"We dare not go back without them," the driver said.

"Why not? The wagons are empty," Falkes pointed out. "You can get more oxen in Lundein."

"My lord," replied the driver gravely, "matched teams are scarce as bird hair just now. You won't find any for sale between here and Paris."

"Be that as it may," rejoined the count, "what do you expect me to do about it?"

"We thought begging your pardon, sire-that his lordship might lend us some soldiers to find the thieves, my lord."

Unwillingness tugged the edges of the count's lips into a frown. First the missing horses, and now this. Was it really so difficult to keep animals from wandering off? "You want my men to search for oxen?"

"Five or six men-at-arms should be enough." Seeing the count's hesitation, the wagoner added, "The sooner we find the missing team, the sooner we can be on our way to fetch more supplies for the masons." When the count still failed to reply, he continued, "Now that the season is full on, the baron will not take kindly to any delays." As a last resort, he added, "Also, the workers will be wanting their pay."

Count Falkes regarded the empty wagons and the drivers standing idle. "Yes, yes, you have made your point," he said at last. "Ready your wagons and prepare to leave. We will find the stolen beasts. Oxen are slow; they cannot have gone far."

"Right you are, my lord," said the driver, hurrying away before the count changed his mind.

Turning to the soldiers who had accompanied him to the site, de Braose called the foremost knight to him. "Guiscard! Come here; a problem has arisen."

The knight attended his lord and listened to his instructions carefully. "Consider it done," he replied. "And the thieves, sire? What shall we do with them?"

"This land is now governed by the Custom of the March. You know what we do with thieves, do you not?"

A slow smile spread across the knight's smooth face. "Yes, I believe I recall."

"Then do it," ordered the count. "Show no mercy."

The knight bent his head in acknowledgement of his orders, then turned and started away. He had taken only a few paces when the count called after him, "On second thought, Guiscard, keep one or two alive, and bring them to me. We will draw and quarter them in the new town square and let their well-deserved deaths serve as a warning to anyone else who makes bold to steal from Baron de Braose."

"It will be done, sire." The knight mounted the saddle and called three men-at-arms to attend him.

"See you make some haste," the count shouted as they rode off. "The wagons must be on their way without further delay."

The day could not pass quickly enough for Merian. In her impatience, she forgot her displeasure at her mother's meddling and her abhorrence of all things Ffreinc, and instead fell to fretting about clothes. She stood gazing with mounting chagrin at the gown spread out on her bed. Why, oh why, had she chosen that one? What had possessed her?

As much as she loathed the idea of consorting with Norman nobility, she did not want to give any of them the satisfaction of dismissing her as an ignorant British churl. When the time came to dress for the feast, she had worked herself into such a nervous state that she felt as if someone had opened a cage of sparrows inside her, and the poor birds were all aflutter to get out.

Trying her best to maintain her fragile composure, she forced herself to wash slowly and carefully in the small basin of cool water. She put on a fresh chemise of costly bleached linen and allowed her mother to brush her hair until it shone. Her long, dark tresses were gathered and braided into a thick and intricate plait, the end of which was adorned with a clasp of gold. Merian then drew on her best gown of pale blue and, over it, a short, silk-embroidered mantle of fine cream-coloured linen. The gown and mantle were gathered at the waist by a wide kirtle of yellow satin, the beaded tassels of which almost brushed her toes. When she was ready, Queen Anora approved her daughter's choices and said, "But there is something missing…"

Suddenly stricken, Merian gasped, "What? What have I forgotten?"

"Calm yourself, child," cooed her mother, bending to a small wooden casket that had travelled with them from Eiwas. Raising the lid, she produced a gossamer-thin veil of white samite hemmed with gold thread. She arranged the long rectangle of rare cloth with the point of one corner between Merian's dark brows and the rest trailing down her back to cover, yet reveal, the young woman's braided hair.

"Mother, your best veil," breathed Merian.

"You shall wear it tonight, my lovely," replied her mother. Bending to the casket once more, she brought out a thin silver circlet, which she placed on her daughter's head to secure the veil, then stepped back to observe her handiwork. "Exquisite," her mother pronounced. "A jewel to brighten any celebration. Let the Norman ladies gnaw their hearts with envy."

Merian thanked her mother with a kiss. "I will be happy if I can survive the evening without falling over."

"Off with you now," said Anora, sending her away with a pat on the cheek. "Put on your shoes. The chamberlain will be here any moment.

Stepping into new soft leather slippers, never worn, Merian tied the slender laces above her ankles, and as the knock sounded on the chamber door, she straightened, drew a deep, calming breath, and prepared to take her place amongst the highborn guests assembling in the baron's hall.

Though it was daylight still, the banqueting room was lit by rows of torches aflame in sconces on the walls. The immense oak doors were opened wide to allow the baron's guests to come and go as they pleased; iron candletrees in each corner and a bright fire in the hearth at the far end of the room banished the shadows and gloom like uninvited guests.

Boards had been set on trestles to form rows of tables down the length of the hall, at one end of which another table had been established on a riser so that it overlooked all the others. The room was aswarm with people-both guests in their courtly finery and servants in crimson tunics and mantles, bearing trays of sweetmeats and dainties to sharpen the appetite. Up in a small balcony in one corner of the hall, five musicians played music that sounded to Merian like birds twittering in the trailing branches of a willow while water splashed in a crystal pool. It was so beautiful, she could not understand how it was that no one seemed to be listening to them at all. She had time enough to spare them only a fleeting glance before being drawn to observe the arrival of the baron and his lady wife.

"All hail the Lord of the Feast!" cried Remey, the baron's seneschal, as the couple appeared in the doorway. "Presenting my lord and lady, the Baron and Baroness Neufmarche. All hail!"

"Hail!" replied the guests with fervour. "Hail the Lord of the Feast!"

Baron Neufmarche, tall and regal in his black tunic and short red cloak, with his long, fair hair brushed back, the gold at his throat and on his tunic gleaming, stood on the threshold and passed a beneficent gaze over the glittering assembly. He carried a small jewelled knife on his wide black belt and wore a cross of gold on a gold chain around his neck. Beside him, slender as a willow wand, stood the baroness, Lady Agnes. She wore a pale gown of silvery samite that glistened like water in the torchlight; on her head was a small, square-cornered caplet beaded with tiny pearls. A double circlet of tiny pearls adorned each slender wrist. Oh, but she was thin. The outlines of her hip bones could be seen through the fine material of her dress, and the bones at the base of her throat stood out like twin arrow points. Her cheeks were hollow. Only when she smiled, stretching her tight lips across her teeth, did a scrap of vitality steal into her features.