AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So am I,” said Willow. “Conrad? How about you? After all, Hazel is your sister. You should be willing to do anything at all to help her. Do you care enough about her to be a part of this plan? Don’t you want Hazel to be able to right her wrongs?”
Once again, Willow had a way of using her words to get what she wanted. When she put it that way, how could he refuse? “If this doesn’t work, it’ll be a bigger mess than it is right now.”
“But if we can pull it off,” said Willow, “Hazel will have redeemed herself, and everyone will be happy their items have been returned.”
“What will they say when the stolen items just happen to show up after they’ve been searching for them for so long?” Conrad still wasn’t sure he agreed to this plan.
“Leave that to me,” said Willow with a smile. “Now, do you trust me? And do you agree to help us?”
Conrad looked from face to face, knowing there was no way he could say no to his needy sister, a nun, and the woman he loved. “All right,” he ground out, having no other choice and feeling as if he’d just made a deal with the devil.
* * *
Willow felt nervous,excited, terrified and alive all at the same time. The first thing they needed to do was to make sure Lord Beaufort found his signet ring. If so, it might be easier for everyone to accept the fact they were going to find their missing items one by one. Willow had devised a plan that included Hazel, Adeline, Conrad and herself. If things went accordingly with no mishaps, in the next hour and before the guests left the castle, they would all be happy again.
She sat at the dais table for the meal with Lord Beaufort on one side of her and Hazel on the other. Conrad was on the other side of Beaufort talking to Earl Alnwick, getting ready for his part of the plan. The meal was almost over, and the knot in Willow’s stomach grew tighter. She gave Hazel the signal. She put her hand over her heart brooch and tapped her fingers on it three times. Hazel dug into her pocket, then stood up and excused herself. As she walked behind Lord Beaufort’s chair, she dropped the ring into the rushes.
Hazel’s eyes locked with Willow’s. Willow’s heart pounded in her ears. Conrad watched from the corner of his eyes, while Sister Adeline waited near the kitchen, holding back the hounds.
Hazel hurried past the nun and headed up to the earl’s solar. Willow nodded at Sister Adeline next. The nun released the hounds and followed Hazel. The hounds ran straight over to the dais, stopping at Lord Beaufort’s side, begging.
“Who let the hounds out?” growled Beaufort.
“The dogs just want a bite to eat.” Willow eyed the ring atop the rushes and dropped a piece of venison on the ground next to it. The dogs started fighting over the meat.
“Stop that. Stop it, I say.” Lord Beaufort reached down to pull the hounds apart, and when he did, he saw the ring. “What’s this?” He reached down and picked it up, brushing the clinging rushes from it. “It’s my signet ring.”
“Your ring?” asked Conrad, right on cue. “So it seems it wasn’t stolen after all.”
“Aye, you must have dropped it during one of the meals,” Willow told him, fingering her heart brooch for strength.
Lord Beaufort noticed. “Lady Willow, isn’t that the brooch you had stolen?” He slipped the ring on his finger.
“This?” She clasped the brooch with her palm, and her eyes met with Conrad’s.
“She found it just this morning,” said Conrad. “It seems the clasp must have given way because it was stuck on the . . . the . . . horse.”
“Horse?” Lord Beaufort questioned while Earl Alnwick chuckled.
Willow shot Conrad a daggered look. He shrugged his shoulders.
“What Sir Conrad means is that the pin must have come off during one of my rides,” said Willow, trying to sound convincing, and at the same time keep the panic hidden from her words. “Since I didn’t use a saddle a few times, the pin was caught on the riding blanket.”
She must have hidden the fear in her voice well because Lord Beaufort nodded and smiled. “It is good to have my ring back. Earl, I only regret that your ruby wasn’t found.”
“Or my dagger,” mumbled Sir Bedivere from next to Conrad.
After a while, the meal ended, and the music started.
“I’ll be leaving with my bride now,” announced Bedivere, getting to his feet.
“Now?” Willow’s eyes shot over to Conrad. It was too early. They needed to keep him there. Hazel was replacing the ruby in the earl’s solar and Sister Adeline was keeping watch. The plan was that Conrad would find a reason to go back to the earl’s solar with him. They weren’t planning on returning Bedivere’s dagger until last. If he left now, he would ruin their plans.
“I’ll be leaving as well,” said the earl, standing up, frowning. “It is not going to be a pleasant task telling the king I no longer have the ruby to trade in exchange for my castle.”
Willow nodded to Conrad, giving him the signal. They needed to move forward quickly with their operation.
“Earl, if you don’t mind, I would like to have a drink with you in your solar before you leave,” said Conrad.
