Michael Manning - Mageborn - The Blacksmith’s Son

No one saw me enter. That was a thought with promise. If she could hide the body she might even delay the time until the search for his killer began. She took the older man’s legs in her hands and began trying to move him. “What did you eat?” she said aloud. There was no way she could move the fat bastard very far. He had to weigh in excess of two hundred and fifty pounds. At last she settled for dragging his body behind the desk, where it could not be seen from the door. She lay Timothy beside him, though she felt bad at having to leave him there with the corpse of his murderer.

Taking the keys from the priest’s pockets she locked the study door behind her as she left, with luck it would be several days before they were found. There were no services for three days so it was possible they might not be missed for a while. Now she just needed to get out without being seen. For some reason she still had the iron poker with her, I should have left it with him, she thought. No matter, she would just replace it where she had gotten it. Trusting to luck she stepped through the double doors of the chapel and into the hallway.

Luck had apparently taken a vacation. Genevieve, the Duchess of Lancaster was passing as she exited. “Good evening your grace,” Penny said with a small curtsy.

“Good evening Penny, how is Mordecai doing?” the Duchess asked.

“Very well, thank you for asking,” she replied.

“Is that one of the fireplace tools?” Genevieve asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes your grace, I was moving the logs in the great hall, when I thought of a question for Father Tonnsdale. I forgot to put it away before I came. I’ll take care of that now.” Stupid, stupid! That was the worst lie in history! she thought.

“Did you find him? I thought I might talk with him as well…” asked the older woman.

“No, I didn’t. I’m not sure where he’s gotten off to, I’ll have to look for him later. If I see him I’ll tell him you were looking for him as well, your grace,” she replied.

“I appreciate that. Well I’ll let you get to what you were doing,” and the Duchess moved away, down the hall.

Penny went back to the maid’s quarters, along the way she stopped to throw the iron poker into one of the closets they stored cleaning supplies in. Her mind was racing despite her calm outward appearance. The Duchess saw me, she thought. When they found the body, hopefully in a few days, questions would be asked. Genevieve would remember seeing her, and she had noticed the iron in her hand. There would be no doubt now. It would lead straight to her. I’m going to hang. Her mind kept coming back to that. There was no explanation that would exonerate her. She hadn’t even found the poison. I forgot to even look for it. She considered going back, to search, but discarded the idea immediately. She couldn’t go back.

Thoughts of escape came to her. She could run, take everything she had now, and just run. But she had no money, no family to hide her, no place to go. If she told Mordecai he would probably help. That wasn’t right, he would definitely help. But what could he do? If he ran with her it would only destroy his own life. He’s the Count di’Cameron now, he’s got everything to lose, she thought, but I am nothing. I can only ruin it for him.

“I’m going to die for this, nothing can change that. The only thing I can manage is who goes with me,” she said aloud. She might not be able to avert the consequences of her actions, but she could choose who she took with her. Asking for help would only ruin her friends, but the other option was to take the opportunity to make what remained of her life count for more. If she had to choose one other person to spend her life on, the choice became simple. Having made the decision she felt a calm come over her, and she began to plan.

I was still talking to Marc and Dorian when Penny returned. I was glad to see her, Dorian was busy trying to convince me that beer would speed my recovery and Marc was offering to have several pitchers sent to the room. We were young and hadn’t had much experience with strong drink, so the thought of drinking to excess was a new and exciting concept. But I knew I was in no shape for it. Penny’s presence put the damper on their plan immediately.

“C’mon Penny, you just got engaged!” Mark suggested, using his considerable charm.

“Do you see a ring on my hand Marcus Lancaster?” she offered up the unadorned appendage for his inspection.

“Well no, but you already said yes, isn’t that cause for celebration?” He grabbed her hands and led her into a short mock dance. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Marc, don’t you dare tell anyone about this! You too Dorian!” she yelled past Marc’s shoulder.

“Penny my dear! Are you embarrassed to let people know you’re going to marry this ruffian? Perhaps you should reconsider; there are other eligible bachelors still available after all.” Marc puffed up his chest and brushed his fingers across the front of his jacket, a roguish grin on his face.

The conversation was causing Penny some consternation, and I could see it on her face though she tried to hide it. She glanced downward, as if shy, “Honestly, I’m not ready to announce it yet, I still have to tell my father and I’d rather not set everyone to talking till I’m ready.” Something about her expression didn’t ring true to me, but Marc and Dorian took her at face value.

“Let her be Marc,” Dorian put in, “weddings are important to girls, we shouldn’t spoil things for her.”

“Fine, fine, I was only teasing,” Marc answered, looking as though he had been wrongfully accused. He had been a clown since we were children.

“Dorian,” Penny said, “would you mind doing a favor for me?”

“Sure,” he answered.

“I need to talk to Rose, about the ball tomorrow and… other things. Would you mind taking a message for me? To see if she has time this evening?” She smiled sweetly at him. I wished she smiled at me like that more often.

They both left after that, and I made myself busy eating a tray of food that had been sent up for me. I considered asking Penny about her deception, I was sure she was hiding something, but Rose showed up before I could ask her.

“You didn’t have to come up right away. I would have come to see you,” Penny said.

“Nonsense, I was bored anyway,” Rose replied.

They talked for a few minutes and Penny explained what she had in mind. The Duke’s mention of the ball had apparently caught her fancy, something I would never have expected. She wanted Rose’s advice about how to appear, and other details.

“Don’t go as Mordecai’s escort, since he’s not going. Come as my companion,” Rose suggested. “You’ll draw less attention that way, and since he’s not yet known as the Count di’Cameron you’ll get more respect as my friend.”

“That’s fine,” Penny said, “It doesn’t really matter to me either way. My true concern is that I don’t have a dress. I never expected to attend an event like this, being what I am.”

Rose smiled at her, “That won’t be an issue my dear. I’m glad you called me first; I have just the thing for you. You’re close to my size anyway.” Rose Hightower was probably the tallest woman at Lancaster Castle, standing five foot eleven inches, but Penny was rather tall herself and stood close to her height. “Mordecai,” she continued, “Penny is going to need some things if you intend to keep her.”

I looked up, “What do you need?”

Rose smiled at me, “Ten gold marks should do.” I choked, that was enough to buy a farm, two if you bargained hard. My father didn’t make more than two or three gold marks in a year, if things went very well. She saw my expression, “Hand it over my lord, you aren’t living that life anymore, and if you don’t start thinking of her needs Penny is going to suffer for it.”