Gift of Honor

by Alexa Aston

  “Lead the way,” Hal said, holding Bess in his left hand and the crutch in his right.

  Elinor opened the door to the cottage and allowed him to leave first since both hands were occupied. Closing the door behind her, she drew a deep breath of the cold, crisp air into her lungs. Hal went and stood in the middle of the clearing, glancing about in every direction.

  “You can sit here,” she offered as she sat on one of the stumps left in the area for that purpose.

  “Nay. I am enjoying standing on my own two feet. Don’t worry. I won’t overdo it. I promise to take frequent breaks. But it feels good being able to stand again and distribute my weight evenly.”

  Hal held his arm steady and smiled at the falcon perched upon his fist. “And how are you enjoying your first time outside, Sweet Bess? Exhilarating, isn’t it?”

  Elinor thought any time spent in Hal’s company was invigorating.

  *

  Elinor signaled Bess to hop to her hand. She removed the bird from its cage and gave it a bechin. Bess favored chicken, so Elinor used it as a frequent tidbit.

  “Let’s go, Tris,” Hal commanded and whistled. The eyas responded quickly and received her reward. “I like that you’ve attached bells to their bewits,” he said. “’Twill be easier to keep up with them as they start flying further distances.”

  They both slid a hood over their falcon’s head and drew the braces until the hood tightened and closed. Then anklets were strapped around each bird’s leg and jesses were attached. Jasper had sometimes called the anklets bracelets but that reminded Elinor too much of the silver bangles that had rested on her mother’s thin arms. She preferred the term anklets so that no reminders of her former life invaded her work with the raptors.

  Taking the falcons outside, they walked them to the block perch. Elinor loosened Bess’ braces and then removed her hood. She held the falcon beside the perch and Bess hopped to it. Hal repeated the same actions with Tris and, soon, both young birds sat side by side.

  “Are you pleased with their progress?” Hal asked as he began pacing in a circle around the clearing.

  She noticed he no longer favored either leg as he walked. The crutch had long been discarded. In fact, Hal had spent many hours walking through the nearby woods, one of the raptors always riding on his fist. Both Bess and Tris had taken to him easily. If he chose to do so, Elinor thought Hal could become a falconer on his own. Knowing it was a skill few were trained in, it would allow him to work at any estate that kept raptors. She had not broached the subject with him, knowing it would require him to remain much longer at Whitley in order to glean all the knowledge she could pass along to him.

  Selfishly, she thought it was a way to keep him with her. Elinor decided she wouldn’t suggest it. But if he asked, she would be more than willing for Hal to continue living and working with her. If he chose to do so, that meant not only informing her cousin of a new falconer—but letting him know about Jasper’s death. Guilt filled her and she realized whether Hal stayed or not, the time had come to inform the baron about Jasper.

  Elinor told Hal, “I am happy with how quickly Bess and Tris are coming along. While all peregrines are highly trainable because of their strength and intelligence, these two are more versatile than any raptors I have worked with in the past. I believe they will be eager to hunt once they are shown how. Right now, they are learning to fly greater distances in order to return to our glove. I think it is time to start training them to the lure.”

  He smiled enthusiastically. “I’ve been looking forward to that. You said that they’ll first eat off the lure?”

  “Aye. They will need to recognize it as a food source, as much as they do our hands. We’ll place the food face up on the lure so they can easily spot it in the beginning.”

  Hal grew thoughtful. “Will we still need to whistle?”

  “Every time. They need to associate that signal and always link it to receiving food. If we whistle and they do not come, then we will put the lure away for a bit before trying again. A raptor should always wait on its falconer. We never wait on the bird for if we do, it will be training us.”

  He laughed. “It almost sounds like a way to raise a child.”

