“Where did he lock Lavonia? Do you know?”
Her expression was strained, and she didn’t appear to have been awakened. Perhaps she couldn’t sleep either. “Foolish girl. I was so busy with the tarts I didn’t even watch what she was doing. If I’d known, I’ve have stopped her.”
“I know you would have, but do you know where she is?”
She nodded. “He made me lock her in myself.”
“You have the key?”
Again, she nodded.
“My husband is angry beyond cause,” I said, “and I fear for Lavonia’s safety. If you give me the keys and tell me where to go, I’ll let her out, but she’ll have to leave the grounds tonight.”
After a brief hesitation, Ester opened the door all the way. She put a robe over her nightgown and lifted a set of keys from the wall. She took up a candle lantern that had been glowing on her nightstand. “I’ll come. He left her in quite a state.”
Though I had no wish to involve Ester, I wasn’t about to refuse her help. Together, we went downstairs into the cellars and down a passage with a dirt floor. Ester stopped before a stout wooden door and unlocked it.
When she held the candle lantern high, we both looked inside. Lavonia was huddled back against the far wall, but I could see her face. Her mouth was split on one side and her eye was swollen shut. There was no food, water, or even a bucket in which she might relieve herself.
“Ester?” she said in what sounded like hope, and she started to rise. Then she saw me and balked.
“Come on,” Ester said. “We need to get you out.”
I held up the pouch of money. “You have to escape the grounds tonight, and you must hurry.”
“Escape? No. This is my home.”
She still didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation.
Ester shook her head. “There’s nothing for it now. I think Lord Sebastian means to leave you in here, or worse.”
“Take this money,” I said. “Can you sweet talk one of the guards into letting you out?”
“She should be able to,” Ester answered. “Shanyel is on watch tonight, and he’s always been partial to her.”
“Lord Sebastian would leave me in here?” Lavonia asked. “With nothing?”
“You crossed him,” I answered, and then I couldn’t help asking, “Did you really think I would be blamed?”
Her battered face turned sullen. “Everyone in the kitchen heard me tell you the fish was bad, and you ordered me to cook it. Of course, they’d blame you.” Her voice broke. “I just wanted things to go back to the way they were.”
With a sad shake of her head, Ester took the pouch from me and pressed it into Lavonia’s hand. “Run. Go to Shanyel and have him let you out the gate. Walk south to Cerantes, that’s the nearest town, and try to find work. That’s the best we can do for you now. Whatever you do, don’t let Lord Sebastian find you.”
This last piece of advice had an effect, and Lavonia finally seemed to realize she was in danger. With one last hard look at me, she hurried for the stairs up to the main floor.
Ester sighed and relocked the door.
Both of us stood in silence.
I had no idea how this would play out now or what the repercussions might be, and I was anxious. If there was one thing I’d learned tonight, it was this: Don’t ever cross Sebastian.
Chapter 11
The next morning, I woke up alone. I hadn’t even felt Sebastian rise and leave the room. I agonized over my actions in the middle of the previous night but didn’t regret them. I simply wondered what would happen when Sebastian learned of my interference. Ester was the only one with a key, and I wouldn’t let her take the blame.
Pushing such worries aside, I dressed without Miriam’s help and went downstairs to check on our guests. With Betty’s assistance, I got Rosamund and Phillipe to both eat some boiled oats and drink a little tea, and then the Monvílles announced they wished to go home.
I understood this and walked out with them to the courtyard.
By the time Jarrod, Rolf, and Kai joined us, Sebastian still hadn’t made an appearance, and I wondered where he was. Was he too embarrassed to face everyone?
The Monvílles had brought a wagon for their luggage, but it was full. I even noticed the bottom of a half-covered harp near the end of the wagon’s bed. Why would they have brought a harp? I didn’t ask.
Concerned about Rosamund riding a horse though, I suggested that Jarrod loan them another wagon—which he gladly did. I piled blankets in the back and made a bed so she could rest for the half day journey.
This morning, Lord Allemond had thawed a good deal and was surprisingly friendly to Jarrod and Rolf.
“Tomorrow then?” Allemond asked.
“Yes, we’ll meet you at the old hunting lodge in the north quarter,” Jarrod answered.
“Good. I’m sure you’ll find everything in order, but I think it’s best you check for yourself.”
With that, our guests rode out.
Jarrod wasn’t happy, but he didn’t seem angry anymore. At least the land deal was progressing. I turned and went back into the keep before he could say anything to me, and I found myself walking down the passage toward the kitchen. Though I still fretted over the situation with Lavonia, I had a duty to perform today.
As I entered the kitchen, Cora was the first person I saw, and I stopped upon seeing the dark bruise on the left side of her face. I could only imagine the scene that had taken place in here last night.
“Are you all right?” I asked instantly.
“Yes, my lady.” She sounded on the edge of tears.
Ester was making bread, and we locked eyes for a few seconds. Two women in a conspiracy.
“I assume there is a good deal of food left since so little of it was served,” I said. “How many of us will be needed to carry it down?”
Ester frowned slightly in puzzlement. “Carry it down?”
“To the village.”
It was common practice for the lady of any noble household to have all the leftovers collected the morning after a banquet and then help take them down to the nearest village to be given to the poor. Ester didn’t appear familiar with this custom, and so I explained it.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “The master wouldn’t like that, and I wouldn’t ask him about it today.” She paused. “Did you ask Lord Sebastian?”
I hadn’t, and considering his probable state of mind, I decided not to try.
Leaving the kitchen, I felt the need for fresh air and walked out the back door into the garden. This place always cheered me with the vegetables, berries, and herbs.
Slowly, I made my way toward the hen house, and then I heard a familiar voice: Sebastian.
“This is where she hid them, out here so they could further spoil. You should have seen my father’s face. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from this.”
“Well, at least one thing has come of it,” a male voice answered. “You’re finally spending some time with me.”
“Daveed, don’t push me,” Sebastian warned. “Not today.”