Chapter 82: Day 108

Matthias, Milos, Karla, and Stefan departed Southham immediately following breakfast, accompanied by a patrol of mounted City Guardsmen who would escort them past the woods outside Southham. The Lord Mayor had sent word offering the patrol, and Milos and Matthias had gladly accepted. About an hour outside Southham, after they had passed the woods, Matthias thanked the Lieutenant leading the patrol, and the Guardsmen turned back towards Southham.

"The more I think about it," Milos said once the patrol had departed, "the more convinced I am that it will take a military operation of combined mounted troops and infantry to counter the Black Crows."

"I still believe that plays into their claims of injustice, oppression, and despotism," Matthias replied. "They won't attack a military formation, but they will point to it as proof that their claims about royalty and nobility are accurate."

"Then what?" Karla inquired.

"King Robert and the nobles must rule justly, fairly, and compassionately. That reduces the pool of recruits for the Black Crows' cause. You treat what they do as crimes, not as political acts. The people will then see the Black Crows as simple criminals."

"Explain Alton, please," Karla requested.

"An example to any wealthy merchants or Nobles who might support the Black Crows. Had Alton asked for mercy, it would have helped our cause and hurt his, which is, as I see it, why he declined. He effectively admitted complicity by what he said about the 'corrupt monarchy'."

"He was willing to die for an ignoble cause," Milos observed.

"One he considered as noble as your willingness to die to defend me."

"Surely you cannot believe that!" Milos protested.

"I didn't say that I believed it; I said he believed it. And in the end, that is all that matters."

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"Are there any places Alton instructed either of you not to go?" Lisette asked Penelope and Martha.

"No, Lady," Martha replied. "I was mostly only in the kitchen, the pantry, the cellar, and the dining room. I had no call to be upstairs."

"Only the room behind the door in Alton's room, Lady," Penelope replied. "I cleaned every other room in the house and changed linens in every bedchamber. The only thing out of the ordinary was his secret meetings in the middle of the night."

"I am no Lady!" Lisette protested. "I am in the employ of Count Matthias as a healer and alchemist, and I am not married to a Knight! Please call me Lisette. Did you see anything else suspicious or even slightly out of the ordinary?"

"No, La ... Lisette," Penelope replied. "It was only those meetings, and I was always in the servants' quarters at that time. I never went to Alton because he was ugly and fat, and Laurel would not have allowed it."

Lisette almost laughed at Penelope's statement, and she completely agreed with Penelope about Alton, who had clearly eaten too much food and drunk too much ale in his time. It was almost always rich merchants and nobles who were fat, though occasionally older Knights grew fat when they stopped training. The average peasant farmer or craftsman worked far too hard and had only sufficient — not excess — food.

"Thank you," Lisette said. "If you think of anything else — anything at all — please inform one of us."

Lisette left the kitchen and went to find Tristan, who was searching the library, one book at a time, as a code wheel could be made from thin metal or wood, and could easily be secreted in a book.

"Anything?" Lisette asked.

"No. He appears to have had a keen interest in historic tomes on a wide variety of topics. All are copies, not originals, but he still spent considerable funds having copies made. The value of the books in this room exceeds what most craftsmen would earn in a lifetime. I checked the shelves and found nothing out of the ordinary, nothing in the desk, and so far, nothing in the books."

"Neither servant had anything to add. Alton didn't reveal anything at all to them, and Penelope was never with him at night. He never instructed her to stay out of any rooms except the one connected to the master bedchamber and hidden by the tapestry. She was instructed to stay in her quarters during his late-night meetings."

"Just as Laurel was instructed to stay in the bedchamber during those meetings. Alton was clearly very secretive, and the only reason we suspected him was because one of his men gave him up."

"If you were him," Lisette asked, "where would you hide your codebook or code wheel?"

"Someplace it would never be found by accident, nor any place from which I could not quickly retrieve it. The secret room and safe were obvious good choices, as only he had access to those. I would find some secret place where the staff would not stumble upon it or see me retrieving it. Given the size, a secret compartment could be literally anywhere here in the house, or it could be hidden in plain sight — someplace we wouldn't look because it's too obvious."

"What about the inn?" Lisette suggested.

"An excellent thought," Tristan replied, "and something I should have considered! We should speak to Daphne and the others employed there."

"We should do that at once," Lisette declared.

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"Count Matthias?" a messenger called out just after mid-day, about halfway between the Shattered Shield and the Grinning Griffin.

"I am Count Matthias."

"I carry a message from your Lady wife, the Countess."

"Hand it to me, Messenger," Milos demanded. "Do not approach the Count."

Milos rode over to him, and the Messenger handed over the message. Milos rode the short distance to Matthias and handed it to him. Matthias broke the seal, unfolded the parchment, and read the message.

"It appears the Millers Guild is unhappy with me," Matthias said with a smile. "Messenger, were you paid to take a return message?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Tell my Lady wife I return tomorrow before mid-day, and will remain in Newtown one night. I do not arrive tonight, as I cannot travel safely at night."

"I will return at once, but will arrive very late."

"Do not disturb her then," Matthias said. "I will arrive before the mid-day meal, and it makes no sense for you to ride well into the night and disturb her sleep when she is not expecting an answer for at least two days. Keep the payment and ride with us to Langford and stay the night; I will cover the cost of your accommodations."