Choose the Sky: A Medieval Romance (Swordcross Knights Book 2) by Elizabeth Cole Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Cole
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eyes. Despite what he’d just done for her, she would give anything for Luc to be gone.
Anything.
Chapter 10
After making sure that Domina went into the keep and up to her own chambers, Luc found the steward and told him the bare facts. Haldan committed a crime by assaulting a noblewoman, and he was not to be allowed in the castle again. Anyone who saw him should hold him.
The word went out among the castle residents. Several men-at-arms gathered to begin a search. One man who’d been on watch had seen Haldan heading east after riding out of the gate, so they began on that road. However, Haldan’s lead and the darkness were against them. An hour after they rode out of the castle, Luc called a halt, telling the men to return to Trumwell.
“Someone can ride to the sheriff tomorrow to tell him about the incident. He can sound the news more broadly,” Luc added.
Once back at the castle, Luc went in search of a good place to brood. He was unwilling to be seen by anyone until he could think over all the revelations of the day.
It was foolish to have mentioned Domina’s singing. Luc might well have announced that he’d discovered her secret. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself. His blood was up after the encounter with Haldan, especially since he’d got away, depriving Luc of the chance to finish the fight.
Perhaps naturally, his attention shifted to Haldan’s intended victim. Luc couldn’t forget that Domina had lied to him. He wanted to see her face when she thought her secret was threatened.
Domina lied about her father. She’d lied again and again and again. To him, to her allies, to the
king.
If she could lie about one thing, why not a dozen? A woman who could lie so well would make the perfect traitor.
As soon as he thought that, he grimaced. He didn’t want Domina to be a traitor. Perhaps she lied for a better reason.
He pictured the way she tended to the man on the bed. She treated her father with such care and spoke so gently to him. Dear lord, she
sang
to him. Was that what a traitor would do? No. A woman hellbent on betrayal wouldn’t nurse her father back to health. She’d hurry him along to death, and invite the conspirators in.
But how could he reconcile that with the news of the spymaster Drugo? He’d been adamant that the de Warewics were involved in a conspiracy. Luc remembered Lord Bertram’s comment that he hadn’t seen Godfrey in months. Perhaps Godfrey’s sickness was fairly recent, and Domina was innocently nursing a traitor back to health.
So what did that leave him with? Now that he’d met Domina, Luc could believe that she was intelligent enough to devise a conspiracy if she wanted to. Domina understood the principles of war, and how to attack and defend. Furthermore, she clearly kept her own council and had a mind of iron. If she wanted something, she had the force of will to attain it.
But was she really capable of treason? Was that in her heart? He went through every conversation, every scrap of her speech, every gesture and reaction she’d made to his own words. Nearly all she’d said or done was in line with a loyal servant of the king. Domina said she came to London to fulfill the king’s order when Godfrey could not—was that the act of a traitor? But then again, wouldn’t a traitor appear loyal until the very last moment?
Luc sighed in frustration. This was the conundrum. Once you doubted someone’s motives, everything they said or did could be used to support those doubts. She was either lying or she wasn’t. She was either loyal or she wasn’t.
Then he had an idea. What if he could persuade her to share her true thoughts by pretending to share the same ideas? If he could trick her into speaking the truth, then he’d have the evidence he needed to take to the king. Domina kept her true emotions safe behind a facade of icy calm. All he had to do was melt that facade.
He couldn’t speak to her about it until the next day at the earliest. The attack from Haldan
Anything.
Chapter 10
After making sure that Domina went into the keep and up to her own chambers, Luc found the steward and told him the bare facts. Haldan committed a crime by assaulting a noblewoman, and he was not to be allowed in the castle again. Anyone who saw him should hold him.
The word went out among the castle residents. Several men-at-arms gathered to begin a search. One man who’d been on watch had seen Haldan heading east after riding out of the gate, so they began on that road. However, Haldan’s lead and the darkness were against them. An hour after they rode out of the castle, Luc called a halt, telling the men to return to Trumwell.
“Someone can ride to the sheriff tomorrow to tell him about the incident. He can sound the news more broadly,” Luc added.
Once back at the castle, Luc went in search of a good place to brood. He was unwilling to be seen by anyone until he could think over all the revelations of the day.
It was foolish to have mentioned Domina’s singing. Luc might well have announced that he’d discovered her secret. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself. His blood was up after the encounter with Haldan, especially since he’d got away, depriving Luc of the chance to finish the fight.
Perhaps naturally, his attention shifted to Haldan’s intended victim. Luc couldn’t forget that Domina had lied to him. He wanted to see her face when she thought her secret was threatened.
Domina lied about her father. She’d lied again and again and again. To him, to her allies, to the
king.
If she could lie about one thing, why not a dozen? A woman who could lie so well would make the perfect traitor.
As soon as he thought that, he grimaced. He didn’t want Domina to be a traitor. Perhaps she lied for a better reason.
He pictured the way she tended to the man on the bed. She treated her father with such care and spoke so gently to him. Dear lord, she
sang
to him. Was that what a traitor would do? No. A woman hellbent on betrayal wouldn’t nurse her father back to health. She’d hurry him along to death, and invite the conspirators in.
But how could he reconcile that with the news of the spymaster Drugo? He’d been adamant that the de Warewics were involved in a conspiracy. Luc remembered Lord Bertram’s comment that he hadn’t seen Godfrey in months. Perhaps Godfrey’s sickness was fairly recent, and Domina was innocently nursing a traitor back to health.
So what did that leave him with? Now that he’d met Domina, Luc could believe that she was intelligent enough to devise a conspiracy if she wanted to. Domina understood the principles of war, and how to attack and defend. Furthermore, she clearly kept her own council and had a mind of iron. If she wanted something, she had the force of will to attain it.
But was she really capable of treason? Was that in her heart? He went through every conversation, every scrap of her speech, every gesture and reaction she’d made to his own words. Nearly all she’d said or done was in line with a loyal servant of the king. Domina said she came to London to fulfill the king’s order when Godfrey could not—was that the act of a traitor? But then again, wouldn’t a traitor appear loyal until the very last moment?
Luc sighed in frustration. This was the conundrum. Once you doubted someone’s motives, everything they said or did could be used to support those doubts. She was either lying or she wasn’t. She was either loyal or she wasn’t.
Then he had an idea. What if he could persuade her to share her true thoughts by pretending to share the same ideas? If he could trick her into speaking the truth, then he’d have the evidence he needed to take to the king. Domina kept her true emotions safe behind a facade of icy calm. All he had to do was melt that facade.
He couldn’t speak to her about it until the next day at the earliest. The attack from Haldan
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