Crowner's Dilemma - Part Five

[ismenin]

Good morning! Damp and dismal it be, but never mind, this week we have had sunshine!

Before I go on to post my story, I must thank all of you who have sent me cards and virtual gifts. Your love is much appreciated. It is nice to belong, isn't it? Hugs flist tight.

Anyway, today is DomLijah day, tomorrow is...wait for it...CaseynZeke day, as I signed up for a drabble. Yes, well, the drabble grew into a ficlet, so....tomorrow CaseynZeke eat cake!

But today, our story continues. Dom is still being secretive and Lij is feeling hurt about it. Bless!




Thanks to ladysunrope for beta, even though she is suffering from a stonking cold and bad chest. Offers more Covonia and Olbas Oil! Hugs


Part - 5


Elijah went outside to walk amongst the trees. He needed to calm himself. Dom now meant more to him than any creature alive, and he needed to think clearly about what had happened to his love. If it was the food, why were they not all unwell?

Elijah's retentive and ordered mind gathered together the facts, as he leaned over the bridge and looked at the fish swimming in the moat. He needed to marshall his thoughts to give John a clear picture of Dom's weakness.

When had Dom first complained of being ill? After he had examined the knife in the abbey stables. They had eaten an hour before then - both of them, as had Red and Ben. It was possible that Dom's belly was disordered by the food. Ben, after all, had complained of the same thing, Dom said. Later, he would find Ben, and question him concerning it.

The second time was...when the Abbess Gertruda had said that Dom's face seemed familiar to her. Elijah's memory stood him in good stead. Dom had grown pale in an instant. Did it mean his previous sickness had returned, or was it a new bout?

Elijah walked off the bridge into the wooded area near the castle. Somewhere, in the distance, he could hear Red and Ben calling happily to each other, and with them, other young voices were heard. They had found friends at the castle.
He was glad that Ben had shed much of the fearfulness that had clung to him after the assault. The countryside was a good place to put away past feelings. Elijah had always found it so.

He brought his mind back to Dom. The third time Dom had felt ill was just after he had been shown the diagram Andrew had made of the tree-cut. They were waiting for dinner to be served, and neither of the men had eaten for several hours. It was a puzzle.

The only common factor in the case seemed to be...the murders. But why should this upset Dom in such a way?

Elijah had taken the knife from Dom, to show three lay brethren who had come from a local monastery to the abbey with meat for the kitchens. But they had not seen it before.
He took the knife out of his belt, and examined it more closely. It was then he saw the scribing on the hilt, hardly visible in the dim light under the trees. A circle, with a cross running through it.

It came to him as a physical pain in his chest. Dom had recognised this mark! Elijah sat under a tree, and gathered his troubled thoughts. Dom had recognised the mark on the knife.
He had been...afraid? shocked?...when the abbess said she thought she had met him before.
Dom had known what the mark on the tree meant. Elijah had no doubt of it, now. Dom knew something.

He was minded to go inside and ask Dom if these notions were true, but he did not. If Dom did not care to tell him what was happening, he would not force his lover's confidence. He must be allowed to offer the information freely, without coercion.

Slowly, Elijah rose and walked back towards the bridge. Very well, Dom. Two may play at this game! If you go out riding tomorrow morning - then so shall I!

*****

Dom re-appeared a couple of hours later, apologising for his weakness. Elijah reassured him that it was not his fault that he felt unwell. "Even the strongest stomach can be affected by strange food - as I found for myself in Outremer!"

Dom looked relieved that Elijah seemed to accept this idea, and a pleasant evening was spent alone together, as Ben and Red, with the unwearied stamina of youth, had gone out with three of the keepers set on trapping some predators who were after the game in the woods. Birds had gone missing, and deer, and also hens from the yards in a nearby farm. The keepers suspected foxes, and were determined to catch and kill them.

Elijah, on the watch, now he knew something troubled Dom, had seen his eyes flare, as he casually asked Ben in which direction they were headed. Dom nodded at the answer, and began to talk of something else, but Elijah knew that Dom would order the big bay saddled up in the morning, and he was determined to follow him at a discreet distance, and see what he was searching for in the countryside round about.

Elijah was not surprised when Dom elected to sleep in his own room that night, citing the frequent need to use the garderobe as an excuse, and, therefore, he said he did not wish to disturb Elijah.

