by Speer, Flora
“I will not ride with you!”
By now the hunt had begun in earnest, with riders moving quickly into the nearby trees. Danise’s mount was caught in the midst of this rush of horses. Savarec was gone from sight, and Danise could not find Michel or Redmond. Nor could she turn her horse and return to camp. There were simply too many horses, too many people, and all heading in a direction opposite from where she wanted to go. The best Danise could do was try to work her way to one side, away from the other riders, hoping to find a place where she could turn. She did her best, but she was not an expert horsewoman, being accustomed only to the gentle palfreys provided at Chelles. The horse she was riding on this morning was a more restive beast and difficult to control. Unfortunately for her, Clodion was every bit as good on a horse as Savarec had claimed he was. Through every movement Danise attempted in her efforts to get away from him, Clodion stayed with her. In fact, she had the feeling at times that he was directing her progress by the way he rode his horse next to hers.
“Do you like your new mount?” he asked. “It’s a gift from me, Danise. I trained it myself and gave it to your father for you to ride today.”
She hadn’t paid much attention to the horse, except to note that it was not the one on which she had ridden from Chelles. She had been so busy looking for Michel that she just assumed her father would choose from among the horses he owned the right animal for her to ride in a hunt.
Clodion moved closer, until his leg brushed against hers. Before she could protest the familiarity, he seized the reins from her.
Danise reached for the knife she wore at her belt. It was long and sharp and would make an admirable weapon of defense against her unwanted companion. Before she could pull it out of its sheath, Clodion struck her hand away and took the knife from her, tucking the blade into his belt.
“Let me go!” Danise cried, trying to wrench the reins out of his hands. “Give me back my knife. Let me go, Clodion.”
“You are coming with me, Danise.” With unerring skill Clodion worked his way out of the press of riders.
“Help!” Danise shouted. “Someone, help me!”
No one heard her screams or paid any attention to what was happening to her. Horns were blowing, dogs were barking, people were calling to one another, men and women shouting and laughing, and now the hunt picked up speed. Charles and his friends burst out of the forest into a wide meadow, where almost everyone broke into a full gallop. Danise continued her struggle with Clodion for the reins until he swerved his horse and she was compelled to grasp her own horse’s mane with both hands if she wanted to stay in the saddle. Wildly she looked around, praying she would see Michel.
“Clodion, stop this! Someone, help! Help! Oh, Redmond! Redmond!” From across the field she saw his face momentarily turned toward her. Letting go of the horse’s mane she waved frantically. “Redmond! Help me!”
Clodion caught her arm, pulling it down so she could not wave again.
“You are mad!” Danise screamed at him. “You cannot hope to carry me away. There are too many people here. They will not allow it.”
“It’s as good as done,” Clodion said. “They are all too intent on the hunt to see what is happening here at the side of the field. If they note us at all, they will only think your horse has gone lame and that I am helping you. Now, Danise, we go back into the forest on this side of the meadow.”
“I won’t go with you,” she declared.
“What do you plan to do instead?” he asked, laughing at her. “If you throw yourself off your horse, you risk serious injury. How far do you think you could run with a broken leg or a sprained ankle or worse?”
“I’d rather die than go anywhere with you, Clodion!”
He did not bother to answer her. Instead, he drew back his right hand and slapped her hard. Danise was so stunned she could not move at first. While she sat staring at him Clodion caught one of her long braids, pulling it hard, ignoring her cry of pain as he twisted it around his fist.
“You will come with me,” he said. “You will obey me in everything.”
“Where are you taking me?” she gasped.
“To our bridal bed,” he replied.
Chapter 8
They rode until Danise thought she would faint from weariness. She did not ask Clodion to stop and let her rest. She was too proud to ask Clodion for any favors, and she feared the conditions he might place upon such a rest period.
Clodion soon discovered that keeping her bound to him by holding on to her braid limited his own movements, so he released her hair, but he still kept the reins of her horse in his hands. Danise considered leaping from the horse in a desperate bid for freedom, even though she knew Clodion was right when he warned her of injury if she tried it.
