Page 93 of Raven's Rise
“Are you referring to the attempted murder or guarding me on the journey?”
He gave a short laugh. “The murder, but it applies to both. I’m out for myself, darling. Growing up with no wealth and no family connections meant that I always had to look out for myself.”
“You were fostered here,” Cecily interrupted. She’d just walked up, with Alric beside her. “You may not have had a noble name or lands to inherit, but you did have a family.”
“Perhaps I did,” Rafe conceded. “Until I betrayed that family when Theobald came to me with his plan.”
“Who’s Theobald?” Angelet asked.
“My uncle,” said Cecily. “A snake of a man. We’re well rid of him. But we’re doing this piecemeal. Rafe, tell her the whole story.”
“Please,” Angelet added.
He looked away. “Let Cecily and Alric tell it. No one wants to hear my version.”
“Everyone wants to hear your version,” Cecily said. “And you owe Angelet the truth, since you were the one who brought her here.”
“Do I have a choice?” Rafe asked.
“No.” That came from Alric, who didn’t look ready to compromise.
The whole group moved back into the manor house, since Cecily was worried about Angelet’s condition. In the quiet solar, Angelet was offered the best seat, and Rafe was left standing to give his account, with both Cecily and Alric in attendance, to ensure he told the truth.
Rafe began with his arrival at Rainald de Vere’s manor so many years ago. “I had no idea what to expect. I was just a boy, and all I knew was that this…lord decided I was to join these other boys for training. I met Alric, and Luc…as well as the lord’s daughter.” He glanced toward Cecily. “I had nothing to complain about. The training was hard, and the days were long. But I was fed, and had a place to sleep.”
“And you had friends,” Alric added.
Rafe gave a short nod.
“Those three were inseparable,” Cecily told Angelet. “They trained together, played together, ate together…everything. Together, they teased me horribly, too.” But she smiled a little, suggesting that her memories of those days were fond ones.
“Then the attack happened,” Rafe said. “And Lord Rainald de Vere died, or so we thought.”
All smiles in the room disappeared.
“We didn’t know it then—we were children—but the attack on the manor had been orchestrated by Theobald de Vere, who wanted the title and lands for himself. He forced his older brother to flee into exile, then pretended he had died so he could take over.” Rafe’s voice was quiet. “We all spent most of the next decade under his rule. It didn’t matter much to me. I kept on training, and then we all went off to fight when the new king called for soldiers. I fought with Alric and Luc for the next few years, battle after battle. It’s amazing we all survived.”
Alric said, “We did it because we stayed together. That was what the oath meant.”
“Ah, yes. The oath.” Rafe chuckled. He looked directly at Angelet. “I swore an oath, you know. With Alric and Luc. Just the two of them. The oath was simple enough. That we have each other’s back and be as brothers, not just in battle, but in life.”
He sounded so distant. Angelet wanted nothing more than to pull him close and embrace him, but of course she couldn’t. “What happened to change your heart?”
“We came home. Here, to Cleobury. The war was in a lull, and we’d finally got enough time to rest for a while. But Cleobury wasn’t a place of refuge for anyone, not with Theobald in charge. He wanted even more power. So he arranged to marry his niece Cecily off to some lord. Theobald knew Alric worshipped her, though, so he offered me a deal. If I arranged for an accident during training, and Alric died, then I would be rewarded for my loyalty. More money than I’d ever imagined I could have at once. With that fortune, I could go anywhere, start a life in any place I chose. And all I had to do was murder my childhood friend.”
“But you didn’t actually do it,” Angelet said.
“Not for lack of trying. We were sparring one day. Did I mention I’m a better fighter than Alric?”
“Sad but true,” Alric admitted.
“He can’t defend against me,” Rafe went on. “I saw opening after opening, and finally I took one. I struck him. Drew blood.”
Angelet put a hand to her mouth. “How did he survive?”
Rafe shrugged. “I stopped the fight and called his squire—after all, it was supposed to be an accident. But Alric took fever from the wound I gave him. I wished I hadn’t struck him,” Rafe said suddenly. “The instant I pierced the skin, I knew I’d made a mistake. No, not made a mistake. Committed a sin.”
“Sins can be forgiven,” Alric said. “And obviously, I did survive.”
