“Why would Clodion betray Charles to Duke
Tassilo?” Danise was left almost breathless by the audacity of this
idea. “Charles treats Clodion with respect and honors him for his
lifetime of loyalty to Charles and his father.”
“For some men, respect and loyalty mean
little when there is no gold in the family coffers,” Autichar said.
“You are indeed an innocent if you think otherwise.”
“What is your part in this scheme?” Danise
asked, trying her best to sound impressed by what she had just been
told. Her determination to free herself had bloomed anew during
Autichar’s revelations, which had shown her that more than her own
safety was at stake. If she could manage to escape and find her way
back to Duren, she could warn Charles about Clodion’s treachery.
She tried to flatter Autichar in the hope that he would reveal more
of the plan between Clodion and Duke Tassilo. “Autichar, you are
too clever not to have helped in the devising of this plan. You are
a Bavarian, so Tassilo is your overlord, and I have heard he is
also your close friend. He and Clodion must have needed your help.
From what I’ve seen of Clodion in recent days, I believe everything
you said of him earlier is true. He thinks only of his lust and the
women he is going to use to satisfy it.”
“Not only women,” Autichar told her. “Clodion
likes little boys, too. And older women, young men, whores of every
kind, and I have no doubt, he also eyes the occasional sheep.”
“Oh! I pity any girl who marries him.”
“I’ve seen his future wife,” Autichar said.
“She’s a thirteen-year-old virgin, pretty as a spring morning, with
hair even paler than yours. I feel a bit sorry for her myself, but
it can’t be helped. She and her enormous dowry of land and gold
will go to Clodion in return for his assistance to Tassilo. Then,
of course, there is the direct payment of gold that will be made
from Tassilo to Clodion on the success of our plan.”
“Just exactly what is it that Clodion is
going to do to help Duke Tassilo?” Danise asked.
“He has already done it,” Autichar responded.
“He abducted you.”
“Me? But I am no one of importance.”
“There you are wrong,” Autichar said. “You
are of great importance, if only for a few days. Then you will have
no further value to us. That is why I will let Clodion have you
after he rejoins us at a place where his ravishing of you will in
no way imperil me, my men, or our arrangements with Tassilo. What
happens to you after Clodion is finished is of no interest to me,
though I suppose you will want to know, won’t you? Clodion will
probably hand you over to my troops, so I doubt if you will live to
see the end of this, but if you do, you will be free to go where
you want.”
There would be no place for her to go save to
some obscure convent where no one would recognize her. Danise could
not bear to think about what Clodion would do to her – or
Autichar’s men, either. Worse even than her defilement at their
hands would be the disgust and pity she would see on Michel’s face,
or on her father’s, or Redmond’s. She could never see any of them
again. If she lived, she would have to let them believe she was
dead so they would never learn of her shame.
“But why?” Danise cried, not ready yet to
accept the terrible fate awaiting her. “What have I to do with all
of this?”
“You are the excuse, the maiden whose cruel
abduction will infuriate Charles. He and your father are friends.
Charles’s queen is fond of you. All of them will want vengeance for
your sake. Charles will gather his army together and march against
Duke Tassilo.”
“I have been abducted to provoke a war
between Charles and Tassilo? Charles will crush Tassilo,” Danise
said scornfully. “The Frankish army far outnumbers Tassilo’s
Bavarian followers.”
“Not if the Frankish army is divided.”
Autichar grinned, his eyes shining in the firelight. “Tassilo has
been negotiating in secret with the Saxon leaders. As soon as
Charles marches into Bavaria, the Saxons will attack outposts on
the border between Francia and Saxony. To put down those revolts
Charles will have to divide his army in two. Tassilo’s own army
will then be the larger, and it will easily defeat the Franks who
remain in Bavaria. Once that victory is accomplished, Tassilo will
march to Saxony to join his allies there, and together Saxons and
Bavarians will destroy what remains of the Frankish army.”
“The Saxons are untrustworthy. They will turn
on Tassilo,” Danise declared.
“He and the Saxons have already come to an
agreement on the division of Frankish lands.” Autichar spoke with
perfect confidence. “Is it not a clever plan, Danise?”
