Those days were gone forever.

“Where are we going?” Richard said again.

“To Winchester,” she said. “We’ll go and see the king.”

Richard was enthusiastic. “Yes! And when we report what William and his groom did last night, the king will surely-”

In a flash, Aliena was possessed by uncontrollable rage. “Shut your mouth!” she screamed. The horses started nervously. She pulled viciously on her reins. “Don’t ever say that!” She was choking with fury and could hardly spit out the words. “We’re not going to tell anyone what they did-not anyone! Never! Never! Never!”

The groom’s saddlebags contained a large lump of hard cheese, some dregs of wine in a leather bottle, a flint and some kindling, and a pound or two of mixed grains which Aliena imagined were for the horses. She and Richard ate the cheese and drank the wine at noon, while the horses grazed the sparse grass and evergreen shrubs and drank from a clear stream. She had stopped bleeding and the lower half of her torso felt numb.

They had seen some other travelers, but Aliena had told Richard to speak to no one. To the casual observer they appeared a formidable couple, Richard in particular, on his huge horse, with his sword; but a few moments’ conversation would reveal them to be a pair of kids with no one to take care of them, and then they might be vulnerable. So they steered clear of other people.

As the day began to fade they looked for somewhere to spend the night. They found a clearing near a stream a hundred yards or so from the road. Aliena gave the horses some grain while Richard made a fire. If they had had a cooking pot they could have made porridge with the horse grain. As it was, they would just have to chew the grains raw, unless they could find some sweet chestnuts and roast them.

While she was pondering that, and Richard was out of sight gathering firewood, she was scared by a deep voice close to her. “And who would you be, my lass?”

She screamed. The horse backed away, frightened. Aliena turned and saw a dirty, bearded man all dressed in brown leather. He took a step toward her. “Keep away from me!” she shrieked.

“No need to be afraid,” he said.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Richard step into the clearing behind the stranger, his arms full of wood. He stood looking at the two of them. Draw your sword! thought Aliena, but he looked too scared and uncertain to do anything. She stepped back, trying to get the horse between herself and the stranger. “We’ve got no money,” she said. “We’ve got nothing.”

“I’m the king’s verderer,” he said.

Aliena almost collapsed with relief. A verderer was a royal servant paid to enforce the forest laws. “Why didn’t you say so, you foolish man?” she said, angry at having been scared. “I took you for an outlaw!”

He looked startled, and rather offended, as if she had said something impolite; but all he said was: “You’ll be a highborn lady, then.”

“I am the daughter of the earl of Shiring.”

“And the boy will be his son,” said the verderer, although he had not seemed to see Richard.

Richard now stepped forward and dropped his firewood. “That’s right,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Brian. Are you planning to spend the night here?”

“Yes.”

“All alone?”

“Yes.” Aliena knew he was wondering why they had no escort, but she was not going to tell him.

“And you’ve no money, you say.”

Aliena frowned at him. “Do you doubt me?”

“Oh, no. I can tell you’re nobility, by your manners.” Was there a hint of irony in his voice? “If you’re alone and penniless, perhaps you’d prefer to spend the night at my house. It’s not far.”

Aliena had no intention of putting herself at the mercy of this rough character. She was about to refuse when he spoke again.

“My wife would be glad to give you supper. And I’ve a warm outhouse where you could sleep, if you prefer to sleep alone.”

The wife made a difference. Accepting the hospitality of a respectable family should be safe enough. Still Aliena hesitated. Then she thought of a fireplace, a bowl of hot pottage, a cup of wine, and a bed of straw with a roof over it. “We’d be grateful,” she said. “We’ve nothing to give you-I told the truth about having no money-but we’ll come back and reward you one day.”

“Good enough,” said the verderer. He went over to the fire and kicked it out.

Aliena and Richard mounted-they had not yet unsaddled the horses. The verderer came over and said: “Give me the reins.” Not sure what he wanted to do, Aliena gave him the reins, and Richard did likewise. The man set off through the forest, leading the horses. Aliena would have preferred to hold the reins herself, but she decided to let him have his way.

It was farther than he had indicated. They had traveled three or four miles, and it was dark, by the time they reached a small wood house with a thatched roof on the edge of a field. But there was light shining through the shutters and a smell of cooking, and Aliena dismounted gratefully.

The verderer’s wife heard the horses and came to the door. The man said to her: “A young lord and lady, alone in the forest. Give them something to drink.” He turned to Aliena. “In you go. I’ll see to the horses.”

Aliena did not like his peremptory tone-she would have preferred it if she were the one giving instructions-but she had no wish to unsaddle her own horse, so she went inside. Richard followed. The house was smoky and smelly, but warm. There was a cow tethered in one corner. Aliena was glad the man had mentioned an outhouse: she had never slept with cattle. A pot bubbled on the fire. They sat on a bench, and the wife gave them each a bowl of soup from the pot. It tasted gamey. When she saw Richard’s face in the light she was shocked. “What happened to you?” she said.

Richard opened his mouth to reply but Aliena forestalled him. “We’ve had a series of misfortunes,” she said. “We’re on our way to see the king.”

“I see,” said the wife. She was a small, brown-skinned woman with a guarded look. She did not persist in her questioning.

Aliena ate her soup quickly and wanted more. She held out her bowl. The woman looked away. Aliena was puzzled. Did she not know what Aliena wanted? Or did she not have any more? Aliena was about to speak to her sharply when the verderer came in. “I’ll show you the barn, where you can sleep,” he said. He took a lamp from a hook by the door. “Come with me.”

Aliena and Richard stood up. Aliena said to the wife: “There is one thing more I need. Can you give me an old dress? I’ve got nothing on under this cloak.”

The woman looked annoyed for some reason. “I’ll see what I can find,” she muttered.

Aliena went to the door. The verderer was giving her a strange look, staring at her cloak as if he might be able to see through it if he looked hard enough. “Lead the way!” she said sharply. He turned and went through the door.

He led them around to the back of the house and through a vegetable patch. The shifting light of the lamp revealed a small wooden building, more of a shed than a barn. He opened the door. It banged against a water butt that collected the rain from the roof. “Take a look,” he said. “See if it suits you.”

Richard went in first. “Bring the light, Allie,” he said. Aliena turned to take the lamp from the verderer. As she did so, he gave her a powerful shove. She fell sideways, through the doorway and into the barn, cannoning off her brother. They both ended up in a tangle on the floor. It went dark and the door banged shut. There was a peculiar noise outside, as of something heavy being moved in front of the door.

Aliena could not believe this was happening.

“What’s going on, Allie?” Richard cried.

She sat up. Was the man really a verderer, or was he an outlaw? He could not be an outlaw-his house was too substantial. But if he really was a verderer, why had he locked them up? Had they broken a law? Did he guess that the horses were not theirs? Or did he have some dishonest motive?