The Blight of Muirwood (25 page)

The Aldermaston walked firmly away from the gates, trailed by Lia, Prestwich, and the knight-mastons. Shortly after, the Earl of Dieyre caught up with them, his stride easily overtaking theirs. His voice throbbed with anger.

“It would not take much to batter down those gates,” Dieyre warned. “You should treat with her while you still can. She is merciful. She has spared many from the gallows.”

“No doubt to enlist them into her service,” the Aldermaston replied archly.

“I cannot believe you are ignorant of the risks you face by opposing her. Do you not care of the lives of the villagers?”

Colvin’s voice was cold with fury. “Are you saying she will turn those murderers loose on our countrymen?” His hand closed around the sword pommel.

“No, Forshee, I am not. But I cannot believe the Aldermaston would risk it. She does not suffer fools and she remembers every slight. Offer to treat with her.”

“I will not let her step foot on the grounds,” the Aldermaston replied gravely.

“You let her in before.”

The Aldermaston stopped and faced Dieyre. “I will not treat with her.”

“Why ever not?”

Lia had rarely seen the Aldermaston so furious. His expression blazed with contempt. “Have a care how you mock me, my lord. You are a stripling that has barely seen a score of years. I have seen kings and princes and Aldermastons scheme and plot and kill before you finished your first wetnurse. Do you think I am a simpleton? That your presence within the Abbey walls at this moment is not entirely convenient for her purposes? Have a care, Dieyre. You are not on the king’s land. This is my domain.”

The earl’s eyes flashed with pent-up anger. “You are actually threatening me, old man?” His hand dropped to his hilt. Colvin stepped forward, his motion timed exactly with Lia’s.

Dieyre’s voice dripped with mocking. “Please, Forshee. Do not embarrass yourself.”

“Neither of you will draw your swords,” the Aldermaston said. “There will be no more blood shed on these grounds. The Abbey will strike down any who lift their hand in wrath.”

Dieyre snorted. “I do not believe that.”

“It does not matter whether you believe it,” came the reply. “I have warned you.”

Dieyre did not release his grip on his weapon, as if debating whether he would test the Aldermaston’s claim or not. He glared at them with disgust. “For how many centuries have men like you with gray beards warned that some doom or other would happen if we did not listen to your words. It is a web of lies. This Abbey is no more protected by the Medium than is my little finger. If people believe a lie long enough, it becomes truth to them. Let me be candid. This Abbey is surrounded. It is vulnerable. There is no walled keep to lay siege against. This is no fortress that will hold out until Demont can answer a cry for help. If Pareigis wills it, the townfolk will be put to death and she will make you watch, Aldermaston. You delude yourself if you think some mystical power that mastons alone control will save you or this Abbey. If you thwart her, she will burst open the gates, round up everyone inside and set it afire as an example to others that they need not believe the Medium even cares which sides uses it. Can your heart cope with that, old man? Can you watch your great Abbey burned?”

Lia felt a swelling feeling of protectiveness surge inside her. She wanted to strike Dieyre across the mouth for suggesting it, but she deferred to the Aldermaston, who gazed at him coldly.

“You never earned the rank of maston,” he said. “So you do not understand that you are playing into her hands.”

“I refuse to swear blindly to follow the whisperings of dead ghosts. I do not believe in these little mutterings you believe in. It is a lie.”

The Aldermaston’s gaze turned thoughtful. “What are her terms?”

Dieyre arched his eyebrow. “You will have to ask her…”

“Do not for a moment think that I believe anything but that you are in league with her in every possible way. I will not play this game with you, this bartering for trifles. What are her terms?”

“Ellowyn Demont in her custody.”

“To murder her?”

Dieyre looked shocked. “By the Hand, no!” he said as if it were the most ludicrous suggestion. “We need her alive to treat with Demont!”

The Aldermaston smirked. “Is that what she told you?”

Lia could see the discomfort on Dieyre’s face. “You are trying to plant seeds of distrust in me, Aldermaston.”

“Am I?”

The Earl shifted uncomfortably. “Demont controls the king. Controlling the king gives him the control over the patronage of the realm. Every minor office, every major office. Forshee and York have both benefitted from this.”

“And you have not,” the Aldermaston stated simply.

“Power must be shared. Demont thinks that because he is a maston,” he nearly spat the word, “that his motives should be trusted without question. I am sorry, but I have known mastons who have lied and cheated. Who have violated their supposed oaths sworn in the bowels of an Abbey like this one. Sevrin Demont once held control of a king too, and it cost him his life. The Medium abandoned him just as it will abandon his son because it answers to whoever wants it the most. It answers to the strongest will. If we have the girl, it can avoid further bloodshed. We can negotiate an ending to the hostilities. Think of how many lives could be saved, Aldermaston.”

There was a pause before the reply. “When must we relinquish custody of the girl?”

“You have until the morrow,” Dieyre replied. “I do not care how many horses Demont has. He is already being lured north to face the Earl of Caspur. Even if you could get a message to him, there is no way he could get here in time. You must see that she has the upper hand. If you believe the Abbey will save you, that your will in controlling the Medium is stronger than hers, then defy her. At dawn, the Abbey will fall and the villagers will all be killed. It is within your power to protect them. Release the girl. Do not be a fool.”

The Aldermaston looked wary. “I ask for one term.”

“What is that?” The Earl had a smug look on his face.

“A safe conduct. To anyone who wishes to leave the Abbey. Anyone – learner or wretched. If the Queen Dowager seeks to make an example, let her limit it of those who do defy her. But if I am right, the Abbey will defend us as it did when the kishion struck. Even if there are only a handful of us remaining, let that be your witness that the Medium is on
our
side.”

