The Lady of Fairhaven

by Lee Scott

  “Something is amiss, wife,” Phillip said. His voice came out as a whisper, lacking any emotion. “I want you and your maid, Anne to go to Alyssa and find a place to hide. Go now.”

  Gillian turned to obey but it was too late.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The ornate wood paneling had separated and a section lay open like a gaping wound in the wall. Gillian now realized the invasion had taken place, and the secret entrance had insured its concealment to everyone in the manor. The rich dark wood carved with its many intricate patterns, while beautiful for it artful design alone, confused the eye. Even a suspicious observer would be hard pressed to locate the elusive crack.

  Phillip was only half armored when the first intruder rushed into the room from the spot behind the couple. Phillip snatched a spear leaning against the wall and thrust it toward the intruder. The combined force of the man rushing Phillip and the movement of the spear made it possible to pierce the man’s armor at the chest. The man fell to the floor, trying desperately to pull out the spear. As the man lay struggling, Phillip pulled out his sword and stood ready to defend his home and family to the death.

  “Go downstairs Gillian,” Phillip barked coarsely. “Do as I say!”

  Gillian made her move toward the door but another knight, this one built like the trunk of a mighty oak, burst into the room from the opening. His meaty fist clutched at her chemise, but she moved out of reach.

  “Certainly you would let my lady pass. Your attack is against me. Let my wife pass to safety,” Phillip requested.

  “I might not care under certain circumstances, Sir Thornburgh. On this night, however, the Lady Gillian is my target, not you, and I should have her at all costs.”

  In response, a shiver of fear plunged down Gillian’s spine sending ripples throughout every muscle. She froze in place. Phillip motioned for her to ease her way behind him. Men continued to flood into the bedchamber through the secret door.

  Five men in full battle dress pushed into the roomy bedchamber. As the last man stepped through the portal, Gillian gasped. Phillip was hopelessly outnumbered.

  Phillip pushed her farther behind him. The determined set of his jaw silently announced his determination to save Gillian at all costs.

  “Nay!” Gillian demanded. “If your argument is with me, take me. I would have my husband safe.” These were dangerous words to a man of honor. No doubt Phillip cringed with the thought that he would be unable to protect his own.

  “Stay behind me, Lady Thornburgh . You are under my protection and I shall not let them have you,” Phillip said.

  The intruder moved fluidly toward the couple and waved his sword back and forth ready to land the first blow. Dog aware of her master’s fear, growled and stood in front of Gillian at the ready.

  Phillip stayed the blow of the big knight. With each new swing, Phillip defended himself and threw his share of blows, throwing the knight off guard. In one lunge, her husband pierced the weak spot of the knight’s armor and drew blood. The man cried out in pain and backed away momentarily only to become enraged and thrust his broadsword with renewed vengeance. But the man’s furry proved a weakness. He swung his sword so hard that when Phillip stepped back it pulled the man nearly around. Phillip simply stepped forward, grabbed the man by the shoulders and ran his sword across his neck, just above the chain mail. With both jugulars cut, blood spurt from the man’s neck as Phillip pushed him back toward the other knights. They could do nothing but stare back at their mortally wounded comrade. Within seconds the man fell to the floor, unconscious from the lack of blood to his brain.

  Only being partially protected by armor, Phillip had weak spots in his defenses. With so many attackers to join the fray, he certainly would fall to one of them out of sheer exhaustion if nothing else. Gillian could only hope that castle soldiers would hear the commotion and search out its source.

  Because of the tight quarters and Phillip’s constant maneuvering, the knights were only able to attack one at a time. If Phillip were very skilled, he could in fact wound them early enough and stay fresh enough to continue fighting.

  When one of the knights stepped around Phillip and tried to grab Gillian, Dog attacked with lethal fury. But he had little defense against a man in full body armor. Left with few points to attack, it was sheer weight and terror of piercing teeth that gave the animal any advantage.

