Her stomach did a little flip. What did Lord Thornbeck think about Lady Magdalen coming to her defense? But her friend would soon be going back home to Mallin, and Avelina would have no one to prevent Lord Thornbeck from taking out his anger on her, or sending her back to the servants’ quarters—or forgetting about her entirely.
Avelina had watched evening descend out her window. It was only the first day of her confinement—no longer an earl’s daughter, she had nowhere to go and nothing to do.
She wrote the beginning of a story on the paper Lord Thornbeck had given her several days before. But she soon got tired even of that task. Besides, her ankle had a tendency to throb when it hung down, so she’d crawled back in bed, lying with her head at the foot of the bed so she could stare out the window.
As the moon rose and shone eerily down on the white world, she got up and limped to the door of her chamber. Perhaps she would go visit Magdalen.
She stood undecided. Hegatha no doubt would give Avelina her disdainful look. And soon Magdalen would leave to go down to the Great Hall for the evening meal. She might try to convince Avelina to go down with her, as she had for the midday meal, and Avelina simply could not bear to face anyone after what had happened. Besides that, no one would welcome her presence, especially Lord Thornbeck, who said he never wanted to see her again.
A sound came from the corridor, muff led by her closed door. It sounded like someone scratching against her door. Avelina hobbled to the door and opened it. Endlein was standing in the corridor, calling for her daughter, Annlin.
“The men.” Endlein motioned toward the west wing and looked worried and confused. “I think they did something with Annlin.”
“Men?”
She gestured for Avelina to come closer. Avelina limped into the corridor. “You seem kind,” Endlein said. “Come with me. You will help me, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
Avelina followed Endlein—slowly and with the woman holding to her elbow and helping her along—through the corridor toward the west wing.
Avelina heard footsteps and voices as they neared the chamber where Lord Thornbeck’s brother had died. Endlein placed a finger to her lips and led Avelina in through an open doorway. They stood listening as footsteps approached, passed the doorway, and entered the room near the end of the corridor.
Avelina peeked out, and when she did not see anyone, she walked up to the door where the voices were coming from and placed her ear up to the keyhole.
“I brought you all here,” a man’s voice said, “because I fear Lord Thornbeck’s mind is addled. He has chosen a . . . servant girl . . . for his wife instead of one of our daughters. And there is still the suspicion that he is the one who caused the death of the previous margrave so he might take his place as lord of this region.”
Who was speaking? Who would dare say these things?
“He also is responsible for the lack of game in the forests of Thornbeck, the king’s forests, allowing poaching of the king’s own deer. His chancellor actually married the notorious poacher who was killing all the deer in Thornbeck Forest.”
What? Odette was a poacher? That couldn’t be true, although she had seen Odette and Jorgen just after the wolf attack, with a faint memory of Lord Thornbeck instructing them to go after the wolves.
Other men’s voices murmured, but nothing she could make out. Who else was there? She stuck her eye up to the keyhole but could only see the men’s backs.
Someone said, “What do you propose we do? All of these things are only gossip, hearsay.”
“We will capture the margrave, subdue his guards, and look into this gossip, as you call it.”
She could hear the sneer in his voice. Her heart started pounding. Wouldn’t someone protest? But there was only silence.
“I have brought my guards, knights, and soldiers with me to assist. We cannot allow any dissention of this sort. We must uphold our alliance to each other and the king, and ensure the safety and security of the Holy Roman Empire. We cannot allow sedition and murder to abound in Thornbeck. This is an important border and must be guarded. A margrave who intends to marry a servant and appoints a chancellor who consorts with a poacher—it is a disgrace.”
Avelina listened, but again, no one protested what he was saying. No one spoke on behalf of Lord Thornbeck—the traitors!
She had to open the door and see who was there, who was speaking against Lord Thornbeck, and who was going along with it. She had to warn Lord Thornbeck.
“All of you must pledge your loyalty to me. You must tell your guards to join with mine in the fight against Thornbeck. He must be stopped. If you are loyal to our king, you must join me in this fight.”