Nobility Chapter 23

            Lord Aidan stood silent for a moment, then turned to withdraw, forcing the rest to file out before him in the cramped space. One of the guards closed and secured the door once more with the chain.

            “Why is he so insistent on seeing his companions?” Geoffrey, the guard captain wondered, his voice thick with suspicion.

            “I could hazard guesses,” Lord Aidan replied, “but since I can’t know with certainty, and the man wants it so badly, I’m bound to refuse. The risk is too great, and I can ill afford to show the weakness of letting such a man dictate terms to me. Nor do I need to,” he added, turning to the rest of the group. “Thanks to young Daniel, I now know I’ve begun my interrogations in the wrong order. Instead of questioning a known enemy, I should have started with an ally, or at least someone vouched for by them. Geoffrey, please summon the young lady who accompanied Sir Reuben last evening. Bring her to my private hall; we’ll assemble there.”

            Captain Geoffrey nodded and turned to go.

            “Captain, wait,” Daniel hazarded. Geoffrey turned with a raised eyebrow, looking to Aidan for confirmation. “I’m sorry, Lord,” Daniel continued, “I only wanted to recommend that the captain bring another of our companions as well. The large man, William. He witnessed the conspirators.”

            “It would stand in most practicality,” Sir Reuben added, “to summon unto your chambers Roland the monk, in addition. It is not in our ken to predict whence this discussion may wend, and should you want him at a later point, it will save time and much hurrying to and fro by Geoffrey to include him at the outset.”

            Geoffrey remained still, continuing to look to Lord Aidan.

            “Do as they say,” the lord agreed after a moment, a thin smile on his lips. As Geoffrey at last left the group, Aidan stared at Daniel and Reuben. “I’ve maintained my position by staying at least two moves ahead of my opponents,” he mused. “Now, with your appearance, I seem to have no idea what’s happening in my own house. Well, I’ll remedy that directly.” He moved away, ordering one guard to remain at the prisoner’s door and motioning the rest of the group to follow.

            A few minutes later, the group had reassembled in Aidan’s private audience chamber, a smaller room dominated by a long, heavy table surrounded by matching chairs. Though dwarfed by the banquet hall, the space still easily accommodated the participants for the coming discussion, which included all of Daniel’s new acquaintances, Lord Aidan, his scribe, and Captain Geoffrey. The other guard and servant had been sent about other duties. Daniel looked critically at Roland. The bald man seemed less agitated than the previous night, though he was still nervous of eye. Daniel wondered whether his signs and omens still troubled him, or if he was simply anxious by disposition.

            Aidan asked Rebekah to share what she knew, and she expertly related the events of the past two days to the noble, including her abduction and rescue, Daniel’s skirmish with their ambushers in the city, and William’s observations. With smooth insight she told all she could in her own words and only burdened William with the need to speak when his direct testimony and impeccable memory were required. Her easy verve, which Daniel had found so alluring over the past day, suddenly intimidated him, her ability to speak with such confident composure to her social better, when under such pressure, leaving him in awe. The sword hummed an amused tune in its scabbard, whether in admiration of Rebekah or in jest of Daniel he couldn’t be sure. Likely both.

            “You believe your troupe leader had you abducted because he knew you wouldn’t go along with the plot, then?” Lord Aidan asked.

            “Yes, m’lord.”

            “No other reason?”

            “Not that I can think of, m’lord,” Rebekah answered. Daniel believed her, but Aidan’s questioning made clear that he didn’t, at least not completely. If this offended Rebekah, Daniel couldn’t tell it, and he wondered whether she felt no affront or only hid it well. In addition to all Reuben’s philosophy on the mysteries of the fairer sex, she was, after all, an actress.

            “And do you know where this leader is now?” Aidan continued. “This…” He glanced over at his scribe’s notes. “…Boss Richard, you call him?”

            “He wasn’t at the banquet last night; he isn’t a performer. William knew where the troupe set up camp,” Rebekah answered, “but that’s all.”

            “He’s sure to be long gone by now, but I can’t afford to make assumptions. Captain, take William and go to the camp. See what you can find.”

            Geoffrey hurried to do as he was bid. Rebekah whispered for William to go with the man, and the giant left the room with the captain.

            “I was shortsighted last night,” Aidan chided, cursing himself. “I sought to show strength to the guilds, and since the troupe came from outside my lands I didn’t consider that other conspirators may not have been detained. I should have cancelled my audiences, not for safety as Geoffrey counseled, but to turn my attention immediately to the plot.”

            Daniel kept his eyes on the table as he spoke. “Did…Did your guards discover the corpses from my battle in the alley, Lord?”

            “No,” Aidan answered with a sigh, shaking free from his fog of self-reproach. “They must have been moved before a patrol came through. From Rebekah’s account, it seems the attackers had control of the surrounding streets, so it isn’t surprising no witnesses reported the event. The treason runs deep through my city, deeper than I knew. And I should have.”

            “It seems a well-ordered city to me, m’lord,” Rebekah reassured him. “This gang must work hard to avoid your gaze.”

            “Thank you, child,” Aidan replied, “but that only means I must work all the harder.” Aidan turned to his scribe. “Go find Rolf, tell him to send for Captain Jacob.” The scribe rose and exited. “Geoffrey commands my personal guard,” Lord Aidan explained to those still gathered, “but Jacob leads the men on patrol through the city. I need to understand what he knows, what he doesn’t, and why. I fear there’s little else we can do without his report.”

            “Then, if you would be so gracious as to permit me, Lord Aiden,” Sir Reuben spoke up, “it is that I have some business of my own I have been too slow in bringing to your notice. I did make a most crucial promise to Page Daniel yesterday concerning the continuing safety and security of his village. His lord, Hector, did cast his lot in the succession with Count Rickard, that same personage I do impress upon you most fervently to support with your own noble might, and as a result he finds himself and his lands harried by Rickard’s rival, Baron Willhelm, who has swayed the royal guard to his own control. I myself witnessed the firing of the village yesterday morn, and this attack on those who faithfully toil should not stand without redress.”

            Daniel couldn’t help noticing that Reuben’s monologue never quite arrived at the point of asking Lord Aidan to intervene for his neighbor, but the implication hung heavy in the air. Aidan scowled.

            Before he could speak, the door flew open, and a guard came panting into the room. Immediately he bowed. “Apologies, my lord, but I must report at once. One of the prisoners is dead.”

            “What?” Aidan demanded, motioning the guard to stand. “How!?”

            “No one laid a finger on him, Lord, I swear it. He has not a mark on his body. We suspect poison, by his own hand. We searched his body for some vial or other evidence but found none. Only this.” The guard took a step forward and leaned across the table to hand a small piece of parchment to Lord Aidan.

            The lord scanned the document, then squinted and read again, more slowly. “This puts a heavy weight on your request, Sir Reuben,” he finally declared. “According to this dispatch, Daniel’s Lord Hector is the man who ordered my murder.”