Chapter 260: Do Not Speak
The sword came down. It struck Bella instead. Blood sprayed hot across Livia’s face and gown. Bella’s body jerked.
The blade had torn across her back, opening flesh.
"No!" Livia screamed.
Bella sagged against her. Livia caught her. They fell together onto the filthy road. Lionel roared. Before the rider could get away, Lionel used the carriage step as a springboard and launched himself upward. He caught the attacker from behind, one arm locking hard around the man’s throat, the other wrenching his head to the side with brutal force.
The rider fell like a cut rope. The horse reared, nearly trampling them both, then bolted down the street with an empty saddle.
"Bella," Livia breathed.
Bella’s hands gripped at her gown, fingers slipping in blood. Her mouth opened, but no words came at first. Only a wet, terrible sound. Blood bubbled at her lips and poured through Livia’s hands as she tried to press the wound closed.
There was too much of it.
"Help me!" Livia shouted. "Lionel, help me!"
Bella’s fingers tightened weakly. "Theodora," she rasped and swallowed, choking. "Theodora... did this."
"I don’t understand."
Bella’s eyes fluttered. "I’m sorry."
"Do not speak."
"I didn’t..." Bella’s lips trembled. "I didn’t see the trap."
"No," Livia whispered. "No, Bella, save your strength. Please."
Her gown was soaked now, the front dark and heavy. Blood ran down her wrists, under her sleeves.
Bella’s eyes rolled back. Her hand slackened against Livia’s gown. The last breath left her in a thin, broken sigh.
"Bella?" Livia shook her gently. "Bella? No. Bella?"
Lionel reached them and dropped to one knee.
"Lionel!" Livia screamed.
"My lady—"
"Do something!"
His jaw tightened. "I am afraid it is too late."
"No!"
"We have to leave."
"No, do something!" She looked down at Bella again, frantic. "Do something!"
"My lady, we have to go." He reached for her arm.
Livia jerked away, clutching Bella tighter. "No! No, please. I will not leave her!"
"I will send men to bring her properly as soon as I get you inside the palace."
"No! You have to at least try!" Livia wrenched herself free and reached again for Bella.
Lionel caught her before she could fall over the body. "Livia!"
It was the first time he had ever used her first name. He gripped both her arms and forced her to face him. His eyes were fierce.
"We have to go now!"
Livia wept as Lionel drew her away. He held her hand firmly, because she kept trying to turn back. Her feet stumbled over the uneven stones. Blood soaked the front of her gown, clung to her fingers, streaked across her cheek. Her eyes never left Bella. "Theodora," she said suddenly.
Lionel swung up behind her on the horse, one arm bracing around her waist as he seized the reins. "What?"
"She said Theodora did this. She said it," Livia cried. "Bella said it. Theodora did this. She did this."
"How could she know that?" Lionel asked. He heard the question leave his mouth and despised it at once.
Because he knew. It had Theodora’s hand all over it.
"I don’t know," Livia sobbed. "I don’t. I don’t know."
Lionel tightened his arm around her, keeping her steady as the horse cut through the streets back towards Whitehall. She shook against him. Her heart seemed to be breaking through her whole body.
Whitehall erupted the moment they entered the palace yard. Lionel dismounted first and pulled Livia down after him. Her legs nearly failed beneath her.
He barked orders as he led her inside. "Close the outer gates. Double the guard at every passage leading to Miss Valenti’s apartments. No one enters from the service stairs without my seal. Send six men back for Lady Bella’s body. I want names of every dead attacker."
By the time Lionel reached Livia’s apartments, Tabitha was already at the door, alerted by the commotion. She saw the blood first.
"My lady?" Tabitha crossed the threshold at once. "Are you hurt?" Her hands moved over Livia’s shoulders, arms, throat, searching for a wound beneath the blood. "Livia. Look at me. Are you hurt?"
"Bella," Livia whispered. "She killed Bella." Her voice became a broken murmur. "She killed Bella. She killed Bella..."
Tabitha drew Livia inside. "Come, my lady. Sit."
"Bella saved me."
Lionel turned to the guards outside. "No one enters. No one."
The nearest guard bowed. "Yes, my lord."
Lionel faced Tabitha. "Settle her. Close every window. No food or drink unless you prepare it yourself. Do not open this door for anyone except me. I will be back."
Livia was still murmuring Bella’s name when he left. Lionel strode through Whitehall with murder walking beside him.
Her Grace’s apartments lay ahead, guarded, quiet, and disgustingly peaceful. If Theodora believed rank would protect her, she had mistaken him for a man still willing to be managed by titles.
Lionel did not wait to be announced. The guards outside Theodora’s chambers moved to block him, then thought better of it when his hand went to his sword. He shoved open the door and entered without ceremony.
Her Grace reclined on her favourite chaise near the hearth, wrapped in a morning robe of soft green silk, a cup of tea in one hand. A small table beside her held sugared fruits, a dish of almonds. Her colour had returned beautifully. The linen pallor, the feeble cough, the tragic winter weakness—gone. A miracle, apparently, had occurred.
She looked up with mild irritation. Lionel stopped before her.
"Heavens! Jesus himself must walk among us. This morning you are terribly ill and now you are miraculously healed."
Theodora merely looked at the dark stains drying into the fabric of his riding coat, then raised her eyes. "Judging by the blood on you...I am guessing the whore is dead."
"You failed, Theodora."
Her eyes sharpened at once. First, because he had called her by her given name. Second, because of what he had said. Her mind was rearranging the facts with vicious speed. She had planned well.
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