The Rose Of The World Part 13

He stared down into his wife's anxious face. 'The king,' he said simply. 'If he does decide to make the planned visit here on his way back to London, he may well arrive to find the man he is searching right on our doorstep.'

Rohaise wrested herself out of his arms and resumed her pacing. 'I don't want him here!' she said, very softly but with surprising venom. 'They tell such tales of him, Leofgar, and now there's been this frightful business with Rosamund, and she's a child, G.o.d help us, and he likes them young and-'

Gently, Leofgar caught her in his arms again, stopping the wild words with a kiss. It was dangerous to speak in such a way of the king, even in your own house. You never knew who might be listening. 'Sweetheart, I know full well what they say,' he whispered in her ear.

Gradually, she calmed, her breathing slowing down and the rapid beating of her heart, which he could feel as he pressed her against him, returning to normal.

'What would you have me do?' he asked her gently.

She looked up into his eyes. The ghost of a smile touched her mouth. 'You already know, don't you?'

He smiled back. 'I do have an idea,' he said. 'It may well be the same as yours, for it seems to me it would solve both our problems.'

'I think we must get Little Helewise away from here,' she said. 'Take her to stay with Dominic and Paradisa, over at New Winnowlands. If anyone asks where she is, we can say she's gone to see her cousin Rosamund to comfort her after her ordeal.'

'Which will not only get her out of this house if the king should honour us with his presence, but in addition-'

'In addition, if it is Ninian who is being hunted, and if he tries to see her before he leaves the area, he won't come looking for her in the very place where the deputy and his men are hunting for him!' she finished triumphantly.

He thought it through. There was only one problem, which was how they would let Ninian know that Little Helewise was no longer at the Old Manor. He would, he decided, deal with that once his daughter was safe.

Leofgar watched as, with quiet efficiency, his wife set about preparing a pack for Little Helewise of the things she would need for an indefinite stay away from home. It was late now, and he saw, with a stab of compa.s.sion, how tired she was. It seemed that it was only nervous energy that kept her going. She is not strong, he thought, looking at her with love. She hides it well, but she is too easily thrown when bad things happen.

Rohaise announced she was ready. Leofgar crept along to the small room where Little Helewise lay sleeping and, with a gentle touch, shook her awake. Putting his finger to his lips, he whispered, 'Something has happened. Get dressed and come along to the hall, where your mother and I will be waiting. Put on your warmest clothes and your heavy boots.'

True child of the Warins that she was, his daughter absorbed the shock with a brief nod and instantly set about doing what he had said. Shortly afterwards, she came softly along the pa.s.sage to join her parents in the hall. Leofgar studied her. She was willowy and tall all the Warins were tall and, although she had her mother's beautiful creamy skin, she was not as pale as Rohaise. Also inherited from her mother was her hair: rich, dark brown, thick and heavy. Now, for convenience, she had bundled it up under a soft felt hat that belonged to her brother.

Leofgar put his hands on her shoulders and told her everything. Her first response, on hearing what Ninian was accused of, was to shake her head. 'He is not a killer,' she said with calm conviction. 'He would raise his weapon to protect someone he loved, or who was defenceless, and, naturally, if anyone attacked him he would fight back. But that is his right.'

Leofgar nodded. 'Yes, I know.'

She looked up at him. Her clear grey eyes, so like those of the grandmother she had been named for, were huge in the candlelight. 'You will not try to make me give him up, Father?'

He hesitated. 'I do not-' he began.

'It depends what happens!' Rohaise interrupted pa.s.sionately. 'If he's arrested and tried, you may have to! The king is powerful and vengeful, and if we are known to support a man who attacked him and two of his lords, leaving one dead, then it would be the end of us, too!'

She was weeping. Leofgar made a move towards her, but she fended him off. Beside him he sensed his daughter straighten her back and raise her chin.

'I will not abandon Ninian,' Little Helewise said quietly. 'Father, if we are to make our journey under cover of night, we had better be on our way.'

