Baudouin had found lodgings for him with one of Lord Gilbert’s men. Lord Gilbert, informed that Sagar had evidence which would condemn Sibert for Romain’s murder without any doubt, had instructed his man to present Sagar at the appointed time and meanwhile keep him sober and keep a close eye on him.
The appointed time was the next day.
Tomorrow, Baudouin thought, tense with apprehension. I only have to wait until tomorrow. Sagar’s testimony will confirm what I have already said and Sibert will hang. Lord Gilbert will return my crown to me — who else will step forward to claim it with Sibert dangling on the end of a rope? — and I shall present it to the king. Then Drakelow will be mine once more.
One more day of waiting, and then everything would be all right.
Hrype and I covered the return journey to Aelf Fen even more swiftly than we had ridden out. The horse and my pony were sweating and blown by the time we got home and I wanted to rub them down, allow them to cool off and water them, but Hrype would not let me. He was deeply uneasy now and I guessed it was because he feared someone would see us with our borrowed mounts.
‘They’ll be tended, don’t worry,’ he said abruptly, almost dragging me off my pony’s back.
His face was set in such ferocious lines that I did not dare argue.
I wondered what I ought to do. It was by now twilight, and I did not want to go back to Goda’s house, although I knew I should as no doubt she would be yelling for me, furious at my absence and perhaps even a tiny bit worried about me, although that was unlikely. But then was there any point in walking all the way to Icklingham when I was planning to present my evidence to Lord Gilbert in the morning?
Hrype decided for me. ‘Go home,’ he ordered. ‘Make up a reason. Tell your family you’re worried about Sibert and your sister has allowed you to come back to try to see him. Something of the sort — anyway, don’t tell them you’re going to see Lord Gilbert first thing in the morning.’
‘No, I won’t,’ I agreed. That wouldn’t be difficult as I was trying very hard not even to think about it, never mind speak of it.
He studied me for a moment. ‘You have to make him believe you,’ he said with sudden passion. ‘You must explain how you left Romain lying on his back and-’
‘But nobody believes I was even there!’ I wailed. ‘Everyone thinks I was at Edild’s house!’
‘She will have to say she said that to protect you,’ he said curtly.
Poor Edild. A healer’s reputation would not be enhanced by the knowledge that she was a liar. And would they believe her any more than they did me? Both of us, after all, were going to have to convince Lord Gilbert that what we had said before was the lie and what we were now saying was the truth. It was not going to be easy.
He took hold of my shoulders, staring into my eyes. For a moment I felt his power, raw and seething within him, then with an almost visible effort he concealed it. ‘There will be a way, Lassair,’ he said, his voice hypnotic. ‘Believe. Believe.’ He gave me a shake, quite a hard one.
‘I believe!’ I whimpered. Then he let me go and, leading the horses, strode away.
My family welcomed me with love and sympathy, asking no awkward questions despite the late hour. They obviously hadn’t heard that I’d run away from Goda’s house without permission — for once I was thankful for my sister’s indolence — and accepted without question the excuse that anxiety over Sibert’s fate had driven me home.
They settled me comfortably and my mother made me a hot drink and gave me a slab of bread and some slices of dried meat, a luxurious late-night snack. I was very hungry and gulped it down. When I’d finished my father said, ‘You’ve come at the right time, Lassair. We’ll know tomorrow.’
I felt a cold shiver down my back. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They’re taking Sibert before Lord Gilbert. There’s a witness who says he saw him murder Romain.’
A witness! Oh, dear Lord. I was going to have to stand up and accuse this witness of lying. Or, at least, of not being close enough to detect the details of the murder, such as from what direction the blow fell and who had delivered it. I was trembling at the very thought.
I could not tell my family any of this. If I announced my intentions they would certainly try to stop me and probably succeed. I was a child, they would say, nobody was going to listen to me, and it was far, far better for humble people like us to keep well away from matters that did not concern us.
But this did concern me. I was the only person who knew without any doubt that Sibert did not kill Romain.
I did not sleep much that night.
I slipped out of the house when my family were all bustling about and, in the usual confusion made by seven people and a baby in a very small space, nobody noticed.
I went straight to Lord Gilbert’s house and asked to see him. Again, they tried to stop me but this time the man himself was at the door of his hall and he invited me in. From the look on his face, I imagine he thought my antics would amuse him.
‘What is it this time?’ he asked, smiling indulgently. ‘More fanciful tales?’
‘No,’ I said, standing up very straight and trying to look dignified. ‘The same tale, and it is not fanciful. I lied when I said I was at my aunt Edild’s house and she backed me up, thinking only to help me. The truth is, as I told you before, that I was with Sibert at the time of the murder and I know that he did not commit it.’
Lord Gilbert studied me for some moments and I grew increasingly uneasy as I watched his expression change from a smile to a scowl. Then he said suddenly, ‘Oh, I’ve had enough of this! You, girl, whatever your name is, you’ll get your chance to declare this story of yours before all those concerned.’ Greatly alarmed, I took a step back but he was too quick. His arm shot out and he grasped my wrist in a strong hand. ‘Wait here,’ he commanded. ‘Very soon your moment will come.’
He pushed me into the corner of the room and I had to watch as he summoned servants to set out his chair and some benches on the dais at the far end of the hall. The dais, I realized apprehensively, could only be there for one reason, which was to put Lord Gilbert up on high and make the rest of us appreciate to the full our lowly status. Well, as far as I was concerned, he needn’t have bothered as I was shaking with fear already and it was taking all my meagre courage not to bolt for home.
He sat down, glared down at me cowering in my corner and then, with an imperious jerk of his chin, beckoned to me to approach. ‘Stand there,’ he commanded, indicating an area immediately before the dais, on the left side. People were filing into the hall now and several of his men took up their places on the benches beside him. Then a servant slipped out of the hall, to return a few moments later with Baudouin de la Flèche and a thin, gingery man with bad skin and a nervous twitch above his eye. Several of Lord Gilbert’s men accompanied them, and they all went to stand opposite me to the right of the dais.
I stood alone.
Then they brought Sibert in.
His appearance shocked me. He looked as if he had been in some dank, dark cell far below the ground for months, not days, for his face was deadly white and his tunic foul with stains that I did not care to look at too closely. There were shackles around his wrists and ankles and they had made angry red welts in his flesh. Before I could stop myself I opened my mind to him and the force of his terror almost rocked me back on my feet. It was like trying to stop a tempest with a feather but I did my best, battling against his despair and silently shouting out to him, Have heart, Sibert! I’m here to help! It’s not over yet!
I think he was too far gone in his images of a nightmare — and fairly brief — future even to catch a whisper. He looked up briefly at those arrayed against him. Then, finally, he looked at me. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he hung his head.