997. Chapter 997

After Much Ado About Murder

Episode 8.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Once more unto the breach for I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

The father nodded. "I shall do just that. But, you have a visitor as well." Ryan called over a young girl with long, lustrous dark hair who kept her eyes fixed downward. "This is Kalotina, a Greek lass, taken by Turkish slavers and eventually sold to Senator Federico Amalfi. The man has been using this girl carnally, which is against the laws of God."

Both Ryan and Kate gave Castle a look. "I suppose one of the seamstresses in the company can use an apprentice." He admitted at last.

The girl said something in Italian that Castle didn't understand.

"Her accent is very thick. "Kate said. "Let me try to talk to her."

As Ryan went off to see about the nuns, Kate talked to the girl, whose accent and syntax was very difficult to understand. But, Kate finally understood what she wanted to say.

"It seems that Senator Amalfi and two of his friends, Senators d'Annunzio and Sergi began collecting taxes on behalf on old Duke Nicolo when he grew old and ill, then continued under Duke Cosmo, even for de Braquenne for the brief time he was in charge, and they also collected the money that paid off Demming."

"Knowing tax collectors, I'm sure a lot of the money stuck to their fingers. But what should that interest us?" Castle asked.

"There's more. Amalfi and his two friends shared the money with the other senators, but they kept more for themselves than they told the other senators. They figured that if they started spending too much, the other senators would figure out they were holding out on them and complain. So, Amalfi has been hiding the money away for over ten years. They figured when the time was right, they'd leave Pola and head for Venice, or Florence or some other city and live the good life."

"Didn't they take the money when they fled the city a few days ago?"

Kate shook her head. "Gold is very heavy. A heavily laden wagon with little in it would alert everyone that gold was being taken out of the city. Every robber for miles around would be on them, not to mention the other senators."

"And Amalfi was kind enough to mention to Kalotina where he kept his gold?" Castle scoffed.

Kate laughed. "He isn't quite that stupid. But Kalotina was in one of Amalfi's warehouses with a young lad just before everyone began leaving the city. The boy ran off when he heard Amalfi coming, but Kalotina stayed and hid. She saw where the gold was stored."

"What are we waiting for?" Rick demanded.

Rick, Kate, Will, Fox, Kalotina, and twenty archers went to Amalfi's warehouse. Kalotina showed them where the gold was. She told Kate that you had to push what appeared to be a solid stone wall up to get in. She knelt and began to pry the wall up. It didn't move at all. She tried again. No luck.

"Perhaps the lass is just telling us a story to get away from her master." Will said.

"Or perhaps it takes more than a skinny girl to move the wall." Said a burly archer, Alan of Carran. "Tom, Dick, help me push this up."

The three men pushed with all their might, to no avail. Then Tom of Carlisle laughed. "There's a deep groove in the wall here. We'll pull outward and then up." They did so and the wall swung up.

"There are metal rings in the sides of the stones in the floor." Kate cried. "Pull them up as well."

When they did so, they found a stone staircase leading downwards. "It's dark." Someone muttered. "Get a candle."

Two men, all there was room for in the narrow room under the floor, went down. Soon they were handing up small, very heavy chests. Castle opened the first one. "Gold Venetian ducats. Full to the top,"

Kate opened the second chest. "Byzantine bezants, all of gold."

All together fourteen chests came up.

"Is that all the gold?" Castle called down.

"Aye, sir. But there's still the silver." And up came small kegs filed with English silver pennies, pfennigs from the German towns, silver groats and more.

"These coins have a crescent on them." Kate said. "They must be Turkish."

"Is that all the silver?" Castle asked.

"Oh, yes, Captain." Someone replied with a laugh. "We've got to send up the jewelry now."

"Rick!" Kate cried excitedly. "There are two ledgers here. "One shows the amounts the three senators actually took in and the other the amounts they told the other senators they had collected."

"Captain?" Came from below them. "There's another book down here. Numbers of some kind."

"Send it up."

"That we will, but there's more down here. It looks like bales of silk and barrels of spices, mainly pepper."

"What are they doing with spices and silk?" Castle wondered.

"The same as what they're doing with items from churches. These are gold communion cups and the plates are for the Host. And there are all manner of golden, gem encrusted crucifixes. The book says that these are items that Demming looted from the towns and ships he's taken. Amalfi and his friends have been buying Demming's loot."

"We'll have to have a talk with the senators when they return." Castle said grimly.

Once the hidden room was finally emptied, Castle sent an archer off to collect horses and wagons to move the treasure back to the palazzo.

He found that word of the discovery of the treasure had spread quickly through the city. A crowd had gathered outside of the warehouse. Castle was approached by three well dressed men, who bowed and spoke Italian to Rick. Kate translated.

"These are the heads of the weavers' guild, the dyers' guild and the goldsmiths' guild. They want to know if the rumors are true. That Amalfi and his friends have been cheating the people of Pola for years?"