He watched as she went to her mother, taking Rohaise in a hug and whispering something in her ear. Rohaise suppressed a sob, and then Little Helewise gently disengaged herself. 'Don't worry,' she said, smiling. 'Dominic and Paradisa will take good care of me.'

She caught Leofgar's eye, and together they left the hall. Leofgar had prepared their horses, and very soon they were cantering across the dark, silent countryside.

Josse stood in his courtyard, every muscle tense.

A large bay horse materialized out of the shadows under the trees. It was being led by a tall man with a girl walking beside him, and the girl led a grey mare. With joy, Josse recognized both the man and the girl, sheathing his knife and running to greet them. 'We'll put your horses in the stables,' he said to Leofgar, leading the way, 'then the two of you must both come inside and get warm.' Leofgar began to speak, but Josse hushed him. 'Not here,' he said quietly. 'Wait till we're in the house.'

A short time later, having prepared hot, spiced wine for his guests and poked up the fire, Josse sat back and digested what Leofgar had told him. 'I understand why you have brought her away from the Old Manor,' he began, 'but I don't-'

Leofgar, who had briefly relaxed, suddenly sat upright again. 'I have to go!' he exclaimed. 'It must by now be very late, and I have to be back home by early morning.' He leaned closer to Josse. 'It would be better if n.o.body knows of this mission,' he added. 'With any luck, Little Helewise's absence won't be noticed straight away, and we can be vague about when she left.'

'Aye, I appreciate the need for secrecy,' Josse said. 'But what's puzzling me is why, having planned to go to New Winnowlands, you've turned up here.' He turned to Little Helewise. 'Am I to take you on to Dominic and Paradisa in the morning, sweetheart?' He was very fond of Helewise's elder granddaughter.

Little Helewise exchanged a slightly guilty look with her father. Then, turning to Josse, she said, 'No, Josse. I'll stay here, if you'll have me.' She took a breath, and it seemed to him that her face flushed slightly. 'It's just that we told Mother I would be at New Winnowlands, and it's better if she thinks that's where I am. That way, only Father, you, your household and I know where I really am.'

Then he understood. Rohaise's husband and daughter, knowing that, under provocation, she might inadvertently give away too much, were quietly making sure she couldn't. And, for all that he could appreciate that the subterfuge was necessary, he could also see that it hurt.

He got up, went across to Little Helewise and took her hand. 'Of course we'll have you. As soon as we've seen your father on his way, I'll take you along to your grandmother's quarters and she'll make up a bed for you.' He turned to Leofgar. 'Don't worry. We'll look after her.'

He thought, as, hand in hand with Little Helewise, he watched Leofgar ride off, how thrilled her grandmother was going to be to see her.

Josse walked along the short corridor to the chamber he had made his own. He sank down on his bed, took off his boots and tunic and slipped beneath the covers. As at last he closed his eyes and relaxed into sleep, his last thought was the fervent hope that Ninian was warm enough . . .

TWELVE.

In his hiding place, Ninian stirred in his sleep and woke. Still groggy, he focused his mind on the message he had to send, concentrating on the image he was trying to impart. He brought Josse to mind, visualizing him lying deeply asleep, and gently attempted to introduce the vivid image into his dreams.

He and Meggie could sometimes communicate in that way, although it was haphazard and only worked intermittently. They practised regularly, and Meggie was sure they were improving. Would it work with someone who was not of Joanna's extraordinary blood? Would it work with Josse?

Ninian fervently hoped so.

When Ninian had obeyed Meggie's fierce command and run away from the fight up by the chapel, he'd had no idea of where he would go, other than that it was undoubtedly best to stay within the great forest. He had first encountered it when he was a child, a fugitive with his mother and on the run from a cousin of hers whose plans for Joanna and her son were not at all to Joanna's taste. There had been several years when he had lived a very different life, but a decade ago he had come back. Since Josse had adopted him and they had all gone to live in the House in the Woods, Ninian's knowledge of the wildwood and everything that lived within it had grown until it was almost as great as his half sister's.

Without even thinking about it, he knew as he'd fled that it was the obvious place for a man like him to hide.

