Secret Song Read Free Page B

her?”
    â€œEdmond of Clare.”
    â€œThe Marcher Baron? How very odd.” Roland fell silent. It was more than odd. The Marcher Barons, their power and existence granted to them by the great Duke William himself nearly two hundred years before, had little reason to stray from their strongholds unless it was to press west to garner more Welsh land and butcher more Welsh outlaws. It was their responsibility to contain the Welsh, and this they did with endless vigor and impressive continuity. They were in effect little kings, holding immense power in their own feudal kingdoms. It galled King Edward no end, this power outside himself, and Roland knew he planned to curtail their immense influence by defeating the Welsh once and for all by building royal castles all along the borders of the country. “I’ll push the malignant little lordlings until they’re on bended knee to me, pleading with me to leave them something,” he’d said once, pounding a table with his fist and sending it in splinters to the floor. Roland continued after a moment, “Edmond of Clare’s stronghold is between Chepstow and Trefynwy, bordering the southeast corner of Wales. Why would he come across the width of England to kidnap your niece?”
    The earl kept a stubborn silence. The impertinence of the knave, asking him these questions. He was furious but he contained himself. He couldn’t anger de Tournay, for the man wasn’t his to command. De Tournay could leave. Still, he refused to tell him the truth of the matter. He laid the matter on another’s shoulders, saying finally, “Clare despises the Earl of Colchester. He wanted revenge so he stole my niece. He wants nearly all her dowry as ransom or he will rape her until she is with child before he returns her to me.”
    â€œWhat did Colchester do to Clare to merit such a chilling revenge?”
    Damon Le Mark’s face paled and his hand shook. He wanted to thrash de Tournay for his infernal curiosity. He smiled and Roland felt the chill of that smile to his bones. This was not a man to guard your back. Damon shrugged. “I understand Colchester accidentally killed Clare’s brother some five years ago. I know none of the actual facts of the incident, and it was Colchester’s decision not to tell me more. Now, will you rescue my niece?”
    This was doubtless a lie, but Roland let it go. Probably closer to the mark was that the Earl of Reymerstone had killed Edmond of Clare’s brother. “When was she stolen?”
    â€œOn March the third.”
    A black eyebrow shot upward. “You wait a long time to reply to Clare’s demands.”
    â€œI did not wait here doing nothing until my men had found you in that silly Frenchwoman’s bed.”
    â€œOn the contrary,” Roland said with no heat, “Marie wasn’t at all silly. What did you do?”
    â€œI made two attempts, and both failed, or rather the men I sent to bring her back to me were fools and blundered. I discovered that my second attempt failed but two days ago. Clare returned one of my men alive with a new message and a new demand.”
    Roland waited, knowing he wasn’t going to like hearing what Clare wanted now.
    â€œThe whoreson now wants to wed my niece. He still wants her dowry as well, of course. If I don’t send my own priest to him carrying all her dowry with him by the last day of May, he says he will rape her, then give her to his soldiers for their sport. Then, if she still lives, he will have her used until she is with child. Then he will throw her in a ditch.”
    â€œI wonder why he wishes to marry her,” Roland said, stroking his chin.
    â€œHe wishes to humiliate me further.”
    â€œYour niece—is she beautiful as well as rich? Would her face and physical gifts charm him as does her dowry?”
    And in that instant, Roland saw quite clearly just what the earl thought of his niece. Living in