Free Lady Isobel's Champion by Carol Townend Page B

around the cloister. ‘I have had enough of being fenced in. Besides, I have other errands in town.’
    Elise smoothed the blue fabric on her knee and resumed sewing. ‘Oh?’
    ‘I am curious about the tournament at the Field of the Birds. I need to know how to get there.’ Fearing that Elise might refuse to accompany her if she knew Lucien had forbidden her to attend, Isobel decided to say nothing of that. Nor was she going to mention the stolen relic and her desire to find it and return it to Conques. Not unless she had to.
    ‘The Field of the Birds?’ Elise looked thoughtful. ‘You might ask Count Lucien. His device—’
    ‘Is a raven. I know. I forgot to ask him.’ Isobel bent diligently over her needlework, ashamed at how easily the lie slipped past her lips. ‘Elise, did you know that Count Lucien is a tourney champion?’
    ‘I had heard something of the sort.’
    Isobel heaved a wistful sigh. ‘I’ve never been to a tournament.’
    ‘Count Henry’s holding a joust at Troyes Castle on Twelfth Night.’
    Isobel shook her head. ‘I am reliably told that will be a bland affair. The tournament in the Field of the Birds is expected to be more exacting. More exciting. That’s the one I want to see.’
    ‘You want to watch Count Lucien. My lady, I advise you to wait for Twelfth Night. It’s not for nothing that the King of France disapproves of tournaments.’
    ‘It’s a pity you don’t know the way to the Field of the Birds, but no matter, I know where to ask.’
    Elise gave her a long look. ‘Why does that not surprise me?’ she murmured.
    The nuns sank on to a stone bench directly opposite, and one of them drew a psalter from her sleeve. They looked altogether too settled for Isobel’s liking.
    She pitched her voice low. ‘Are they spying on us?’
    Elise gave a small smile. ‘I am not sure, but it looks that way.’
    ‘We won’t get out this morning then, not with them there. But later, I should like you to take me to that apothecary. Will you?’
    ‘If you wish.’
    ‘My thanks. At the same time, I can make enquiries about the way to the Field of the Birds.’ Isobel frowned at the nuns. ‘We’ll wait until this afternoon when the sisters are in Office. As long as we are back before everyone gathers in the refectory for supper, no one will miss us.’
    * * *
    ‘That was easy,’ Isobel said, swinging her cloak about her shoulders as she and Elise slipped through the gate by the Portress’s Lodge.
    ‘It may not be as easy getting back in,’ Elise pointed out, closing the convent gate behind them.
    ‘We can worry about that later,’ Isobel said. She was half-afraid Elise would lose her nerve and change her mind about accompanying her, and she was determined to get to the Black Boar before that happened. ‘First, I shall discover the way to the Field of the Birds, and then you can take me to that apothecary.’
    They made their way up the narrow street in the direction of the market, wrangling half-heartedly with one another. Without being told in so many words, Elise had surmised that the Count would be displeased if Isobel attended the tournament at the Field of the Birds.
    ‘I really don’t know why I agreed to come with you,’ she said. ‘Lord d’Aveyron is bound to take this very ill.’
    ‘You are doing this because you have become my friend,’ Isobel said. ‘And because I need your help.’
    ‘I am not so certain you need anyone’s help. I am confident you would manage without me. However, you should not be walking abroad on your own.’ Elise shook her head. ‘My lady, you must take more care, innocence may not always be your shield.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘I mean only that you should be asking Count Lucien about the Field of the Birds. He won’t like the idea of you roaming the town any more than the Abbess liked you riding out to Ravenshold.’
    Isobel steeled herself to resist all arguments. And she refused to confess that the Count had already forbidden