Druid's Bane

by Phillip Henderson

  She finished the last sentence of her letter and blew on the drying ink. Hopefully when Joseph read her explanation for her actions he’d understand their dilemma.

  “Danielle, you have to tell your father,” James said, it was more of a plea than a demand.

  “To what purpose? He will not want a bar of this. You heard him this afternoon. He thinks this business Kane is up to is a diversion. And when he sees that monstrous bill he’ll only think his opinion confirmed and more so since it came to us via the hand of the Lady Winters.”

  “Yes, and who you let go, strangely enough.”

  “I did, and I thank you for not interfering.” She could see he was trying desperately to be reasonable with her and she appreciated it.

  “So what are your intentions?”

  “Just before dawn we’ll take a retainer of palace guards and ride to my brother’s residence.”

  He began to shake his head and climbed back to his feet. “No. Absolutely not. Yu are to have nothing to do with your brother’s affairs.”

  Danielle raised her voice, continuing, “I won’t. Besides nothing will be done until after Kane departs for the pre-council breakfast. Only then will our retainer enter the house and find the document. Assuming it is there. One way or the other we’ll know whether this is a cruel diversion or not. And if there’s truth to it, there’ll be time to take it to my father before the council meeting begins. Otherwise, he’ll be none the wiser, and be shielded from embarrassment because of it.”

  “Except of course you have no royal warrant allowing you to enter your brother’s residence.”

  “My title as a member of the High Council permits me to undertake such an action unilaterally if there is evidence of a significant threat to the good of the realm. Which there clearly is.” She folded the message she’d written to Joseph, poured a blob of red wax onto it and put her seal to it.

  “This is still interfering with your brother’s affairs.”

  “Then what would you have me do? You know how my father will react. And if this is genuine, then this time tomorrow slavery will be legal in this kingdom. Slavery, James.”

  She could see he understood their predicament. He scratched at the stubble on his chin and nodded curtly. “I have another idea. Let me handle this on your behalf. I have friends in Illandia, capable friends, who can see to the truth of this without you knowing anything.”

  “You’d defy my father?”

  “In this matter, yes. You would need only tell Joseph tomorrow morning that the a woman gave you that bill, making outlandish claims which you dismissed as part of the diversion they think is in play.”

  “And if there is truth to it?”

  “I’ll bring word to your father. And claim I acted alone.”

  “He will suspect I put you up to this.”

  “And I will vigorously deny it.”

  “And you can do this safely? You’ll have no warrant.”

  “We’ll take the house after your brother has left. Masked so we cannot be identified, and quickly and in numbers. No one will be hurt.”

  Danielle bit her lip, thrilled by his loyalty, and then quickly rose from her chair and went to him in haste. She cupped his checks and kissed him passionately. “Just don’t make me a widow.”

  James stroked her arms and returned her kisses.

  “Oh Gods, I want you so bad,” she whispered.

  He grinned against her lips and slipped her gown off her shoulders before kissing her collarbone. Danielle wriggled out of her gown, letting it fall around her feet, and then unbuckled his trousers letting them fall away too. Next, she swung her legs around his waist as he cupped her buttocks through her lace petticoat and hoisted her up. They knocked over a small side table in their haste and the wall banged up against Danielle’s back as they fumbled for each other.

  “I love you so much.” Her voice was husky with desire and need and she groaned as he took her forcefully with his first thrust.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  It was some hours later that Danielle woke from a frightful nightmare and sat up in bed, her loose hair tumbling about her face. The images of the horrible dream lingered in her mind and left a cold sweat on her skin. Worse, it changed everything she had decided upon regarding the search of Kane’s apartment in a way that left a bitter taste at the back of her throat.

  James’ warm hand pressed against her bare back. “You alright?” he asked sleepily.

  She had fallen asleep after he left to go into the city to organise the search in the morning and she hadn’t heard him return.

  Now she had to tell him things couldn’t proceed as they’d planned. But how?

  Her bed moved as James sat up behind her. His strong arms wrapped protectively around her and he drew her back against his hard chest. “You’re cold and shivery.” He kissed her head and rubbed her arms. “What’s wrong?”

  Even in the dim light of the oil lamps her reflection in the mirror above the dressing table looked dishevelled and sick with fear. Naked to the waist, James looked wonderful and the thought of losing him as she had in this latest dream brought tears to her eyes.

  “Dee, come on, what’s wrong.” Suddenly alarmed, James shifted so he could see her face. His warm hands cupped her cheeks and he looked deeply into her eyes. “You’ve had another dream?”

  The love she saw in his eyes was a comfort and she hugged him close. She longed to lie in his arms and forget about what the dawn would bring. But she couldn’t. The dream had been too real to ignore and if this bill was genuine then it had to be stopped whatever the cost.

  “I can’t let you go to my brother’s residence this morning.” Her voice sounded fragile even to her ears.

  “Why?”

  “You just can’t.”

  When she eased out of his arms and got off the bed to dress, he said, “Danielle, it was a dream, nothing more. I can assure the fellows who will be helping me, are more than capable. We have the numbers and the element of surprise. There’s nothing to fear.”