Nor did she know where they were or how to get back to Duren if she should escape. She had not been so far from camp before. The prospect of wandering about the forest on foot with Clodion tracking her on horseback was most unappealing. She decided the wisest thing for her to do was to appear to be completely passive while staying alert for a chance to get away from her captor with her horse. Since Clodion was on the brink of old age, he might need to stop soon. Then again, he did seem remarkably active for a man of his years who had recently been ill.
She expected that when he finally did decide to stop he would try to rape her. Once he had done so he could insist that she marry him, if marriage was what he truly wanted of her. Forcing back the bile that rose to her throat at the possibility of Clodion touching her in any way at all, Danise made herself think about what he might do and how he would do it, until in her innocence she thought she knew a way to stop him. He could not rape her on horseback. He would have to dismount and make her do the same. He would have to make at least some adjustments to his clothing, and to hers. If he tried to prevent her from resisting by holding his knife in one hand and threatening her with it, that would leave him with only the other hand free for whatever needed to be done. Knowing of only one way in which a man might use a woman, she thought if she kept her wits about her and did not give way to fear, she would be able to wait until Clodion was thoroughly distracted but had not yet harmed her. She might then be able to get away from him and escape. Perhaps she could mount one horse and take the other one with her, leaving Clodion stranded. He deserved to be left alone in the forest. She began to consider the various things she might do or say to make him drop his guard.
As they rode along she tried to find distinguishing characteristics of the landscape that would help her to retrace her route once she was free, but the forest did not vary. Danise was so frightened that she no longer cared whether she could find her way back to Duren or not. It would be far better to be lost in the forest forever than to be raped by Clodion.
They rode on and on through unending trees and occasionally thick undergrowth. The land was relatively flat, with no notable hills or valleys. Nowhere was there a sign of human habitation. Clodion seemed to know where he was going, but Danise could see no track, nor any marking that might have been set out to guide him. The shadows were lengthening when Clodion drew up and looked around. He sniffed the air, then turned the horses toward the setting sun and moved forward again.
Danise could smell what Clodion had smelled. The scent of burning firewood and roasting meat hung on the humid air. They had not gone much farther before she saw smoke drifting through the trees and heard men talking. They came out of the trees into a small clearing by a pool of water, and there Danise’s fantasies of escape vanished like wood smoke in a high wind.
There were a dozen or so men in the clearing, all of them drawn up facing the newcomers and all clearly prepared to do battle if necessary. Each man wore armor and held a sword or a spear in one hand and a dagger in the other.
“You are late, Clodion.” A broad-shouldered man whose deep red cloak and ornately decorated metal helmet marked him as the leader of the warriors stepped forward. “I expected you at midafternoon.”
“T
he hunt was delayed in starting,” Clodion explained. Dismounting, he gave the reins of Danise’s horse to one of the armed men. “I had to wait until there was enough confusion to hide the sight and sounds of our departure. Danise made a lot of noise, as I was certain she would.”
“I don’t care to hear about your cleverness, Clodion. I wanted to be away from here before sunset. Now it’s almost dark. We will have to wait until morning, and by then the alarm will be out.”
“It can’t be helped.” Clodion’s tone of voice suggested that he did not much like the man standing before him. “Where is the rest of your army?”
“They are camped a safe distance away, near the Rhine,” said the leader. “It is easier for me to hide here with only a few men.”
“The days are so long at this time of year that if you leave at dawn, you shouldn’t have any difficulty in reaching your army in keeping with our original schedule,” Clodion said. “You need have no concern for what Charles will do. Before he discovers where Danise has been taken, you will be long gone from this place.”
“Perhaps you are right, but I don’t like having to change my plans once I have made them, not even for a single night. Since you are here at last, I suppose we need not worry about a surprise attack from Charles.” The leader lifted both hands to his head to remove his helmet.
