Out of the corner of her eye Alice saw that Hugh was halfway across the cavern but still too far off to cut Eduard down.
She gathered herself and prepared to try to duck the next blow.
But reason finally intervened to temper Eduard's rage. "Stay back or I'll kill her," he warned Hugh.
Hugh reached into the swirling folds of his cloak and removed an object. The green stone gleamed in his hand. "This is what you wanted, is it not, Eduard?"
"The stone." Eduard wet his lips. "Give it to me and I'll let your wife live."
"Take it, if you can." Hugh hurled the stone at a point on the cavern wall just to the right of where Eduard stood.
Eduard's eyes widened. He screamed, "Nay." He lurched toward the stone but could not catch it.
The green crystal smashed against the wall. It shattered instantly. A glowing rainbow of gems cascaded onto the floor. Rubies, golden beryl, pearls, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds shimmered and sparkled amid the shards of the dull green casket that had once concealed them.
"The Stones of Scarcliffe," Alice whispered.
She suddenly realized that the green crystal had been fashioned of heavy glass. She told herself that she should have suspected as much all along. Instead she had assumed that it was a natural object, just as everyone else had done. Now she understood that it had been created by a superbly skilled craftsman who had found a way to simulate the look and feel of a great chunk of crystal.
Eduard shrieked, "The Stones." He stared for a second, fascinated, at the glittering heap. Too late he recalled Hugh's presence.
He whirled about to confront the cold and deadly storm of Hugh's blade. But his obsession with the stones had cost him dearly.
Steel clanged dissonantly on steel.
Eduard was driven to his knees by the force of Hugh's blows. Hugh raised his blade again and again, beating against Eduard's steel.
When Hugh raised his sword for the death stroke, his eyes burned the same color as the flames that flared in the torches.
Alice turned away quickly, unable to witness what she knew must occur next. She saw Katherine staring past her, transfixed by the dreadful scene. On the other side of the cavern Dunstan and Aleyn held Eduard's two men at swords' points. Benedict watched it all from the shadowed passageway.
Alice held her breath but there was no death scream behind her.
Seconds ticked past, two, three, four, five. She looked up and saw that everyone was still staring at the spot where Hugh had driven Eduard to his knees.
Slowly she turned back to see what had happened.
Eduard lay on his back, still very much alive. He stared mutely up along the length of the blade that rested on his throat.
"Why do you hesitate?" Dunstan asked. "Have done with it. This night has been long enough for all of us."
"There are some questions I want answered," Hugh said. "Bind him and take him back to the keep, Aleyn. Put him in the dungeon. I shall speak with him on the morrow."
"Aye, m'lord." Aleyn hurried forward to take charge of the prisoner.
Hugh finally turned his attention to Alice. His eyes still burned but otherwise he appeared as calm as though he had just risen from his bath. "Well, madam, you do have a way of livening up my evenings."
"And you, my lord, have a way with legends." Alice looked at the brilliant gems that lay scattered on the stone floor. "You are certainly never at a loss when it comes to adding to your own."
"Alice?"
"Oh, Hugh." She felt tears of joyous relief clog her throat. "I knew you would save me. Indeed, you always do, my lord."
She ran to him. He crushed her close against his chest. The folds of his great black cloak swirled around her.
A long time later, Alice sat with Hugh in front of the hall fire and tried to get warm. She could not seem to ward off the cold. Whenever she thought of the hours spent in the cavern, a chill went through her. Mayhap she should take a dose of the medicine she had sent to Erasmus of Thornewood, she thought.
She pestered Hugh with yet another question. It was one of a multitude she had asked since their return to the keep two hours earlier.
"When did you discover that the Stones of Scarcliffe were inside the green crystal?" she asked.
"When it shattered against the wall of the cave." Hugh stretched out his legs and contemplated the flames with a brooding gaze.
Startled, Alice glanced at his hard profile. "You mean you did not suspect before that the crystal was merely a casket designed to hold the gems?"
"Nay. I have never particularly cared about the Stones of Scarcliffe, so I never took a close look at the green crystal. So long as I had it in my possession, I was content."
"I see." Alice fell silent again for a moment. "I think there is something wrong with me, Hugh."
He looked at her in sharp concern. "What's this? Are you ill?"
"Nay, at least not with a fever. But I cannot seem to calm myself. My nerves are unsettled."
"Ah. I see. 'Tis the natural aftermath of a violent event, my sweet. The feeling will fade with time." He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"You do not appear to be affected by it," she muttered as she snuggled into his warmth.
"Rest assured, my nerves were badly unsettled when I learned that you had been kidnapped. 'Twas all I could do not to take to my bed in a swoon."
"Hah. I do not believe that you ever suffer from unsettled nerves, sir."
"Every man suffers from unsettled nerves at one time or another, Alice," he said with startling seriousness.
She was not certain what to say to that, so she changed the subject. "Thank you for not killing Eduard in front of Katherine tonight. She does not care for him, but he is her cousin, after all."
" 'Tis not seemly to execute a man in front of women, especially healers, if it can be avoided. In any event, there are some questions I want answered."
"Katherine answered one for me while we whiled away the hours waiting for you to make your grand appearance."
"Which question was that?"
"I wondered who had actually placed the poison in your cup. Katherine said Eduard told her how it was done.
He sent one of his men into the bailey disguised as a farmer the day all the villagers showed up to assist with repairs to the keep."
Hugh studied the flames. "That was the same day that Vincent of Rivenhall came to dine. There was much confusion in the household that afternoon. It would have been a simple matter for someone to sneak into the kitchens."
"And equally simple to identify your cup after the midday meal. 'Tis the most grand of all the drinking vessels in this household."
"Aye."
"Hugh?"
"Hmm?"
"What questions do you intend to ask Eduard?"
Hugh stared into the flames. "I'm not yet certain. I'll think of some."
But Alice understood. Hugh wanted to know exactly what had happened that night some thirty years ago when Eduard had poisoned another cup of wine.
Hugh wanted to hear Eduard tell him with his own lips that Sir Matthew had intended to wed Margaret and claim his infant son.
Chapter 21
Hugh's soft black boots made no sound as he strode swiftly along the shadowed stone corridor but his ebony cloak snapped in the air. He was furious. "Damn it to the pit. Are you certain he is dead?"
"Aye, m'lord." Dunstan angled his torch as he turned a corner in the passageway. "One of the guards found him so a short while ago."
"Why was he not searched?" Hugh followed Dunstan around the bend in the corridor.
The underground passages of Scarcliffe Keep were not very different from the tunnels and caverns of the hillside caves. They were dark, cramped, and forbidding. No natural light reached this section of the keep where spices, grains, goods, and the occasional prisoner were stored.