  “I am sorry. I can’t let you go.” She was in her wardrobe collecting attire suitable for riding in the cool morning air. She heard James roll off the bed and pace across the chamber. He stepped up behind her and kissed her shoulder and neck. “Why can’t I go?”

  “I saw you killed. Two of your men as well.”

  “It’s just your fears.”

  “Then tell me I’m wrong. There are eight of you, and you are all wearing the black robes of the Archbishop’s henchmen.”

  A shadow of fear crossed his face. “Do you know what goes wrong?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea. The dream is fragmented. I see you and the lady Winters dead. I see the house on fire and I see me. I find the document.”

  “Where? The Lady Winters said it was in your brother’s desk.”

  “It isn’t.” She pushed passed and crossed the chamber and slipped in behind her wicker changing screen with fresh underthings, trousers, a shirt and a tailored coat hung over her arm.

  “Then where?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I can’t let you do this, Dee. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

  “You have no choice. If the dream is right, Kane’s bill is real. There is also something about the premonition in my first dream. I learn something about it. I don’t know what, but it’s at the edge of mind, just beyond reach.”

  “He laughed bitterly. “You’re not going. We’ll take all of this to your father.”

  “We’ve been down that path. He won’t believe a word of it. And more so since it came to us via the Lady Winters hand. Tell me I am wrong?”

  “I don’t care what you say. You’re not going.”

  She pulled on her coat, grabbed a pair of riding boots and headed up the hallway to her day room. James hurried after her.

  As she went to her desk, he added, “There has to be another way. A safer way that doesn’t put you in harm’s teeth.”

  Danielle opened a drawe
r in her bureau and found the small glass vial she was looking for. It contained an ointment that she rubbed on her wrists to help her sleep from time to time. Using it on James as she intended made her feel sick, but there was no other option open to her. Putting the vial on her desktop, she selected a new quill and cut the end to make a sharp nib. I have to do this, I have to do this, she inwardly schooled herself, trying not to think of the consequences and hoping James would forgive her.

  “Dee, please. Sometimes you have to know when to withdraw and regroup. You can’t win every battle,” James said as he buttoned up his crumpled shirt.

  “I have to win this one,” she replied, quietly desperate, her eyes pleading as she looked up at him.

  She knew how much this pained him. Pained them both.

  James shook his head. “Then you give me no choice. I have to take this to your father. I will have to instruct the guards outside your door to prevent you from leaving. You understand?”

  “I do.”

  He grabbed his long coat and pulled it on. “I’m sorry. You know I don’t want to do this.’

  As he turned to go Danielle dipped the quill in the vial and hurried after him. “Wait.”

  He turned to face her and she hugged him tight. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

  Do it quickly or you won’t be able to do it at all. She made a fist around the quill and stabbed it into his shoulder, just hard enough to pierce his shirt and skin. James bucked and a curse leaped from his mouth as he instinctively pushed her off. At a loss as to what she’d done to him he reached over his shoulder and pulled the quill free.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a sleeping tonic. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “You poisoned me?” Anger and hurt marred his face. he staggered slightly as he turned, the door in his sights. The narcotic was taking longer to work than Danielle had anticipated, and fearing he might call the guards, she grabbed him and covered his mouth with a hand, just in time to muffle a cry.

  He tried to fight her off, but his strength was ebbing. She managed to get one of his arms over her shoulder and guide him back to a soft chair in front of her desk. He was already half asleep by the time she covered him with his long coat.

  She knew what she had done was unforgivable, however necessary, and tears stained her cheeks as she kissed his cheek. “I promise to be careful and I’m sorry. I love you.”

  His mouth didn’t welcome her as she kissed him and by the time she eased back he was sound asleep.

  ***

  The bell in the eastern tower of the Illandian Abbey was tolling the dawn hour across the city when Danielle stepped into the torch lit vestibule outside her chambers and closed and locked her door.

  “Sergeant Belich, you and your men with me, please.”

  Without waiting Danielle strode across the mosaic floor. She was buckling up her sword belt and trying not to think about what James would say about her deception when they spoke next.

  The good sergeant hurried to catch her up, his three guardsmen following behind. “Where’s Mr Sydney, Milady?”

  “He’s a little ill. You’ll be acting in his stead this morning.”

  “As you wish, Milady. And what exactly are we about?”

  “If the Lady Winters is where I asked her be last evening, I’ll explain all once we get to the palace gates.”

  The Sergeant seemed perplexed by that, but, to Danielle’s relief, the burly swordsman held his tongue.

  Their hurried footfalls and the rattle of armour were the only sound in the quiet passages as they made their way to the palace-readying yard and stables. Apart from a few guards and servants beginning their morning duties there was no one about to see their passing.

  A cool, misty morning greeted them as they stepped outside and descended the stairs to the stone walled courtyard. Out in the torch-lit fog, servants were already beginning their chores. Danielle stopped on the bottom step looking for the Lady Winters. Even after what she had dreamed, part of her still refused to surrender the hope that Kane’s bill was just a cruel jest and the Lady Winters would be absent.

