Chapter 2 (part 1)
The Scilleian ship docked in Southampton, where a
servant waited with a carriage to greet Princess Elysant and take her to Winchester Palace. Instead of the princess, he
received a very worried pair of captains. Barwick and Tethion were immediately
taken to Duke Concobhar to report the situation at hand.
Mid-afternoon, the duke was in a council meeting.
His manservant, Aelfgar, a gangly lad in his late teens, tiptoed into the
meeting chamber and whispered into the duke’s ear. The dark-haired duke rubbed
his cropped beard as the servant spoke, then excused himself from the meeting.
Outside the chamber door, Barwick introduced
himself and Tethion then cut to the chase with a half-truth he had concocted
for the circumstance, “My lord, the princess has been abducted. Will you
provide horses for us to track and retrieve her?”
The captains stood erect, waiting for Concobhar to
speak. But he responded with silence. After a moment he directed, “Aelfgar,
send for Wulfstan and prepare gear for five.” The manservant acknowledged his
master with a curt bow and scuttled away.
Five men
is not many but it will suffice,
thought Barwick. He calculated that meant three men other than himself and
Tethion could go on the search. He and Tethion could talk on their ride back to
the ship about which three sailors to take.
Turning down a corridor, Concobhar addressed the
captains, “Gentlemen, walk with me.”
Concern now creasing his forehead, the duke began
a series of questions, “You say the princess was abducted. Which one of you is
responsible for her safety or are you jointly responsible?”
“I am responsible for the princess, sir,” answered
Barwick, following the duke. “Captain Tethion commands the ship.”
Concobhar did not acknowledge the answer. He
simply asked another question, “Where were you when the princess was abducted?”
“I…” stammered Barwick, surprised, “I was at the
aft. Remora were attacking the ship.”
The duke paused at the threshold of a chamber
door. He responded, “You just said that Captain Tethion is responsible for the
ship.”
Pushing open the door, he addressed Tethion,
“Where were you at the time?”
The bald man answered, “I also was at the aft,
sire.”
“Hmm,” the duke raised an eyebrow.
-- To Be Continued Tomorrow --
Copyright 2014 © Elizabeth W. Durkee
All Rights Reserved.
Would you like your reader review featured?
Each week at the bottom of www.LordRandallCastle.com, either a reader review is
featured or (much less frequently) a promotion runs. 3, 4 and 5-star reader reviews
of the Lord Randall Castle series titles are chosen at random from
Amazon.com, and verified reviews are given top priority for being featured. Post
your Reader Review to Amazon for your chance to win the weekly spotlight and check LordRandallCastle.com to see which week you have won.
*****
Have you joined my blog subscribers? The links are in the right sidebar. --> -->
Readers can subscribe to posts or follow by email. Never miss a new post. Join today!
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment