Dalian's expression was that of a hunted hare. "I swear, I dare not reveal it. To do so would put all of you, especially Lady Clare, in grave danger."
"Lady Clare is already in jeopardy," Gareth said. "The only way I can protect her, this hall, and those within it is to gain as much information about your master as possible."
"But he is no ordinary knight, my lord. He is a magician," Dalian wailed.
"Hell's teeth. He's an alchemist, from the sound of it. An ordinary man who has mastered a few Eastern tricks. Nothing more. I want his name."
Clare touched Dalian's hand. "Give us the magician's name, Dalian. Tis for the best. Lord Gareth will resolve the problem. He is very good at such things."
Dalian's eyes shifted anxiously back and forth between Gareth's hard, unyielding face and Clare's reassuring smile. "Forgive me. I know that you are a great knight, my lord, but even you cannot defend against the magician's magic arts."
"Nonsense," Clare said. "Lord Gareth is perfectly capable of dealing with a mere magician."
Gareth's unreadable gaze rested fleetingly on her face. "Thank you for your confidence, madam."
Clare felt herself grow warm at his wry tone. "I have no doubt about your ability to protect this hall, my lord."
"Now, if I just had a similar degree of confidence from my squire-in-training," Gareth said deliberately,
"I would be well on my way to accomplishing my task."
Dalian's face brightened for a second and then crumpled back into an expression of despair. "I am no longer your squire-in-training, my lord.
We both know that."
"You say you have never sworn an oath of fealty to this magician?"
"Nay, my lord."
"But you have sworn fealty to me in front of witnesses."
"Aye."
"Did I not accept your oath and give you my own in return?"
"Aye."
"What did I promise you in exchange for your honest service, Dalian of Desire?"
"Your protection, my lord."
"I have never foresworn myself, minstrel. My oath is the only thing that I have ever been able to call my own. I do not give it easily. And once I have given it, I honor it."
"I understand, my lord." Dalian tightened his hands. "But I no longer have the right to claim your protection."
"You do if you have not foresworn yourself," Gareth said softly.
Dalian's head came up swiftly. "But I have done so. At least, you believe that I have."
"What I believe," Gareth said thoughtfully, "is that you fear this alchemist so much that you did as he commanded."
"Aye."
"But I also believe that you obeyed him because you wished to protect Lady Clare."
"Tis the truth," Dalian whispered. "I swear it."
"Then you did not betray me," Gareth said. "Your actions were misguided and foolish, but you are not foresworn. You are still my squire-in-training and I am your liege lord."
Dalian closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. "You are most generous, my lord. I do not deserve your kindness."
"The name, Dalian." Gareth's hand closed into a fist on the arm of the chair. "I want the magician's name."
"Lucretius, my lord." Dalian held himself very still. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he expected to be struck with a bolt of lightning on the spot. When nothing happened, he lifted his lashes warily. His voice firmed. "His name is Lucretius de Valemont."
"Lucretius de Valemont." Gareth repeated softly. "I have never heard of him."
"Nor have I," Clare said.
Dalian rested his head in his hands. "God save us, I fear he will murder us all."
"How did Dalian get out of the courtyard without being spotted by the guard?" Ulrich's bald head gleamed as he studied the parchment map spread out on the desk.
"He waited until the guard had gone past on his rounds." Gareth traced the shoreline with his finger, searching for the two places where a small boat could be landed. "Then he raised a ladder behind the stables.
When he reached the top of the curtain wall, he lowered himself to the ground with a rope."
"Clever for a minstrel, is he not?"
"Aye." Gareth glanced out the window at the new day. The storm had passed, but there was a heavy quality in the air. "If someone can get out that easily, someone else can get inside just as easily. Add an extra guard here at the hall, Ulrich."
"I'll have to pull one of the guards away from the convent to do that."
"I do not believe the convent is in danger now. The alchemist knows the book is here in the hall."
Gareth found the indentations in the shoreline. "I also want a watch kept at these locations as well as at the village harbor. Check the small cliff caves after every tide."
"We're going to be spread very thin around the isle, my lord. The three men you sent to guard the perfumes that London merchant purchased have not yet returned. We are still short-handed."
"You and I will take a watch. My squire-in-training will also take one."
Ulrich looked up with a curious glint in his eye. "You're going to trust Dalian with guard duty?"
"Dalian is my man. He's frightened of his former master, but he does not serve him. He serves me."
Ulrich hesitated and then nodded. "Very well. You have always been a good judge of men. We'll let him take a watch near the convent."
"I will stay here in the hall," Gareth said. "You take the harbor with two of the men."
"Aye, my lord. Do you believe this Lucretius de Valemont will attempt to bring armed men onto Desire?"
"I do not know. He must realize how difficult it would be to bring an armed company ashore without being seen."
"At this point he has no way of knowing that you are aware of him or his intentions."
"He will soon reason it out." Gareth studied the map. "I have a feeling that when Dalian does not bring him the book, he will come here to look for it. He has already stepped foot on our isle on one previous occasion."
Ulrich looked up with an inquiring frown. "When was that?"
"The night he came to search the convent library."
"You believe it was he who murdered the recluse?"
"Aye."
"Ah, yes. Our mysterious ghost who walks through locked gates," Ulrich said thoughtfully.
"More likely a man in a monk's cowl who knows how to pick a lock. I suspect he came and went in a small boat that he brought ashore at one of these two locations." Gareth stabbed a finger at the small coves drawn on the map.
Ulrich smiled without any of his usual amusement. "If the magician returns a second time, we'll have him."
"Aye. He's only a man, despite what Dalian believes."
"Where is young Dalian?"
"Clare took him out to the kitchens to feed him. He's suddenly starving now that he has recovered from his adventures and no longer fears he will be hung."
Ulrich frowned in thought. "I would like more information about this magician."
"As would I. But Dalian's fear of him is such that he finds it difficult to speak of him. Clare says the minstrel will become more talkative once he is fed."
"You have assigned your lady to question the boy?"
"It was Clare's idea," Gareth admitted.
"He's a magician?" Joanna's mouth fell open in astonishment. "Are you certain?"
"That's what Dalian claims." Clare looked at Dalian. "Is that not so?"
"Aye, my lady." Dalian sat at the trestle table in the kitchen. He had a large slice of leftover roast chicken in front of him which he was devouring with the air of a man who had not eaten in weeks. William sat across from him, nibbling on a bit of cheese.
"Sir Ulrich says there is no such thing as magic," William said. "He says Lucretius de Valemont is likely an alchemist, not a real magician."
"Lucretius de Valemont can walk through locked doors," Dalian insisted.