  “In a way, you are correct. They are new to the world so we must teach them about it. These two will catch on quickly. After a few days, I’m sure we will be able to start swinging the lure and have them fly to it in order to catch their food. That will be the next step. But we’ll need to vary the pace of the swing. Sometimes, we’ll need to let them catch it easily. Other times, we must give them more of a challenge. If not, they will bore quickly and lose interest.”

  “’Tis a lot to know,” he pointed out. “It seems to come naturally to you.”

  “I have done this for many years, Hal. Ten and six. If you had been hard at work on something for that long, you also would be an expert at it.”

  They sat in silence for a long time. Elinor never felt awkward when they did so. Silence had always been a friend to her. She had spoken more to her raptors than Jasper over the years. Even as much as she enjoyed conversing with Hal, she appreciated the times they could sit together without words.

  Finally, she said, “Before we begin teaching them with lures, I have something I must do.”

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  “I appreciate you wishing to lend me a hand but this is something I must do alone—take Jasper to the keep.”

  He nodded. “Though the wind still blows cold, winter is dying. That means a grave can be dug.”

  “Aye. It’s time for Jasper to come to his final resting place.”

  Elinor had wrapped the falconer’s body as tightly as possible in linen and two blankets. To keep any animals away, she had placed it in the wheelbarrow and draped another blanket over him, tucking it under the wheels of the cart. The cold had preserved him but with spring coming, he needed to be in the ground.

  “Will you go to the keep to inform the baron of Jasper’s death? I assume his soldiers can collect the body for the mass and burial.”

  “I plan to take Jasper to the castle. Today.”

  “Then I will come with you.”

  “Nay,” she said forcefully. “They know nothing of you and I want to keep it that way. While you slept in those first days after your injury, two of the baron’s soldiers came to the cottage. I was outside feeding the chickens when they appeared. They asked if I knew anything about the dead highwaymen a few miles away on the road that heads toward Long Bellbridge. I told them neither Jasper nor I had been to the village in over a week. That satisfied them and they moved on.”

  “Without asking for Jasper—or seeing me.”

  “Aye. Although I witnessed how the two robbers attacked you and Jasper, you did kill both of them, Hal. I did not want anything bad to happen to you.”

  “But ’twas in self-defense,” he argued.

  “Still, you are stranger in these parts. They might have thought you were a part of this gang and, mayhap, you disagreed on how your ill-gotten spoils should be divided. I didn’t want you blamed for anything. The highwaymen’s death. Jasper’s. Because of that, you must remain out of sight.”

  “Do you cut through the forest to reach the keep?” Hal asked.

  Elinor nodded. “It is probably two miles through the woods before the castle comes into view, then another quarter hour to reach the keep itself.”

  His jaw set in determination. “I will accompany you and wheel the cart as far as the edge of the woods.” His words left no room for argument.

  “Then we should return Bess and Tris to the mews inside before we set out for Whitley.”

  They stood and whistled. Immediately, the growing raptors flew to their fists and were rewarded with a bechin.

  “You are my good girl, Tris,” Hal cooed to his bird. “I would smother you with soft strokes if Elinor would allow it.”

  She only wished he might speak to her in such a gentle, loving tone and shower her with affection.
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br />   “Despite our taming them, they are still creatures of the wild,” she reminded him. “They don’t tolerate being petted as a dog or cat might.”

  “I know. You have told me that they might take off one of my fingers if I tried to pet them in affection.” Hal held his ungloved hand out before him. “I am quite partial to all five fingers on this hand. I promise I will keep them away from the falcons unless I’m giving a tidbit of food to them.”

  “Good.”

  They returned the birds to their cages inside the cottage and left to retrieve Jasper’s body. Hal insisted on pushing the wheelbarrow for her as they made their way through the dense forest.

  “I know this is hard for you, Elinor.”

  He didn’t know how true that statement was. Jasper had meant everything to her.

  “I will miss him dreadfully,” she admitted. “When I came to him . . .” Her voice trailed off. She hadn’t meant to reveal that.

