Page 15 of The Herald's Heart
“Forget that. Help me get these stones off her.”
“Aye, Sir Talon.”
A weight pinned her arm, and she tried to turn her head but succeeded only in making herself moan as the pounding in her head increased. She closed her eyes.
“Shh. Lie still. We’ll have you free in a moment.”
Free?
The weight shifted away, and strong arms raised her. Her head spun. She feared she would be sick until she came to rest against a man’s solid chest. She knew that chest and the minty scent of his breath.
“Send for a healer from the abbey. But first get Alice. Tell her to bring water, cloth, and bandages.”
To whom did he speak? But then Larkin ceased to worry as he moved and her world tilted and rocked as if she were on board a ship.
He settled her onto the solar bed, then sat, holding her hand. When her head no longer spun and pounded, she opened her eyes to see him contemplating her, a stern set to his mouth.
“I am sorry you were hurt, but ’tis the consequence of tearing down walls in pursuit of thievery.”
“I was not stealing.” She made to pound her fist at her side and gasped at the pain in her arm.
“Lie still lest you cause yourself further injury.”
She grimaced as she relaxed her arm. “I did not cause this. Someone hit me, then pushed the stones onto me.”
Talon raised a brow. “Who?”
“I know not. Whoever it was put out the torch first.”
“You should create better lies. The torch was burning when we found you.”
She stiffened her back. “My attacker could have lit it again.”
The knight snorted. “Cleve said he heard the crash of stones to the floor. He paused only to send someone for me before going to your aid. He found you unconscious, your arm pinned beneath the stones, and fistfuls of gold coin spilling from the pocket of your apron. The rest of the treasure lay scattered about a small chest with a broken lock.”
“Gold? I know nothing of any gold or a chest.”
“Do you expect me to believe that you had no knowledge of the treasure hidden within that wall?”
“The only treasure I sought was the box I told you of.”
“Yet you had tools that could have been used to break the lock of that chest as easily as chisel mortar from stones. With the gold, you could have purchased a dozen boxes filled with documents and locks of hair and claimed any one of those as the one you sought. What a shame you did not take more care. Your thieving might have gone undiscovered.”
She fought through the thudding ache that had returned to her skull. “Someone is trying to make me look guilty. How could I pocket so much gold in the time it took the stones to fall? Nor would I have been able to remove anything from behind those stones without first removing them. Were that so, they would not have fallen.”
He studied her. “You are a very clever woman. Clever enough to frighten an entire keep. You could have found the means to get the chest that would leave the stones unsteady enough to fall on you. But you raise enough doubt that I must investigate more closely.” He started to stand.
She caught his hand with her good one. “I did not know what lay hidden within that wall.”
“’Tis difficult to believe when you continue to lie and deceive like a thief.”
“I seek nothing that is not mine.”
He heaved a great sigh.
“I brought the water and all ye ordered, Sir Talon,” Alice interrupted from the doorway. “If ye’ll move aside, I’ll care for her until Mother Clement gets here.”
Talon clenched his jaw and stood. “We will talk more once your hurts have been tended, but know this. On your oath, you will cease your searches of this keep, or I will place a guard to watch you whatever your task.”
