Medieval 01 - Untamed

from the dull, battered lance he had just found in the Blackthorne armory.
    â€œShe?” he asked in an absent tone.
    â€œLady Margaret.”
    â€œGod’s holy teeth !” Dominic snarled.
    He looked aside at the miserable steward whose day hadn’t been enhanced thus far by Dominic’s cutting comments about the deplorable state of the keep in general and the armory in particular.
    â€œSee that the servants sweep and scrub every floor in the keep,” Dominic said curtly to the man. “Then have them put down fragrant herbs and fresh rushes until the whole place is as clean as Lady Margaret’s quarters. Do you comprehend?”
    â€œAye, lord.”
    â€œThen go to it!”
    The man obeyed with admirable speed. The sound of his footsteps echoing down the hall and up the spiral staircase in the corner tower was like a rapid drumbeat.
    â€œWhen?” Dominic said, fastening an icy gray glance on his brother.
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWhere is her handmaiden?”
    â€œFlirting with your knights.”
    Dominic’s eyes narrowed as he absently toyed with the rusted lance.
    â€œWho is the last person who saw Meg?” he asked.
    â€œHarry. He let her out of the gatehouse just before dawn.”
    The fact that Meg hadn’t slept well either was a small consolation to Dominic for his night spent roasting on the spit of unsatisfied desire.
    â€œWho accompanied her?” Dominic asked.
    â€œNo one.”
    Dominic’s small consolation vanished.
    â€œShe was alone?” he asked incredulously.
    â€œAye.” Simon’s voice was grim.
    â€œWhat does Sven have to say for himself?”
    â€œâ€˜A man has to sleep sometimes, begging your pardon, lord.’ He thought she would be lying abed late this morning of all mornings.”
    Simon’s exact mimicry of Sven’s voice drew a thin smile from Dominic.
    â€œHarry,” Simon offered, “assumed she had simply gone to see to her gardens, as she usually does.”
    â€œWhat is there to see?” Dominic shot back. “The fields are bare.”
    â€œHer gardens were planted well before John got his surly farmers to put plow and oxen in the lord’s fields.”
    Dominic grunted. “Send someone to fetch Meg in from the gardens. With all the dispossessed Reevers about, it’s not safe for a woman to be abroad alone.”
    Simon shot his brother a look of disbelief. “Do you think I’m so slack-brained I didn’t send someone after her? I tell you, she is gone! ”
    â€œWhat about the cotters? Did she go to see to a woman who was giving birth?”
    â€œNay. None of the vassals have seen her since she disappeared into the mist this morning. Nor have the people of the settlements seen her.”
    Dominic threw the lance into a corner of the armory with a force that shook loose flakes of rust and stone alike.
    â€œGet the dogs,” Dominic said curtly. “Tell Harry to open the gates wide.”
    Before the words were out of Dominic’s mouth, the excited yapping and howling of his greyhounds showed that Simon had foreseen his brother’s desire. The hounds had been brought up by their handler and were waiting just outside, eager for the hunt.
    â€œCrusader is saddled and ready for you,” Simon said before Dominic could ask.
    â€œGet your own war-horse,” Dominic said.
    â€œWhat about the keep? Who will be in charge?”
    â€œThomas the Strong will guard it for us. Tell him to call the vassals in from the fields and to draw up the bridge after we leave. This all may be a trick to take the keep.”
    â€œSurely you don’t believe that your own wife—”
    â€œI believe,” Dominic interrupted savagely, “that my own wife could have been stolen in order to be ransomed at a price that would ruin all hope of building Blackthorne Keep into the stronghold it must be in order to survive.”
    Simon’s black eyes narrowed.
    â€œAnd that is precisely the word you will put out around the keep,” Dominic concluded. “Do you understand me? There will be no hint of what I suspect is really afoot.”
    â€œAnd that is?”
    â€œDuncan of Maxwell and my damned Glendruid wife!”
    The silence resonated with all that Dominic hadnot said, treachery and betrayal and the death of dreams.
    â€œDo you want anyone else to come with us?” Simon asked after a moment.
    â€œNay. Not