Secret Heart (39 page)

“
Why
should I?” Jenia wondered if she dared attempt to match her smaller
magic against Walderon. She realized he’d kill her with a single
blast of his greater Power and she’d have no chance at all to warn
her friends. Before she could finish the thought or make a move,
Walderon snatched away the candle she was holding. By its
flickering light she could see the perspiration on his pale face
and the tight line of his mouth and knew he was in pain from
fighting against the magical binding Lord Giles had placed upon
him. Seeing him thus, able to fight it, she began to understand how
mighty Walderon’s evil power must be.

“
Hold out
your hands,” he repeated, his voice grating harshly on her
ears.

“
No.” Her
own voice cracked in fear, but she refused to make this easy for
him. Scarcely was the word out of her mouth before Walderon,
wincing in pain, struck her across the face. She tasted her own
blood as she stumbled against Sanal.

While she was still off balance Mott seized
her wrists and wrapped a leather thong around them, binding them so
tightly that her hands at once began to ache.

“
What are
you going to do with us?” Jenia demanded, glaring at Walderon,
hoping his silent, inner battle against Lord Giles’s spell would
prevent him from seeing how frightened she was.

“
I’ve
been granted two hostages, instead of just one,” Walderon told
her.

“
It was
only evil chance,” Jenia declared. She knew what Walderon’s
reaction to such defiance was likely to be, yet she could not keep
quiet. Disgust with herself for being so careless, for assuming
that Thury was completely under the control of her friends and that
Walderon was helpless, made her reckless. She knew Walderon didn’t
need to use his corrupt Power to work harm. With Mott to do his
bidding, he could conserve his strength, using it to fight against
the spell that held him. Still, Walderon raised his own hand to
strike her again. When Sanal shrieked he hit her,
instead.

“
Stop
it!” Jenia screamed as loudly as she could, praying her voice would
reach someone up in the entry hall. A thought struck her. “How did
you get out of your cell? Where is Garit’s man-at-arms who was
guarding your door?”

“
Poor
fellow,” Walderon said. “He met an unfortunate end at the hands of
your old friend, Mott. He lies even now in my cell, wearing only
the blanket that I was given, while Mott, here, wears his clothing.
The cell is safely relocked. I dare to hope anyone looking through
the grate in the door will assume I am still asleep.”

“
The
guard will be missed,” Jenia said, trying her best not to think
about another person dispatched by Mott’s deadly blade. “You will
be missed, too.”

“
I know
it,” Walderon told her. “However, that won’t happen until the hour
for the changing of guards. A few moments of inevitable confusion
during the search for the guard and for the missing key will gain
me valuable time. It appears I am going to need some extra time,
since I must drag two females along with me.

“
Still, I
will allow you to live, for now, because it’s possible you will
prove to be of some value as hostages. Now, move, Matilda Jenia.
You, too, Sanal. Stop that blasted weeping, woman!”

He grabbed Sanal by one arm and shoved her
toward the door. Mott followed, pushing Jenia ahead of him.

“
Where
are you taking us?” Jenia demanded in her loudest voice. She was
almost shouting, but she hoped Walderon would believe it was
because she was terrified.

“
Keep
your voice down, unless you want Mott to gag you,” Walderon told
her. “If you should alert anyone, you will immediately loose your
value to me and I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

“
You
mean, you’ll have Mott do it for you,” Jenia said, refusing to
lower her voice. Mott jerked her along after Walderon, pulling her
into the lowermost tunnel, the one Roarke and the men-at-arms had
explored the previous day.

At the
last instant before she entered that damp, odorous blackness, Jenia
looked back. She thought – hoped – prayed – what she believed she
saw in that moment was not an illusion, that it really was a gleam
of torchlight shining on smooth, pale hair and a youthful face. If
so, if she was right, then whoever was at the top of the steps
possessed sense enough to duck back behind the dungeon door before
either Walderon or Mott could see him.