  The knight threw the dog across the room, slamming him into the stonewall. Only a small yelp came from the dog. Even angrier, the animal instantly leaped forward and toppled the knight with the force of his body blow. It was the man’s turn to scream in pain as Dog bit into the only unprotected spot on his body. Sharp piercing teeth shredded the flesh of the man’s cheek, nose, and chin. His helmet flew from his head and spun in wild abandon as Dog pawed and bit into the writhing man. At last the man lay unconscious and bleeding on the bedchamber floor. His face nearly torn off.

  Dog stood panting, waiting for the next attacker to make a move. Startled by the dog’s victory and exhausted from the battle and loss of blood, the first knight stepped back and motioned for another to take his place. Willingly, another stepped forward with his sword raised.

  Phillip was lucky and struck a fatal blow up under his opponent’s chain mail into the vital organs of the abdomen. The man screamed and Gillian too made a small gasp, but covered her mouth. She dared not distract Phillip’s concentration again. It could mean his death.

  The odds were evening out and Gillian believed that perhaps the battle could be won, when a disturbance at the door drew Phillip’s attention away from the approaching knight. Alyssa had been abducted from her bedchamber by force. During the fierce struggle and the distraction of Dog’s battle, no one had missed one of the warriors as he slipped from the room.

  The knight held her tight against his chest with his armored arm pressing over her shoulder and down to her waist. Her mouth was bleeding and an angry bruise discolored her cheek. Her nightgown had been yanked apart and a red handprint marred the creamy flesh. Her bare feet stumbled as she was thrown down to the cold stone floor.

  Breaking concentration, Phillip yelled with fury and raised his sword to smite the knight facing him in battle. Blinded with the overpowering rage of seeing his daughter thus, Phillip never saw the fatal thrust move under the edge of his armor and up into his gut. His agonized groan paralyzed both Gillian and Alyssa as they watched their defender fall.

  Gillian screamed and rushed to Phillip’s side. “Noooo!” she cried. “Dear Lord, no. Phillip, do not leave me. I need you,” Gillian sobbed.

  “I’m sorry I have failed you,” Phillip whispered.

  “I’m the one who has failed you,” Gillian whispered.

  Blood from his gut bled over his armor and down onto the stone floor. Leaning over her husband, her hand fumbled as it desperately groped for the small cloth sack.

  As she tended him, Dog stood his ground, snarling with vicious assurance of his dedication to save his mistress. Both men stared at each other, then at Dog, and then at the man lying on the floor. Neither knight wanted to face the terrifying animal. Instead, they stood there wondering what to do.

  Obstinate fingers finally opened the sack, and Gillian poured the herbs into her palm. She crushed and pressed a handful of herbs into his seeping wound then grabbed the hem of her thin nightgown and ripped a strip from it.

  The wounded knight’s beefy hand snatched Gillian’s chemise and yanked her to her feet, all the while watching Dog.

  “I need to tend to him,” Gillian cried.

  “No!” was all the wounded knight said.

  “I must help him,” Gillian sobbed. “I must!” She wrenched her body from his clumsy handhold and worked to remove some of the armor from her husband’s chest.

  “Grab the women and let us be off,” the knight holding Alyssa shouted.

  The other knight who had struck down Phillip leaned forward and tugged Gillian to her feet so hard she stumbled slightly. But Gillian fought to stay at
her husband’s side.

  This was too much for Dog. Now fully recovered and seeing the man’s attention was on Gillian, Dog launched into another attack.

  Striking with a renewed vigor, Dog lunged for the man holding Gillian. The knight staggered back from the force of the dog’s impact. Gillian was released as the man extricated his hand from the dog’s grip. Dog went sailing once again across the floor.

  In an instant Dog turned. Every muscle in the animal’s sleek body tightened in preparation for the upcoming fight. Long white fangs bared beneath snarling uplifted tight lips warned his prey he was assured a worthy adversary. Pushing off from the tower’s stonewall, Dog bounded forward at great speed.