To begin with, the overriding necessity had been to get away. As soon as he was some distance from the chapel he had deliberately slowed right down. A running man could not help but leave tracks because, for one thing, his headlong flight tended to break branches and flatten undergrowth and, for another, if you were racing along you could not see where you were putting your feet, and it was all too easy to leave footprints in muddy patches.

In the depths of the dense woodland, Ninian had moved silent and light-footed as a shadow. The immediate danger was past, and so he had turned his mind to what he was going to do. He had wounded a great lord and in all likelihood killed another. He heard Meggie's words in his head: if he's dead they'll make sure you hang.

He did not want to die. Life was sweet, and he was not ready yet to leave it.

Having decided that, he began to make plans. Get far away, preferably across the Channel. Yes, that was good. He would need his horse, some good, weatherproof garments, some food supplies. Some money. None of those could he acquire except from his home, so he would have to make contact with the household. Well, he would have to do that anyway, for to leave England without saying goodbye was impossible. He pictured Josse and Meggie, and then an image of Little Helewise's lovely face gently took their place.

Before he could be undermined by his emotions, he deliberately closed them away in a corner of his mind and returned to the practicalities.

He wondered how grave the accusations against him were. Was he exaggerating the danger? Would they listen if he said that both lords had advanced on him, each bearing arms, and his actions had been purely in self defence? They might. But what if they did not? He shook his head fiercely. Oh, but it was hard, not knowing the outcome of the fight.

He had drawn close to the little hut where his mother and Meggie had lived. He had not been aware of heading that way, and he wondered if perhaps his mother's spirit had tugged at him. He stopped under the trees at the edge of the clearing and, trying to empty his mind as Meggie had taught him, he waited. There was a faint whisper, as if a soft breeze had swirled up from the ground around him, and he found that he was smiling. Then it she was gone.

Meggie was not at the hut, but he had not expected her to be. Some time had pa.s.sed since the fight, but he guessed she was still involved with the wounded men, probably down at the abbey by now. But somebody was there.

As he approached, the door opened and Tiphaine said, 'You'd better come in and tell me what's happened.'

She made him sit down by the fire, and swiftly she made a hot drink for him. It was some herbal concoction that had the effect of swiftly soothing him, so that he was able to tell his tale calmly.

When he had finished, she nodded and said, 'I knew something was amiss. Josse has been here, and he told us, but I'd already felt it in the air.' She paused. He wondered if she would go on to explain, but he ought to have known better. Turning to face him, her eyes seemed to snap back to the present moment, and she said, 'You didn't kill either of the men you fought.'

He was about to shout with relief, but he knew from her expression that his joy was premature. 'Go on.'

'Two things,' she said. 'One: there's a third man at Hawkenlye and he is dead, and they're saying you killed him.'

'I did not,' he said quietly.

She nodded impatiently, as if to say of course you didn't. 'Two: out of the two you fought up by the chapel, one's the dead man's brother and the other's the king.'

Ninian felt as if somebody had punched him very hard in the stomach. Of all the men in the land, he'd had to go and inflict a wound on the king. He recalled the older of the pair. He hadn't recognized him, but then there was no reason why he should have done. He had never met him in his life.

He looked up to find Tiphaine watching him. He almost told her: the king is my half brother. But it was his mother's secret, and not his to tell. As if she heard his thought and understood, Tiphaine reached out and briefly clasped his hand.

Then she said, 'You need help, but you can't go to the House in the Woods.'

'I know,' he agreed. 'If they find out my family sheltered a wanted man, Josse will be in trouble too.'

'Not much future in staying here either,' she went on, as if she had not heard. 'Much as this place would welcome you, and much as I reckon you'd be safe here indefinitely, you can't spend the rest of your life in a hut in the forest.' She fixed stern eyes on him. 'Your mother saw great things for you, my lad. She thought she was doing the right thing by you when she placed you in that knight's household where you went as a boy, but it turns out that wasn't your path after all. Now you spend your days dreaming under the trees and tending the wild creatures.'

'I like the forest!' Ninian protested sharply. 'I'm happy with my life.'

