"Then everything went awry when Dob offered to wed Jessimond. Ivo is a coward. He could neither confess what he'd done nor was it in him to stand firm against his son's choice of wife. That left him no choice but to end his daughter's life, something I doubt he would have done if he'd known Amelyn was yet visiting Wike. It must have been easier to plan to murder the child when he thought he was sparing her a life of abuse and pain, one bereft of her mother's love," he added, thinking again on the smith's shock as the leper made her race for the well.
Here, Faucon fell silent, unwilling to share with Edmund the rest of the tale, the part that included Meg and how she and the bawd had appeared in that glade within minutes after Jessimond's death. As Ivo must have slunk back into hiding, avoiding discovery before he had removed Jessimond's body as he surely would have planned, the man's fate was sealed. Not because of what he'd done, but because the court had stripped away some of Sir Alain's duties. For if the sheriff had come to Wike it was a sure thing that Ivo would have held his tongue even as Gawne died in his place. Such was the depths of the man's cowardice.
Frustration streamed from the monk on a harsh breath. "I vow, I'll never be able to understand what you do, no matter how hard I try."
"Nor do you need to," Faucon said with a grin, "not as long as one of us can do it. Isn't that what you said to me yesterday? We both have our roles to play in this."
Nodding at that, Edmund glanced across the wastes to the edge of the forest. "Do you think they'll ever get the idiot to leave that glade?"
"Aye, I think he'll go once both Amelyn and Jessimond are laid to rest." Again, he withheld suppositions from his clerk. There was no point in sharing that he believed the idiot was Odger's bastard son, and likely not the only child the bailiff had fathered in Wike. Thus had Martha known to stay close to Amelyn on the day that Odger sought to take her. So too was that why Amelyn's stepmother had fought so hard to keep her damaged babe alive. Martha had wanted her bailiff to look upon what he'd created for each and every day of his life.
There was motion ahead of him on the Street. Lifting himself in his stirrups, Faucon eyed the riders coming toward him. One man was mounted atop a piebald, naming him Alf. The other rode a courser as white as Legate, save for black stockings the same color as the hair of his rider.
What little satisfaction Faucon had managed to retain over this day's resolution died. Holy Mother of God. What was his brother doing here at this end of Warwickshire? More importantly, was Will sane? Faucon's hand dropped to his sword. If not, blood would definitely be shed.
How could I have faltered when He not only led me to her, but fair placed her in my arms? Instead, I was careless.
The whip flies. The knotted cords bite into my back. My flesh tears. Blood flows.
A part of me whimpers, complaining that she was stronger than I expected. That she awakened without warning. That she flew from my arms before I was prepared. It was dark. The wind howled, hiding her from me as it tossed branches and bent grasses. The rain fell in sheets, making it impossible to see.
On and on the excuses flow when they are nothing but excuses. Again the cords tear into my back. Sinful! Weak!
I beg my Lord to answer, if not to give me the forgiveness I crave, then to reveal that He is yet with me, that I remain precious to Him. There is naught but silence and emptiness where once there was presence.
Lost in self-pity, I beg Saint Martin to bear a message to our heavenly Father. To no avail. I am no longer his comrade-in-arms, battling beside him to save souls.
All is lost. I am abandoned.
Thank you for reading this third book of my new mystery series. I hope you enjoyed Faucon and his third investigation as his shire's new Crowner. If you liked the book, or I suppose even if you didn't, consider leaving a review. If you've found any formatting or typographical errors, please let me know by email at [email protected]. I appreciate the chance to correct my mistakes!
I have to admit I absolutely enjoyed adding Alf to the team of sleuths I'm assembling. He stepped onto these page fully formed and wonderfully alive.
By the way, you'll find Oswald de Vere and Bishop William making appearances in my Seasons Series
Medieval Mysteries
Season of the Raven
Season of the Fox
Lost Innocents
The Seasons Series
Winter's Heat
Summer's Storm
Spring's Fury
Autumn's Flame
A Love for All Seasons
Or, if you want you can buy all five books at once a box set: The Seasons Series
The Children of Graistan
I've started a new series of stories based on the children of my characters in the Seasons Series
Perfect Poison, a novella
The Lady Series, although two doesn't quite a series make. There were supposed to be more. Hmm, I wonder... .
Lady in Waiting
Lady in White
The Warrior Series
The Warrior's Wife (previously The Warrior's Damsel)
The Warrior's Maiden (previously My Lady's Temptation)
The Warrior's Game
Or, if you want you can buy all three books at once a box set: The Warrior Series
My only Regency era book and my only Western.
I'm afraid these are one-offs. These periods are just too modern for me. I'm better off back when guys just bashed each other with hunks of steel.
Almost Perfect
An Impetuous Season, a novella
Monica Sarli's Memoir Men-ipulation
And then there's Monica Sarli's memoir which I co-wrote. Men-ipulation is a memoir of addiction and recovery. After fifteen years abusing Cocaine, Crack and (her personal favorite) Heroin, Monica chose on August 4, 1986 to clean up and hasn't looked back-even though cleaning up cost her everything she valued in life. For anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone suffering with addiction, this is a book you won't want to miss. (And, yes she really talks like that all the time.)
LOST INNOCENTS
Copyright © Denise Domning 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1533539380
ISBN-10:1533539383
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the publisher's permission is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. To use material from the book (other than for review purposes), obtain the publisher's prior written permission at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.
EDITED BY: Martha Stites
ORIGINAL COVER ART:
Ms Sloane 2435, f.85 'Cleric, Knight and Workman representing the three classes, illustration from 'Li Livres dou Sante' (vellum), French School, (13th century)/ British Library, London, UK/©British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/The Bridgeman Art Library
COVER DESIGN: Denise Domning
Printed in the United States of America, First paperback edition: June, 2016
Lost Innocents (A Servant of the Crown Mystery Book 3) Page 21