The Night's Dark Shade by Elena Maria Vidal

Author:Elena Maria Vidal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: france, catholic, medieval, chivalry, romance historical, history fiction, romance murder mystery
Publisher: Elena Maria Vidal

Chapter 10: Bécède

By mid-morning, they were approaching the castle of Bécède. Raphaëlle was shocked to see that the fields and village surrounding the castle, which sat high on a wooded hill, had been burned to the ground, although some rebuilding had begun. “What will the peasants eat over the winter?” she asked Sir Martin. “It looks as if their harvest was destroyed. And they have little shelter.”

“I do not know, Mademoiselle,” said Sir Martin. “You must ask your brave Frankish knight how his great seneschal plans to feed the poor over the winter.”

“It was a long and difficult siege,” said Sir Jacques. “This place was a hotbed and haven of heresy. Now it belongs to the King of France. If the uprooting of heresy displeases you so, Sir Martin, then I wonder that you have chosen the calling of Knight Hospitaller.”

“My calling is to defend and protect the innocent and heal the sick, not to torture and to starve,” said Martin. Sir Jacques nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps then the Lord Imbert will have work for you to do.” They rode up the hill to the castle. It was much larger than the Chateau de Mirambel. In the courtyard, overflowing with Frankish soldiers, the royal seneschal came out to meet them. Imbert de Beaujeu was a tall man with a flowing mane of blond hair and a russet beard. His manner was not unlike that of Sir Jacques, in that his very gait seemed to command respect; his blue eyes flashed with an implacable fire. He spoke in the same tongue as Sir Jacques, which Raphaëlle could understand from her days in Paris. The Lord Imbert bowed to Raphaëlle, who still reclined on the litter, as Sir Jacques gave him an account of her escape and the journey.

“We are glad to have you with us, Mademoiselle,” declared the seneschal. I apologize that we cannot receive you in the manner to which you are accustomed. We have only recently fought a great battle, and many of my men are wounded, and the domain is in ruins. If my wife were here, she could give you a fairer welcome. I regret that this castle is nothing but a military outpost in the midst of war.”

“Monsieur le Seneschal, I thank you,” replied Raphaëlle. “I do not wish to inconvenience you. I ask to be escorted to a monastery so that I might take the veil.”

A smile flickered across the hardened face of the seneschal. “I am sorry, Madame, but you are now a royal ward. In the name of the King of France, I claim those rights, and will give you to one of my knights as a bride, as soon as you are well enough.”

“I am no royal ward, Monsieur. I am the Vicomtesse de Miramande, in my own right. And I choose to become a nun, as I should have done originally.”

“Alas, Mademoiselle la Vicomtesse,” replied Imbert de Beaujeu. “I beg you to reconsider. I believe that you will change your mind after a time of solitude.

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