Page 11
Story: Knights, Knaves, and Kilts
In the midst of packing, she managed to pull on a woolen traveling dress.
It was dark blue, with pockets built into it, and a matching cloak with rabbit lining.
She wore two heavy shifts underneath it, plus the only pair of boots she owned, heavy things used when she was riding one of her horses or traveling.
Her hair, which had been caught up in a gold net and lined with ribbons of gold, would simply have to remain as it was until she found safety and had the time to comb out the elaborate style.
Hurry!
A voice inside of her was pushing her; fear was like the cracking of a whip. She stuffed the satchels until they could hold no more, knowing she was leaving a good deal behind. They’re only possessions, she told herself. Possessions could be replaced.
But her sanity, and well-being, couldn’t if Jerome got his hands on her.
Fully dressed for travel in a short amount of time, she grabbed her satchels and realized that they were too heavy for her to carry very far.
Resourceful as few women were, Delaina ran into Lord Daventry’s chamber and found two large leather belts.
Returning to her satchels, she strapped them together.
It took a bit of twisting on her part, and some struggle, but she managed to sling them onto her back so that her shoulders and torso could bear the weight more ably than her arms could.
With those two big bags strapped to her, she gave one final pass over the chamber, grabbed a purse that had her jewelry in it—nothing Lord Daventry had given her—and slipped from the chamber for good.
Delaina never looked back.
Escaping the house wasn’t difficult, fortunately, because everyone was focused on the front yard and Lord Daventry’s body, so she was able to move down the back stairs.
They were narrow and treacherous, difficult with the two big bags strapped to her back, but she managed to make it down without breaking her neck.
The stairs took her into a small corridor next to the majordomo’s chamber and a few other housekeeping rooms. It was dark because of the late hour, and she could hear the talking and weeping toward the front of the house as Lord Daventry’s body was brought inside.
With the servants distracted, she bolted for the rear of the manse and to the door that led out into the yard.
There was a garden back here, the one she could see from Lord Daventry’s chambers, and it was quite dark at this hour.
She knew there was a postern toward the rear that led to the street beyond, a gate used by smithies and other trades when doing business with the manse.
The key was kept in the buttery, of all places, only known by a few, and she was able to get the key and open the gate.
It creaked loudly as it was opened.
That was enough to panic her. Surely someone had heard her. Delaina pulled it closed after her, locked it from the outside, and took the key with her so they couldn’t easily follow her—or better still, so they’d be unaware that she escaped through the postern even when the key turned up missing.
Now, she was on the run.
There was a certain exhilaration to that.
There was also a certain fear. She knew she was heading northeast at this point because she’d been on this road before.
Once, she’d been entertained by a lord out of Ipswich, so she was acquainted with the road.
She also knew there was an inn about five miles out, outside of the walls of London, situated in a small village called Ratcliff.
Beyond that, a few miles away, was another small village along the Thames where she might be able to catch a cog or a ferry and go anywhere she wished to go.
Anywhere to get away from the life she’d been leading.
It was dark and late by the time she reached Aldersgate.
Usually, the gates were closed at nightfall, and this was no exception.
As she drew closer to the gates, she could see that they were shut and bolted.
She thought that perhaps a coin might open them, and she could make it to Ratcliff and its inn, The Greyhound and the Mouse.
She tried not to think about what would happen if they wouldn’t let her through the gate, so she moved forward with the belief that a coin would get her anything.
“My lady?”
A voice came from the darkness, and, startled, she turned to see a heavily armed knight standing a few feet away. He was leading a horse, a muscular beast, and as he took a step toward her, she took a step back.
“What do you want?” she demanded, frightened. “You will leave me in peace or I will scream louder than anything you’ve ever heard. I’m warning you.”
He stopped moving when he realized she was backing away from him and held up a hand to ease her. Then he pulled his helm off.
“My name is Denys de Winter,” he said, making sure she could see his face in the dim light.
