A Murdered Peace

And the discovery bode ill for his release. A man with Berend’s history in possession of such a treasure? Had Salisbury entrusted it to him?

The slush was hardening as the gathering twilight drew in the chill from the river. She had not worn her warmest cloak, not expecting to traipse across the city, and her feet were cold in her boots.

“Where will they put him in the castle?” she asked.

“Accused of murder and of being a traitor to the crown, with no lord to protect him?” Elric shook his head. “I warrant they’ll put him in the dungeons. That is why I need to talk to the sheriffs, offer the protection of the earl.”

“You would do that for him?”

“Did I not promise I would?”

They were walking through the market and Kate paused for a moment to look into her companion’s eyes, check the sincerity. His cheeks flushed with the cold, his blue eyes brighter than ever, and steady as they met her gaze.

“Are you ready to trust me, Katherine?”

She felt a slight lightening of her burden. His cooperation could only be to her benefit. As long as she had a care to protect her heart. “I am,” she said. But only so far as she would any man. And not yet with Margery’s secret.

He proffered his free arm, but she had a lead in each hand.

“Perhaps one of these days you might train me to hold one of those,” he suggested.

She smiled, but thought it unlikely.

Bess sat on a high-backed chair by the door to the public room, hands on the carved wolf’s head atop her cane, her eyes snapping. “I do not like the grim looks on both your faces. Who was lurking outside the tavern?” she asked Kate.

“Parr and Sawyer, the men who came to York wearing Lancastrian livery and claiming to be on a mission for the king.”

“Ah. I’ve heard about them. How did the hounds know to warn you?”

“As I said, I have quite a tale to tell.”

“And your grim faces?”

Kate told her what she had learned from Sister Dina and at the warehouse, adding Lille and Ghent’s part in finding something that might provide a motivation for the crimes, patting the pouch Elric carried.

“Skulker, curse that vermin,” Bess growled. “My grandson was foolhardy enough to hire him. Lasted one day. All ears and mouth, no work. The dockworkers will see to him. No place for sneaks. His young bones will wash up with the tide.” Bess rose with a grunt, shrugging off Elric’s proffered assistance with a shake of her beribboned cap. “I am not yet so old that I cannot rise from a chair on my own two legs.”

Bess leaned on her cane and cast an eye on Lille, then Ghent. “They have proved themselves to be beings I would do well to befriend.” The old woman took a deep breath, as if to fortify herself. “Come along to my ‘parlor’,” she said, motioning for Kate and the hounds to enter first. “And Sir Elric is to join us?”

“If it please you,” said Kate.

A nod.

Elric settled at the end of the table, and Bess took her usual seat.

“Well then, let us resume,” said Bess. “The tavern is about to fill up for the evening.”

When Kate and the hounds had settled, Bess called for a kitchen maid to bring Lille and Ghent a bowl of water.

“Begin your tale, I pray you, Dame Katherine,” said Bess as she poured brandywine. “I do not wish Berend to spend any more time in that dank, soulless place than necessary.”

Kate took a few sips of the wine while she gathered her thoughts, reviewing what she had learned, trying to separate what seemed most likely true from her speculations and those of others regarding all that had happened. She felt the responsibility of it, how much was at stake.

“I do not yet see it as a whole, how it all fits together. I depend on you to help me to sift through it all, find the patterns.” Kate settled back in the chair, closing her eyes for a moment, then began.

With but a few interruptions from her companions, she told them all she had gleaned – or most of it. She gave a general description of Berend’s visit, including the fact that he knew Merek and did not admit to traveling with Lady Kirkby, nor did he seem to know Parr and Sawyer, or, at least, did not know why they would be in York. She gave a more detailed account of their nighttime intrusion in her home, as well as what she had seen at Jon Horner’s house – how they had found him, the evidence of a room turned upside down in search of something – leaving out the glove and the mysterious clump of something possibly herbal – and her conversations with Old Cob and Coffey the smith. Lastly, she recounted in full her visit with Lionel, what Sister Dina had observed of Berend’s capture, her conversation with Paris, and what she had learned from the men in the warehouse. She opened Berend’s pack, showing them that there was no blood on his clothing.

“Nor did the warehousemen notice any new injuries.”

“That is something,” Elric muttered.

She omitted Carl’s murder lest she slip and suggest she had seen him earlier, or mention Lady Margery.

“If Parr and Sawyer are after the jewels, Berend’s capture might propel them to take risks in searching for them,” said Bess.