Elijah asked Andrew to call him before dawn, and he did so, helping his master to dress in the dark, as he had no want to show Dom he was awake.

As soon as the faint dawn-light shone through the window, the men heard the bolt snick, and Dom's soft tread pass in front of the door. As soon as Dom had passed down the hallway, Andrew opened the door a fraction, and as Dom disappeared down the main staircase, Elijah and Andrew made for the back stairs, and reached the stables before him.

Ordering Harald not to reveal his presence there, and waving Andrew urgently out of sight, Elijah waited until Dom was riding out of the castle before he ordered his own horse saddled.

Andrew came back from his watchpost, and said quietly that Dom had turned east. As Elijah made to follow him, Andrew grasped the reins. "Be careful, my lord, that's all!"

Elijah was touched. Andrew's friendship meant much to him. It was true he was a servant, but he was also a much valued one, and a true companion. Leaving his man to tell Harald that the duke was concerned for the health of his honoured guest, and did not wish him to come to grief in an unknown place, Elijah followed the road Dom had taken.

He did not see Dom, for he made sure to keep well behind him; but he asked everyone he passed if they had spoken to the Sheriff. After an hour he was fortunate in that he fell in with the man who supplied the castle with coneys.

"Aye, your Grace," said the yokel, tugging his forelock in the absence of his hat. "I saw 'im. Ridin' a big bay, 'e was. 'E were askin' if I had seen or heard of any strangers nearby. I said there was a few had been spotted up near Mottage, but I dunno anythin' about them, except they was staying at the inn. That's where he went, most like, sir - to the inn."

Unfortunately for Dom, the stranger at the inn proved to be a passing merchant from Lincolnshire, and his family, and Elijah admitted defeat for that day. What - or who - Dom was looking for, he could not say, but by discreet questioning, found out that the man on the bay had stopped only long enough to drink a mug of ale before returning to the castle.

Elijah knew all the short-cuts, and was back at Beauvallet a good quarter of an hour before Dom's horse came clattering into the courtyard.

He came out to meet him, and said, with real feeling, that he was glad that Dom felt well enough that morning to ride out, and left it at that.

Dom was relieved at Elijah’s reaction. His venture had proved a failure, and he would have to try again, tomorrow. He put it out of his mind, and went in to breakfast.

*****

"Good-night, my love," Dom had said, as they parted for the night, and Elijah tried very hard to keep the longing from his face, and from his voice. He missed Dom in his bed. He missed the warm body pressed closed to his. He missed Dom's love - the kisses, the whispered confidences.

He also felt sad that whatever the problem was that so exercised Dom's mind was being kept from him. He had tried, several times, to broach the matter, but each time he did so, Dom began to talk of something else. Elijah felt hurt. He was being excluded from Dom's heart as well as his bed.

Elijah had berated himself for feeling so, as he lay in his lonely bed. It had only been two days, after all. Perhaps, tomorrow...

The next morning's ride proved much the same. Dom went west this time, and Elijah, following, wondered how long Dom would make his illness the excuse to sleep in the adjoining room. He was anxious for Dom; he needed his company, which Dom gave, gladly. But he stayed out of Elijah's bed. It was not like Dom to do such a thing, and Elijah was worried. Was he really ill, as well as having this burden - whatever it may be - on his mind?

They spent the rest of the day going about the countryside with the boys, and Elijah showed them many places of interest, and a charming small chapel, just big enough to hold thirty persons, which made Ben smile; after knowing the cathedral most of his life, the place was like a toy made for a child.

That evening, just after dinner, John Barebone arrived.

The apothecary-priest was hot and sweating, as he had ridden hard, and, except for a short night spent at an inn, had not stopped to rest. Elijah's note had worried him, for Dom was never ill. If he was, and it concerned Elijah enough to send for him, he had to get there quickly.

He was astonished, therefore, to find Dom sitting in the hall, with one of Elijah's dogs at his feet, and a glass of wine in his hand.

"God's Mercy, Dom! I am glad to see you well. His lordship's letter frightened me near out of my wits!" John said, as he warmly greeted both men, and was divested of his cloak. He sat down in a comfortable chair, with a glass of wine, and accepted the offer of food.

He looked carefully at Dom, before he spoke. "Elijah has written to me. You have not been well," he said.

