Read Dragon's Lair for Free Online Page A

foot, for seasoned Londoners knew better than to brave the crowded city streets on horseback when they had many stops to make.
    "I never thought I'd miss chasing after thieves and cutthroats," Jonas said tiredly. "But they're easier prey for certes. Hunt them down, catch them, hang them, and forget them."
    "Well, at least we disproved the rumor." Justin smothered a yawn with his fist. "I can now assure the queen that the coffer from the nunnery at Clerkenwell arrived intact and the seal was not tampered with."
    "This time," Jonas amended. "I daresay the money being collected in London is making it safely to the crypt at St Paul's. There are too many eyes watching for it here. But there are a lot of lonely roads and moors and deep woods in the realm."
    Justin nodded somberly. "Outlaws will be swarming like honeybees."
    Jonas almost smiled. "So will sheriffs and bailiffs and aldermen and their sainted grandmothers, de Quincy."
    Justin hoped Jonas was wrong. It was disheartening to believe that corruption was so contagious. And it would make his task all the more difficult, for he knew the queen would want every last half-penny accounted for. The ransom being demanded for King Richard was staggering, one hundred thousand silver marks, and no one was exempt. Churches, monasteries, towns, guilds, and subjects of the king were all expected to contribute a fourth of their year's income. Was Richard worth such a vast sum? That was a question Justin had never thought to ask. For him, it was enough that his queen thought so.
    They had just reached the alehouse when the door flew open and a ghostly apparition stumbled out. He was coated in whitewash; it dripped from his hair and squished out of his boots, splattering the ground with his every stride. Justin and Jonas, with fine teamwork, veered off to either side, letting him splash between them. As they watched, he ran across the street and dived into the horse trough in front of the smithy.
    The noise coming from the alehouse was loud and raucous. But a silence fell at the sight of the sheriff's serjeant and the queen's man. Jonas's gaze moved slowly over the crowd before settling on Aldred and Nell. Aldred flushed and tried to edge away. Nell stood her ground and shook her head when Jonas asked, "Is this some thing I need know about?"
    "No," she said, and he nodded.
    "Good," he said and entered the alehouse, carefully stepping over a puddle of whitewash in the doorway. Justin followed him in toward a table that had suddenly become free; people tended to give Jonas space. Aldred soon sidled over and sat down. After a few moments, Nell joined them with a tray of ales. Pulling up a stool for herself, she smiled brightly.
    "So... did you have any luck with your ransom hunt?"
    "I see Aldred has been babbling again," Jonas said, sounding more resigned than irked.
    Aldred squirmed and then seized his chance to deflect attention away from his latest lapse. "Look, Justin, your landlord is here."
    Justin turned to see Gunter entering the alehouse. He didn't think of the blacksmith in those terms, but he supposed Aldred was right; he did rent Gunter's cottage. Half-rising, he beckoned to attract Gunter's eye, and Nell and Aldred moved over to make room for the farrier at their table. Gunter did not sit down, though.
    "The queen sent a messenger to your cottage this afternoon, Justin. She wants to see you straightaway."
    ~*~
    Justin was ushered at once into the queen's private chamber at Westminster, for her household knew that he was one of her agents, one of those mysterious men who came and went at odd hours on covert missions better left to the imagination. Eleanor was dictating a letter to St Martial's Abbey in Limoges. Justin heard enough to recognize it as a personal appeal to the abbot, requesting one hundred marks for Richard's ransom. He knew Limoges was in her overseas domains and he was interested, but not at all surprised, to learn that she was exacting payment from Aquitaine as well