  “You came to him?” Hal asked, a frown creasing his brow as he stopped in his tracks. “Jasper wasn’t your true father?”

  Elinor danced upon the slippery slope between the truth and a lie. “My mother died in childbirth. She had grown weaker over the years trying to produce a babe but I was the only one who had lived. When she passed away, Jasper offered to take me in.”

  She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat as she remembered her father’s harsh words and angry tone as he banished her from his sight and the keep in front of everyone in the great hall. How Jasper had stood up and volunteered to bring her home when no other stepped forward to claim her.

  “So that is why you refer to him as Jasper.”

  “Aye.” She never would have called him father. That word only held scorn and hate for her. “Jasper had lost his own child and wife. The two of us formed a new family.”

  “I know on large estates that the falconer in residence trains one or more of his children to become the new falconer.”

  “That is how it usually works. I only hope the baron will allow me to remain in this position now that Jasper is gone. This baron is new to Whitley. He grew up somewhere else and only came to us near Christmas time when the old baron died. That baron had no son to inherit.”

  Only a daughter who had ceased to exist for him years ago.

  They continued on. Elinor was grateful that Hal did not ask more about the estate or the baron, for she would not have been able to answer most of his questions. She knew next to nothing about life at Whitley, only the bits she’d gleaned from Jasper over the years and that wasn’t much.

  Finally, they reached the edge of the woods. Hal eased the wheelbarrow to the ground.

  “I will wait for you here,” he said. “For as long as it takes.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I know. But I will be here, nevertheless.”

  Elinor took hold of the handles. “By the time I speak to the baron and let him know about Jasper, it may be too late to hold a mass today for Jasper’s soul. If so, I will return to you and then come back to the chapel tomorrow.”

  “And if a mass is said and the burial does take place, stay for both. I will remain here out of sight and escort you back to the cottage once it is done.”

  “All right.” A lump filled her throat. This man had only known her for a short while and yet showed her consideration and care far beyond what she deserved.

  Elinor lifted the cart and wheeled it across the meadow, knowing Hal watched over her. She reached the road, which made for a smoother part of her journey, and finally came to the gates.

  Calling up to the gatekeeper, she said, “I have Jasper the falconer. He has passed on. I must speak to the baron and the priest.”

  The gates swung open and Elinor went inside.

  Chapter 11

  Elinor rolled the wheelbarrow through the outer bailey, aware of the stares she received from those she passed. Still, she kept her head high and looked straight ahead. No one stopped or spoke to her. Coming to the inner bailey, she resolved to show no emotion when she met with her cousin. Nay, he was the Baron of Nelham. She must think of him that way. He was no longer family to her. She served him and Whitley by taming and training his falcons and readying them for the hunt.

  The keep lay in front of her but Elinor rolled the cart to the right, toward the stone chapel. She halted in front of it, wondering if she should take Jasper inside or leave him next to the structure. Before she came to a decision, a priest appeared in the doorway, reed thin and with inquisitive brown eyes.

  “What have we here?” he asked, his voice booming despite his thin frame.

  “I remember you,” she said, easing the cart to the ground. “You performed the funeral mass. For the baron.” He looked to be a score and ten and had come to be the estate’s priest after her banishment.

  “I am Father Leo and I did say mass for our late baron. And you were the one who took the host from me.”

  Elinor started to defend herself and then saw his kind eyes were not judging her as others had that day.

  “Aye,” she said, defiance in her tone. “You offered and so I took it. Only after I did so, I realized I had made a mistake.”

  “To take Christ’s body? Nay, that can never be a mistake. But in the future, you must allow me—or whatever priest is present—to place the host upon your tongue.” He gave her a friendly smile. “Will you come again to mass, Lady Elinor? I hope so.”

  She froze, rooted to the spot. How long had it been since anyone had addressed her in such a manner? Panic swelled within her.

