Raven’s Rise

by Cole, Elizabeth

“Have you met Robin yet?” one of the ladies asked one day, gesturing to a new face in the room. “She’s a ward of Lord Rainald, and we are attempting to teach her some of the skills of a lady.” The woman’s tone hinted at how difficult the task was.

  Robin stabbed at her work with the needle, muttering every time she made a mistake, which was frequently. She huffed out sighs, and generally acted as though she’d rather be plunged in an icy river than make another stitch.

  Angelet smiled. Robin was several years younger than Angelet, with a slim body that was nevertheless fully into womanhood. The way the girl’s eyes kept flicking to the window made it clear she wanted to fly out of the room.

  “When the weather grows warmer,” Angelet said to her, “you can take your work outside. It’s pleasant to embroider in the sun, and never a worry about having enough light for the task.”

  “Aye, but I’d still be sewing, wouldn’t I?” Robin sighed.

  “What would you rather be doing?”

  “Nothing appropriate to a lady,” the matron in charge interjected. “Robin must learn calm and comportment. And patience. Sewing teaches all these things.”

  Robin rolled her eyes.

  “And respect!” the matron added darkly. “I despair of you, Robin. You’re a hoyden at heart.”

  Angelet sought to rescue the girl. She stood, wobbling a little for effect, and said, “I fear I must lie down again. Could someone walk me to my chamber?”

  “Yes, of course!” Robin was already on her feet and stepping toward Angelet before anyone else could reply. Her sewing lay unregarded on the floor.

  Angelet let Robin take her by the arm, playing up her unsteadiness. Once they left the room, however, she suggested a detour to the courtyard. “A little bit of fresh air may help me.”

  Robin nodded, just as eager to get outside. The courtyard of the manor bustled with activity. Workers brought in firewood and supplies. A young boy led a sheep on a rope toward the kitchens. Grooms exercised and brushed down horses by the stables.

  “That white one is yours, is it not?” Robin asked, pointing toward one of the horses.

  Angelet walked toward the paddock. “She is the one I rode before, though she’s not mine. Beautiful animal.”

  “I love horses,” Robin said. “Being able to ride is the one good thing about being a lady.”

  “You speak as though you haven’t always been one.”

  “Of course I wasn’t!”

  “You mean you were a child.”

  “I mean I was free,” Robin said hotly. “No long heavy skirts to trip me up. No sewing. No sitting for hours and hours inside the manor because that’s what ladies do.”

  “But as a lady, you’ll be protected and cared for. Is that so very bad?”

  A look of remorse filled Robin’s face. “I shouldn’t say anything. Lord Rainald has done everything for me and I owe him my life. I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but no one asks what I want to do!”

  “No,” Angelet agreed. “No one ever asked that of me either.” Well, Rafe asked. Asked and asked and asked until she revealed her very deepest desires, and then he did his very best to fulfill them. She grew hot under her clothing, and tried to get her mind back to the actual topic. “They mean well, our families. At least most of the time.”

  “Is it true you’re going to take the veil?” Robin asked, looking at her sidelong. “I heard that you were on your way to a nunnery when…things went wrong.”

  “That part is true enough. As for whether I will take the veil now, I cannot say.”

  “What’s changed?”

  “The nunnery wasn’t my choice,” Angelet said. “It was a compromise.”

  “A compromise? Lord, what was the alternative worse than a lifetime of being trapped behind walls?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Just then, a flurry of movement at the other end of the courtyard made her look over. There he was. Rafe, dressed in black as usual, walked along with several other men, who all seemed to be guards or men-at-arms. They were headed for the practice fields and didn’t see the two women.

  “Look at that. He’s got a retinue now. Surprised anyone would spar with him,” Robin muttered. “After what he did.”

  “Who did?”

  “Sir Rafe.” Robin’s eyes narrowed. “Do you not know?”

  “Know what?” Was this the same thing Cecily hinted at? She knew that Rafe had some falling out with Alric, and that he had been very reluctant to return to Cleobury until Angelet’s dire state demanded it. “Tell me what happened. Please.”

  “Sir Rafe tried to murder Sir Alric.”

