried to kill
you.”

“Aye,” she said. “I understand. But I still
can’t help feeling sorry for him. He said he was only thinking of
his family and is still doing that now by keeping quiet. Nyle will
never get the answer out of him that he needs. I need to go try
talking to him.” She started to push up from the bed, but she
dizzied and lay back down. The healer came into the room and
stepped forward, opening his bag.