Page 75 of Rogue Knight
“Show me,” said Geoff and followed when Ottar ran ahead.
Artur picked up the sack and joined him as they took off through the woods. At Geoff’s signal, Alain and Mathieu followed with the horses.
Minutes later they arrived at a brush-covered hillside of gray rock.
Ottar stopped, out of breath, and pointed toward the face of the cliff. “’Tis just there.”
Geoff blinked, his eyes searching the rock, but he could see no opening.
The boy took off running. As Geoff and Artur neared the cliff, Ottar disappeared behind a large clump of bushes. Geoff followed with Artur. On the other side of the bushes was a wide entrance to a cave.
A gaping invitation to Hell.
Geoff came to a sudden halt and stared at the large opening in the rock. His mind raced back to when he’d been trapped in a cave much like this one. Frightened out of his mind, he had not entered another since the day his older brothers had returned and freed him, calling him a coward when they saw his tears.
You will have to face the fear you have carried from your youth, the one you keep hidden even from the Red Wolf.Maugris had seen this day in his visions.
Not even the sight of a man’s chest spurting blood could cause him to vomit, as he wanted to now. He fought the overwhelming urge to turn and run. Inside this cave was the woman he loved, sick with a fever that for all he knew could take her life. He took a step toward the darkness, feeling his gorge rise. Then another.
Artur looked intently at him. “Are you also unwell?”
Geoff swallowed. “Nay.” He forced himself to face the entrance of the cave, imagining Emma within. “Lead on.” He was about to follow the servant when Alain drew close.
“’Tis best you and Mathieu wait outside.”
Alain nodded and Geoff followed Artur.
Inside the cave, Finna sat by a fire, clutching something to her chest. Smoke ascended to the roof of the cave. He forced himself to calm. The chamber was large, the roof high. And there was light. “Finna,” he said, trying to keep his eyes on the girl and not the dark walls around him.
“Sir Geoffroi!” She leaped up to run to him. When she would have hugged him, he put out a hand, stopping her. “Best to wait until I can clean the blood from my mail.”
“You look like you did the first time I saw you,” she said.
“Aye, but not for long. Where is Emma?”
Finna pointed to the back of the cave. “In the chamber where Sigga sits with her. Magnus, too.”
Artur handed him a cloth. “Here, this will help until you can do more.”
Geoff thanked him and wiped the blood from his mail.
A man and woman Geoff did not recognize emerged from the back of the cave. The woman gasped when she saw his bloodstained hauberk. Before he could speak, Artur said, “He is a friend, Martha. He and his fellow knight just saved our lives, defending us against Normans who killed the guards.” Turning to Geoff, he explained, “These are Emma’s villeins, Jack and Martha. They came with us when we fled.”
It was obvious from the woman’s doubtful expression Martha was reluctant to consider any Norman a friend. He did not think ill of her for such a view given the circumstances.
The villein, Martha, spoke to Emma’s servant, Artur. “Inga has begun her lyin’ in; already she cries in pain. She has confessed her sins. I came to fetch salve fer her belly.” She stooped to pick up a clay jar and retreated into the depths of the cave.
Geoff kept his eyes on the fire, avoiding the brooding rock walls that surrounded him. “Show me where Emma is.”
Ottar picked up a candle and handed it to him. “Finna and I are not allowed to go into Emma’s chamber. Sigga is worried we might get sick, too.”
“I can show you where she lies,” said Artur.
The man named Jack kept his eyes on Geoff as he followed Artur. The servant clutched his sack of herbs in one hand and a candle in the other.
They walked deeper into the cave, over the uneven ground, past smaller chambers carved by nature into the rock. The ceilings were lower here and the space to walk narrowed as they went on. Shadows cast by their candles created ominous images on the cave walls. Geoff forced himself to inhale a deep breath and let it out. He had to do this for Emma.
From one chamber they passed, he heard a woman moan. “’Tis Inga?”
