Nay, of course not.
Could she?
Dirick frowned at his absurd thought, fighting to crystallize the murkiness of his mind. Damn that last jug of ale!
Her father. The words returned. I love her.
Ask yourself why Merle of Langumont did not return.
He slept, dreamt, slept.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Dirick’s head felt thrice as large as normal, his ears a hundred times more sensitive, and his belly like the ocean during a storm.
The barking of the dogs was enough to drive him mad, yet he gritted his teeth and managed to smile at Henry’s jest.
“What ails you, Dirick?” the king asked, obviously noticing his pained grin.
“Naught but enough ale to drown a village,” he admitted.
Henry chuckled. “’Twould be a pity were you not at your best this eve when you take your bride to bed. ” He laughed outright. “Say the word if you cannot perform your duties and would wish some assistance. ”
Dirick glared at the king, finding little humor in his liege’s jest. “Nay, your majesty, I assure you—I have waited long enough for this night, and I will have no problem performing as I should. ”
The king laughed again, then turned his attention to the howling hounds. “They’ve scented a boar!” he cried in excitement. With a spur to his mount, he leaned forward and the stallion leapt into the wake of the frenzied dogs.
A party of twenty some men and their horses trampled through the forest, bearing down upon the hounds. The fresh air whipping about his face dissolved the brunt of Dirick’s nausea and he began to get into the spirit of the hunt. With a cry of delight, he brandished the spear he carried and urged Nick harder, so that they gained ground on the king.
At last, the howling of the dogs indicated that they’d cornered the boar. The hunters raced into the clearing, reining up on one side, readying themselves to take passes at the snorting animal.
The boar’s red eyes blazed from its long snouted face, and angry tusks curled with enough curve to rock a careless dog before tossing it into the air. Bristling, wiry hair sprang from the beast, and hot breath rasped from flaring nostrils as it cast frantically about for an escape route. Hound, horse, or man blocked all avenues of freedom, and the boar grew more frenzied as it readied itself to rush through the blockades
“Now!” cried Henry, nodding at the three bridegrooms, who’d been given the honor of the first strokes.
Lord Bartholemew readied his spear and dug his heels into his mount’s sides. They leaped forward, crashing through the clearing, passing by the boar in a flurry of hooves, flapping cloak, and a well thrust spear. A spurt of blood sprang forth from the beast’s shoulder, and a cheer erupted from the other hunters.
Lord Richard followed shortly after, missing his stab at the boar, but distracting the howling beast from the spear wielded by Dirick. His aim was true, and the boar received another telling wound in its belly.
As Dirick halted Nick to the side, watching as the boar pawed the ground, readying itself for a vicious pass through the ring of men that surrounded it, he had a moment to reflect upon his garbled memory of Bon’s warning from the night before.
Why did Merle not return from Breakston? If he were alive when Bon saw him last, and he was not felled during the attack upon the keep, then he must have died by the hand of someone else.
Michael and Victor d’Arcy?
The thought sprang to his mind, followed quickly by the question of why.
A shout from one of the hunters distracted Dirick from his thoughts, and he saw that the boar was wavering on its feet.
Her father.
Could Michael be Maris’s father? That could explain Allegra’s odd reaction when she greeted them back at Langumont. The hair prickled at the nape of his neck. Things were beginning to make sense.
Dirick turned to Lord Bartholemew, who watched the last thrust at the boar with rapt attention. “Bart, know you much of Lord Michael d’Arcy? Is he trustworthy?”
The other man turned, a look of satisfaction on his face as the boar crashed onto its side. “Lord of Gladwythe, you speak of? Verily, the man has an oddness about him. Mayhap ’tis because of his parents’ death…findin’ them like that would have to touch anyone’s mind. ”
“What of his parents’ death?”