  Chapter 26

  “Excuse me?” Angelet must have misheard. Or the girl suddenly spoke in Welsh. Or Angelet was having another seizure. “Did you say murder?”

  “I wasn’t here when it happened,” Robin hedged, “but I heard the story. Many times. Sir Rafe was sparring with Sir Alric on the practice field, but he had more in mind than…are you well?”

  “No!” Angelet felt genuinely sick. Something must be wrong with her, because Robin’s words made no sense and yet she said them. Why would she lie?

  Robin put a surprisingly strong arm around Angelet’s waist. “Come with me. You need to sit down. Your face is white.”

  As the two walked over to a nearby bench, which was just a plank of wood set over two stumps, Angelet whispered, “I need to speak with Rafe.”

  “You mean Lady Cecily,” Robin said. “Because you’re ill.”

  No. She meant Rafe, but it was no good telling Robin that. “Both of them, please. Could you fetch them? I’ll wait here.”

  “Don’t collapse,” Robin warned. “I’ll get in trouble if you collapse.”

  “Just hurry. And find Sir Rafe first, if you please.”

  Robin picked up her skirts and ran toward the practice fields, moving as if she did that sort of thing all the time. Angelet didn’t remember the last time she ran anywhere. Ladies did not run.

  She waited, sitting in the sunny spot, undoubtedly looking much calmer than she felt. The word murder kept crackling in her mind, interrupting all other thoughts. She tried to explain Robin’s brief, startling statement to herself. It was obviously false. Rafe would never murder someone in cold blood. He was a knight, and she saw him fight. She even saw him kill Dobson, but that was purely to defend her.

  But then she remembered Goswin’s accusation of murder, and how Rafe had reacted to that, with a split second of horror before recovering. Granted, it turned out that Goswin exaggerated the situation in his anger, but the fact remained that he thought Rafe a murderer too. What did Robin and Goswin see in Rafe that Angelet missed? Was she so starved for affection that a little flirtation from Rafe was enough to blind her to his true nature?

  No. She’d seen his true nature. It was impossible for him to be a murderer because she couldn’t fall in love with a murderer.

  “Oh, no,” she whispered, putting her head in her hands. She loved him. Not just cared for him, or felt a passion for him, but loved him. How careless of her. How incredibly foolish.

  “Angelet?”

  She lifted her head.

  Rafe stood in front of her, his face the picture of concern. “Robin just said you asked for me. What happened?”

  “What happened?” she echoed. “What happened is that Robin mentioned something no one else here thought to bring up! She said you tried to murder Sir Alric.”

  Rafe’s expression changed from concerned to chagrined. “Oh.”

  “Oh,” she mimicked, taking refuge in ridicule. “Is this the awkward matter that kept you outside the walls at first? Is this the reason Cecily and Alric keep talking around your return here?”

  “Yes.”

  His simple admission hurt to hear. “So it’s true?”

  “In short, yes, it is. Look, I never claimed I was a saint. In fact, I warned you that I was anything but.”

  “I never expected you to be perfect. However, attempted murder is completely beyond anything you
hinted at! And I refuse to believe the matter is simple.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if it were simple, and it was just a case of you hating Sir Alric enough to try to murder him, you wouldn’t be allowed back here. But you were—”

  Rafe interjected, “Solely because de Vere himself has been seeking me for some special retribution of his own. Alric wants me here so I can’t avoid my fate.”

  She hadn’t known that was what was keeping him here, but she should have suspected it wasn’t because of her. “I see,” she murmured. “Why did you try to kill him?”

  “The usual reason,” Rafe said. “Money. Same reason I agreed to escort you to Basingwerke. I’m a very simple man, Angelet. And not a good one. So when someone presented me with what looked like a profitable opportunity, I took it.”

  “Are you referring to the attempted murder or guarding me on the journey?”

  He gave a short laugh. “The murder, but it applies to both. I’m out for myself, darling. Growing up with no wealth and no family connections meant that I always had to look out for myself.”

  “You were fostered here,” Cecily interrupted. She’d just walked up, with Alric beside her. “You may not have had a noble name or lands to inherit, but you did have a family.”

