The bandage was too tight, but Nicholas was determined to search the castle from top to bottom until he found his wife. She had to be somewhere, and he would not rest until he found her. He sent his men out in groups to search different areas as he went alone. All of the men-at-arms employed at Renoir had either been killed or were now being loaded on a boat to be sent back to London. Nicholas was not sure what Henry was going to do with all of them. He had a personal interest in keeping the castles along the Thames in his hands, so he was also getting the prisoners.
Carefully, he went back up the stone steps leading to where Gemma was being held, moving slowly. His leg was stiff, and he could not bend at the knee because of the wrap. He took the steps as quickly as he could, despite the pain. The passageway was dark when he got back up there. Gavin was gone. He did not know if he had died or if he was on the boat with the rest of them, heading toward London, nor did he care. Gavin's explanation no longer mattered. He just wanted to find his wife.
The door to the cell that had once held Gemma was now hanging open. It was dark, and it smelled like filth. He shouted an order down the steps, and one of his men came up with a torch. He took it from him and walked into the room. A storm had rolled in again. Lightning shot across the sky, illuminating the entire room for just a brief moment. What a dreary place it was. He imagined Gemma being held here and cringed.
There was not much to the room. He saw the dirty pallet upon which she must have slept. It smelled like urine, and the kirtle she had been wearing when she disappeared was lying on it in a heap. The table was empty, and the small stool was tipped over. There was nothing else other than the dirty reeds littering the floor and the lone chamber pot in the corner.
For a better view, he left the room and walked up to the top of the curtain wall to look below. He could see his men going in and out of rooms and outbuildings. No one had found her, but he saw the men from his ranks who had been missing. Someone discovered them in another dungeon within the castle. Moving as quickly as he could, he went back down to the bailey and headed toward the great hall. Once there, he found the steps leading up to the solar. The wound in his leg was aching now, and blood was flowing anew through the linen. He needed to rest, but he would not stop until he found her.
He tore through each of the rooms he found. Piles of clothing were strewn about. A bed was overturned as if someone had already searched each room carefully. He found nothing that suggested Gemma had been anywhere. The storm outside suddenly dumped a torrent of rain. Thunder sounded every three seconds, and he knew it was time to go before the river rose too high and prevented their passage home.
She was no longer there. He knew it in his gut. It was time to send most of his men home. Before he left, he would entrust a few of his men to come up with a search plan. He would find her. She would choose to leave him and go to her uncle, but he still had to know she was alive. The pain in his heart was too heavy to bear, but he would see her off if it meant her happiness.
****
Gemma paced under the cover of trees as she waited. The storm was now overhead, and heavy drops of rain pelted the leaves above her. Out in the open, the rain danced on the hard-packed earth, and puddles formed before her eyes.
"Where is he?" she demanded to no one in particular. Helena was still sitting at the foot of the tree, shivering.
"Are you well?" she asked her.
"Aye, I am well. I am just scared. I do not know what is to become of me. The marriage to Gavin was my last hope. My family is all but gone, and I have nowhere to go."
"You will be cared for," Gemma said as she sat next to her. "You risked everything to save me, and I shall not forget that. All I can say is I am sorry for my brother. He is not well. He is not the man I remember growing up. We did not spend a lot of time together, but he is not the same. My father taught us to take what we want honestly. He is nothing of what he should have become."
A tear rolled down Helena's cheek as she spoke. "He was so kind when we met. He had dreams of being a great knight. He just could not hang on to it. Once knighted, he started to falter. He was in the shadow of something he did not explain. He began to spend more time away, and he often disappointed the king. I do not know what he was doing. I should have found a way out then. The Gavin who brought me to Renoir was not the man I met and fell in love with. I cannot explain it."
"And you do not have to," Gemma said. "Now dry your eyes and look forward. I will see you are cared for."
She nodded but said nothing more.
Gemma stood and gazed down at Helena as she pondered what led her brother down a bad path. Her thoughts were interrupted by shouting.
She ran to the edge of the woods to see some of her men carrying a man out of the castle. At first she thought it might be Gavin or one of the Bigods, but it did not take her long to see it was her husband.
Without thinking, she raced out of the woods, not bothering to ask if all was clear. She stopped short and stared at her husband. He was pale. The bandage on his leg was leaking, and he was bleeding anew. There was no time to waste. He had pushed himself too hard. Gemma did not know what had happened, but she knew he would not rest until he knew the castle was secure.
With care, he was carried into the woods, and she refused to leave his side. He was placed under a canopy of trees that kept some of the heavy raindrops from pummeling them. Barely conscious, he moaned as he was lowered to the ground. He blindly reached out with his hand. He grabbed hers and held on tightly.
"We cannot wait!" she cried. "We must get him across the river before it becomes too high. He will die if I cannot get the bleeding stopped."
"My dear," Oliver said, "a boat awaits. There is enough room for the injured. You will take the trip with your husband. I will come with you as well. The rest will cross the river and arrive as soon as they can safely do so. We must hurry!"
His men were already getting ready to leave. Most were mounted, and the injured were being moved away from the castle. The immobile could be carried across a horse for such a short ride to the river's edge, but Gemma did not want to move Nicholas that way. She did not have much choice in the matter because they had to get home as quickly as they could.
Nicholas was raised up so he could sit in front of Oliver on the seneschal's destrier. He was unsteady at first, but he righted himself and commanded that Gemma also ride so they could all get to the boat and then home at once.