She studied him, quite unmoved by his outburst. 'So you might be, young Ninian, but I reckon what occurred today happened for a reason.'

He thought about it. 'You mean it was all predestined, just to shake me out of my comfortable ways and force me to do something different?' He spoke with heavy sarcasm, intending to make his suggestion so preposterous as to be laughable.

Tiphaine wasn't laughing. And, as he listened to the echoes of his bitter words ringing in his head, he realized he wasn't either.

In this place, in the depths of the wildwood and with the distillation of his mother's strange legacy strong around him, it all sounded horribly plausible.

He had stayed with Tiphaine until dusk. Then he got up to go. She came out into the clearing with him, looking up into the night sky and sniffing the air. 'Mars is rising,' she observed. 'He'll give you courage if you set out with your head high.' Then, to his surprise for he had never thought her a demonstrative woman she stepped up to him and put her arms round him in a quick, tight hug. She muttered something in a tongue he did not know, but he guessed it was a blessing. Then, without another word, she went back inside and closed the door.

He had already made up his mind where he would go. Keeping off the main tracks, he followed the faint animal trails that only he and probably his half sister knew. Even there, he was careful only to walk where the ground was firm and the leaf mound lay deep. As the light faded and he could no longer see clearly where he was putting his feet, he took to feeling his way with his toes. Progress was slow, but he was all but sure he was leaving no traces of his pa.s.sing. Besides, he was not in a hurry. He had all night.

He was not sure he could find the place. When he knew he was near, he stopped, leaned his back against a birch tree and made himself relax. Memories returned: they were bitter-sweet, for his mother was wound up in them and, as always, bringing her to mind was both a pleasure and a deep, unhealed pain. For a moment he thought he heard her voice you are too far to the east and should turn towards the North Star but it was probably just his imagination.

He decided to follow the suggestion in any case. Presently, he spotted the landmark he had been searching for and a wide smile broke across his face. 'Thank you,' he said aloud.

Dawn was breaking now, and Ninian awoke in his secret sanctuary. The fire had died down, but its embers still glowed faintly, and it did not take him long to build it up again. Last night he had arranged the stones in a circle for his hearth, and there was plenty of dead wood around. He had cut sheaves of dead and dying bracken for his bed, and he had been warm enough. He was, however, very hungry. Tiphaine had fed him and given him what food she had, but he had not eaten a proper meal in days.

He crept out of his hiding place and located the stream that ran nearby, bending to wash his face, neck and hands, and scooping up draughts of the clean, bitingly cold water. Standing up, he made his way slowly back again, staring intently to make quite sure there was no sign of his presence. The fire was placed so that what little smoke it made was concealed, but, now that it was day, he decided to let it die down. If Josse came looking, he would need no pointer to tell him where Ninian was. Or so he hoped . . .

Josse woke in the thin light of the pre-dawn from a dream he could not recall. Vivid in his mind, however, was the elusive memory that he had tried to pin down the night before.

There was no time to waste. He got out of bed and swiftly dressed, drawing on his boots and reaching for his cloak. The place he was going to was secret, and he must on no account give its location away by leaving tracks or inadvertently leading someone else there. He felt reasonably safe. None of his own household was awake yet not that they posed any threat and he did not think any search parties would be about so early. It was, after all, only just getting light.

He hurried out to the yard and, greeting Alfred, put bridle and saddle on him and led him out of the stable. Mounting, he urged him forward and set off. He briefly wondered if he should take Ninian's horse with him, and the pack he had prepared, but he decided against it. He might be wrong although he didn't think so and, besides, he knew Ninian would not leave without saying goodbye.

Josse thought he would remember the way without difficulty, but he was wrong. It was not far short of twenty years since he had first been taken there, and at the time he had been suffering from the after-effects of a blow to the head. He had been tended by a small boy, and the two of them had forged a deep bond which existed to this day. Now, his desperate need both driving him on and making him too tense to calm down and concentrate, he reined in and swore softly under his breath with frustration.

He would not find it standing still, he thought. Nudging Alfred, keeping to the side of the narrow, winding path so as not to leave hoof prints, he rode slowly on. The trail climbed up a slight rise, and he heard the sound of running water.

