James Patterson - The Jester

The truth hit me: Sophie was gone. There was nothing I could do for her now. Except maybe one thing-“ Don’t give them what they want .” Whatever that could be.

I ran and found a ragged cloth, and came back and laid a corner of it under Sophie’s head. I covered her body with the rest, as if she were in our bed at home, though I knew nothing could disturb her now. I took one last, loving look at Sophie, the person who had been my everything since [225] we were ten. I’ll come back for you , I promised. I’ll take you home .

Then I staggered down the stone stairs and past the indifferent guards. I ran back toward my room through the castle’s maze of darkened halls.

My body shook with incomprehension. What had she been doing here? It wasn’t a dream-my wife was dead. Rotted like some diseased dog. Here in Borée … The shock tore at my brain. I shouldn’t have left her. Part of me wanted to go back. To pick her up, take her home. But there was nothing I could do.

Then a new thought crawled through the haze in my brain… something I had to do. I had to right this wrong. I finally knew who was behind it. The blame wasn’t at Treille, but here. Anne!

In a rage, I raced back toward the royal living quarters. No alarm had been sounded. Guards smirked at me along the way, a laughable fool who had perhaps tipped the jug too many times, staggering home to sleep it off.

Yet all the while, one thought reigned in my mind: Anne knew.

I bounded up the stairs toward her living quarters. Two guards stood watch on the landing. They looked at each other. What harm could I do? I was the lady’s fool. They let me pass. Just as they always had before.

Down the hall were the lord and lady’s living quarters. A new guard stepped into my way. A Tafur . “Whoa, fool, you are not permitted,” he barked.

I didn’t stop to reason. I spotted a gleaming halberd hanging on the wall over a coat of arms. I grabbed the ax from its anchor and ran at the startled guard, taking him by surprise.

I swung with all my might, the blade catching him at the base of his neck. He let out a garbled groan, his side nearly splitting away from his body like a side of beef. He toppled to the floor, dead.

Now I had killed one of Anne’s own guards.

One of her Tafurs.

SHOUTS RANG OUT from behind me, deep male voices echoing in alarm.

I stormed ahead like some madman. Where was she? Anne! I had one single-minded desire: to hear the truth from her lips, even if I had to die for it.

Two guards from the stairs ran my way, their swords raised. I forced myself through a set of heavy doors and bolted them shut behind me. I ran deeper into the royal chambers. I had never been in here before.

I knew I would die here. At any moment I expected a blade to tear into my back, to see my own blood spilling out onto the floor. No matter. All that was important to me was to ask my lady, Why?

I stormed deeper into her quarters. The bedroom. An engraved wooden table with a washbasin, tapestries hung on the walls. A vast, draped oak bed, larger than I had ever seen.

But empty. No one was there.

“Goddamn you,” I shouted in frustration. “Why my family? Why us? Someone tell me!”

I stood there not knowing what to do next. I saw myself in my fool’s costume, blood spattered on my face. Why, why, why?

Suddenly a door opened beside me. I held my knife, expecting to face Anne, or one of her Tafur guards.

[227] But it was neither.

For a moment, I felt as if I were back on the road to Treille, blinking out of the haze, and all the things that had happened since-Norcross, St. Cécile, Sophie’s death-were just figments of a dream, terrors that could be washed away with a soft word.

I stared at Emilie’s face.

She gasped, her eyes fastened on my blood-spattered clothes. “My God, what has happened to you?”

“SOPHIE’S DEAD,” I whispered.

She stared at me, transfixed. Then she moved forward to support me. “What has happened? Tell me.”

“The duke’s men have had her all along, Emilie. Sophie has been here … Not in Treille, with my enemies, but here , in the tower, among my friends .”

“This cannot be.”

“It can , Emilie. It is the truth.” I leaned myself back against the wall. “There are no more games to play. No more pretexts. It ends now.”

Shouts and pounding sounded at the door I had bolted. What a wretched sight I must have made. My clothes torn, slick with blood, the look of madness in my eyes.

“Anne,” I muttered. “I told you… She is behind it all. I have to find out why she allowed these men to destroy my family. Stephen’s guard …” I chortled, almost a laugh. “These are not knights, Emilie. They are scavengers, from the Holy Land. The lowest form of butcher. Even the Turks ran in fear of them. They hunt for relics, spoils. That is why the two knights were murdered. But my family… We had nothing .”

The commotion outside the door grew louder. Anne’s men were trying to smash it in. Emilie gripped my arm. “It doesn’t [229] matter now. Anne is not in the castle. She has gone to meet her husband at La Thanay. Come with me.”

“It is too late. The time for kindness is finished. There is nothing left for me now but to face her men.”

She put her face inches from my own. I could feel Emilie’s breath on my cheek. “Whatever you’ve done, if Anne is behind this, I will do everything to see justice is given you. But you must come. I can’t help you if you’re dead.”

Emilie hurried me out of the room, down a narrow corridor in the royal quarters. She pushed me into a small chamber and quickly barred the door. I could see she was afraid, and it touched me deeply.

Emilie searched through a drawer and found a heavy brown cloak, which upon closer inspection proved to be the robe of a monk. “Here… I thought at some point you might need it to gain access to the tower. Put it on.”

I stared at it, confused, amazed that Emilie did this for me.

“Go now. They will search every room. Send me word. Through Norbert. You have friends here; you must believe that.”

A moment later, I was no longer a jester but a monk, the hood pulled over my head.

“Your new pretext.” Emilie smiled bravely.

I took a deep breath. “I fear this one will be a greater trick than before.”

“Then let me add to it,” Emilie said. She pulled me close by the collar and, to my surprise, pressed a quick, hard kiss upon my lips.

My blood came to a halt. The softness of her lips, the boldness of her touch. I felt my knees lock, the breath massed inside my chest. In truth, I didn’t know what to feel at that moment. My head spun.

She looked into my eyes. “I know your pain is deep. I know every part of you cries out to revenge your wife and child. But, [230] common or noble, there is a specialness within you. I saw it the first time I looked into your eyes. And I have never seen it waver since. We will find a way to right these wrongs. Now go.”

There was a small window above her bed. Below, it was only a short jump to the courtyard. From there, the gardens…

I hoisted myself up and pushed through a leg. I looked out and saw the darkened shadows of roofs in the distance. I looked back into Emilie’s face. “By what luck, lady, have I earned you as a friend?”

“By leaving , right now. This instant.”

I smiled and lifted myself through the narrow window. I turned. “I hope, in all the world, to see you again.”

There was a pounding at her door. I waved at Emilie, then dropped from the window.