“
Where
are you taking us?” she asked, hoping to distract Walderon and
perhaps delay him as he tried to hurry them through the tunnel.
“How can you use Aunt Sanal and me as hostages if no one can see
you’re holding us captive?”

“
They
will see soon enough,” Walderon told her. He sounded strained.
Sanal kept slipping in the muck on the tunnel floor, thus forcing
Walderon to assist her in staying upright.

“
I cannot
think how we can be of any value to you,” Sanal cried. “Why don’t
you just let us go?”

Jenia
longed to warn her aunt to keep quiet on that subject. Walderon
could not afford to release them. If Sanal were to convince
Walderon that his captives were useless, he’d tell Mott to kill
both of them. Jenia knew their only chance of staying alive was to
pray that Roarke and the others would mount a prompt pursuit, and
to be prepared to help their rescuers when they arrived. Meanwhile,
thinking of ways to pry information out of both men would help to
alleviate her fear. Perhaps having to listen to and answer her
while controlling Sanal would help to wear down Walderon’s
strength.

“
Mott,”
she said, “were you in this tunnel yesterday? Did you make the
sound Roarke and I heard?”

“
Aye, it
was me.” Mott gave her a shove between her shoulder blades that
sent her stumbling for several steps until she regained her
balance. “Noise carries in these tunnels, so keep
quiet.”

“
Turn to
the left here,” Walderon ordered.

They had reached another tunnel. Jenia
realized it must be the juncture Roarke had mentioned finding, so
she assumed the passageway into which they now turned was the same
tunnel they had used to enter the castle in secret.

“
I didn’t
know anyone but the older servants was aware of these tunnels,”
Jenia remarked.

“
Mott
recently learned of them,” Walderon said, “but the servant who told
him won’t repeat the mistake by confiding in anyone else, will he,
Mott?”

A grunt at her left shoulder informed Jenia
of the fate of the poor soul who had revealed the castle
secret.

“
Stop
here.” Walderon paused at a shadowy alcove in the tunnel wall.
Jenia heard him wince in pain when he reached down into deeper
shadows to pick up a dirty sack and hand it to Sanal. “Hold it in
your arms, woman, as if it were a baby. You cannot drop it, not
with your wrists tied. Matilda Jenia, here’s another sack for you
to carry. Take it, curse you!” With a groan he thrust a heavy
leather bag into Jenia’s reluctant arms. The contents were
surprisingly lumpy.

“
What’s
in it?” she asked, curiosity overcoming her fears for a
moment.

“
Gold
coins in Sanal’s bag, jewelry in yours,” Walderon replied. “I
collected as much as I could carry and stored it down here, in case
I ever needed to leave Thury in haste. This will see us safely into
the Dominion.”

“
I’m
afraid Sanal won’t be able to carry such a weight for more than a
short distance,” Jenia said. “And why the Dominion?” She thought
she knew why, but recalling Lord Giles’s remarks about villains
always wanting to explain themselves to people whom they considered
to be less intelligent souls, she decided she wanted to encourage
Walderon to say what his plan was, to hear him convict himself of
treason out of his own mouth. She no longer harbored any doubt that
what he was plotting would prove to be treasonous.

“
With you
and Sanal as hostages, and what’s in these bags to pay our way,”
Walderon told her, “Mott and I can gain safe passage across the
bridge over the Nalo River and into the Dominion. Domini Gundiac
will be pleased to see us.”

“
Why
should he be?” Jenia asked, forbearing to remark that Walderon very
likely would see to it that Mott was dead long before they entered
Dominion territory. “From what I’ve heard of Domini Gundiac, he
does nothing for anyone without first receiving some
recompense.”

“
What I
can provide should please him well,” Walderon said. He drew a
breath that sounded so painful Jenia feared he’d stop talking, yet
he continued. “I have extensive knowledge of King Henryk’s
fortifications along the eastern border. Such service has resulted
in other men receiving gifts of land, or an heiress for
wife.”

