The Sorceror's Revenge (10 page)

             
‘I kept my promise.  Montroy died much as your poor foolish lover.  Did Sir Jonathan have any idea of what you really are, Rhoda?’

             
‘What am I?’ she asked and laughed as if her legs had not turned to jelly and her heart was not torn to shreds.  ‘Robert has discovered he hath no more use for me now that his first wife lives.  He gave me gold and jewels.  I will share it with you, Kerrin.  I will give you anything you desire – if you will promise to kill Robert and take back my son…’

             
Kerrin did not answer at once.  The way he stared at her turned Rhoda’s blood to ice.  What was he thinking?

             
‘More demands, Rhoda?  What would you give me if I do as you ask?  You have already promised to be my wife.  Yet you were leaving with another poor fool who loved you.’

             
Cold shivers ran up and down her spine.  She knew what was coming as she gazed into his eyes and yet she was not truly afraid.  He would not harm her.  Kerrin loved her. In her fevered mind there was still the thought that he would do anything she asked if only he believed her.

             
‘Look,’ she said going to her horse and taking down the leather bag that contained her gold and jewels and offering it to him eagerly.  ‘We are richer than we ever hoped we would be.  I shall keep my promise.  We shall lie together this very night, Kerrin – and then you will kill Robert for me…won’t you?’

             
‘Yes. Yes, of course I shall, my love.’  Kerrin’s voice was soft as he moved towards her.  ‘We shall seal our bargain with a kiss, as we did in the chapel at Dyserth…’

             
Rhoda looked up at him.  His eyes chilled her for they were cold yet burned with a deadly hatred at their depths.  She smiled as he bent his head and took her mouth, parting her lips so that his tongue could invade her moistness, but then his hands were about her throat.  No, this was wrong.  He loved her.  He still loved her. She pulled at his arms, trying to break his hold but he was so strong…much too strong.

             
Rhoda could not die.  She must not die.  Surely he would relent at the last?  Looking into Kerrin’s eyes she saw hatred, anger and madness but beneath it all was the torment of love denied.  It was her fault.  She had driven him to this and he would take her life.  She seemed to hear demonic laughter and knew that the Devil had come to claim her.  The priests warned of hellfire and damnation in all those sermons she had ignored all her life, but she could see the pit of Hell yawning before her and knew that she was destined for the flames.

             
‘
Please don’t do this. Forgive me…
’ her mind begged but no words left her lips.  Her sight was growing hazy.  She knew that she was dying.  Kerrin was mad with hate and the need for revenge.  He would not listen to her.  The pouch of gold and precious jewels slipped from her hand and fell to the ground unheeded.  As she lost her senses and slumped forward, her last breath done, Kerrin caught her in his arms. 

             
‘You should not have broken your promise,’ he said and the tears were streaming down his face.  He placed her body on the ground beside Jonathan’s, bent and closed her eyes and then her lover’s eyes.  ‘You will betray no one else, my sweet Rhoda.  Sleep in peace.’

             
Turning, he saw the gold spilled in the road.  He hesitated, then bent to gather it in his hands and returned to the body of the woman he had loved so desperately.  He bent to place a gold coin on each of her eyes, then he sprinkled the gold and jewels over her body.

             
‘In life you craved riches.  Take them with you in death.’

             
For one moment longer he stared down at the man and woman he had killed.  There was no joy in Kerrin’s heart  as he turned away and strode into the trees, just an empty darkness that would never leave him.

             
And somewhere the Devil laughed and claimed another soul.

11

It was almost dark when Will came striding towards her.  Marta gave a whimper of relief and ran to him.  She had been so sure that he had left her and was wondering where to go and what to do now that she must fend for herself once more. For the moment she had money in her pouch but she did not have the courage to brave the dangers of the sea alone and if she stayed here she might hang for her crimes.

             
‘I thought something must have happened to you,’ she cried trying not to sound accusing.  ‘You were gone so long.’

             
‘Thank you for waiting.’ Will smiled down at her, and then at the child who was curled up at the side of the road wrapped in Marta’s old cloak.  ‘It took me longer than I expected to sell the chain we stole from your brother.  I was asked where it came from and had to tell them that it was given me by a lady for services rendered.  The goldsmith laughed and invited me to sup with him to tell my tale, which I dared not refuse for fear he might suspect me of lying and call out the watch.’

             
‘What did you get for it?’

             
‘Ten silver pounds.  He wanted to give me gold pennies, the new ones that the King has had minted this year and set at two sterlings or twenty pence, but I refused and asked for silver, which took a long time to count.  Silver is easier to spend.  I have already spent some of it for I booked passage on a ship.  We must hurry, because we need to be aboard tonight in time for the early tide in the morning.’

             
‘We are truly going?’ Marta was almost light-headed in her relief.  ‘We leave for France in the morning – all of us together?’

             
‘Of course.’  Will frowned as he looked down at her.  ‘Did you think I would take your brother’s gold and leave you here to face the consequences alone?’

             
‘I…was not sure.’ Marta felt ashamed of her doubts.  ‘Forgive me.  I have never been sure what I am to you…’

             
‘You are a woman I admire and care for,’ he replied, his eyes serious as he looked down at her.  ‘I will not promise eternal love, Marta.  I am a man and men are frail creatures.  One day I may want to move on alone but that day is not yet and not here.  I shall promise you one thing.  If I go, I shall tell you and I will not leave you without money or friends.’