  After four long strides, Dog planted his back paws on an animal pelt and vaulted into the warrior’s chest. Momentum from his attack drove the man back. His legs staggered in his effort to remain upright. Dog dropped to the floor.

  Gillian forced her eyes away from Dog’s loyal attempt to save her. She bent over Phillip and continued to remove armor so she could place more of her healing herbs on his wound. The wound was deep and long slicing across his lower abdomen.

  Dog’s crash to the floor summoned her attention back to him once again.

  Quickly Dog recovered from his awkward crash and spun around to continue. Gillian packed more herbs into the wound.

  The knight raised his sword protectively to ward off Dog’s next flurry of snapping teeth and powerful lunges. He swiped the sword in a defensive swing that nicked Dog in the paw. Dog retreated for a moment, whining with the pain.

  In an attempt to overcome the searing pain the animal was feeling, it wheeled one more time and three-legged hopped to the enemy. It was then that the tip of the sword slashed down in a wide arc, slicing through the flesh at Dog’s neck. No sound issued from the half-severed head.

  The sight of her father lying on the floor and Dog losing his life was more than Alyssa could handle. She screamed in horror and broke down into hysterics. Her hands reached for her father but her body failed to move. A knight grabbed her slender waist and tugged her backwards as she struggled to stay in place.

  “Father!” she screamed again. But it was too late. In a moment both Gillian and Alyssa disappeared behind the closed secret panel and the possibility of rescue by castle soldiers was lost.

  As the sight of unprotected stairs hanging over an unseen bottom of the enclosure came to realization, Gillian endeavored to place distance between her and the edge by scrambling toward the stonewall. A shriek of panic split the air. Her captor’s hand loosened his glove exposing a thick palm, which clamped over her open mouth almost at once.

  Unable to catch her breath, Gillian struggled in earnest to free herself from the man’s death grip. She clawed at his hands, scratching into the flesh in an attempt to free it. Her muffled cries of alarm only forced a tighter grip on his part. She kicked her feet against him, but bare feet against armor provided no match.

  A black fog she was unable to fight slowly replaced her fear. Her thoughts willingly drifted to it. Hands that had clutched and scratched wildly moments before fell limply to her side. The wriggling body that fought so hard went limp in the knight’s arms and Gillian slumped to the ground. The knight tossed Gillian’s body over his broad shoulder and climbed down the last circuit of the spiral staircase.

  At the end of the tunnel Alyssa sat huddled on the stone floor near a pond of water and a low jagged cut in the rock. The big knight deposited Gillian’s limp body on the floor next to her.

  “What happened?” asked the wounded knight. “What misdeed befell her? She is not worth so much to us if she is dead.”

  “Nothing happened to her. She was screaming, and I put my hand over her mouth to silence her. You would have done the same,” the man declared angrily.

  “Nay! I would not have rendered her senseless,” the other knight declared. “It will be your responsibility to carry her to our mounts. Let us be on our way. We must be far away before dawn. When the servants find the lord’s body, there will be an all out search.”

  In one fluid motion the hulking man again lifted Gillian’s unconscious body over his shoulder like a sack of flour. He followed the other man and Alyssa who were crawling on their hands and knees to the black opening in the rock face of the cave.

  The puddle was almost hip deep on the leader, but the opening to the cave was half hidden under the water forcing anyone to crawl in and out. The water was as dark as the night darkened gash ripped through the stone. Alyssa’s chemise clung to her shivering body everywhere except along her back where the water had not touched. At the last minute the leader extinguished the flame on the torch, plunging the cave into total and complete darkness.

  The burly knight carrying Gillian gasped with the realization of how black the cave was as he waded out into the pond. He lowered her body into the icy water.

  As her flesh sunk into the pond, Gillian’s body jolted from the shock. She was awake and aware only that she was alive. Bone chilling fear of the dark engulfed her. The meaty hand that had rendered her unconscious was now grasping for a hold on her chemise to guide her through the opening. His hand cupped her breast and a groan slipped from the man’s lips. Gillian shrieked.