  “Perhaps I did,” Rafe conceded. “Until I betrayed that family when Theobald came to me with his plan.”

  “Who’s Theobald?” Angelet asked.

  “My uncle,” said Cecily. “A snake of a man. We’re well rid of him. But we’re doing this piecemeal. Rafe, tell her the whole story.”

  “Please,” Angelet added.

  He looked away. “Let Cecily and Alric tell it. No one wants to hear my version.”

  “Everyone wants to hear your version,” Cecily said. “And you owe Angelet the truth, since you were the one who brought her here.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Rafe asked.

  “No.” That came from Alric, who didn’t look ready to compromise.

  The whole group moved back into the manor house, since Cecily was worried about Angelet’s condition. In the quiet solar, Angelet was offered the best seat, and Rafe was left standing to give his account, with both Cecily and Alric in attendance, to ensure he told the truth.

  Rafe began with his arrival at Rainald de Vere’s manor so many years ago. “I had no idea what to expect. I was just a boy, and all I knew was that this…lord decided I was to join these other boys for training. I met Alric, and Luc…as well as the lord’s daughter.” He glanced toward Cecily. “I had nothing to complain about. The training was hard, and the days were long. But I was fed, and had a place to sleep.”

  “And you had friends,” Alric added.

  Rafe gave a short nod.

  “Those three were inseparable,” Cecily told Angelet. “They trained together, played together, ate together…everything. Together, they teased me horribly, too.” But she smiled a little, suggesting that her memories of those days were fond ones.

  “Then the attack happened,” Rafe said. “And Lord Rainald de Vere died, or so we thought.”

  All smiles in the room disappeared.

  “We didn’t know it then—we were children—but the attack on the manor had been orchestrated by Theobald de Vere, who wanted the title and lands for himself. He forced his older brother to flee into exile, then pretended he had died so he could take over.” Rafe’s voice was quiet. “We all spent most of the next decade under his rule. It didn’t matter much to me. I kept on training, and then we all went off to fight when the new king called for soldiers. I fought with Alric and Luc for the next few years, battle after battle. It’s amazing we all survived.”

  Alric said, “We did it because we stayed together. That was what the oath meant.”

  “Ah, yes. The oath.” Rafe chuckled. He looked directly at Angelet. “I swore an oath, you know. With Alric and Luc. Just the two of them. The oath was simple enough. That we have each other’s back and be as brothers, not just in battle, but in life.”

  He sounded so distant. Angelet wanted nothing more than to pull him close and embrace him, but of course she couldn’t. “What happened to change your heart?”

  “We came home. Here, to Cleobury. The war was in a lull, and we’d finally got enough time to rest for a while. But Cleobury wasn’t a place of refuge for anyone, not with Theobald in charge. He wanted even more power. So he arranged to marry his niece Cecily off to some lord. Theobald knew Alric worshipped her, though, so he offered me a deal. If I arranged for an accident during training, and Alric died, then I would be rewarded for my loyalty. More money than I’d ever imagined I could have at once. With that fortune, I could go anywhere, start a life in any place I chose. And all I had to do was murder my childhood friend.”

  “But you didn’t actually do it,” Angelet said.

  “Not for lack of trying. We were sparring one day. Did I mention I’m a better fighter than Alric?”

  “Sad but true,” Alric admitted.

  “He can’t defend against me,” Rafe went on. “I saw opening after opening, and finally I took one. I struck him. Drew blood.”

  Angelet put a hand to her mouth. “How did he survive?”

  Rafe shrugged. “I stopped the fight and called his squire—after all, it was supposed to be an accident. But Alric took fever from the wound I gave him. I wished I hadn’t struck him,” Rafe said suddenly. “The instant I pierced the skin, I knew I’d made a mistake. No, not made a mistake. Committed a sin.”

  “Sins can be forgiven,” Alric said. “And obviously, I did survive.”

  “You stayed at Cleobury?” Angelet asked. “Even after…”

  “At that point, Alric didn’t know I meant to kill. He has a better heart than I do. Everyone does.”

  Just then, a servant hurried in. “Pardon! My lady Cecily, your father returns. Octavian de Levant rides with him. An advance rider has just come. The main party will be here well before dark.”