“A diabolical plan,” Danise said, appalled
that Autichar could be so openly proud to be involved in such
treachery, “except for the fact that Tassilo will never defeat
Charles.”
“Charles is not invincible. We know it well
after last year’s disaster in Spain. And Charles knows it,
too.”
“Why do you hate Charles so much?” Danise
asked.
“I don’t hate him. But Tassilo is my true
overlord and he despises your Frankish king. Therefore, I fight
with Tassilo against Charles.”
“If Tassilo hates Charles, it’s because he
suffers from a guilty conscience for deserting the Frankish cause
in time of war,” Danise declared angrily.
“That may be so,” Autichar agreed. “Guilt is
often a reason for hatred. Whatever the cause, I do not question
that Tassilo will be the victor in the coming war.”
Danise did not know enough about military
matters to determine whether Duke Tassilo’s treacherous plan could
succeed. She feared it might. After listening to Autichar she was
more frightened than ever. Autichar would not have spoken so freely
to her if he expected her to survive her captivity. It was a
chilling realization, but not only her virtue and life were in
danger. Michel, her father, Charles, Redmond, perhaps even
Hildegarde and the royal children, Alcuin – all those she held dear
– could be mistreated, imprisoned, killed, by these wicked men.
When she thought of so many lives senselessly destroyed, her own
fate seemed almost unimportant.
While Danise considered what she had just
learned and tried to think of a way to free herself and warn
Charles, Clodion reappeared and sat down across the fire from
Autichar and his prisoner.
“Well, Clodion,” said Autichar with a
malicious glance at his partner’s disheveled clothing, “did you
enjoy yourself by yourself?”
“You’ll pay for keeping the girl from me,”
Clodion muttered.
“Speak kindly to me,” Autichar warned, “Or I
will advise Tassilo not to give you your next bride after all.”
“You do, and I’ll tell Charles what you
plan,” snarled Clodion.
“Warn him,” said Autichar, not at all
concerned by this threat, “and I will free Danise and give her safe
conduct back to Charles so she can tell him about your part in this
scheme. This is another reason for me to keep her away from you,
Clodion. I can always send her back to Duren unharmed.”
“And ruin your own plans?” Clodion was
shouting now, while Autichar maintained his calm and humorous
outward appearance.
“When he learns from Danise of my part in
that plan, Charles will still chase me into Bavaria, where he will
find Tassilo waiting to do battle with him. You see, Clodion, now
that you have delivered Danise to me, I don’t really need you any
more. Perhaps I ought to kill you now and be done with it.” He
chuckled when Clodion made a strangled sound in his throat.
“What villains you are,” Danise cried. “No
one ought to trust either of you, and you cannot trust each
other.”
“You, be quiet,” Autichar ordered, still
smiling. “Actually, I rather like the next step in our original
plan, so we will carry it through after all. Clodion, you ought to
find it perversely stimulating.”
“It was my idea,” Clodion said.
“I do remember.” Autichar’s smile now was not
pleasant.
“You need me alive to carry it through,”
Clodion said. “I can delay Charles in his search for Danise, giving
you time to move on toward the Bavarian mountains unimpeded. You
need me,” Clodion said again.
“What are you going to do?” Danise asked,
half expecting to see murder committed before her eyes if Clodion
and Autichar continued to quarrel.
“To you, for the moment, nothing,” Autichar
responded. “You, Danise, have just become our security for
Clodion’s part in this plan. If he wants you, he will have to
return to me, and he knows I will kill him if he plays me false.
Nor will Clodion get his Bavarian bride and all her wealth without
my personal recommendation to Tassilo. Which ought to guarantee my
own safety. It’s checkmate, Clodion,” he ended with a nasty
grin.
Danise could see flaws in the plan concocted
by these men, but she would not point them out to Autichar or
Clodion. A great many things could go wrong for them. For herself,
she could see no future unless she could manage to escape. She
realized that she could not do so that night. After a word from
Autichar to one of his men, she was led to the side of the camp,
given a blanket, and told to lie down and sleep. Her two guards
remained with her. They did not sleep at all that night and neither
did she. Nor did Autichar and Clodion sleep. They sat together by
the fire, talking and occasionally arguing. Danise could not hear
what they were saying, but she was certain they were still plotting
against Charles and the Franks.
