Page 43 of The Herald's Heart
CHAPTER EIGHT
Pounding on his bedchamber door followed by loud voices woke Talon from sleep made restless by dreams of Larkin, an arrow piercing her heart and her dead eyes accusing him of thinking trust and friendship enough to keep her safe. He never should have left her at the abbey. She was probably safer there than here, but he still longed to have her near, even if he could not touch her.
“I tell ye, Father,” Cleve shouted. “Sir Talon will nay thank ye for waking him because o’ a locked door.”
“That door guards the earl’s chapel,” a strident voice answered. “He should have answered when I knocked. He did not even tell me to go away. I tell you something is wrong.”
“But th’ earl’s not here. Went off on his own two days after you left.”
“Nonsense. The earl would never go anywhere unaccompanied.”
More pounding followed.
“Cease,” Talon roared. He got out of bed and dressed. He was buckling on his sword and scabbard when he opened the solar portal. Cleve, looking uncomfortable, stood in the hallway beside a fussy little man in priestly robes.
“Who are you? And what is all this about a locked door?” asked Talon.
The priest drew himself up to his very inconsiderable height, sniffed, and announced, “I am Father Timoras, personal chaplain and confessor to the Earl of Hawksedge. Who might you be? And why have you invaded the earl’s bedchamber?”
Talon smiled. The fellow could not have appeared more ridiculous had he tried.
“I am Sir Talon Quereste, royal herald, and I’ve taken the only chamber fit for a man of my station. The earl has much to answer for when he answers King Edward’s summons.”
It was almost fun to watch the priestly bundle of ass-clenched nerves blanch when Talon announced his name.
“T—Talon Quereste? Impossible!” Timoras stepped backward.
“Sir Talon Quereste, royal herald, and I am very possible.”
“But you ... the earl ... oh dear. The earl will be most upset when he learns you are here.” The coward continued his retreat toward the stairs.
Talon was getting tired of the priest’s strident whine. “Not half as upset as he will be when he answers the king’s summons and I report to the king how greatly the earl has neglected his duty. Now please tell me why you disturbed my rest.”
The priest swallowed, but finally stood his ground. “I am concerned for the earl. As always when I return from a journey, I went to join him in his chapel. He spends almost all of his time at Hawksedge there, so that was the most likely place for him to be. I was not surprised to find the chapel door locked, but I was startled to receive no response from the earl when I knocked and announced myself.”
Talon folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall just outside the door. “Did it occur to you that the earl might not be here?”
“The thought never entered my head. He would not leave without confessing and receiving absolution. He worried about dying while he traveled and did not wish to rely on a strange priest for the state of his soul.”
Talon frowned. The traveling chair Cleve found had roused Talon’s concern that the earl remained in the area but in hiding. Now Father Timoras’s words made Talon even more certain that the earl remained near Hawksedge Keep, mayhap even within. But how could he go unnoticed for so long? By all reports, the earl was a man who liked his comforts and rarely did for himself what another could do for him. What would inspire a man like that to go without either comfort or servants? Fear of Edward’s wrath? Perhaps, but most men would flee, not stay in a nearly empty keep.
He sighed and straightened. “Let us open the chapel. The earl may have left messages there for you, Timoras.”
Talon indicated they should go, and the priest led the way.
“I warn you, the chapel is locked and the earl has the only key,” said Timoras.
“You serve at his pleasure but do not have a key to your own chapel?”
“When I accepted this post, the earl made very clear that he alone kept all the keys. Often I come to prepare Mass and find him locked in here. He prays for hours on end.”
“From a guilty conscience, no doubt.”
“I think not. He confesses little and is a very pious man.”
“Hah.” Talon gave a grunt of disbelief.
“You saw the abbey as you approached Hawking Sedge?”