             
‘Oh Will…’ Marta’s eyes stung with tears.  She knew in her heart that she would never be certain of him.  He was the kind of man that all women loved and she was not beautiful enough to bind him to her.  One day he would leave her but that time was not yet.  For the moment he wanted her with him.  He cared enough to make her a promise that he would not simply abandon her.  ‘Mary was crying because she was hungry.’

             
‘I’ve bought food for the journey.  That delayed me further but we shall need something before we reach France.’  He bent to pick Mary up and then smiled at Marta.  ‘Come on then.  What are you waiting for?’

             
‘Nothing,’ she said.  ‘I am with you.  Lead on and I shall follow.’

             
Watching as he strode away, his pack over one shoulder and Mary in the crook of his strong arms, she picked up the rest of their belongings and knew that this was how she would spend the next few years of her life.  Will would lead and she would follow.  It would be a good life though sometimes hard.

             
She smiled and began to sing softly to herself.  For Marta this was happiness.  She could not know how long it would last but for the moment she was happy.

12

‘Dead?’  Robert stared in horror at the soldier who brought the news.  Rhoda and Jonathan – both dead?  How did this happen?  Where were they attacked?’

             
‘It was at the edge of your land, my lord, just where the road forks and not far from the new mill.  We were patrolling, as you ordered us and came across the body. Sir Jonathan had been killed with a bolt from a crossbow and…’ the man swallowed hard.  ‘The lady Rhoda had been strangled – and someone had covered her eyes with gold coins and spilled her gold all over her body.’

             
Robert felt sick to his stomach.  The news that the man he loved had been so foully slain was more shocking than Rhoda’s death, though that too would lie heavy on his conscience.

             
‘If it had been thieves that killed them the gold would have disappeared before you found them.  Whoever did this wicked thing must have lain in wait and… ‘  He crossed himself for there was something chilling about what had been done to Rhoda.  Whoever had done it must have truly hated her.  ‘By God he will pay if I ever find the man who did this evil thing.’

             
‘Do you know who it might be my lord?’

             
Robert stared at him for a moment in silence, then inclined his head.  ‘I believe I might…’  He shook his head as the man’s eyes questioned, feeling the bitterness in his throat.  Turning hastily to one side he vomited.  ‘God forgive me.  I sent them to their deaths.  I should have provided an escort to the coast…’

* * *

Robert looked down at the face of the man he had counted his best friend and a wave of grief swept over him.  Jonathan had been washed and prepared for burial in the crypt, where he would lie side by side with the woman he had loved.

             
‘Forgive me,’ Robert said and hot tears stung his eyes.  ‘You did not deserve to die like this, my best of friends.  You were the truest of knights and I shall mourn you until I rest in my own grave.’

             
Robert had decided he would keep vigil in the chapel and watch over the coffins throughout the night.  He had commanded they be left open until the morning when they would be closed and the coffins interred together in the crypt.

             
Kneeling in front of the huge silver cross on the altar, Robert felt the weight of his sin lie heavily upon his soul.  He must and would do penance.  Not because Melloria had demanded it of him, but because he truly repented.   In his anger and hurt pride after Melloria’s rejection, he had sent Rhoda and Jonathan away.  He should have given Rhoda longer to take her leave of the child she had born, and he should have sent an escort of men to see them safely to their ship.

             
‘I did not know…forgive me,’ he said but whether his prayer for forgiveness was for God or his lost friend he did not know.

             
In the morning when the burial was done and the prayers for the departed said, Robert would seek out the priest alone and ask to be given a penance.  He had already donned a hair shirt, which irritated his skin almost past bearing but it was not enough. 

             
Rising to his feet once more, he went to stand by Jonathan’s coffin.  He looked down at his bloodless face then bent to kiss his cold lips.

             
‘For the love you bore me, I swear that one day I shall bring the man who did this to justice.’

             
His eyes were hard as he knelt before the cross once more but there were no prayers in his heart, just a deep and bitter hatred.

* * *

Robert stared at the empty room that had once belonged to Melloria.  He must have it cleansed and refurbished, for Melloria would not wish to sleep in another woman’s bed.  His body ached for her, his nights tormented by the need that gnawed at his guts and kept him restless.

             
He had given her his promise that she might stay at the abbey for a year and one month but he wanted her now.  Too many months had already passed. She belonged here with him and he would have her.

             
Calling to his squire he strode from the room.  Melloria would not resist him.  She had had time enough and he wanted her here in his home and his bed.

* * *

‘What do you mean she is not here?’  Robert moved towards Beatrice threateningly.  ‘You will tell me or I shall make you wish that you had not been born.’

             
‘Do as you wish, but you will be excommunicated by His Holiness.  Lay a finger on me or any of my nuns and you will burn in the fires of Hell for eternity.’

             
‘I am already in hell,’ Robert cried, his face twisting in anguish.  Yet he was afraid of hell, afraid of the damnation the priests threatened to those the Church rejected.  His throat felt dry and his hands clenched at his sides.  ‘Where is she?  I beg you, tell me for I am in torment.’