  That last semblance of optimism was dashed when a hooded figure clicked her tongue and rode out from the deep shadow beneath the entry arch to the yard and approached at a trot.

  So that’s it then, the bill is genuine. You bloody bastard, Kane.

  Danielle fished the letter and satchel containing the bill from inside her coat and handed them to the sergeant. With some effort she kept her tone level. “Mr Belich, please have one of your men slip these under the Lord Protector’s door so he can find it when he wakes. And take your men and have twenty horses saddled, including one of my mounts. Then meet me at the palace gates. And be quick about it. We haven’t a great deal of time.”

  Danielle pulled up the hood on her long coat and walked on to greet the Lady Winters.

  “With all due respect, Milady, you should not be alone with that woman,” Sergeant Belich said.

  “Sergeant, just do as you’re told. And hurry. Dawn is almost on us.”

  Danielle pulled on her riding gloves as the Lady Winters drew her mare up and dismounted.

  “You demanded my attendance, your ladyship.” The woman said curtly.

  “I did, now remount and take me down to the palace gate.”

  Disbelief clouded the woman’s face and she made no such move to obey. “Am I to believe that you are handling this matter in your father’s stead?”

  Danielle snatched the reins from the woman’s hand and swung up into the saddle. She wasn’t about to explain her actions, and certainly not to this woman. “Hurry up,” she said, offering a hand. The woman took it grudgingly and swung up behind her.

  “Your brother will kill you if he finds out.” The words were a whisper at her ear and laced with concern.

  Right now Kane was the least of Danielle worries. She brought the horse around with a tap of her heels so the arched entrance in the courtyard wall at the far end of the readying yard was in front of them. “You know where my brother lives?”

  “Of course.”

  “Is there a place from where we can watch his house without being seen?”

  “I know a tavern where it can be done safely.”

  It was all she wanted to hear. Danielle spurred the horse forward. They rode under the archway at a canter and began down the torch-lined promenade that passed through the south garden to the main palace gate beyond. The grey light of dawn was beginning to settle across the mist-veiled rooftops of the city. It wasn’t a welcome sight; the last thing they needed was to run headlong into Kane as he rode for the palace to attend the pre-council breakfast.

  The palace gate emerged through the trees and they closed in on it quickly, the horse’s hooves kicking up white chip as they galloped toward it. A guard on the parapets held up a torch and called out, ‘Who goes there?’ as Danielle reined in outside the gate tower. Her voice shattered the quiet as she named herself and called out to the captain of the watch, demanding his assistance at once. Even as she climbed out of the saddle, Sir Mannering appeared in the doorway of the gate tower, his broad shouldered form silhouetted against the torches burning in the chamber behind.

  “Milady?” He seemed surprised to see her here, and might he would considering her father’s orders the day before.

  Not about to weather more protests, Danielle said, “I need seventeen volunteers, all armed with sword and crossbow, to ride with me to my brother’s residence in the south-eastern quarter. They are to be experienced men. And I need them now. The horses are on their way.”

  “We have a royal warrant, Milady?”

  “I ride as a member of the High Council, so yes, we have a warrant.”

  “Of course, Milady.”

  Her impatient tone had the desired effect for the knight disappeared from view bellowing orders.

  By the time Sergeant Belich and his two men arrived with the train of saddled horses in tow, Mannering had assembled
the soldiers, all of who were clearly wondering what this early morning jaunt was about. Danielle mounted her own horse and turned to address them, sorely conscious of the time. “I will not bother you with the details, except to say that my twin brother stands ready to legalise slavery this morning in the General Council. We ride to stop him. If you are with me, mount up.”

  There were more than a few curses muttered in the dim morning light at this news and every soldier took to his saddle with haste.

  The chains rattled as the portcullis was raised and then Danielle led the column out through the palace gate at a fast trot. They skirted the grand square, where merchants and traders of various stripes and realms were already setting up their stalls for the day’s commerce, and turned down the eastern promenade. As they passed beneath the looming shadow of the vast Illandian Abbey Sir Mannering rode up beside her at the head of the column.

  “Might I ask how this is to be done, Milady?”

  Danielle had been working on that and got no further than what she had suggested to James many hours before. “I think it best if we wait safely out of sight until my brother leaves for the palace. He’s too dangerous for it to be otherwise. Then we’ll move quickly to secure the house. At this hour, I suspect most of my brother’s servants and the men of his retainer will be in the kitchen or parlour taking their breakfast. It should be easy enough for Sergeant Belich to enter the residence from the rear door with a third of our company, while the rest of us enter through the front. And while you and the sergeant secure the lower floor, the Lady …” Danielle hesitated, she wasn’t about to tell him they rode with the infamous Lady Winters. “The Lady Katherine and myself in the company of three men will take the stairs to the upper story, secure it and find my brother’s dayroom. There’s a document there I must acquire if my brother’s bill is to be stopped. Once we have it, we’ll leave as quickly as we arrived.”