He glances at his commander again, and the mute appeal in his gaze makes me want to slap him. Does he not realize how many men have begged me for just such an opportunity as he is being handed? I grab his arm, tuck it into mine, and begin steering us sloppily toward the tavern door.
The tavern is nearly empty at this hour; only the dregs of its customers remain. Three men slump on tables, barely holding themselves up as they sip the last of the wine from their cups. Another man sits in a corner fondling a serving maid, who is dozing in his lap. A half dozen men squat by the light of the dying fire, dicing.
I take all this in as I lean heavily on Venois and stumble us both toward a bench. Venois is stiff, and I can only hope anyone sober enough to notice will assume it is his military bearing rather than unease. A harsh shout goes up among the dicing men, and I softly jab him in the ribs. “Slouch a bit,” I whisper out of the side of my mouth. “And shuffle your feet, then call loudly for wine.”
He does as I command, and an annoyed-looking serving maid nods in our direction. I gently steer Venois to a seat where I can better see the dicing men. I do not recognize any of the men at the tables, and while I do not know all of d’Albret’s men by sight, there is a certain sameness of manner that they possess—an ill-tempered, belligerent way of looking at the world—and none of those men have it.
The dicing men are my last hope to make something of the evening. I wait for the serving maid to set our wine down before us, then take a big gulp. It is watered and sour and it is all I can do not to spit it out. Instead, I force myself to swallow, then lean toward Venois. “Do you dice?”
The soldier shrugs, then downs half his wine. “Upon occasion. But mostly, I try not to.”
I wait half a beat, but he does not volunteer. Just as I open my mouth to tell him he must join the men in front of the fire, another shout goes up among them, this time accompanied by the ring of steel.
A quarrel has broken out, and my heart soars when I recognize Huon le Grande, who is nearly as large as d’Albret himself and possibly just as unpleasant. The man waving his sword at the other two, the one with the wispy beard and a large nose and only three fingers on his left hand, is Ypres. Next to him is Gilot, short and squat and mean as a wounded badger. I nearly laugh with pleasure that they are too stupid to avoid drawing attention to themselves.
I drape myself over Venois and pretend I am nuzzling his ear. “Three of the dicers are the men we seek.”
That seems to perk him up somewhat, and he plays his part with more gusto, if not more skill, as I point out which of the men are d’Albret’s.
But the night is nearly over, and the tavern keeper’s a large, hard-fisted man who kicks all of d’Albret’s men out before they can ruin his establishment. He kicks the rest of us out too, just for good measure. I am in infinite danger as I stumble out the tavern door practically on d’Albret’s men’s heels, but my disguise holds, and their gazes are bleary with drink. Venois keeps one firm hand on my elbow and the other on his own sword, giving the rowdy men no chance for an advantage. It is with a light heart that I describe them to Thabor and then watch as three of the captain’s men slink off into the darkness to keep watch over the saboteurs.
Chapter Thirty-Two
HAVING FOUND A WAY TO turn my d’Albret heritage to a good purpose, I am riding high on the thrill of the night’s success, for there is no one else in the entire city that could ferret out these men. Only me.
It is hard to trust that Captain Dunois’s and Commander Thabor’s men will watch these traitors closely now that they’ve been identified, but I cannot post myself in the garrison alongside them, so I have no choice.
I reach my chamber and am surprised but pleased to find Ismae waiting for me. I am less thrilled to see that the abbess is also waiting, her proud profile limned in light from the chamber’s hearth. As I come fully into the room, her head turns, like a hawk that has sighted prey. “Well?” she asks sharply.
I refuse to let her rob me of this night’s victory. “Good evening to you too, Reverend Mother.”
Her nostrils flare, but she ignores my gibe. “How did it go?”
“Very well. We found four of d’Albret’s men. Commander Thabor put a guard on each of them so that they will be closely followed and watched, their every movement reported, but none the wiser that we are on to them.”
The abbess nods her head but does not give me the word of praise that I crave, and it galls me mightily that I crave it. Instead, she says, “Best get some sleep so you will have your wits about you at tomorrow’s council meeting.”
Not trusting my voice, I dip my head and curtsy. Sensing the irony in my gesture, she sniffs then strides out of the room, closing the door behind her. When Ismae and I are alone, she turns to me with a look of mixed annoyance and amusement on her face. “Why must you taunt her so?”
“Me? It is she who taunts me. Not even a word of praise or thanks does she send my way.”
Ismae frowns and shakes her head. “It is true that she has always withheld any such praise or commendation of you. I wonder why.”
“Because she is a sow at heart?” I suggest, lifting my hands to take the dirty linen coif from my head.
Ismae’s mouth twitches in humor. “That must be it. Here. Let me help you.” She hurries to my side and removes the headdress, then unlaces the gown. As I step out of the rough homespun dress, I am surprised to hear myself say, “Truly, Ismae. Why does the abbess hate me?” My voice sounds young and vulnerable to my ears, so I laugh mockingly. “It has always been so and I have yet to understand it.” We clashed at the convent, but I had simply thought that was because I was her most difficult pupil and tried her patience. However, here in Rennes, after I had carried out so many of my duties in accordance with her exact wishes and still received no recognition, I realized it must be more than that.
Ismae shakes her head. “I do not know. Annith tried and tried to see if she could learn what lies at the heart of the abbess’s dislike, but to no avail. Whatever the reason was, it was not written down on anything Annith could find.”
“It is probably in that accursed little book she carries with her always.”
“It is probably not even written down, merely some dislike that has nothing to do with anything but her own prejudices.”
“Have you heard from Annith? Is there any news of her or Sister Vereda?” It is a most hideous time for the convent’s seeress to take ill, leaving only a reluctant, untried seeress to guide us through these treacherous times.
“Yes! I received a letter from her this morning.” Ismae takes a step closer to me and lowers her voice. “Sybella, she is planning to escape from the convent.”
“Escape?” I echo, not sure I’ve heard correctly. The Annith I know would never consider something so rebellious. But more than that, I do not think it is safe for her to be alone outside the convent walls.
“Escape.” Ismae nods firmly. “She has decided she would rather leave than be locked up in the convent for the rest of her life.”
“They will go after her, you know. They will not just let her leave when they have invested so much in her training. Plus, who will they get to take her place? The next oldest novitiate is eleven-year-old Aveline.”
Ismae cocks her head, reminding me very much of Annith in that moment. “With all the skills they have given her, she should be able to evade them easily enough. Remember, most of the nuns have not been outside the convent in years.”
“True enough. But where will she go? And who will see Mortain’s wishes and report them to us?”