Page 76 of Wolf's Keep

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lothair’s lip curled back in a snarl as he glared around the chamber. He took in the ruffled bed, the half-empty pitcher of wine, the untouched plate of food and the woman’s headscarf discarded on the floor. Gaharethadbeen here, but was long gone now, two of the keep guards dead in the corridor, evidence of his departure.

“Argh!”

He kicked a stool across the room, his men shrinking away from him. Nobodydefied him.Nobody.Not even Gaharet. He paced the room, his sword arm twitching with his need to strike something, his rage building inside of him.

“Mon Seigneur Comte.” The capitaine of his guard stepped into the room. “We have searched the keep. Apart from a decapitated guard at the bottom of a stairwell, there is no sign of Seigneur d’Louncrais.”

“How is thatpossible?” He paused in his pacing, fixing his eyes on the now trembling capitaine. “You have guards at the gate and on the walls. The corridors are teaming with them. And yet somehow youlet Gaharet d’Louncrais and his woman slip past you. Youimbêcile.”

“Mon Seigneur, perhaps he used the postern—”

Lothair drew his sword and plunged it through the capitaine’s throat. Blood spurted from the man’s neck, spilled from his lips and ran down his chin. The flames in the oil lamps fluttered and distant sounds of movement in the keep echoed up the stairwell, but in the room, in the corridor, no one made a sound. Silence bounced off the keep walls.

Lothair pulled his sword free with a wet, sucking noise and the guard collapsed to the floor, convulsing, his heels beating against the floor and a wretched gurgling coming from his ruined windpipe. Guards stepped back, their faces pale and their eyes averted. Lothair rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck. Now he felt better. Calmer.

“You.” He pointed at another guard quivering in his boots. “Capitaine.” The guard’s eyes bulged. “Take twenty men and search this keep, the bailey and check the postern gate. I. Want. Him. Found.”

“Yes, Mon Seigneur.”

The man scuttled off to do his bidding.

Merde.There had to be someone in this keep who was not incompetent? Gaharet was but one man. He was the comte. He had an entire army at his command. It was inconceivable Gaharet could evade them for too long.

He rubbed his hand across his face. What a disastrous turn of events. Gaharet knew everything—his tactics, his battle strategies, his plans for expanding his county, the capabilities of his troops. Being at odds with Gaharet, having him in chains, would have cost him his advisor, a very competent commander of his army, and his friend. Having him at large, as his adversary, was truly troubling.

Lothair snarled as Archeveque Renaud entered the chamber. Renaud stepped over the body in the doorway, lifting his robes above the blood pooling on the floor.

“No d’Louncrais. He has outsmarted your keep guard, I see. Not much of an accomplishment, but terribly inconvenient all the same.”

“You are not redeeming yourself here, Renaud.” Lothair had no patience for dealing with the archeveque right now, not with his temper barely held in check.

“But I have a solution that will solve the problem of d’Louncrais, Mon Seigneur Comte.”

“I hope it is better than your last plan. If not for your ill-considered attempt to confine Gaharet’s betrothed, we would not be in this damnable situation.”

“I have it on good authority—”

“Yes, yes. Your mysterious informant. What does he tell youthistime?”

“They have a designated meeting point, beyond the keep walls. I have taken the liberty of having a few men set a trap for him.”

“A few men? Afewmen? Do you really think a few men are going to best him? Gaharet alone is a match for half my army. And beyond these walls, his vassals are there to come to his aid.”

“With your indulgence.” Renaud motioned for Lothair to follow him to a quieter corner of the room, away from the ears of the remaining guards standing beyond the doorway, too terrified to move.

With a roll of his eyes, Lothair followed him. “This had better be worth my time, Renaud.”

“There is an herb—wolfsbane—that has a powerful effect on his kind. It dulls their enhanced senses, taking away much of their advantage. It renders them almost human and makes it difficult for them to control their form. I have tested its potency myself, seen with my own eyes how it works. They are easily subdued, and even killed, when under its effects. We need only then bind him in silver.”

“You have trapped and killed them?”

“Yes.”

Lothair frowned. Over the past several months, reports of his vassals dying in random skirmishes had reached his ears. It had particularly troubled Gaharet.

“These men, thesewerewolves, you’ve killed… They were in my county?”

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