Page 14 of Mardon

“So you really are looking for a treasure, then.” Emmaline stretched her neck to see the torn parchment.

“Dammit, Nairnie, put that away,” growled Mardon.

“Dinna swear in front of . . . in front of a nun,” scolded Nairnie. “Now, I ken the king’s treasure must be here somewhere. We need to think.”

“Oh, Mardon,” said the serving girl, coming over to him with lust in her eyes.

“Not now,” he said, waving his hand to dismiss her.

The girl looked down at the parchment. “I see ye have one of those, too.”

“Are ye talkin’ about this parchment?” asked Nairnie.

“Aye,” said the girl.

“What do you know about it?” asked Mardon.

“Only that someone else was in here lookin’ for somethin’ as well, earlier today. They had a ripped parchment just like that.”

“Who?” asked Mardon in a low voice.

“Why don’t ye take me upstairs and I’ll whisper the name in yer ear while we’re . . . doin’ other things?” The girl batted her lashes at Mardon.

“Tell me, and tell me now. Who was in here earlier with a parchment like this?” asked Mardon.

“Oh, all right, I’ll tell ye,” said the girl. “It was that pirate, Nereus, and his men.”

“Nay!” said Aaron. “We’re too late. Nereus must have already found the treasure.”

“Treasure?” asked the girl. “He didn’t have any treasure. All he had was another piece of parchment he found in here with things written on it.”

“What things?” asked Mardon. “Did you see it?”

“Well . . . I might have taken a look over his shoulder when I was pourin’ his ale.”

“What did it say? Tell us!” spat Nairnie.

The girl looked the other way. “I can’t remember.”

“Mayhap this would help you remember.” Mardon reached over and placed a coin in the girl’s cleavage, getting a smile from her and a gasp from Emmaline. It was a very seductive move.

The girl’s eyes lit up and she answered Mardon. “It was the letter T. With a diamond under it and what looked like a . . . gravestone.”

“What?” asked Aaron. “That makes no sense.”

“Well, that’s all that I saw.”

Emmaline fingered the cross at the end of her rosary hanging around her neck. “Are you sure it was a letter T?” she asked the girl. “Or was it a cross . . . like this?” She held it up.

The girl leaned over in the candlelight to see it. “Well, now that ye mention it, I suppose it did look more like a cross.”

“Even so, what would it mean?” asked Aaron.

“I think I know,” said Emmaline excitedly.

“That’ll be all,” Mardon told the serving girl. “Thank you for your help.” He handed her another coin and the girl snatched it up and hurried away.

“Emmaline, what do ye think it means?” asked Nairnie.