“I’m not talking about your prior service.”
“A man’s past actions are the best indication of his future ones,” Sir Matthias said.
High Knight Freya narrowed her eyes.
“How was he killed?” Sir Marcus asked.
“Can’t tell you that,” Sir Leopold said.
Sir Marcus folded his arms over his massive chest. “If Sir Matthias said he didn’t kill Lord Bartley, he didn’t kill him. Knights don’t lie, and Sir Matthias doesn’t kill lightly. He even healed the man that attacked his family.”
“It’s not that simple,” High Knight Freya said.
Sir Marcus stood, his presence filling the room. “It is. And Dracor blessed him this morning. A fallen Knight of Valor can no longer receive Dracor’s divinity.”
“Blessed you as well,” High Knight Freya said.
“Because I didn’t kill Lord Bartley,” Sir Marcus said. “I didn’t know I had a reason to until this morning.”
Matthias lifted his shoulders. “If I’d killed Lord Bartley, it would have been in Sapphire’s room when he attacked her. Whoever killed him knew what happened and wants to make me look guilty.”
“Where were you last night, Sir Matthias?” High Knight Freya asked.
“At Sir Marcus’s ball. All night.”
“Did you leave for any reason?”
“I never left the grounds. The stable hands can confirm that my horse was there all evening.”
“Anyone else able to vouch for you?”
“Lots of people saw me there and congratulated me on my recent marriage.”
High Knight Freya folded her arms across her chest. “What about after the ball?”
Matthias met her stare. “I was with my wife all night.”
High Knight Freya’s jaw twitched.
“Was Lord Bartley killed with a sword?” Sir Marcus asked.
“Don’t know for sure,” Sir Leopold said.
“Burns, then,” Sir Marcus said. “Not much difference between normal fire and holy fire, except holy fire only works against the guilty.”
High Knight Freya paced the room, her fingers interlaced behind her back. “We’re waiting for the Priests of Mor to tell us the cause of death.”
Sir Matthias stared at the stone wall. So this was Lord Carsons new plan. Destroy him with a murder charge so Rashalee could again go after Sapphire. Sir Matthias had too much faith in Dracor to believe such a thing would work, but it meant Lord Carsons was growing desperate. Even more desperate than hiring thugs for murder as he was now involving the Church of Dracor.
“The intruder I healed on my parents’ farm, did he ever come forth with who hired him?” Sir Matthias asked.
High Knight Freya rocked back on her heels. “He confessed it was Richard Bartley and Lord Henry Carsons. Said they paid him a few gold pieces and promised a lot more if they delivered Sapphire dead or alive to a traveler’s inn a day’s trip from the farm.”
“You believe him?” Sir Marcus asked.
“One of them had a slip of magic paper designed to return to Lord Bartley,” High Knight Freya said. “While we can connect the perpetrators to Lord Bartley, we cannot prove they had any correspondence with Lord Carsons.”
“Especially now that Lord Bartley is dead.” Sir Matthias closed his eyes. “So Lord Carsons gets rid of a loose end and frames me for it. A longer game than Rashalee is normally known for.”
High Knight Freya stopped pacing. “Why would Lord Carsons want to hurt his granddaughter?”
“My Aunt Matty always says to follow the money, and Sapphire inherited a whole lot of it,” Sir Marcus said.
“Gregory and Julianna Darrington both died under suspicious circumstances,” Sir Leopold said. “Men do stupid things. Even stupider things when they listen to Rashalee, Uzakiel, or Balpheron.”
Even in the hallowed halls of the Dragon Cathedral, the names of the Unholy Triumvirate made Sir Matthias shiver.
“We’ll look into it further,” High Knight Freya said. “In the meantime, we’re relieving you-”
“Don’t do that,” Matthias interrupted. “I’ve done nothing wrong, and you have no proof otherwise. Dracor blessed me this morning. I’ve done nothing to earn His censure and putting me on leave sends the message I’m guilty.”
High Knight Freya narrowed her eyes.
“It’s how people think.” Sir Matthias met her gaze. “And what better way to punish a Knight of Valor than to have his church do it for you. Whoever is behind Lord Bartley’s death went to a lot of trouble to make it look like I did it.”
High Knight Freya sucked in a breath as she pondered his words.
“You already know what I’m saying is true. Just like you know I didn’t kill Lord Bartley,” Matthias said.
High Knight Freya nodded once. “You’ll stay on the duty roster, and you’ll continue to reside with Sir Marcus until the investigation is complete. Don’t leave Aerius and don’t interfere with the investigation.”
“You should consider Knight Cain to lead the investigation,” Sir Matthias said. “The nobility doesn’t intimidate him, but he also doesn’t have a grudge against them.”
Freya’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll take that under consideration. Dismissed.”
The two Knights left Sir Leopold’s office and wound their way back through the temple.
Sir Marcus glanced over at Matthias. “You didn’t kill Bartley, and I didn’t kill him. Who did?”
“I’m betting her grandfather. The men he sent to kill us at my family’s farm failed, and he couldn’t get just anyone into your ball. He sent Lord Bartley, and when Lord Bartley failed, he killed him.”
Sir Marcus pondered a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “If it’s the money they’re after, Sapphire isn’t safe. And she’s alone.”
The two Knights sprinted to their horses.
Chapter 33
When Sapphire awoke, her limbs were still heavy with pleasure. She sucked in a breath, and the rich scent of Matthias surrounded her. She could almost feel the heat of him beside her, feel his hard chest as he held her close.
Sapphire smiled and hugged her pillow.
For a moment, her mother’s words taunted her. She was a lustful hoyden, blackened by Rashalee. Holding the pillow tighter, Sapphire reminded herself of Sir Matthias’s words. Dracor’s healing didn’t work on those that belonged to Rashalee, and it hurt those who had fallen too far down Her path. Not only had Sir Matthias’s healing not hurt, but it had been soothing.
That was before she and Sir Matthias had done little more than consummate their marriage, but she also hadn’t been forced to turn away from the light of Dracor on Sir Matthias’s sword. And she’d stood before Thalia’s flame the day she’d married her husband.
Julianna Darrington had lived in Lord Carsons household and learned to do as her father demanded or pay too high a price for disobedience. It was possible she was wrong about many things and had woven her truths to protect herself from a cruel father.
Sapphire would never know, but she would not allow her grandfather to destroy her happiness as he had Julianna’s.