Danise had been watching the two men and listening to them with a growing certainty as to the identity of the leader. She bit back a cry of dismay as her fears were confirmed by the sight of the red hair and sunburned face of Count Autichar.
“So,” she said, putting all the cold contempt she could into her words, “the rumors were true after all. You did not return to Bavaria.”
“Why should I, when the things I most desire remain here in Francia?” demanded Autichar. “Dismount, Lady Danise, and surrender yourself to my hospitality.”
With four men standing around her with their weapons pointed at her and another man holding her horse so it could not move, Danise could see that she would have to obey Autichar’s command. She got off her horse and stood glaring at her host. Autichar burst into laughter.
“I am glad to know you have more spirit than you showed to me at Duren,” he said. “Has Clodion treated you well? Has he kept his lascivious hands off you?”
“I would not call it treating me well to abduct me,” Danise responded. “You cannot think to harm me in any way and go unpunished by Charles. My father and I are his guests at Duren, and Charles insists that all maidens be treated with respect.” She fell silent only when Autichar’s continued laughter drowned out her words. She could not comprehend what was happening or why Autichar and Clodion would cooperate to take her away from Duren. What she did understand was that she would never be able to escape with Autichar’s men guarding her so closely.
What Autichar referred to as his hospitality was rough indeed. Their evening meal consisted of stale bread, beer, and the few wild birds Autichar’s men had killed and which they roasted on a makeshift spit over the fire. Their only water came from the stagnant pool next to which they were camped. Autichar assigned two men to Danise and they never left her side. Even when she went into a thicket of nearby bushes to relieve herself, the guards stood one on each side of the bushes until she was finished. When they all returned to the clearing, Autichar and Clodion were arguing.
“I want Danise tonight. I have waited long enough,” Clodion said, his words freezing Danise into immobility from fear. She could do nothing but stand between her guards and listen while her fate was decided.
“I cannot allow it,” Autichar told Clodion. “I will have discipline in my camp. If my men see you or hear you with Danise, they will want to enjoy her themselves. Then who will guard this camp? If you had met us earlier, as you were pledged to do, we could have reached a safer place before dark and you could have done what you want with her before you leave us. As it is, you will have to wait until our plan is closer to completion.”
“I want her now!” Clodion sounded like an overaged child who has been denied a promised treat.
“If you touch her, I will have you tied up for the night,” Autichar warned. “What you do with yourself is your own business, but you will leave Danise alone until I say you may have her, which will not be until I am certain we will not be attacked while you are in the midst of your sensual transports – nor while my men are occupied with her. I have not lived so long by being careless about security.”
Clodion looked at Danise. His face was flushed, his eyes narrowed, his gaze intense. After a few moments he stalked away into the darkness and Danise began to breathe again. She fell to her knees beside the campfire. Autichar sat next to her.
“Thank you,” Danise whispered.
“Clodion is a fool. The thing that hangs between his legs governs his every action,” Autichar said. “Don’t think for a moment that I care what happens to you, Danise. It’s only a• matter of discipline among my men. When we all reach our destination safely, and Clodion rejoins us, he can have you. In the meantime, we carry out our plan as he and I originally agreed.”
“What plan, Autichar?” Danise told herself she had to stav calm and she had to learn as much as she could about Clodion’s dealings with Autichar. She wondered what the final destination Autichar had mentioned could be, and where Clodion was going, since Autichar had just said he would be rejoining them there.
“Clodion was not really sick, you know. He only pretended illness to disguise his absence from Duren while he and I met in secret to make our arrangements.” Autichar tore a chunk of bread apart and offered a piece of it to Danise. His hands were dirty and he smelled as if he had not bathed for days. Danise did not want to make Autichar angry. She took the crust of bread and pretended to gnaw on it.
“I am surprised to find you and Clodion friends,” she told him, “because you are so unalike.”
“Whoever said we are friends?” Autichar’s voice was soft. “I merely pointed out to Clodion that we could help each other, so that both of us could achieve our fondest desires.”