  “Say nothing unless you wish to be put under again,” the man growled. His hand moved away from her feminine curves. He dunked her under the water and pushed. Unable to fight him, Gillian’s head remained under the surface.

  Hearing the splashes along the riverbank, the leader slogged back into the water and reached down under the black swirling current. His hand wrapped around streaming strands of Gillian’s hair and yanked upward. Breaking the surface with a gasp, Gillian drew in a much needed breath of air. Attempting a scream, Gillian felt her head go under the surface once again. She struggled again and was at last lifted. The leader’s hand carefully covered her mouth and not her nose.

  “Make a sound and you will find yourself swimming with the fish. Nod your understanding if you understand,” the man said.

  Gillian’s head bobbed. At that moment the large knight emerged from the cave.

  “I should hope this has provided a lesson for you, Lady Gillian. My friend does not always know of his own strength. Fight him and you will most likely find yourself dead.”

  Gillian’s body convulsed with the truth of his statement. The man had nearly killed her twice in one evening. Although living at this time held little joy, a violent death held less appeal. For the moment she would comply with her captor’s wishes. When the time was right, she would attempt an escape.

  The piercing cold of river water drenching their immodest nightgowns sent both women into shivering convulsions. Certainly their captors suffered silently as well, but they showed little outward sign of the cold’s effects.

  By the time the slightest hint of the upcoming dawn approached, the four were on horseback and traveling away from Longmore.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Before dawn the first servants were already scurrying around in Longmore castle. Cooks were beginning the cooking for the morning. Squires and maids were preparing for the work that would certainly follow.

  All night and especially this morning, men were prepared to ward off any attack by Oliver Blakeley and his men. John, Phillip’s most trusted knight, was hurrying up the steps to give the lord of the castle a favorable report.

  John rushed to the door and then stopped. He wasn’t sure what to do. It was not his custom to enter his lord’s bedchamber, and now with a new mistress of the castle, it would be highly improper. After pacing up and down the hall a few times, he finally decided to summon Anne to prepare his way. He had barely walked half way down the stairs when he met her carrying a tray for Sir Phillip and Lady Gillian. It made him smile. Only a lady’s maid would be allowed in the private bedchambers with the lady still in bed.

  “I would ask a favor of you miss,” he began. “I am in need of speaking with Sir Phillip at this time. I beg that you would request an audience wit
h my lord as early as is convenient. I would give him news of the encampment.”

  “I am just on my way, sir. I would be most glad to pass along your missive,” Anne replied. “I shall return shortly. I pray that all is well with our efforts.”

  Although John was much older than Anne, he still commanded the attention of most maids. His well built body and kind character endeared him to one and all of both sexes. Never married, John had instead dedicated his life to serving his lord. But after meeting this new maid, John had wondered if it wasn’t time to find a wife. He had no desire for children, but a steady companion other than someone that thought swilling a jug of mead was a favorite past time might be desirable after all. He gallantly offered and was then allowed to carry the food tray up the tower steps.

  Anne reclaimed the tray and thanked John. Then, without knocking, she tugged on the latch and let herself in.

  If the couple had engaged in any private pastime the bed canopy would be closed tight to provide privacy. Anne saw no indication of a closed canopy although the room appeared to be disheveled. She mused at the pastimes Sir Phillip had engaged in with Gillian the night before to cause such an upheaval.

  As she rounded the bed to set the tray on the table near the stained glass window, she saw Dog’s dismembered body and that of Phillip lying on the floor. Anne’s unearthly scream summoned Sir John before she dropped the tray of food and followed it to the floor.

  “God’s wounds,” cursed John as he bounded through the master’s door. His hand drew his sword from the scabbard well before he entered. Crouched and ready for any threat, John circled around searching corners and niches for any sign of trouble.

  The bed covers were rumpled and partially strewn on the floor. Had this been any other occasion he would have silently congratulated Sir Phillip on another bold physical conquest. Under the circumstances, the thought barely scratched the surface of his consciousness.