“I am a royal knight. Please do not be afraid. Magnus asked me to follow your escort to ensure that you did not come to harm. I was just about to leave when I saw you come from the postern and run in this direction. I swear to you that I mean you no harm, my lady, but where are you going?”
Denys de Winter . Delaina recognized the name. Lord Daventry had spoken of the man that very evening.
“De Winter,” she said, looking him over. “Your father is the Earl of Thetford.”
Denys nodded. “He is, my lady,” he said. “May… may I assist you wherever it is you are going?”
She looked off toward the enormous gate. “You could ask those men guarding the gate to open it for me.”
“Alas, I cannot.”
She looked back at him. “Why not?”
“Because it is not safe for you outside of those gates,” he said quietly. “In fact, it is not safe for you standing here all alone. Surely you realize how vulnerable you are, my lady.”
Delaina knew that. She wasn’t stupid. But she was determined.
“I can take care of myself,” she said. “If you will not ask those men to open the gates, I will. I will pay them for their trouble.”
Denys sighed faintly, realizing quickly that he was matching up with a stubborn young woman. He knew how she had reacted to Magnus’ offer to help her, and he suspected she was going to react the same way to him. But, unlike Magnus, he didn’t have much tact. And foolish young women annoyed him.
“Let me tell you what is going to happen to you if you continue along this path,” he said.
“You are wandering alone in a town where men will kill you without a thought, or worse, they will molest you in such a way that you will wish you were dead. You have lived a life of relative luxury and protection, but that ends now if you continue what you are doing. If you go outside of these gates, know that there are a plethora of outlaws out there who will happily slit your throat, steal your possessions, and leave you to die on the side of the road. They do not care if you were a finely dressed courtesan. They do not care that you are a woman. They will steal from you and murder you just the same, and your dreams of whatever life you seem to be fleeing toward will be finished. Is that how you wish for your life to end?”
By the time he was finished, she was looking at him with a mixture of outrage and fear. Great fear. “You’re simply saying that to frighten me,” she said, though her voice was starting to tremble. “You’re very cruel to do that.”
“I’m realistic,” he said, forgoing the polite demeanor he’d had earlier. “I am a man of the world. I know what men are capable of. Do you?”
She stiffened. “Mayhap more than you do,” she said. “You shall not discourage me from my intentions, Sir Denys.”
“I am not trying to discourage you,” he said.
“I am trying to help you. But what you’re doing is stupid.
Magnus offered to escort you, to take you anywhere you wanted to go, and without any thought of recompense.
In gratitude for his offer, you insulted him.
He sent me here to help you, and you have insulted me, too, with your stubbornness.
If you truly think you can make it wherever you’re going without an escort, then I will let you go.
But when those outlaws catch you and rip off your clothing, remember that we tried to help you and you only have yourself to blame for your fate. ”
With that, he gathered his reins and turned for his horse, preparing to mount as Delaina stood there and tried not to feel the fear he’d been trying to instill in her.
But the truth was that he was right—and she knew he was right.
It went against every cell in her body to agree with him, but deep down, her common sense told her that he was completely right about everything.
She wasn’t stupid. Delaina was highly intelligent and educated.
Her lords had seen to that. She knew what lay in wait beyond those walls and even within them, but her desire to flee was stronger than her common sense at that moment.
If Sir Denys left her standing here, she knew in her heart of hearts that he would be leaving her for the wolves, the wolves she’d tried so hard to ignore and pretend as if they would not bother her.
But they would.
She didn’t want to die on her first night of freedom.
“Very well,” she said just as he mounted his horse. When he looked down at her, she took a few steps toward him. “I know you are correct. It is dangerous out there. But I must get to the safety of an inn, somewhere. Will you help me?”
There was a hint of vulnerability in her question, and Denys nodded slowly. “I said that I would,” he said. “Where do you wish to go?”
Delaina sighed faintly, looking around, trying to think of a tavern that would be far away from Haydon Square. “I am not entirely sure,” she admitted. “Do you know of any places where I will be safe for the night?”
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