Free Forsaken Soul by Priscilla Royal Page B

went down the stairs, shouting at each other. I paid no further heed to what they said or did since they were well on their way.”
    “You went in then?” Eleanor asked.
    “Signy slammed the door in my face.”
    “You waited outside?”
    “For a few minutes. They must have had some heated words because I could hear their voices above the din, but not what they said. When the wench left, I went in to Martin and then shut the door behind me.”
    “Did Signy say anything to you?”
    “We are not friends. She may be the innkeeper’s niece, but she is still a tavern wench and can handle her own problems with the men.”
    Anne nodded. “What do you remember next?”
    “When I came in, Martin was sitting on the bed, drinking wine.”
    “Was he distraught?” Eleanor asked.
    “He was smiling, my lady, as if quite pleased. Had I not seen the fight amongst the men, I would never have imagined it had occurred.”
    “Did he both eat and drink, or only drink?” Anne asked.
    “I do not know what he did before I came back into the room, Sister. I only saw him drink.”
    “Please go on.”
    “We did not play beggar girl and knight as we often did. He began to strip me and fumbled at it. He was trembling so, I assumed he was especially impatient to mount me. Then his eyes grew dark, almost black. I recall that because they were always the most beautiful blue…” Ivetta began to chew on a finger. “His trembling changed to fits…” She could not go on.
    “Do you remember the color of his skin, lips?” Anne asked.
    Ivetta squeezed her eyes shut. “Only his eyes.”
    The sub-infirmarian shot a glance at her prioress.
    “I know these details are horrible to bring back to mind, but we must hear the whole tale.” Eleanor’s voice was as gentle as a soft touch.
    “He began to scream and jerk about. I knew something was horribly wrong.” Ivetta rubbed her hand under her eyes to dry the wetness there. “I screamed for help. He got twisted in the sheet, vomiting and…it seemed forever before the innkeeper came. By then, Martin had stopped breathing… Don’t ask me more, please!”
    “I have no wish to be cruel, but God’s justice requires your strength in telling all you can recall.” Eleanor reached out with commiseration to the woman.
    “The next thing I remember was the crowner taunting me!” Ivetta shouted, and then began to sob without attempting to hide it. “He was a beast to say what he did, accusing me of murder. Martin was not… Oh, my lady, I may be the vilest of God’s creation, but even soulless creatures know tenderness. I loved him! And I am bearing his child!”

Chapter Twelve
    “Devoted lover?” Ralf snorted. “Martin? He may have liked to swyve Ivetta from time to time, but he never would have let her keep the babe had she told him of it.”
    The prioress remained silent, her gray eyes darkening.
    “Surely you do not mean…” Anne pressed her hand against her waist.
    “He hired her out. She let the cooper take whatever she earned, and he paid as little as possible for her keep in return. A pregnant whore brings little trade, Annie. He would never have tolerated the loss of income. Is this sweet love?”
    “Perhaps he had gained affection for her after all this time,” Anne interjected.
    “A bull would sooner grow wings. By all reports, Ivetta is skilled at her craft. That may satisfy a man’s hungry yard, leaving behind some short-lived taste for the food, but it rarely fills his heart with tenderness.”
    “What of Hob and Will, the two men who were alone with Martin that night? They argued with the cooper. How quickly the number of your suspects has increased from one to three,” the sub-infirmarian concluded.
    “A number enlarged by the very woman who may have poisoned him and wishes to point us in some other direction.”
    “There is also the innkeeper’s niece,” Eleanor said. “She, too, was alone with him.”
    Ralf shook his head. “Signy is innocent,” he