Toward dawn two of Autichar’s men rose and
began to saddle horses.
“Give Clodion the same mount he rode
yesterday,” Autichar commanded. “Someone is sure to remember his
horse.”
After a hasty meal Clodion and the two men
mounted and rode away together through the trees. When Autichar
paused to look down on Danise on his way back to the fire after
seeing them off, she hastily closed her eyes and pretended to
sleep.
In the forest near Duren it was so
uncomfortably hot even in the shade that Charles’s great hunting
party ended early. It had been successful, with many birds and
rabbits brought down, and in spite of the heat most of the hunters
were cheerful as they headed back toward the campsite.
“Redmond, have you seen Danise?” Michel
called to his friend. “I have been looking for her all
morning.”
“I have not seen her since the hunt began,”
Redmond answered, glancing around in search of Danise. “She was
with Savarec and Clodion. I don’t see them, either.”
“Clodion?” Michel reined in his horse next to
Redmond. Riding with Michel was Guntram, who also halted. “Savarec
knows Danise doesn’t like Clodion. Why would they all ride
together?”
“Perhaps Savarec thought to soothe Clodion’s
injured pride,” Redmond suggested. He frowned. “Now that I think on
it, the last glimpse I had of Danise, I did not see Savarec with
her, but only Clodion. Danise waved to me.”
“Was she beckoning? Did she want you to join
her?” Michel asked in sudden concern.
“She called something to me, but I could not
hear what she said. There was so much crowding and everyone was in
such a rush that it was more like a race than a hunt. But if
Savarec was near, and so many ladies were present, what harm can
there be if Danise rode beside Clodion? We’ll find her soon
enough.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Michel demanded,
his concern for Danise becoming certainty that her absence meant
something was amiss. “How can you be so complaisant with Clodion
wandering around looking for opportunities to get Danise alone? My
God, Redmond, just the other day, he was spying on her while she
bathed in the river!”
“That is disgraceful. It is unworthy of a
nobleman to behave in such a way. But, as I said, Savarec was with
her today,” Redmond assured Michel. “Clodion would not dare to say
or do anything offensive toward Danise if her father is
present.”
“No,” Guntram interrupted the heated retort
Michel was about to make. “Savarec was not with Danise, not after
the hunt advanced into the forest.”
“Where was he, then?” Michel turned his full
attention to Guntram.
“Savarec ordered me not to say,” Guntram
replied. He got no further in any explanation he might have made
because Michel leaned over and grabbed the front of his tunic,
nearly pulling Guntram out of his saddle.
“Damn it, Guntram, Danise is missing and no
one has seen Clodion recently! What do you think that means?
Where is Savarec
? He must be told.”
“He had an assignation,” Guntram revealed,
most unwillingly.
“
What
? Savarec?” cried Redmond in
disbelief.
“A certain lady invited him to her tent. He
was to meet her there while most folk were absent in the forest.
Don’t look so angry, Michel. Savarec is a healthy man and needs his
recreation.”
“It’s not Guntram’s fault.” Redmond put a
restraining hand on Michel’s arm and kept it there until Michel
released Guntram. “If something terrible has happened to Danise, we
are all equally to blame. You, Michel, myself, Savarec, and you,
Guntram – all of us know what Clodion is. We should have been more
protective of Danise. She should have had a guard with her at all
times.”
“Hindsight won’t help Danise now,” Michel
said, his expression grim. “We have to find her as soon as
possible.”
“First find Savarec,” said Guntram. “He may
be able to tell us more. I’ll look in his tent in case he has
returned there, and then I’ll ask the lady.”
“Who is she?” Michel demanded.
“Savarec ordered me not to tell, but you are
right, Michel, this is not a time to blindly obey Savarec’s orders.
It is Lady Ingeborg. She’s a widow of Savarec’s age. When he told
me about their meeting for today, I suspected Lady Ingeborg was
looking for a good second husband. It may be as I thought, but
still, I begin to wonder now.”