The Bloodstained Throne

‘But I need answers,’ said Geoffrey. ‘What happened about Werlinges?’

‘I told Galfridus the facts with no embellishment or supposition — you would have been proud. He said the conjunction of pirates and massacre was damning but not conclusive, and he sent for young de Laigle, who arrived the next day. De Laigle listened to our story, then rode off to Werlinges, taking Bale with him to act as a guide.’

‘What did he deduce?’

‘Nothing, because he did not even try to investigate. He ordered half his men to loot the houses and the rest to set the church alight, to burn the corpses. Bale was alarmed that the matter was not going to be properly explored, and he tried to look for clues before the flames took hold.’

Geoffrey was anxious. ‘He should not have done! De Laigle might have misunderstood what he was doing; he may blame us for the massacre, just to be credited with finding a solution.’

‘Bale was careful. But I understand de Laigle’s reluctance to take time over such a matter: ships seen at sea have the whole coast buzzing with rumours.’

‘An invasion by the Duke of Normandy?’

‘Possibly, although people are more afraid that it might be Belleme. De Laigle is terrified and refuses to be outside his stronghold now.’

‘Did Bale discover anything?’ Geoffrey was uneasy, not wishing to imagine what the ghoulish squire had done unsupervised.

‘He can tell you himself. But there is something else you should know.’ Roger hesitated before continuing. ‘Edith is dead. She was strangled with red ribbon.’

Ten

Geoffrey refused to drink anything except the fresh water Bale fetched from the well, and he ate only what Roger brought from the communal pans in the refectory. At first, Roger thought him overly suspicious, but Geoffrey made a rapid recovery once he had made his stand against medicines and, by the following day, was well enough to get up.

‘I told you,’ said Ulfrith. ‘I said you would grow well again once you stopped taking Aelfwig’s tonics.’

Geoffrey could not remember. ‘Did you?’

Ulfrith nodded. ‘I said water was best, but he said I did not know what I was talking about.’

Geoffrey frowned. Had it been Ulfrith who had made him drink water in the depths of his illness, and his deluded mind had seen Fingar? His recollection of everything after Werlinges was blurred, and he was unable to separate fact from fiction.

That evening, Harold poked an enquiring head around the door. ‘Galfridus said you were better,’ he said, smiling. ‘But I wanted to see for myself. Someone tried to kill you while you slept, I hear. Who was it?’

‘No one knows,’ said Roger. ‘But Bale stopped him.’

Geoffrey wondered why anyone should mean him harm. Was it because he had asked questions about the deaths of Vitalis and Paisnel, and someone was afraid he was heading towards a solution? Or had Fingar added some toxic substance to one of the medicines Geoffrey had swallowed, as revenge for the theft of his money?

Harold peeled a clove of garlic, struggling to hold something under his arm at the same time. It was a musical instrument, carefully wrapped in cloth. He offered Geoffrey the clove.

‘It is almost my last one,’ he said pensively. ‘But I am willing to sacrifice it for a friend.’

‘We are friends?’ The question was out before Geoffrey could stop it.

Harold took no offence and merely grinned merrily. ‘I would like to think our experiences in the marshes and at Werlinges have forged a bond between us. You are patient with Magnus, who is not the easiest of men, and you ordered my brother’s poor body put in the chapel when others would have left him for the crows.’

‘But my squire was the one who killed him.’ Geoffrey winced. Clearly, he was not quite back to normal, because that was hardly something to confess to a grieving brother.

‘Bale has already told me,’ said Harold sadly. ‘It happened during the heat of the battle, and if anyone is to blame, it is me — I should have looked for him the moment we arrived at Werlinges and kept him out of harm’s way. He said he might bring the horses there himself, so. .’ He looked out of the window, tears in his eyes. ‘But what is done is done, and there is no point in dwelling on what might have been.’

Geoffrey did not know what to say, so they sat in silence for a while. Then the door opened, and Ulfrith and Bale joined them.

‘Is that a horn?’ asked Bale, pointing eagerly at Harold’s bundle. ‘I have not heard a horn for years. Will you play it for us, sir?’

‘I would, but it is a poor instrument,’ said Harold, pulling off its wrappings. ‘I do not think it will sound very nice. Galfridus lent it to me.’

‘We are not fussy,’ said Roger. ‘It cannot be worse than that stringed affair Lucian used to seduce Edith on Patrick, which sounded like cats being throttled.’

‘Have you heard anything else about Edith’s death?’ asked Geoffrey.

‘Just that she was killed some time between Friday night and Saturday morning,’ supplied Harold. ‘She retired to bed, and Philippa found her the next morning.’

‘Philippa cries all the time,’ added Ulfrith from the window. ‘They were close, like sisters.’

‘Were they sleeping in different rooms?’ asked Geoffrey.

Roger shot a glance towards Ulfrith and lowered his voice, while Bale was distracting Harold by inspecting the horn. ‘They shared, but Philippa was out that particular night.’

‘Out?’ asked Geoffrey. He saw Roger’s sheepish expression and raised his eyebrows. ‘With you? God’s teeth, man! Take care Ulfrith does not find out. His sulk will know no limits.’

‘I left him a clear field, but he failed to take advantage of it,’ said Roger defensively. ‘Besides, she offered herself to me. But nothing happened anyway. We sat at the high altar in the church, and all she wanted to do was play dice.’

‘Dice?’ asked Geoffrey, not sure that a hot-blooded knight like Roger would have spent his time gaming when there had been promises of a different nature in the offing.

Roger sighed ruefully. ‘She declined to lie with me, and I am not a man for rape. We passed the night chastely, although I doubt Ulfrith will believe it. I would much rather have had Edith, if you want the truth — Philippa is a bit skinny for my taste — but Philippa looked at me prettily, and it seemed a shame to disappoint her. She asked about my gold.’

‘Did it occur to you that she might be looking for a wealthy husband now Vitalis is dead? And so was Edith probably, hence her friendship with Lucian.’

‘Yes, I had worked that out, thank you,’ said Roger dryly. ‘And, personally, I believe it was Lucian who killed her. I think she invited him to her chamber to make him break his vows of chastity, and Philippa agreed to make herself scarce for the occasion. But Lucian may not want a wife, so, to make sure Edith did not tell his brethren what he had done, he strangled her.’

‘With red ribbon,’ mused Geoffrey. ‘Does he have any?’

Roger waved a dismissive hand. ‘There is a scriptorium here, and any number of people have a supply he could have raided.’

‘Have you confronted him?’

‘No, because I do not want anyone to know about Philippa and me. We would both be in trouble — for breaking the monastery’s rules about associating with women at night, and for gambling on the high altar. But it was the best available surface for my dice.’

‘You are right! The monks will be furious. What were you thinking?’

Roger was surprised by the question. ‘Of getting her in the right mood, of course! Brother Wardard almost caught us. He came early for his offices, but Philippa was able to persuade him that we were praying for you. Unfortunately, I had to donate a lot of gold to make it convincing.’

‘And here I was, thinking you had done it for me. But you were only trying to evade a charge of blasphemy!’