He stopped, dismounted and, leading Alfred, went for some way along the top of the ridge, looking intently down to the left. He came to a place where the stream he had heard ran through a shallow valley. There was no track down there now, although he thought he remembered that once there had been. He tethered Alfred and climbed carefully down into the valley. He was looking for a spot where a large ledge of sandstone stuck out from the side of the valley, its base concealed by a tangle of thorn bushes.

He smelt wood smoke. Only very faintly, and had he not been expecting it, he would probably have missed it. He looked around, but there was no wisp of smoke on the cold air.

He spotted an outcrop of rock. It was not precisely as he remembered, but it was worth investigating. As he drew nearer, he realized that the tangle of thorn that had once been knee high now reached up to his chest. It was the right rock, and the hiding place he sought lay beneath it.

He edged forward. Should he call out? If Ninian was within, asleep perhaps, and Josse took him by surprise, the consequences might be grave. He went right up to the sandstone and, with the hilt of his dagger, tapped lightly on the rock.

A voice behind him said, 'I'm over here.'

Josse spun round. Ninian was emerging from beneath the down-sweeping branches of a yew. 'I had to be careful,' he began. 'I don't think anyone else knows about my old camp, but you can't be too careful. I-'

He didn't get any further. With a soft cry, Josse bounded over to him and took him in his arms. After a moment Ninian eased himself away and stood smiling up at Josse. 'You found me,' he said. 'I thought you would. Come inside.' He pushed aside the stiff and viciously-barbed branches of thorn and revealed the hidden entrance.

Crouching down, Josse went in, Ninian right behind. Josse straightened up and looked around him. The small s.p.a.ce was just as he had remembered, although the withies woven between the posts that formed the walls were sagging and there were large gaps. But Ninian had made the place neat, and there was a fire dying in the hearth.

Josse turned to him, slowly nodding. 'I lay there, beside the fire, which was exactly where it is now,' he said.

Ninian grinned. 'I used the same stones. Although several of them had become dislodged by the wild animals, they were still pretty much where I left them. I don't believe anyone's been here since you and I last visited. n.o.body will find me here.'

The last comment jerked Josse back to the present. It was all very well indulging a fond memory, but Ninian was in danger. 'You can't stay here,' he said, rather too brusquely. 'They will find you, Ninian, for the crimes of which you stand accused are very serious.'

'I am no murderer, Josse,' Ninian said.

Josse regarded him steadily. 'A man died as the result of a fight, Ninian. It seems somehow he was involved in the plot to abduct Rosamund, and we all know you would defend those you care for to the death, if necessary.' And your whereabouts were not known at the time the man died, he could have added.

'Josse, I give you my word. I have murdered n.o.body. The wounds I inflicted in the fight by the chapel were as much to defend myself as attack the others.'

'Aye, I appreciate that,' Josse replied. 'But one of the men you wounded-'

'Was the king,' Ninian interrupted gently. 'Yes, Josse, I know. I went to see Tiphaine, and she told me everything.'

'Your horse stands ready for you back at the House in the Woods,' Josse plunged on, 'and I've prepared a pack for you, and a blanket.' He had not expected this moment to hurt so much. Ninian had to go, and it was Josse's task to make sure he left as quickly as he could.

Ninian put out his hand, but then let it drop. 'I have to say goodbye,' he muttered. 'I won't leave without seeing Meggie, and there's Little Helewise. She she-'

Josse saw tears in his son's eyes. 'She is at the house,' he said. 'Leofgar brought her over in the night.'

Ninian's face lit up. 'Why?' he demanded. 'Oh, you can't know how relieved I am, but I don't understand.' He frowned. 'Unless-'

'Ninian, we all know you. We've been working it out, and we realized that, while you would never come to the House in the Woods or, indeed, go to the homes of any of the people you care about because you would not bring trouble to our doors, yet you are incapable of fleeing without a word of farewell.'

'Am I so transparent?' A bitter smile twisted his mouth. 'If that's the case, I might as well give myself up right now.'