Catherine Coulter by The Valcourt Heiress Page A

castle servant?”
    A castle servant? Why not? She nodded, marveled at how a little practice made it easier to lie. “She wove beautiful cloth.”
    “She died?”
    “Aye, when I was born.”
    “I am sorry your father was killed in the Retribution. His name was Father Adal?”
    She bowed her head, and merely nodded. She was aware of Gilpin staring hard at her, puzzlement writ clearly on his young face. Did he recognize her as the boy he’d given bread to the night before? Thankfully, Aleric handed him a steak speared on his knife. She watched Gilpin inhale the magnificent scent, and quickly transfer the steak to his own knife.
    “Where were you last night?”
    “Miggins wasn’t certain you weren’t as bad as the Black Demon. She insisted I remain hidden until she was sure of your intentions.”
    “So now she is certain?”
    “Aye, she is.”
    “You weren’t here when I was.”
    She shook her head. “My father brought me from another keep farther to the south.”
    “What was the name of the keep?”
    It came out of her mouth without thought. “Valcourt.”
    “Valcourt? That is a very rich holding. Why did your father leave?”
    “Lord Timothy wished to give the post to another, and so we had to leave. We came here to Wareham. Lady Anne convinced Lord Arthur to take us in since there was no priest in residence, and so he did.”
    Garron made room on the floor beside him. “Sit here and eat.”
    She hadn’t expected this. Thanks to Lady Anne’s full-cut skirts, she was able to sit cross-legged beside him. Garron speared a piece of meat for her.
    She pulled it off with her fingers and simply smelled it before she took a lovely big bite. She didn’t realize she’d closed her eyes, but Garron did.
    He grinned as he took his own bite. He chewed. “This is very good. It appears you got all the people together and assigned them tasks. The great hall looks much cleaner, and the sour smell is mostly gone. Why did you not do anything before I arrived?”
    A very good question. She chewed another bite, swallowed, said simply, truth in her voice because she knew it was true, “There was no hope. Every man who left to hunt food was murdered by the Black Demon’s soldiers. We were helpless and trapped within the castle walls. Why sweep the floor when death is coming? When you went out this morning, did you see any signs of the Demon’s soldiers?”
    “Nay, we saw no one. We went directly into the Forest of Glen and hunted. Perhaps you will tell me about the Retribution? And this fellow who titles himself the Black Demon, which sounds like a name meant to scare small children.”
    Thank St. Hermione’s scarred knees the people of Wareham had spoken of the Black Demon within her hearing during the day. “He did more than scare children. He and his men butchered them.” Her voice caught on that, for the actual saying of those words was terrible indeed. She wondered if she’d even be able to speak about it if she’d actually been here, to witness the death, hear the screams, see the horror, and see to burying all the dead.
    “I was told the young women were raped and taken away. Why were you spared?”
    “Miggins hid me in the jakes. The soldiers did not go there since there was nothing for them to destroy, and I suppose the Black Demon didn’t believe the silver coins to be hidden there.”
    He cocked a black eyebrow at her. “You were lucky none of them wanted to relieve himself.”
    “Aye, I know it well,” and she shuddered at the thought.
    “You’re also lucky they didn’t poison the well so you could clean yourself up after your stay in the jakes.”
    She smiled just a bit, and finished what was on her plank. Garron speared another steak for her. “It is odd not to hear children’s voices. None survived?”
    “Some managed to escape and hide in the forest.” What was the forest’s name? She couldn’t remember. “The Black Demon’s men were merciless. When they couldn’t find the silver, the