“I know what Clodion wants,” Danise said with a shiver. She was about to ask Autichar what he wanted when he spoke again.
“You are too inexperienced to know anything at all about a man like Clodion,” he said, still in that same quiet, insinuating voice. “You imagine he would have married you.”
“He has repeatedly told me that is what he wants,” Danise cried, exasperated by Autichar’s superior attitude. “What you are saying makes no sense.”
“I assure you, everything Clodion has done makes perfect sense to him. The first thing you must learn about Clodion,” Autichar went on, “is never to trust him, never believe anything he says. Clodion’s life is dedicated solely to the satisfaction of his lust. Unfortunately, lust has its consequences. In Clodion’s case, the consequences are several wives, all now dead and their dowries long ago dissipated, half a dozen concubines who brought him nothing but themselves, and far too many children. All of them, concubines and children alike, expect to be fed, clothed, and housed by Clodion. A life like his can make the richest man into a pauper.”
“Then he needs a wife with a larger dowry than mine,” said Danise. Before she could say anything more, Autichar interrupted her.
“I told you, he no longer intends to marry you,” Autichar said. “At first Clodion believed your father had amassed great riches from his many battles with the Saxons, and at that time, Clodion might have wed you. But Savarec is an honest man who turns the Saxon loot over to the royal treasury as he is obligated to do. Not that the Saxons have ever provided much in the way of useful goods. A few furs, amber, a little gold, the occasional slave – it’s hardly worth fighting them at all. Clodion was furious with Savarec when he discovered the true size of your dowry. I believe he expressed his feelings to your father. He certainly told me how he felt, and that was the end of his intention to wed you.”
“Then why,” cried Danise, “has Clodion continued to pursue me, know
ing my father is not a wealthy man? It cannot have been for my person. I am not a great beauty and I made it clear to him how much I dislike him.”
“Your dislike in itself would be enough to pique Clodion’s lust,” Autichar said. “He enjoys subduing unwilling women. He will have you before he’s done with this plan of ours. It’s a pity, because whether you think so or not, you are a beauty. I would have relished taking you myself. But I cannot, I have given my word. You are part of the bargain, a small portion of Clodion’s payment.”
“What bargain?” Danise asked, curiosity warring with her intense fears for her own safety. “What payment?”
“Clodion needs gold,” Autichar said. “Gold in huge amounts such as only an important ruler could provide.”
To Danise’s knowledge there was only one man besides Charles who could have a large supply of gold in his treasury, and that man was a friend to Autichar.
“Duke Tassilo is going to give Clodion gold,” she whispered.
“You are intelligent as well as beautiful.” Autichar gave her an approving glance. “There you have it. We all know how little Duke Tassilo loves his cousin Charles. Tassilo was delighted to learn that he has his own devoted man in Charles’s camp.”
“Why would Clodion betray Charles to Duke Tassilo?” Danise was left almost breathless by the audacity of this idea. “Charles treats Clodion with respect and honors him for his lifetime of loyalty to Charles and his father.”
“For some men, respect and loyalty mean little when there is no gold in the family coffers,” Autichar said. “You are indeed an innocent if you think otherwise.”
“What is your part in this scheme?” Danise asked, trying her best to sound impressed by what she had just been told. Her determination to free herself had bloomed anew during Autichar’s revelations, which had shown her that more than her own safety was at stake. If she could manage to escape and find her way back to Duren, she could warn Charles about Clodion’s treachery. She tried to flatter Autichar in the hope that he would reveal more of the plan between Clodion and Duke Tassilo. “Autichar, you are too clever not to have helped in the devising of this plan. You are a Bavarian, so Tassilo is your overlord, and I have heard he is also your close friend. He and Clodion must have needed your help. From what I’ve seen of Clodion in recent days, I believe everything you said of him earlier is true. He thinks only of his lust and the women he is going to use to satisfy it.”