The Tudor Vendetta by C. W. Gortner

Author:C. W. Gortner
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466857872
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Chapter Fourteen

Fatigue fell upon me as soon as I entered my chamber. Unlacing my sleeves, doublet, and breeches, I let my codpiece drop to the floor and blew out the guttering tallow light in a shallow dish by the bed. Someone, perhaps Agnes, had taken advantage of my absence to leave the light in my room—no doubt to warn me that while I might retain the key, there must be others that unlocked my door. A quick search of my bags revealed nothing out of place. With my mind in tumult, I fell onto the bed in my hose and shirt.

It was evident that my arrival had disrupted something beyond a family’s grief. Lady Vaughan had demonstrated as much by her presumptive manner, and the steward struck me as someone I should watch. Agnes was also one to be wary of, a sullen maidservant who sought advantage wherever it might be found, while Mistress Harper appeared a sensible woman unlikely to participate in anything illicit. Nevertheless, all three servants depended on the Vaughans for their livelihood. I could not rely on any of them to assist me.

Adding to my troubles was Master Gomfrey’s statement that Lady Parry had left the manor in good health with Master Godwin, whom both she and everyone else at the house had apparently trusted—though allowing an older woman to take to the road with a crippled man unable to defend her seemed to me the height of carelessness. Gomfrey had stated he tried to warn them of the risks of traveling unescorted; now, she and the tutor had vanished without a trace, that cryptic note under her saddle the sole indication of something untoward, perhaps fatal.

I let out a breath. I had thought this stranger must hold a connection to Sybilla, that he had initiated a gambit to lure me away from court to exact revenge; but here in the darkness, surrounded by the unknown, I began to doubt my own conclusions. My imagination could be blinding me, fueled by years of guilt.

What if the stranger I sought had another motive?

You must pay for the sin.

I thought then I would never sleep and decided to wait until the hour when everyone else had retired. Exploration of the manor might prove useful, particularly with no one to impede me. But I could not keep weariness at bay. Without realizing it, my eyelids drooped. Soon, I was lost to slumber, plunged once more into the terrifying nightmare in which I lay paralyzed, as Sybilla came toward me, clothed in skin and night, the glint of steel in her hands. I felt her weight as she straddled me, the warmth of her mouth; as I struggled to resist, she giggled and—

I jolted awake with a shout, flinging the figure upon me from the bed. As it tumbled, gasping, onto the floor, I pulled my dagger from under my pillow and lunged upright, about to thrust my blade downward when the figure cried, “No!”

I blinked, pushing away the furious

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