Page 73 of Retribution

Langford came to her as de Baume went in search of something to wrap Cambridge in. “Does it matter?” he said gently. “All that matters is that you are safe and a real threat to King Edward has been removed. I saw the entire scene unfold, my lady. You were truly brilliant in your actions. You made it so Cambridge will never again be a threat, to you or anyone else.”

He was talking an awful lot like Aidric and his colleagues. Like a man who was protecting the king.

Her confusion grew.

“But… but you are Cambridge’s loyal servant, the man he trusts most,” she said. “Langford… aren’t you?”

Langford smiled faintly. “I am whatever our king needs me to be.”

Suddenly, it occurred to her who, or what, Langford was. “You are the spy,” she said. “You are the one who was giving information to the Guard of Six!”

Langford nodded, just once, and it was a modest gesture. “I am many things to many people,” he said. “In this case, I have been with Cambridge for ten years at the request of King Henry. Even back then, he knew Clarence de Fulbourne needed watching, so I took the task. What you see on the floor is the culmination of ten years of watching a truly vile man rise to power. I know that Cambridge ordered you to kill the king and that is when he signed his own death warrant. He had to be stopped. You tried and it almost cost you your life, so I stepped in to assist. It is really as simple as that.”

It is really as simple as that.

Cleodora was stunned at the entire situation. When Aidric told her that there were spies in Cambridge’s household, she’d been delighted to discover that, but she had no idea that it was Langford, the man closest to him.

“What about Neville?” she said. “He is a spy, too?”

“De Baume and I have worked as a team for twenty years,” Langford said. “Not all Executioner Knights are powerful warlords.”

“But… but I heard that he is a French executioner? That’s what everyone says.”

Langford snorted. “The ‘executioner’ part is right,” he said. “But not a French executioner. That is what he tells everyone so they will fear him. My lady, some of us are simply spies, known to blend in, as I did with Cambridge. Some of us, like le Baume, take more of a commanding role. It is a big and volatile business keeping the King of England safe. The Guard of Six has a difficult task in doing so and the Executioner Knights are there to help. I hope that explains everything because I cannot tell you more than I already have.”

He didn’t have to. Cleodora understood. And she repeatedly thanked him, even when he personally took her back to Westminster before dawn and delivered her over to Aidric with the harrowing tale of Cambridge’s death. Aidric had to admit that he was sickened to hear what happened.

But so very grateful for Cleodora’s life.

Those at Thornhill never knew that the shrouded body removed from the manor was actually Cambridge himself. It had been in the early hours of the morning and by that time, Stefan and Orion had already arrived, prepared to take their places as spies but ending up assisting de Baume in the removal of Cambridge’s corpse. Everyone thought it was Cleodora—and even if they didn’t, noticing that the body was much bigger than Cleodora was, not one servant said a word.

It wasn’t as if they had any love for their liege.

And that was the end of the Archbishop of Cambridge.

With the man’s body weighted and dumped into the Thames, Langford sent the servants from Thornhill back to Oakington Castle, effectively leaving Thornhill Manor vacant. Rumors soon sprang up all over London about the Archbishop of Cambridge’s disappearance, even prompting a response from the man’s family, but not a big one. As it turned out, his younger brother, who inherited the title of Earl of Gainsborough, didn’t much like his controlling, wicked older sibling, so no real attempt was made to find Clarence. They simply presumed him dead and went about their business.

That was how much impact a man like Clarence de Fulbourne made after his death.

Nothing.

And it meant even less to Aidric and Cleodora.

Eventually, Langford told Aidric about the death of Everald, since he’d been there to witness it, and Aidric broke the news to his new wife about six months after they’d married. Cleodora had been surprised, but only briefly, and there was no grief to follow. Simply closure. By that time in her life, they’d reestablished communication with her maternal grandfather, Marc de Sauster, and she was happier than she’d ever been. Marc welcomed her and Aidric with open arms, so very glad that his granddaughter had returned to him.

No more Everald.

No more Cambridge.

Just life and love and family.

Just the way Cleodora had always dreamed it.

Finally, the Pearl had found her way home.

EPILOGUE

Four Years Later