Amongst Silk and Spice Read Free

was about to befall him.
    Hugo slept, then waited, watched as they passed other merchant ships, then fishermen as they sailed close to shore. The white cliffs of England were a welcome sight as it had been years since he had seen them.
    The fighting in France had been brutal and longwinded, and it was all Hugo had known from the time he was just a man. What life there was after war, he wasn't readily sure, but he would welcome the change.
     
    London was crowded, miserable and squalid. Everything about the city stank and the muck and waste on the streets went up to his ankles. After finding lodgings at an inn for the night, they set off at dawn, taking the road west, first through narrow streets where the buildings loomed over them and then leaving the horrid streets of London behind. The air grew fresh and Hugo rejoiced at having finally returned.
    They rode at speed, changing horses along the way, to reach the outskirts of Windsor around dusk. It was dark by the time they made it there and sought out an inn just outside the walls. Bertolomew stayed in the stable with the horses while Hugo sought out a bed in the loft, drawing the curtain partitioning his cot for privacy. He listened to the raucous merriment downstairs and again wondered why he would see the king the next day.
     
    Standing by a window, looking out, Hugo waited in a room with others seeking an audience with the King. The courtyard was busy, and there were new conscripts conducting their training, likely heading up to fight the Scots. While closer to home, Hugo still preferred France to being posted to the wet, cold and miserable lands up in Scotland.
    "Sir Hugo Beauford," a royal clerk called.
    "Here," Hugo said.
    "This way."
    Hugo followed as the man scurried down the hall toward a large door, which guards opened as they approached. "In here," the man indicated and let Hugo pass. The room was full of people standing in groups around a large table covered in documents. Scribes wrote and clerks ran around. Hugo spotted the king standing with a group of men on the other side of the room. He dressed no differently from any other noble and unless one knew what he looked like, it would be hard to find him in a crowd.
    "Beauford," the King said, waving him over. Hugo was pleased to think the king knew his countenance and he walked over as requested, feeling his pulse beat through his body. "You look well."
    "Thank you, Your Majesty."
    "You know Chanderling."
    "I do," Hugo said, nodding to the man with the estate next to his.
    "And you know the story of his daughter—the one that is missing."
    Hugo frowned. He hadn't thought of her in many years. She had been a little thing, full of fire and spite like an angry cat, the daughter of a convicted witch, who’d been burnt—the girl disappearing shortly after. "I do."
    "You are one of the few people who remember her and one of the only who is reliable."
    "I see," Hugo said, but he really didn't.
    "We have decided it is time to retrieve this wayward daughter."
    Hugo looked at the man who was his neighbor, whom he hadn't seen in many years. He was old and gray now. "From where must she be retrieved?" Hugo asked in confusion.
    "There is the quest we are placing at your feet. The last we know of her she was in Venice, but we believe she traveled east."
    "Venice," Hugo said in shock. He hadn't realized it would be an actual quest, across all of Europe, too. "There may not be any trace of her now. Who has her?"
    "We do not know. From what we know, she was traveling alone?"
    "Alone?" Hugo said dismissively, but realised they were serious. A little girl traveled to Venice alone? How was that even possible? Hugo had always assumed she'd been sent off to a monastery somewhere as was the custom with unwanted daughters.
    "I trust you will uncover her whereabouts. It is time for this to be ended. Do you accept this commission?"
    "Of course. I serve in every respect."
    "Good. I knew you were the right man for the task," King Edward