Dom smiled at his long-time friend. "I was not well, it is true, but I feel much better now, I assure you. But I know you, John. You will need to examine me, and so you may - but eat first, and refresh yourself. There is no need for haste!"

Not long after John had finished his meal, Dom invited his friend to come upstairs with him. "We shall not be long, Elijah. Do not fear! John will examine me thoroughly enough."

Barebone cast a quick glance at Dom. It was obvious he had said this to keep Elijah from being present at the examination, and John could not help but see the wistful look that came over Elijah's face at being excluded.

But Elijah made no fuss. He merely smiled, and sat in the chair Dom had vacated, and asked for wine.

Two minutes later, Dom pulled John into his room, and bolted the two doors - his own, and the one connecting it with Elijah's chamber.

"What is the matter, Dom? Why are you so agitated?"

Dom paced about the room, his hands folded tightly across his chest. "We have been friends for years, John, and there is nothing about me, or my life, that you do not know. I have shared my innermost thoughts with you, things from times past when I thought I should go mad from it."

"Well, what I have feared most has happened, at last, and I cannot see a way through the tangle. Not only that, there are two murdered nuns in the reckoning. Oh, God help me, John! What shall I do?"

The examination took so long that Elijah began to be worried that there was something far more seriously wrong with his love than he had thought. He drank two cups of wine, and was just about to embark on a third when John came downstairs.

"I have left him in bed, Elijah, for I'm afraid I tired him out with all my questions and probings."

Elijah had gone deathly pale, and the apothecary immediately put his mind at rest. He understood that he could not break Dom's confidence, but there were things he could say to ameliorate Elijah's apparent distress.

"Do not be feared, Elijah. It is nothing serious, I assure you - just a disorder of the system. I am certain that time, and good care will soon have him back to perfect health. Now, I think I will look at your leg, if I may."

Barebone followed Elijah to his room, and was pleased when the apothecary said that the leg was healing well. "Soon it will be as good as it was before the injury, my lord. But continue to rest it, and massage it. I have brought some more of the salve for you."

Elijah escorted John to the room he had been allocated, just as the two boys came in from the stables, where a new litter of pups had been born that evening. After greeting them, and telling them to get a good night's sleep, John retired to his bed, weary, and troubled. He could see no way out of Dom's dilemma. He had told Dom it was not wise to keep things from Elijah, but Dom had become so agitated that John changed the subject, and soothed his patient with a mild composer.

After Andrew had left, Elijah bolted his door, and tried the connecting door to Dom's room. He was surprised to find it open. He crept in and looked at his love, fast asleep, his cheek resting on his hand. He got into the bed, and putting his arm about his lover's waist, fell quietly asleep.

He was woken by Dom getting carefully out of the bed, but Elijah pretended still to be asleep. He heard a soft scratch on the door, and recognised Barebone's hushed voice.

So, John has been let in on the secret, whatever it may be! Elijah thought, sadly. After ten minutes he rose, and, dressing quickly, found Andrew waiting in the stable yard. "They went south, my lord. Do you wish to follow them?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, Andy, I think not. Let them be."

So sad was the expression on his face that Andrew, not for the first time in his life, wished to strike his master's lover in the face for causing him such distress. Damn Mortain to hell! He thought, savagely snapping the handle of a curry comb between his strong fingers. If he hurts my lord any further, I swear I'll geld him with my own teeth!

When Barebone and Dom returned two hours later, Dom was surprised to find that Elijah had already breakfasted, and had left for the abbey with Andrew.

The two old friends sat down to eat, and John waited only until the servants had gone from the room, before making a trenchant observation.

"Dom, you are a cod's head! I told you this last night, and I meant it. I have no doubt that you have greatly distressed Elijah by your reluctance to confide in him. Was that your intent?"

Dom looked with distaste at the dish of almond milk, seasoned with cumin, and thickened with eggs, which he had selected from the laden table before him. He pushed it away.

"You must know it was not, John. I wished only to protect him from what must surely cause him pain."

John snorted as he cut himself a couple of thick slices of boiled bacon. "I think you have already distressed him more than you realise, you fool. He is a quiet soul, not given to outbursts of feeling, but, God's teeth, Dom, there was real sorrow in his face last night, was there not? Or are you so wrapped up in your own misery that you failed to see his?"

