“We must find your sister immediately,” he hissed, taking her by the hand and dragging her towards the altar. “She is in great danger.”
“Why?” Alys demanded, half terrified and half outraged. “What has happened?”
Father Simon did not want to tell her. He did not want her to panic. He already had far more panic than he could handle.
“Ask no more questions,” he told her, throwing open a small door that was in the vestibule behind the chapel. “Keep your mouth shut if you want to live.”
Wide-eyed with fear, Alys wisely did as she was told. The small door led to a narrow staircase that sloped slightly before ending in another small door. This opening led to the cloister behind the chapel where the priests lived. Father Simon yanked Alys through the darkened corridor and into a building smelling of stale air and body odor.
But they did not stop there. They continued through the building and exited the other side where they found themselves on the north side of the inner courtyard. Father Simon was heading for the buildings where the nobles were usually housed, buildings he suspected where Lady de Lara would be. A wall separated him and Alys from Sean’s battle and he kept his ears peaked, listening for any sounds of a struggle. But he could not hear any. Everything was strangely silent.
His attention refocused to the lady in his grasp, knowing he had to find her sister and get them both out of the Tower. He could not wait for direction from the Marshall; as far as he knew, the man was conferring with the allies laying siege to London and out of reach. He would therefore have to depend on his owninstincts in handling the fall of the Shadow Lord. Their network of intrigue was crumbling. God help him, he could still scarcely believe it. He had to get to Lady de Lara before the king did.
Yanking Alys behind him, he tried to stay to the shadows as he made his way to the east side of the Tower. The Flint Tower was closest and he headed towards it; a safe, dark haven in the midst of the hell going on around him. Next to the Tower were the buildings that housed the visiting nobles. He could only guess that was where Lady de Lara was located; if she wasn’t, then he was at a loss to know where she would be. He began to pray very hard that his assumptions were correct. There was little time to go hunting for her. Behind him, he could hear Alys panting with fear.
A corridor led from the Flint Tower into the upper floor of the two level building. It was dark and eerily still as he and Alys slowed their pace, traversing the black corridor by clinging to the walls. These old corridors smelled like dust and smoke, adding to the ambience of uncertainty and fear. Father Simon had no way of knowing who might lay in wait for them; with the chaos of the Tower at the moment, every shadow and every door could be deadly. Their pace was very slow.
They had traveled about halfway down the length of building when Father Simon saw a sliver of light coming from one of the closed doors. Leaving Alys in the shadows, he made his way silently to the door and leaned into it, listening carefully. All was silent for several long moments and he almost pulled his ear from the door. But then, he thought he heard humming. It was faint, but the sound was unmistakable. Puzzled, he continued to listen, wondering who would be shuffling about the room humming until he heard something clatter to the floor and a softly uttered curse. The light of recognition came to Father Simon’s eyes; he knew that voice. God be praised, he knew it. Softly, he knocked.
The humming stopped immediately and he heard more shuffling going on. Father Simon knocked again.
“Gilby?” he called softly. “Gilby, open the door. Let me in.”
Another long pause and then the door flew open. Gilby stood in the doorway but so did Guy, the knight with a broadsword in his hand. Gilby yanked the priest into the room. Alys bolted in after him and they locked the door.
Inside the room with a faint fire flickering in the hearth, the four of them faced one another with trepidation. Each was waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Gilby was the first to speak.
“What are you doing here?” he asked the priest.
“Looking for you,” Father Simon told him. “Is Lady de Lara with you?”
“She is,” Gilby nodded. “Why? Did de Lara send you?”
Father Simon wasn’t sure where to start but he had to speak and he had to do it quickly. The situation was spiraling and he felt a panicked sense of urgency.
“We must remove Lady de Lara immediately,” he said. “Something… something dreadful has happened.”
Gilby’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Father Simon swallowed, eyeing Alys as he did so; she did not know why they had fled the chapel and he hoped she would not fly into hysterics as he told the sordid tale.
“De Lara was ambushed by the White Tower,” he lowered his voice. “I saw it with my own eyes. It will only be a matter of time before the king comes looking for Lady de Lara. We must remove her immediately.”
Gilby didn’t change expressions but Alys grabbed the priest by the arm; she had a wild look to her eye. “He was ambushed?” she screeched.
Father Simon pried her fingers off his flesh. “He was set upon by dozens of the king’s soldiers,” he said. “Even a warrior asstrong as de Lara would have difficulty surviving such a thing. I can only assume that… that he is….”
“Did you see him fall?” Guy entered the conversation, sounding stronger than he looked. His dark eyes glittered in his pale face. “Did you see his death?”
Father Simon shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But there were dozens of soldiers, my lord. There is no way for him to survive such a thing.”
“I would not be too sure,” Guy replied. “You speak of the Shadow Lord, after all. If anyone could survive such a thing, he could.”
“I did not wait around to find out,” the priest lifted an eyebrow. “I came to take Lady de Lara from this place. She cannot remain.”
“Why not?” a very weary, very intense female voice came from the doorway leading to the bower; with all of their chattering they had awoken the sleeping patient. Sheridan stood there in her blood stained dress, looking pale and exhausted. “Moreover, I am not leaving without my husband. Where is he?”
The four of them stared at her, unsure how to tell her what had just been reported. They felt guilty that they had been caught in conversation, guilty that they did not want to tell her the truth. But she had overheard some of it. They had to tell her the rest. Alys finally broke the silence.