  “I know who you are, my lady,” he said gently. “I asked about you after you and the falconer came to mass that day.” He shrugged. “I have always possessed a curious nature and asked countless questions, both as a boy and even now. About God. The world and everyone in it. And you. At first, no one would speak of you. Until Eunice came to me and shared your story.”

  Elinor dug her fingernails into her palms. “I knew Eunice. When I was a little girl.”

  “You mean when you were Lady Elinor and lived in the keep?” the priest prodded.

  “Do not say that,” she hissed. “Never call me that.”

  “But ’tis who you are,” he pointed out calmly.

  Sadness enveloped her for who she had once been and what had been lost to her. “Mayhap at one time. But no longer. My . . . the baron did not . . . he did not want me. So I left.”

  “I heard Jasper took you willingly.” He looked down to the cart. “And now you have brought him to me, I see.”

  She nodded. “Aye. He had been ill for some time.”

  “I know. We spoke upon occasion though I have not seen him for some time. A persistent cough troubled him for months.”

  Elinor wanted to leave. This priest’s prying made her uncomfortable. “I have brought him to you. You must say a mass for him. I need to tell the baron that Jasper is no longer with us.”

  “I will say mass for Jasper in the morning. Right now, you look as if you could use a bit of ale. You seem pale.” The priest held out his hand. “Come inside the chapel. I have a room in the back. You can rest a few minutes and drink something before we go to Baron Nelham with this news.”

  “I have no need of rest. Nor do you need to accompany me,” she said firmly. “I will tell the baron of Jasper’s passing and then return tomorrow for the mass.”

  Father Leo bowed his head a moment. “As you wish, my lady.”

  Hearing those words, Elinor’s heart began to pound. She latched on to his forearm. “Please. If you know what is good for you, you will never call me that again. I am plain Elinor.”

  He chuckled. “You aren’t the least bit plain, Elinor, but I will respect your feelings.”

  “You must. The new baroness already does not like me. I want to remain at Whitley and continue training my raptors. If she heard you, she would take offense, Father.”

  A knowing look came into his eyes.

  “I understand perfectly. Our new baroness is . . . op
inionated. Very well. I will claim Jasper’s body and bring it inside the chapel. I’ll have a couple of men dig his grave. You may tell the baron on your own of Jasper’s death.” The priest paused. “But I think both the baron and baroness have done you a grave disservice, Elinor. You are a member of the Swan family. You should be treated as such.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “I have no family, Father. Only my falcons. I need no others.”

  Father Leo squeezed her shoulder and then gripped the handles of the cart. As he wheeled it away, he looked over his shoulder and said, “I will see you in the chapel tomorrow morning.”

  Elinor waited until he vanished inside and took a moment to collect herself. She willed her limbs to cease their trembling. She could not meet with the baron and appear weak in any way, especially if his wife made an appearance. After a few deep breaths, she had composed herself and returned in the direction of the keep. Mounting the steps to the top, she pushed everything from her mind.

  Before she could knock on the large, oak door, it swung open. Eunice stood on the other side.

  “Greetings,” the old woman said. “I hear you have brought Jasper.”

  Though Elinor had only spoken to the priest since her arrival, she realized the castle’s community was tightknit. The gossip must have started the instant she entered the gates with her wheelbarrow bearing Jasper’s remains.

  “Aye. I would like to speak to the baron.”

  “Follow me.” Eunice turned and led her to the great hall.

  As Elinor entered the room, it surprised her how large it was. The ceiling seemed to stretch to the heavens. The bulk of the room stood empty, with the trestle tables pushed against the wall. At the far end near the fire, she saw her cousin sitting, a dog at his feet. Giving a curt nod to Eunice, she traveled the length of the room, the sweet scent of the rushes wafting up from the floor. The dog rose, eying her warily. Elinor held out a hand and let him sniff it. Satisfied, he backed away and curled up again at his master’s feet.

  The baron frowned. “What are you doing here? You know the baroness does not want you inside the keep.”