Dom folded his arms across his chest, and sighed. "You are right, John - I am a fool. I was just overcome by the revelation, that is all, and the fear that, however remotely, I was concerned in the death of either - or both - of those poor girls. Telling him, or not telling him will make no difference now. What has happened is past changing. We will go to the abbey, and I will explain it all to him."

They rode into the abbey forecourt a bare hour later, but to Dom's astonishment, the ostlers told him that the duke had not been there that morning. "Not a sign of him, sir, and that's a fact!" said the younger man, grinning up at Dom.

Dom had no desire to speak with the abbess, lest she remember where she had last seen his likeness, for Dom had no doubt that she had done so, so they left quickly before she could be told of their presence.

They decided to search the south-east, and rode off gently into the fine morning sun. Dom wondered where Elijah could have gone - he certainly told Astin that he was going to the abbey and that Andrew was accompanying him. But he was not destined to wonder for much longer. After a few miles, a man dressed in a shabby tunic of dark green cloth stepped out from amongst the trees into the road.

"We were coming to find you," The man said, quietly. "After this man had been...er...persuaded to tell us who he was. I had seen him in the grounds of the abbey with you. I knew you would not be far away."

Dom saw Elijah, his arms tied behind him and his face bruised. He leapt off his horse, and grabbed the newcomer by his arms. "By God's breath, Matt, you will untie him now!"

Several men stepped out from behind the trees, their bows pointed at Dom, but Matt waved his arm at them.

"Put your bows down, men. He will not harm me."

One of the men growled, as he slung the bow over his shoulder and replaced the arrow in its quiver. "But how do we know that, Matt? He don't seem right glad to see you, and that's a fact!"

Matt laughed, but it was a humourless sound. "I am certain he has no desire to play Cain to my Abel, Wat." Then seeing the confusion on his companion's face, said simply, "he will not murder his only brother."

Dom was busy releasing Elijah's bonds, and whispering softly into his ear. "I am sorry, Elijah! I have been a fool! Forgive me! Are you much hurt?"

Elijah shook his head. "They threatened to kill Andy, otherwise I would have said nothing."

Dom was cutting Andrew free. The man rubbed his wrists, but did not thank the Sheriff, but rather gave him a long, appraising look.

"At least I know, now, why you were so secretive, Dom," Elijah said, quietly, leaning on his servant's shoulder.

"He is my brother Matthew. Although he is an outlaw, he is still my brother. I did not know what to do, for the law is so much part of you, that..."

Dom stared at Elijah's face. "You will not harm him, or hand him over to the authorities, will you?"

Elijah shook his head, and moved a slight distance away from his lover. "I cannot promise that, Dom. If he is involved in these murders, he must stand trial for it. I cannot wrest the law to suit my own purposes, or my wishes. I have made an oath not to do so, and I will not break it."

Dom moved forward and clutched Elijah's arm. "But these are outlaws, Elijah! If you try to capture them they will kill us - or you and Andy and John, at any rate! I beg you - re-consider!"

Matt was standing nearby, listening intently to this interchange. He stepped forward. "Will it be enough if I accompany you to your home, my lord duke, and tell you my story there? As long as you swear to let me go after I have told my tale. My men will do well enough in the greenwood without me for one day, I assure you. You will know where to find me, after all. I will not desert my men, and if you will feed us we shall remain here. We have had precious little food, of late."

Elijah thought for a minute before answering. "Very well - I swear to it, before God and this priest; but I will not promise not to prosecute you if I find your story untenable. Dom, do you take up your brother, and we shall go back to Beauvallet."

Elijah turned to look at the small group of men standing under the trees. "If you trust me enough to wait here, I will send Andy and another man back with a cart of provisions for you. The depredations on my stock must cease immediately, do you understand? I will not countenance it!"

Wat, six foot two in his stockinged feet, looked askance at the little, bruised man standing resolute and unafraid before him. "Aye, my lord! We'll trust you, if Matt do!"

They left the small band of men, with Watt still laughing by the roadside, and returned to the castle.

Comments

[ismenin.livejournal.com]

Gosh, Aragorn, Dom AND Lijah? Mercy! We shall be squashed. :D

I do feel so sorry for Matt, bless him, as you'll see. It's all go for Elijah, too - busy man! xxx