“Aye. You must bring your lady to me so that I may deliver the message in person.”
Aglette’s heart was thumping in her chest, with fear and excitement. “How do I know you are who you say you are?” she whispered. “You cannot possibly expect me to rouse my lady simply because you, a stranger, say that you bear a message for her.”
Fergus turned around, back for the kiln, and picked up another bunch of straw. “I shall be at the stables in one hour. Bring her there so that I may deliver the message.”
Aglette glanced around, wondering also if someone was noticing their conversation. She felt as if she was in the midst of something horribly treacherous.
“I will not,” she was afraid. “I have half a mind to run and tell Sir Bertram that you are here.”
Fergus didn’t look at her, continuing to bind the straw. “If you do, I shall swear that you helped me gain entrance and that it was you who plotted to spread the rumor that Sir Garren was a spy. I shall tell your lord that you are the root of the resistance within Framlingham and that all covert dealings pass through you. Even if he didn’t believe me right away, I can guarantee you that your days at Framlingham are numbered. Suspicion has a way of killing all it stalks.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Aglette gasped.
“Try me.”
Aglette was aghast. She blinked tears of fear and fury away. “But how do I know you are who you say you are?” she repeated. “Everyone at Framlingham knows of Sir Garren. You could simply being trying to trick me.”
Fergus looked at her; she was a pretty girl in a pale sort of way. “Tell your mistress that the ibis has returned,” he said, more gently. “She will understand and will assure you that my presence is no trick. Go, now. Tell her.”
Aglette didn’t know what to say. She turned so quickly for the tower that she nearly dropped the plate with food on it.
“One hour,” Fergus called after her. “At the stables.”
Aglette had no idea how she managed to carry the tray up two flights of stairs with her quaking knees, but she managed somehow. By the time she reached Derica’s chamber, she was a mess. The kitchen servants were filling a basin with the water they had brought and Aglette chased them from the room furiously. Even Derica, in her stupor, looked surprised when her red-headed maid slammed the chamber door and threw the bolt.
“Aglette?” she said. “What is the matter?”
Aglette looked like a frantic chicken. She threw her arms up in the air and struggled not to shout.
“A man in the ward,” she gasped. “He said… he said that Sir Garren sent him.”
Derica’s expression grew serious, confused. “What do you mean? Who is he?”
“He said his name was Sir Fergus,” Aglette stammered. “And… oh, my lady, he said that Garren has sent you a message. He wants you to meet him in the stables in one hour!”
A week of lethargy was erased in a matter of seconds. “Garren has sent me a message?”
Aglette shook her head fearfully. “That is what he said, my lady. I am frightened!”
Derica didn’t know what to feel at the moment. “Is that all? Did he say anything else? How do I know it isn’t a trick somehow?”
“But who would trick you?”
“I do not know. But how can I know for sure that it isn’t?”
Aglette seemed to calm strangely, though there were tears in her eyes. “He said to tell you that the ibis has returned,” she whispered. “He said that you would understand.”
Derica’s eyes widened enormously. “Dear God,” she murmured. “Ibis and alligators.”
“Then you know?”
She closed her eyes and, as Aglette watched anxiously, tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks. They were like rivers. But accompanied with the tears was a smile so bright that it lit up the room. Derica suddenly shouted and began spinning around the room like a madwoman.
“Aye!” she cried. “I know!”
Aglette’s fear began to fade, replaced by some of the happiness her mistress was feeling. “Truly? He has sent you a message?”
Derica’s answer was to throw her arms around her maid. The two of them danced jubilantly around the room. They hopped and cried and Derica bumped into the couch, stumbled, but kept going. She could have flown from the window at the moment and not been aware of it. But her dancing came to an abrupt halt.