C Sansom - Sovereign

I was conscious of pressure on my bladder. I looked round the churchyard and the trees that bordered the open space to make sure no one was there. I unlaced my hose and sighed with relief as I let out a jet of piss against the beacon. I finished and laced myself up again. I turned, then stood stock still, rigid with shock. Jennet Marlin stood ten feet from me. She wore a dark coat with a hood and her mouth was set in its grimmest expression. She was holding a crossbow, and it was aimed at my heart.

I stared at her, my mouth open. She shifted the weight of the crossbow slightly on her shoulder. I flinched, waiting for the bolt to thud into me. But though her hand was on the trigger she did not fire.

‘This time I have you,’ she said, her voice sharp as a file.

I glanced over her shoulder at the church, a black shape against the evening sky, the light from the chapel outlining the windows in a dim red glow. She gave a rictus of a smile and shook her head. ‘Do not look for help from the old man,’ she said.

‘What – what have you done to him?’

She looked at me with those large eyes. They were afire with gloating anger.

‘I have secured the church door with a spar of wood through the handles. He is trapped, that is all. I do not take life unless it is necessary.’

‘And mine?’ I asked. ‘Is it necessary to take mine?’

She did not answer. I saw the crossbow tremble in her arms a moment. She was at a great pitch of tension. I prayed her hand did not slip -

I knew I had to keep her talking as long as I could, keep her from pressing that trigger. ‘It was you who tried to spit me at the camp? You who let the bear loose and put that thorn under my horse’s saddle?’

‘Yes. Seeing you in the camp that first time was a lucky chance – I was walking down by the river.’ There was hatred in her look now. Why? What did she think I had done? ‘As for the bear, I knew from Tamasin that you had gone into York and I waited by the outbuildings for your return. I thought there would be a chance in the dark. You came back and when you walked through the church I ran along the side and got behind the bear’s cage. Oh, I have watched you for the last two weeks,’ she added with intensity. ‘From the windows of the manor, from the camp, from hidden places in the courtyard. When I saw you from the camp tonight, walking up the hill, I knew this was my best opportunity.’

‘You got that crossbow from the overturned cart.’

‘Yes.’ She seemed steadier now, eyeing me along the length of the weapon.

‘I thought someone was watching from the woods.’ Keep her talking, I thought, keep her talking. ‘You killed Oldroyd?’ I asked her.

‘Yes. Oldroyd had to die. He had that damned casket. He would not give it up to me even though I told him I came from Bernard.’

‘You are on a mission from your fiancé? So Bernard Locke was a conspirator?’

‘Yes, he was.’

‘But I thought you were a reformer?’

‘I am. Bernard regrets what he did. He wanted the contents of that box destroyed – they could endanger the throne, he told me. He has repented. Like me, he would save the King from treasonous conspiracies.’

I wondered whether Bernard Locke had truly repented. No, I thought – he has used this besotted woman as his catspaw.

Behind her, I saw a movement, a big dim shape edging towards her. It was Giles. He had got out of the church somehow and was approaching Jennet Marlin slowly, his stick raised in both hands, his expression intent as he tried to get closer to her without making a sound. I forced my eyes back to Jennet Marlin.

‘Bernard told me the papers were in the possession of Master Oldroyd of York, kept in a secret place at his house. He told me I would have to kill the glazier and take his keys from his body to get hold of them. He would never give them up.’

‘You toppled that defenceless man off his ladder, in cold blood.’

‘I had no choice.’ Her steely voice did not waver. ‘And was he not a conspirator, deserving of a traitor’s death? If it was not for his horse bolting when he fell, I would have had the keys to his house from his body, but that sounded the alarm.’

‘You heard us coming and hid in the church?’

‘Yes, you and that lout Barak nearly had me there. It was as well I had taken care to find keys. But then before I could get to Oldroyd’s house, you appeared with that box. A jewel casket, just as Bernard had described to me.’

‘And so you made friends with me, planning all the time to kill me. Because you thought I knew the contents of that box?’

Giles was right behind her now. He had lifted his stick high above her head with both arms but he hesitated – he must fear that if he struck her she would loose the bolt from the crossbow as she fell.

‘Yes, to see what I could find out. As you pretended to be my friend, laughing in your sleeve all the time because you knew that some of those papers incriminated Bernard. It was harder to be civil than to try to kill you. Every time I saw your crooked form I wanted to be sick -’

Now I saw the reason for her anger. ‘Mistress,’ I said, ‘I hardly saw the papers. I saw nothing about your fiancé.’

‘Nonsense. You do not trust Maleverer with what you know, but when you get to London you will reveal all to your master Cranmer. You must know-’

She never finished her sentence, for at that moment Giles brought his stick down on her head with all the force of his arms. There was a horrible sharp crack. Jennet gave a little moan of surprise, then toppled to the ground. The crossbow clicked, and I threw myself to the right. There was a thud as the bolt buried itself in the wood next to me. I looked ahead again: Jennet Marlin lay face down on the ground, her head hidden by the hood of her coat. Giles stood behind her, swaying slightly, eyes wide.

I ran across to where she lay, the crossbow by her side. I grasped her arm. It felt floppy, lifeless. I turned her over. She was dead, her dark curls wet with blood, her wide eyes staring up lifelessly, like those of a fish, all that frantic emotion gone. I turned aside, bent over and was violently sick.

I felt an arm on my shoulder. I stood up. Giles’s wide, staring eyes and a twitch in his cheek showed how shocked he was.

‘I have killed her?’ he asked in a whisper.

I nodded. ‘You saved my life. You heard all?’

‘Enough.’ He looked down at her body. ‘By God.’ He took a long, deep breath.

‘How did you get out?’

‘I have known Howlme church since I was a boy. When I could not open the main door I got out another way. There is a side door.’ He looked at Jennet Marlin’s body. ‘I was so afraid she would loose the bolt.’

I picked up the crossbow and took Giles’s arm. ‘Come,’ I said quietly. ‘We must go down to the camp. Maleverer has to know about this at once.’

ON THE WAY BACK DOWN TO the camp I tried not to be impatient with Giles’s slow pace; the old man walked carefully with his stick, feeling his way along the path for it was dark now. I had picked up the crossbow and it hung from my hand.

‘Will Maleverer be at Howlme Manor?’ Giles asked.

‘I would think so. We should go there.’

‘It is hard to credit that a woman could do what she did.’

‘It can happen,’ I replied. At the foot of the hill we turned right and headed for the manor house. Giles looked very tired now. I put a hand on his arm.

‘Can you manage? Perhaps you should go back to the camp, find your tent and rest.’

‘No, I will come with you. Maleverer will want to see both of us.’

We reached the high wall that enclosed the grounds. The manor house was approached though a large gateway where soldiers stood guard. They would not let us through, but I persuaded one of them to fetch Maleverer. Giles sank down on a knoll beside the gate, folded his hands over the top of his cane and lowered his head.