Page 87 of Raven's Rise
“So?” Rafe asked. “What is my new crime?”
“You told me your account of what happened when Lady Angelet’s cortège was attacked.”
“Yes,” Rafe said impatiently.
“But you didn’t tell me that there was a large quantity of gold in a chest. And now I’ve heard that there is speculation that you were the very person who stole it.”
That annoyed Rafe. “What?”
“There are rumors among travelers. You stole the gold, allowed the others to be killed, and made off with the woman as a hostage.”
“Does she look like a hostage?” Rafe sputtered. “I did everything I could to save her life. I even came back here! A mistake, I now know.”
“So you deny the theft?”
“Yes, I deny it! I’ll march into the chapel over there and deny it again, if that would help.”
“It wouldn’t,” Alric said flatly.
“Then what would convince you?”
“The whole truth?”
Rafe sighed, then proceeded to tell Alric the few details he’d withheld from the original account. At the end, Alric shook his head.
“Why keep this a secret?”
“Perhaps because of the accusation you just leveled at me? I know I’m not the trustworthy, upstanding knight you are. But I’m no thief, and I didn’t have anything to do with the disappearance of that gold. Angelet will confirm it. I couldn't have brought along so much treasure, even if I did steal it. Which I didn’t.”
“You might have hid it somewhere.”
“There were nearly a dozen other people with the cortège. Someone was always awake—becauseIset watches. There’s no way I could have spirited the chest away, snuck the key from Angelet to unlock it, unchained the whole mess, removed the money, refilled it with rocks, rebound it, relocked, and hauled it back alone, without someone seeing. And who in the world would be dumb enough to hide a cache of treasure in a countryside he barely knows? I’d be better off tossing it into the sea.”
“All right, I believe you.”
“You do?”
“You’re not the type of man to leave something that valuable behind.”
Rafe sighed. Even when he was exonerated of something, his worst traits got brought up. “Ask the lady. She’ll tell the same story.”
“Cecily insists that we don’t distress her while she recovers, so I haven’t brought it up.”
“Speaking of her recovery, can I see her at some point? She always seems to be asleep when I try.”
“Well, a crossbow bolt to the chest is no small matter. It’s amazing the bolt didn’t pierce a lung, or her heart. She’d be long buried by now. So don’t begrudge her a nap.”
“I don’t begrudge her anything. I just want to see for myself.”
“Speak to Cecily,” Alric said. “One thing I’ve learned is that it’s unwise to ignore my wife when she’s made her wishes clear.”
As it happened, Cecily found him first. Rafe had gone to the top of the outer wall, the one facing the eastern woods. He was enjoying a moment of peace, simply looking out over the greening woods, when the lady of the manor joined him.
“Did you miss Cleobury?” she asked, surveying him rather than the scene.
“Occasionally.” Every day, but he wouldn’t tell Cecily that. “Thank you for letting me stay. And for caring for Angelet.”
“Did you think I’d turn the poor woman away?”