The Earl of Dieyre shrugged. “I will personally vouchsafe their safety, upon my honor. The gates are made of iron. The walls are made of simple stone. It is beautiful and impressive. But it is not sacred or guarded by anything more mysterious than generations of lies. I have given you a chance to see reason.”

“Very well. Please present my terms to the Queen Dowager straight away. Any who leave the Abbey grounds are no longer under my protection. But I will hold you accountable, personally, for their safety.”

“You are a fool, Aldermaston. But I think you are bluffing. At dawn we will see who is right.”

“We will indeed. My hunter will escort you to the postern gate.”

* * *

Lia said nothing to the Earl of Dieyre as they walked, and he said nothing to her until they reached the gate. The postern was away from the main gate, one of the few other walled entrances to the grounds, a small iron door that provided another means of exiting the grounds.

“If you killed the kishion, as I think you did, then I am amazed at your resourcefulness.” He gave her a nod of respect. “My offer still stands, even though the bruises on your cheek have not fully faded.” With a finger, he caressed the skin of her cheekbone. “Come with me and you will not want for opportunities.”

Lia nodded to the door man to unlock it. “I believe we already had that conversation,” she replied.

“Very well, then do me the honor of passing on a word to Marciana.”

Lia breathed heavily. “It is time for you go, my lord.”

“You are a harsh strumpet, but I like you.” He looked her sharply in the eyes. “Tell her that she owes me a dance around the maypole tonight. I will be waiting for her. If she comes, her brother lives. If she does not, I cannot keep that promise. I do it for her sake, not for his. You can tell I despise him. Send her my message.” He reached into a pouch at his waist and withdrew a fistful of gleaming coins to give her. Once, long ago, a man had offered her coins for her help.

She refused to take it. “Goodbye, my lord.”

He looked at her warily, a confused smile on his mouth. He shrugged and followed the doorman into the inner wall. Then he paused and without looking back, he said, “We know of the tunnels beneath the Abbey.” And then he was gone and the doorman shut and locked the gate behind him.

There was an oppressive pall in her heart that contrasted with the gleaming blue sky and the smell of fresh flowers on the grounds. As she walked back towards the manor house, she fished the ring out of her bodice and squeezed its edges until it hurt. Every word the Queen Dowager and Dieyre said was sopping with doubt and menace. They rattled her soul, yet still she believed in the Medium’s power. She had experienced it so vividly throughout her life, that she could not deny its reality. Yet Dieyre’s warning cast little shards of doubt into her heart. She tried to crush them, but still they poked and stabbed her.

When Colvin and Ellowyn had first arrived, the Aldermaston told her that the time would come when she would need to use the Cruciger orb to find a safehaven for them. She knew that they would leave that night, under the cover of darkness. Only in the dark would they be able to find their way past the wall of Pareigis’ men. That was the only thing she could think of. But what if Dieyre was right? What if they had a way to release the Blight on Muirwood and it would no longer be able to defend itself? There was so much she did not know. There was so much confusion. Glancing around herself as she walked, she saw the frantic scurrying of wretcheds and learners alike. So many had overheard the altercation at the gates. Rumors would be flying to every corner of the Abbey. Doubts and more doubts.

She reached the manor house and found the Aldermaston conversing with Colvin in the hall. “Yes, enough provisions for several days. See Pasqua, she will prepare them for you. I must give other instructions. If you need any additional supplies, see my steward. There is much to do still.”

He gripped Colvin’s arm to steer him away, but the Earl stopped him. “You are wise, as Lia says. I trust your judgment in this and I am grateful you did not betray us.”

The Aldermaston nodded impatiently. “Yes, yes, be gone. I must speak to Lia now. Come, child.”

Colvin glanced at her, his expression concerned but hopeful, then left.

Lia approached him worriedly.

“Is Dieyre gone?” he asked in his whisper-like voice.

Lia nodded. “He gave me a warning…”

He hushed her with his fingers. “Of course he did. Speak no more of it. For a moment, I thought my plan would be ruined, that he would never leave.”

“Your plan?” Lia asked, a little dazed.

“Oh yes, Lia. And because the Medium is truly with us, I received confirmation of it this very morning.”

Lia was excited. “Is Garen Demont coming?”

The Aldermaston smirked. “No, the Earl of Dieyre was well-informed on that point. He is leagues away, heading into a conflict against a superior force. He is betrayed on all sides.”

Lia gulped. “But I thought you said…”

He hushed her again and turned and opened the door, beckoning her to follow him. “Yes, the Queen Dowager is well informed and they laid their trap very deftly. I commend them for their subtlety. But as we learn in the tomes, be wise as serpents yet harmless as doves. They have managed to discover and keep watch over many of our secret tunnels. But not all of them. Not all of them.”

He motioned towards the window seat.

Martin sat there, arms folded smugly, his teeth showing through his beard in a fierce grin. “By Cheshu, lass. It is good to see you safe.”

With a surge of relief and a half-choked sob, Lia rushed to Martin and hugged him. His face was smudged with dirt, his eyes puffy from lack of sleep but still alert. Some of Pasqua’s crumbs were stuck in his beard, but he managed to shoo her back, scowling at her affection yet his gaze was gentle and warm.

“That is enough, lass, stop smothering me. You think I had died on my journey? But I am not careless and evaded the Dowager’s net. Had to wait most of yesterday to slip past them at nightfall, but it was dark and they are drenched. The Aldermaston said you did well enough in my absence. I suppose you learned something from me after all.”

Lia took his dirty hands with hers and squeezed them. “I learned
everything
from you. Where have you been?”

“Roundabout,” he replied. “A hard journey. There is much that has happened in the wide world. I have already told the Aldermaston. We will be parting again soon, but at least you know your own strength now.”