Page 12 of The Herald's Heart
“Did you search for him?”
“Aye. We started searching at dusk, that very day. One of the men saw the ghost, Larkin that is, and ran away screaming that the earl had been murdered and haunted the keep because we had failed in our duty to protect him. Several others saw the ghost then, and fear spread like wildfire. I could get none to stay.”
Larkin again. The image of her berry mouth and blue eyes intruded on Talon’s thoughts. He could not afford distractions, so he pushed the image from his mind and waited, certain that Cleve had more to say.
The guard swallowed. “I admit, I was afeared too. Though I might have stayed if I’d had someone at my back. I feel stupid to have been fooled by Liar Larkin.”
Talon, too, had felt a few moments of fear before logic reminded him that ghosts did not exist. “Aye, she has that effect on a man,” he agreed, reluctant to admit her ability to influence him at the same time he tried to reassure Cleve.
“Most of the men in Hawking Sedge have acted the dunce over her since she left the abbey.”
“Left the abbey? Was she a nun or novice?”
“Nay, she turned up there about seven years ago. Weren’t much more’n a child, fourteen or fifteen from the look of her. The nuns took her in because she was mute. Last year, she recovered her voice and started claiming she was Lady Rosham. The earl didn’t like that. He threatened to toss the nuns from his lands if the abbess didn’t make the liar leave. Larkin’s been the local carter ever since. Living outside the abbey walls, she’s had to protect herself, and the men hereabouts haven’t made that easy. I don’t know how she’s been able to avoid them, but she has. They may be more determined after she’s made such idiots of them.”
Could she be in danger? Unaccountably the idea of her hurt disturbed him. “Let them know that she’s not to be touched.”
“Oh is it that way then, sir?”
“And what way would that be?” Talon growled and gave the guard an icy look.
“Why, I only meant that you must want ... her for ... yourself.” Cleve quailed before the cold glare.
“I will have no woman in my protection dishonored.”
“Aye, sir.” The guard swallowed nervously.
Alice and Larkin approached with trenchers of bread, cheese, apples, tankards, and a pitcher of ale. They waited while Talon invited Cleve to join him in the meal, then set the food on the table between the men.
“Thank you, Alice. Send someone to recall the rest of the servants. When they come, give them food and tell them to ask Cleve for their orders. Larkin, you may be about your duties as well.”
The cook curtsied and left. Liar Larkin stuck her nose in the air, turned, and stalked off.
Talon chewed on the bread, considering how to handle things. The redhead’s deceptions made any action more difficult. He’d done what he could to minimize the impact of her deceit, but at what cost? The villagers were angry over being made to look like fools. He needed their trust, but for Larkin’s safety, he must keep her where she was safe. He prayed the local folk would not see his treatment of her as an insult to them.
Meanwhile, he needed information before he could decide how to proceed in the earl’s absence. Talon poured ale into the tankards, handing one to Cleve.
“Does the earl have a steward, someone who does his accounts and manages the keep in when the earl is away?”
“Father Timoras sometimes acts in the earl’s stead, but I’d not call him a steward. If we’ve need of lordly authority when the earl is gone, we send to Rosewood Castle for Baron Le Hourde. ’Tis less than two days’ ride. One day if you take the cliff side path, but that is not very stable, and most take the longer, safer road.”
“I only know Le Hourde’s reputation as a merciless warrior. I had not realized he was the earl’s vassal or that Rosewood was so near. I may send for him eventually. First, where is this priest, Timoras?”
“There is sickness among the earl’s more distant vassals. Father Timoras has learning of medicine taught him by the nuns in the abbey. The earl sent him to aid those who are ill.”
“So Father Timoras had been gone longer than the earl?”
“Aye.”
Talon stared once more into the flames in the huge hearth. They were the same glowing hue as Liar Larkin’s tresses. “Do you know which vassals the priest went to help?”
“There were several, sir. And I was not told where he went first. Nor could I guess where he might be now.”
Aware his thoughts were wandering, Talon turned his gaze away from the fire. “How long would it take to send messages to these vassals, find Father Timoras, and have him return here?”
“As little as a day or as much as two weeks, depending on how far he’s gone and how many riders we send.”
“Send as many men as you think you can spare and still maintain the keep’s guard. The priest may know where the earl is. At the least, the man can witness any action I take in the earl’s absence.” Talon wished he could ride in search of the priest. He needed action. But with the earl gone, someone had to remain in charge at Hawksedge.