Upon
hearing her husband’s last, cool statement Sanal whimpered, and
Jenia knew her aunt was thinking that she would have to die before
Walderon could marry again. Sanal shouldn’t be surprised; she’d
heard Walderon’s revelations in the great hall just a few hours
ago. Jenia decided to divert Walderon’s attention in hope of
distracting Sanal, too.

“
Once
King Henryk realizes what you’ve done,” she said, “he will surely
alter any plan he has made in regard to the Dominion.”

“
By the
time Henryk learns where I am, it won’t matter,” Walderon said. “I
will be securely established as a loyal servant of the Dominion. In
the past, other men have turned to Gundiac’s side and have fared
well. So shall I.”

In the
interest of her own safety and Sanal’s, Jenia shut her mouth on the
bold response she wanted to make, that Roarke, Garit and Lord Giles
would see to it that Walderon did not fare well, and that his
fantastic scheme came to naught. They’d most likely see to it that
he never reached the Dominion at all.

Knowing
she and Sanal needed to stay alive until rescue came and hearing
the wheezing of Walderon’s breath, Jenia decided she’d pushed him
far enough. His temper was notoriously short where females were
concerned and she had already garnered considerable information
from him. With silent thanks to Lord Giles for his wisdom in regard
to villains being eager to recount their evil deeds, she stopped
asking questions.

“
Sir
Roarke, wake up.”

Roarke groaned and opened his eyes, aware
before he did so that Jenia was no longer beside him and that his
squire was shaking him hard.

“
Please,
we must make haste.”

“
Elwin.”
Roarke sat up, fully awake and ready for action. “What is it?
What’s amiss?”

“
It’s
Lady Jenia, sir.” Elwin handed Roarke his padded gambeson. “And
Lady Sanal.”

“
What
about them?” Sensing from his squire’s manner that he was going to
need his armor, Roarke took the gambeson and pulled it over his
head. Elwin stood ready with his hose and his chainmail hauberk and
mail leggings. His hesitation in responding to a simple question
began to worry Roarke. “Answer me, Elwin. Where are the
ladies?”

“
Lord
Walderon has them, sir.”

Roarke
stood perfectly still for just a single heartbeat before he slid
into the chainmail with the ease of years of practice. He reached
for his sword belt, buckling it on as he started for the bedchamber
door. Elwin fell in beside him, holding the padded coif that would
protect his master’s head from the chaffing of the mail hood that
presently lay in a cowl about Roarke’s neck.

“
I was
asleep in the great hall, but I wakened when first Lady Sanal, and
then Lady Jenia crept by,” Elwin explained as they started down the
steps to the hall. “I thought it odd for the two of them to be
abroad at such an hour, so I followed Lady Jenia. I must say, it
was foolhardy of her to visit the dungeon without an
escort.”

“
Just the
most important details right now, if you please, Elwin. You can
fill in the missing parts and add your opinion later.”

“
Yes,
sir. A man I’ve never seen before has killed the guard you posted
at Walderon’s cell, and has freed Walderon. When Lady Jenia went to
the cell where she used to be imprisoned, those villains seized
her, and Lady Sanal too, and now they are taking them out of the
castle by the tunnels we used to get in. Walderon called them
hostages. I didn’t stay to learn any more, because I knew you’d
want to be awakened at once. I found Anders and alerted him, and
then I located one of Lord Giles’s squires. We are all to meet in
the great hall as soon as possible.”

“
Good
work, Elwin. And here they are,” Roarke said as Garit and Lord
Giles appeared in the hall wearing their armor. All around them
squires were arming the knights, and the ordinary men-at-arms, some
still yawning, were gathering to hear their orders as they buckled
on their boiled leather body armor or their simple padded
shirts.

“
Walderon’s corrupt Power is stronger than I realized, if he
can manage an escape while under my binding spell,” Lord Giles told
them. “As soon as he leaves the castle, he will almost certainly
rejoin Burke, who will be waiting for him. They must know we will
soon be after them, so they’ll likely make a dash for
safety.”

“
Of
course, but in which direction?” Garit asked. “Curse Walderon! I
knew I should have killed that scheming villain while I had the
chance.”