Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)(105)
Captain Dunois starts to speak, but she silences him. “How long would it take us to reach Rennes from here?”
“Four or five days, Your Grace.”
“At best,” Chancellor Crunard points out. "We will be greatly hampered by the baggage carts and household that cannot travel by horse. Our party will be stretched out for half a mile, a ripe target for all our enemies.”
Captain Dunois nods, conceding the point. “Besides, Rennes is close to Fougères. The French could easily cut us off and might even now be marching on the city. However, these bad tidings also bring a small gift.”
The duchess frowns. “How is that, Captain?”
He spreads his hands. “Ancenis is Marshal Rieux’s own holding. If the French have seized his lands, what better rallying cry to call him back to our side? Surely he will wish to put aside this petty alliance with d’Albret in order to protect his own lands.”
A small ray of hope appears on the duchess’s face, but Crunard stares at him stonily. “Do you mean reconcile with Marshal Rieux?”
Dunois nods.
“Do you think that is possible?” the duchess asks. Dunois shrugs. “He is a good man at heart, Your Grace, and no doubt thinks he is doing what’s best for his country.”
“By holding my own city against me?” the duchess asks tartly. “By allying with the strongest of your suitors. However, now that the French are on the march, he will no doubt see the need to face them with a united front and will abandon this path he has taken.”
Her face creased in thought, the duchess begins to pace.
“How would we do this?”
"We would take a small party and ride for Nantes to parley with him.”
Crunard takes a step toward the duchess. “I do not think it is safe for you to leave the city, Your Grace.”
She glances at Captain Dunois, her arched brows raised in question.
“I think it is worth considering,” he says. "Whatever Rieux may hope to get from this rebellion of his, he will not want it at the cost of his own holding.”
The chancellor sighs heavily, as if deeply worried. “I think you are making a terrible mistake.”
But his is only one vote among three and he is overruled by both Captain Dunois and the duchess herself. And so it is decided. The duchess and her small party will ride for Nantes tomorrow.
Chapter Forty-seven
Duval is late. either that or he is not coming. I pace in front of the fire and try not to fret, but the most likely explanation is that he has become too ill to move. That he is huddled in some corner on the verge of death.
This idea so distresses me that I grab my cloak and head for the door. If the hidden tunnels and corridors run the full breadth and depth of the castle, I will need help searching them. Besides, I will not be able to carry him back by myself.
The sergeant at arms will not let me into the garrison, but he sends a lackey to fetch Beast for me. A short while later, he and de Lornay arrive. I have caught them dicing. De Lornay still holds a pair in his hand and is rubbing them together cheerfully. when they see it is me, the casual smiles and laughter drop from their faces and they hurry forward. "What is it?” Beast asks.
I glance at the nearby sergeant at arms, and Beast takes my elbow and moves us outside. when we are standing in the middle of the training yard, far from any corners or doorways that might conceal an eavesdropper, de Lornay asks, “Has something happened to Duval?”
“He was supposed to come to my room tonight and he has not. He has told you where he is staying, yes?”
Beast nods slowly.
"Well, I fear he is lying somewhere in there. Have you seen him in the last few days? He is very ill. He — ” My throat grows so tight that it is hard to get the words out. In the end, I cannot tell them I am afraid Duval is dying but say instead, “I fear he is too weak to move.”
De Lornay’s whole manner changes and his gaze sharpens. “It is not my doing,” I tell him, but I do not think he believes me.
"We will help,” Beast says before de Lornay and I can come to blows. “Show us.”
The hour is late and the court subdued, so there are few people about to see us. when we reach Duval’s apartments, I hesitate. It would not do for loyal Louyse to see me leading two men into my bedchamber. She would never forgive such a betrayal of her master.
But there is no one in the main chamber, so I motion to Beast and de Lornay and they move through the room, silent as shadows. when we reach my chamber, Duval is still not there. “The door he uses is here,” I say, showing them the wall by the fireplace. “But I do not know the mechanism that opens it.”
Neither, apparently, do they, for they poke and grunt and prod at the wall for long frustrating minutes until finally there is a solid thunk, and then the wall gives way. Beast puts his shoulder to it and shoves. Cool, dank air wafts into the room. "We’ll need light,” de Lornay says.
I hurry to the table and use the lone candle burning there to light three more tapers. I hand one to de Lornay, another to Beast. They glance at the candle I clutch in my own hand but do not try to keep me from coming.
The blackness inside the corridors is absolute, and the faint glow from my room is swallowed up in a matter of seconds. There are no windows, no doors, no openings of any kind. Just thick gray stone pressing down on us from all sides. It reminds me of the crypt at the convent, and I do not know how Duval has stood it all this time.