wanted you to steal?'
'He described it to me when he sought me out at the fair.' Dalian raised his eyes to the book on the desk. 'He said it would be a large volume containing many strange recipes scripted in a poor hand. He said it would no doubt be among the items that Sir Humphrey had sent home just before he died.'
'You knew that I have been studying just such a volume lately because you had assisted me with some of my experiments,' Gareth said.
'Aye, my lord.'
Gareth's mouth twisted briefly. 'I thought you had a rare talent for experiments. Tis because you assisted your magician from time to time, I'll wager.'
'Aye.' Dalian swallowed heavily. 'He taught me the things I needed to know in order to aid him in his studies. My lord, I must know, are you going to hang me tonight?'
'Why do you ask?'
'I do not wish to die unshriven. I realize I have no right to ask for any kindness, but I will be very grateful if you will summon a priest before you hang me.'
'By Saint Hermione's merciful heart, Lord Gareth is not going to hang anyone tonight,' Clare said quickly. 'Are you, my lord?'
Gareth said nothing. He continued to gaze reflectively into the flames.
Dalian bit his lip and looked down at his shaking fingers. 'I pray that you will someday be able to forgive me, Lady Clare.'
Clare scowled at Gareth and then turned back to Dalian. 'Do not pay my lord any heed. He is in a foul mood. He is not going to hang you, Dalian.'
Dalian looked at her as if she were mad.
'My lord, will you kindly tell Dalian that you are not going to hang him?' Clare snapped impatiently.
'I am still contemplating the matter,' Gareth murmured.
'Sir, you know very well that you are not going to hang your own squire-in-training.' Clare smiled at Dalian. 'I understand that you took the book because you wanted to protect me, Dalian. Lord Gareth understands that, too.'
Dalian appeared unconvinced of Gareth's understanding. 'My lord, I know you believe that what I did was an act of betrayal. I wish with all my heart that I could have continued to serve you as your squire-in-training. But you yourself once told me that a man must do whatever was necessary to protect those who depend upon him. I had to protect Lady Clare.'
'A man cannot serve two masters, Dalian of Desire.'
'Nay, my lord. I know that. But when I gave you my oath, I truly believed that I was free to serve you.
I was nothing to the magician, you see. Just a boy he had bought for a few coins. After I had been here on Desire for a time, it was easy to believe that he had either forgotten about me or no longer needed me. I told myself that he would not come for me.'
Gareth's eyes were the color of pale gray smoke. 'I want the magician's name, Dalian.'
Dalian's expression was that of a hunted hare. 'I swear, I dare not reveal it. To do so would put all of you, especially Lady Clare, in grave danger.'
'Lady Clare is already in jeopardy,' Gareth said. 'The only way I can protect her, this hall, and those within it is to gain as much information about your master as possible.'
'But he is no ordinary knight, my lord. He is a magician,' Dalian wailed.
'Hell's teeth. He's an alchemist, from the sound of it. An ordinary man who has mastered a few Eastern tricks. Nothing more. I want his name.'
Clare touched Dalian's hand. 'Give us the magician's name, Dalian. Tis for the best. Lord Gareth will resolve the problem. He is very good at such things.'
Dalian's eyes shifted anxiously back and forth between Gareth's hard, unyielding face and Clare's reassuring smile. 'Forgive me. I know that you are a great knight, my lord, but even you cannot defend against the magician's magic arts.'
'Nonsense,' Clare said. 'Lord Gareth is perfectly capable of dealing with a mere magician.'
Gareth's unreadable gaze rested fleetingly on her face. 'Thank you for your confidence, madam.'
Clare felt herself grow warm at his wry tone. 'I have no doubt about your ability to protect this hall, my lord.'
'Now, if I just had a similar degree of confidence from my squire-in-training,' Gareth said deliberately,
'I would be well on my way to accomplishing my task.'
Dalian's face brightened for a second and then crumpled back into an expression of despair. 'I am no longer your squire-in-training, my lord.
We both know that.'
'You say you have never sworn an oath of fealty to this magician?'
'Nay, my lord.'
'But you have sworn fealty to me in front of witnesses.'
'Aye.'
'Did I not accept your oath and give you my own in return?'
'Aye.'
'What did I promise you in exchange for your honest service, Dalian of Desire?'
'Your protection, my lord.'
'I have never foresworn myself, minstrel. My oath is the only thing that I have ever been able to call my own. I do not give it easily. And once I have given it, I honor it.'
'I understand, my lord.' Dalian tightened his hands. 'But I no longer have the right to claim your protection.'
'You do if you have not foresworn yourself,' Gareth said softly.
Dalian's head came up swiftly. 'But I have done so. At least, you believe that I have.'
'What I believe,' Gareth said thoughtfully, 'is that you fear this alchemist so much that you did as he commanded.'
'Aye.'
'But I also believe that you obeyed him because you wished to protect Lady Clare.'
'Tis the truth,' Dalian whispered. 'I swear it.'
'Then you did not betray me,' Gareth said. 'Your actions were misguided and foolish, but you are not foresworn. You are still my squire-in-training and I am your liege lord.'
Dalian closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. 'You are most generous, my lord. I do not deserve your kindness.'
'The name, Dalian.' Gareth's hand closed into a fist on the arm of the chair. 'I want the magician's name.'
'Lucretius, my lord.' Dalian held himself very still. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he expected to be struck with a bolt of lightning on the spot. When nothing happened, he lifted his lashes warily. His voice firmed. 'His name is Lucretius de Valemont.'
'Lucretius de Valemont.' Gareth repeated softly. 'I have never heard of him.'
'Nor have I,' Clare said.
Dalian rested his head in his hands. 'God save us, I fear he will murder us all.'
'How did Dalian get out of the courtyard without being spotted by the guard?' Ulrich's bald head gleamed as he studied the parchment map spread out on the desk.
'He waited until the guard had gone past on his rounds.' Gareth traced the shoreline with his finger, searching for the two places where a small boat could be landed. 'Then he raised a ladder behind the stables.
When he reached the top of the curtain wall, he lowered himself to the ground with a rope.'
'Clever for a minstrel, is he not?'
