She realized now that her mind was fresh, that she had been carried through the rain in a litter. Where she was she hadn't the faintest idea, but she knew her captors were Welsh by their language. She also realized that Fulk had been wise in being suspicious of Arwydd. The girl had ingratiated herself into the household at Ashlin for the sole purpose of betraying them. And yet, Arwydd remained kind. Today she had spoken softly to Elf so that no one could hear her, pushing a small bag into her hand.
"Hide this, lady," she whispered, "and for mercy’s sake, take it to stop your milk. If my mistress learns you have a child, nothing will suit her but that the child be brought to her. You were good to me, but this is all I can do for you. We will be at Gwynfr Castle in a few hours, and after that I am her obedient servant once again."
Elf sniffed the bag. It was sage. "Have you been feeding me this in my drink?" she asked.
Arwydd nodded. "Like you, lady, I know how to heal," she said simply. "My mother taught me before she died."
"Was she really English?"
"Aye, she was, poor woman," Arwydd said. "She wasn't a captive who was enslaved, though. She ran away with my father against her family’s wishes. My English grandfather was a wool merchant, she once told me. I was told to tell you that terrible story, although my life after she died has not been a happy one. My father drank himself into the grave, and then his brother, who is a whoremonger, took me in, but only to be a servant in his whorehouse. My mistress rescued me, and so I owe her my loyalty, but, as you were good to me, I have done what I could for you. From now on, however, we are even, lady," Arwydd finished.
Elf nodded, understanding the girl’s reasoning. "Tell me just one thing, Arwydd. Who is my captor?"
"Merin ap Owen, lady" came the answer, and then Arwydd moved away from Elf.
She looked about the encampment for its leader. She spotted him immediately, a tall dark-haired man with a decided air of command. No sooner had she set eyes upon him, then he turned and pierced her with a fierce look. Elf flushed, but she did not look away.
Merin ap Owen crossed his camp to where Elf sat. "How do you feel, lady?"
"How much ransom do you want?" Elf replied quietly, then added, "As to how I feel, wet. Could you have not sought shelter during these rains, Merin ap Owen? My husband will not pay you for a corpse."
"Your husband is in Normandy, lady, and until he returns to pay me a fine ransom for you, you will remain my guest," he told her. "Be grateful I dressed you before I stole you away," he said with a leer. Then reaching down he pulled Elf to her feet. "You are well enough to ride with me today," he said brusquely. "Come!"
Elf did not bother resisting him. It would have been an exercise in futility. He brought her over to a large dappled horse and lifted her up onto the saddle, swung himself up behind her, one arm going tightly about her waist, the other gathering the reins into his big hand. The men with him, a scruffy-looking lot, were scrambling to gain their own mounts and follow after their master. Arwydd, she saw, had her own shaggy little Welsh pony to ride. The girl no longer even looked in Elf’s direction.
Elf said nothing as they rode. Merin ap Owen was quite conversational for a time. "You may not be as comfortable at Gwynfr as you are in your own home, my lady, but you will not be badly treated. And you will have my whore for company. She says she is a nobleman’s daughter, although she is such a deceptive bitch, I cannot be certain she speaks the truth to me all the time. I believe you may know her. She claims she was your sister-in-law at one time." Merin ap Owen felt his captive stiffen within his grip. "Isleen? Isleen de Warenne," he said softly, whispering the name in her ear. "Ah, then, you do know her. So the bitch did not lie to me in this instance. That is good."
Elf could not contain her anger any longer. "That creature killed my brother! She poisoned him. You had best beware, Merin ap Owen."
"Why did she kill him?"
"She was in love with her cousin, a knight, Saer de Bude. They devised a plan between them to kill Richard. Then de Bude was to violate me so I could not take my final vows. He would, of course, do the honorable thing then and marry me. After a time, I suspect, I would have been poisoned so that vile creature could have her lover and my family’s lands as well, which was what she wanted all along," Elf said angrily. "I could not believe such wickedness existed, but it did. God protected me, however, and her plans were foiled."
"How?" he asked. Having heard Isleen’s version of these events, he was eager to hear the lady Eleanore’s account, which he suspected would be closer to the truth.
"De Bude moved too quickly. He tried to force me in my herbarium. One of my serfs came to my aid. My brother was dead and buried, so I escaped back to St. Frideswide's."
"But you did not take your vows," Merin ap Owen said.
"Nay. De Bude claimed he had dishonored me before the king. I was brought from my convent. The abbess and others went with me. We were able to prove that de Bude lied. The king, however, felt that Ashlin needed me more than the convent did. He also felt I needed a strong lord to hold the land. He married me to Ranulf de Glandeville. De Bude was sent to the Count of Blois’s court, and Isleen de Warenne was to be confined for the rest of her life in a nunnery."
Merin ap Owen burst out laughing. "Isleen in a nunnery? The king obviously did not know the bitch at all."
"Nay," Elf agreed, "he did not. None of us could have conceived the evil nature of that woman. It is hard to believe. And now to learn she may be at the center of this plot to steal and ransom me! It is too much to bear! I was taught to love my neighbor, to be gentle, and to be obedient, but Isleen de Warenne destroys all my good intentions, and I want nothing more than to scratch her eyes out right now!"
Merin ap Owen laughed harder. "Wonderful," he said. "You two should provide me with a constant source of amusement this winter, my lady Eleanore. Ah, look. There is Gwynfr Castl just up ahead. May I bid you welcome to my house, lady?" He mocked her.
"Go to hell!" Elf said, for the first time in her life, swearing a wicked oath, and yet strangely she felt quite good about it.
"A bitch and a firebrand," her captor said with a deep chuckle. "This is far better than I had ever anticipated."
PART IV
Chapter 16
“So," Isleen de Warenne said, "you have returned at last, and you have the little nun with you. Put her in the deepest and darkest of your dungeons! I have explored them, and they are deliciously rat-infested, my lord. Let her pray to God to keep from being eaten alive."
"Do not be absurd, my pretty bitch," Merin ap Owen said. He slid from his saddle, reached up, and lifted Elf down. "Our captive will be housed in my private apartments until her ransom is paid. That way I can be fairly certain you will not allow your evil nature to harm her and cost me a pretty penny."
"I should rather be in the dungeons," Elf snapped. She was cold. She was hungry. And she had had quite enough of Isleen. Holy Mother of God! Why had her brother not seen the creature for what she was?
"No!" Isleen’s voice had an edge to it. "You cannot keep her in your own apartments, my lord. You allow no one there, not even me, and I at least am your mistress."