  “Ah, how wonderful!” Cecily said, with a huge smile. Then she turned toward Rafe. “A little early, though. Your story isn’t done.”

  “It doesn’t get better,” he said. “I did a host of despicable things after that. I even fought Alric again.”

  “Your heart wasn’t in it that last time,” Alric said. “And you knew it.”

  “The rest of the tale shall have to wait.” Cecily looked at Angelet apologetically. “Come with me and we’ll make ourselves presentable. I can’t wait for you to meet my father.”

  “I’ll stay with Rafe until Lord Rainald arrives,” said Alric. “Just to make sure he doesn’t slip away.”

  Angelet’s gaze caught Rafe’s, and she read the defeat in his face. Rafe looked as if slipping away was exactly what he had in mind.

  Chapter 27

  Rafe steeled himself for the arrival of the lord who’d been hunting him for years. Whatever his plans to slip out of Cleobury and evade the reckoning, now he had no choice. Part of him actually welcomed what was to come. Running was exhausting. The unknown was exhausting. At least now the worst would come out.

  At Cecily’s instruction, everyone gathered in the courtyard to greet the party so Rainald would have a proper welcome…and also to make Rafe’s appearance known as quickly as possible.

  When the party entered the courtyard, Rainald rode alongside someone else Rafe knew well. The young, dark-skinned knight scanned the group, and when he saw Rafe, his eyebrows lifted in surprise. He leaned over to say something to Lord Rainald, who nodded slowly. Then the knight leapt down from his horse and went directly to where Rafe stood near Angelet.

  Cecily stepped forward. “Octavian! What a pleasant surprise.”

  “Surprise is a good word for it,” the knight replied, with a glance at Rafe.

  “Angelet,” Cecily said, taking her by the elbow. “This knight is our friend, Octavian de Levant. He has fought beside my Alric—as well as Rafe—during battle. I think he has saved all our lives once or twice.”

  Angelet, not yet fully
healed, gave a wobbly curtsey. “Then I am most pleased to meet you, Sir Octavian. For Lady Cecily saved my life. She could not have done that if you hadn’t saved hers earlier! I am Angelet d’Hiver.”

  The knight bowed. Rafe had forgot how intensely formal Octavian could be. “Lady Angelet.”

  Cecily said, “And you noticed that Rafe has returned.”

  “Indeed.” Octavian looked Rafe directly in the eyes, and Rafe saw the suspicion there. Octavian was younger than him and Alric, and they hadn’t met him until about five years ago. Of all of them, Octavian had the least reason to trust Rafe, since he’d only seen Rafe at his worst.

  Still, he took his tone from his hosts, and Cecily obviously allowed Rafe to be there. “We’ll have to talk soon,” the knight said. “I’m curious as to where you’ve been.”

  “First,” Alric said, “we all need to hear what happened at the meeting. It took long enough!”

  Now Octavian smiled. “Our visit was useful, I think. The lull in fighting has meant an increase in discussions.”

  “Will Stephen and Maud finally agree to a peace?” Angelet asked. Rafe knew why. If they did, it would make it easier for her to reunite with her family.

  “That I don’t know, my lady. There are still many obstacles, not least of which is that both cousins still desire the crown.”

  Cecily frowned. “There won’t be anything left to rule, the way they keep bickering. This country will revert to wilderness.”

  Octavian had been looking around the courtyard. “Speaking of the wild, where’s your ward? Any luck housebreaking Lady Robin yet?”

  Cecily sighed. “We’re making progress…of a sort.”

  Octavian gave a knowing laugh. “Sounds like a no to me. You’re better off opening the cage door and releasing her back into the forest.”

  “She’ll make a fine lady,” Cecily insisted. “She just needs time.”

  “And a miracle or two.”

  “Then pray for her.” Cecily took Angelet by the arm, saying, “Now, dear, you must meet my father.”

  They all turned as Lord Rainald de Vere walked up to them. He accepted Cecily’s exuberant embrace, then bowed to Angelet, who was introduced as a guest—again, Cecily kept the association between Rafe and Angelet quiet.