Castle showed the three men the books they had recovered. One of the men began reading aloud from the three books. As he read, the crowd grew angrier and angrier.

Suddenly a man lifted up Castle's hand and yelled at the crowd, which started to cheer.

"What did he say?" Castle asked Kate over the roar of the crowd.

"He says you're a hero for exposing Amalfi and his friends. They won't be in the senate long. They're elected by the town burgers, such as these men."

Once Castle, Kate and the rest were back at the palazzo, he caught sight of Kalotina looking on at what was going on. "Please tell young Kalotina that she's about to become a rather well to do young lady. And Alan of Carran who had the idea of using three men to move the wall shall get five gold pieces, his two helpers shall get four, the archers and all the men of my company and Sam Aylward's will get three."

Then Castle turned to the jewelry that was piled on a table. "And something for Kate." He picked up a tiara and examined it. "This will suit you."

She shook her head. "No, I want only this." She picked a plain gold band from the pile. "It was my mother's. I thought it was gone forever. It means more to me than all of the gold in the world." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "Thank you."

"Captain Castle." Fox called. "Father Ryan has returned. Perhaps a cup of wine would help him tell us what happened."

A jug of wine and cups were brought out and the Irish priest spoke.

"Oddly enough, the Bishop found he had urgent business in Rome, but I found a Monsignor O'Reagan temporarily in charge, A lovely Irishman, he is. He asked me to thank you for saving the novices from any harm from de Braquenne's troops."

Castle frowned. "But we didn't…."

"I know, and you know that and some others know that, but we Irish priests decided it would be easier on the girls if it were found that nothing happened to them other than a bad scare."

"So be it."

Early the next day, two ships were seen coming from the north.

Castle ran to the sea gatehouse as soon as word was brought to him. Kate was not far behind.

"Damn!" Castle cursed as the ships sailed out of the morning mist, being rowed slowly towards the dock. "More Venetians, you think? Demming's pirates? Someone else's pirates?"

Will Fox joined him, as two companies of archers assembled on the parapet, making sure to keep their heads down. "Makes no difference. We saw off six shiploads of the pirate bastards and the Venetians didn't even try anything. This lot will be no different."

Castle shook his head. "The more people who come here, the more will figure out that we are few. If Demming had been smart enough to make ladders and hit us in several places at once, he'd have had the town and we'd be dead."

The two ships docked and a single man began walking towards the gatehouse.

"Oh, bloody hell!' Fox cried. "We're for it now. That's Tom Graham coming to us. That Border reiver will surely raise Hell and stick a log under it to keep it on Earth."

"Is he a pirate?" Demanded Kate. "What is he?"

Castle sighed. "One of Sir James's captains. I suppose those are our reinforcements."

Graham stood at the gatehouse and yelled. "Castle? Are you bloody well there? Do ye have any wine? I've spilled my guts into the sea the whole bloody two days I've been on this bloody tub."

Rick stood. "I'll be down to let you in, Tom. And we can have wine."

Rick grabbed a jug of wine and walked out to greet Captain Graham.

"You look like you've been dead for three days, Tom." He teased.

Graham snarled and looked over his shoulder at the ships and his disembarking men. "Why the bloody hell people ride in those bloody things….and who are you, my dear?" Graham suddenly smiled, seeing Kate.

"I am Lady Katherine Beckett. Captain Castle is staying with me."

Graham shook his head and smiled. "I always said you were a lucky devil Castle. If only I had gotten sent to Pola first…."

"I'd have gutted ye like a fish!" A shrill female voice said from behind Tom.

"Ah, you haven't met my wife, have you?"

"You're married?" Castle was shocked.

"O' course he's married. What did he say, ye lummox? Do ye think he'd lie to ye?"

The woman was a petite young lady with hair as black as night and startling green eyes. Although small, it was apparent that she was more than a match for the heavily built soldier.

Castle changed the subject. "We'll go back to the palazzo. We'll be able to find you and your lady a nice room to yourselves."

"Castle, ye idjit! Din't she say you wuz staying wi' her? Ye has no right to offer us rooms in the lady's home."

The woman made a surprisingly graceful curtsey to Kate. "Molly Graham, Lady Katherine. I don't know what menfolk use for brains." She shook her head and glared at Tom and Rick.

"Molly, please call me Kate. And I'm very pleased to offer you and your husband my hospitality."

Molly turned to Tom. "See, ye scut. That's how proper people acts."

As they walked back to the palazzo, Rick spoke to Graham. "What did you bring, Tom?"

"A mixed bag of troops, Richard. I have two hundred men aboard those God awful tubs. I've got thirty good Flemish foot soldiers, well armed and armored. The rest are mostly bloody North Welsh spearmen. Bloody half naked savages."

Castle grinned. "Unlike the civilized men from the borderlands?"

"Don't be insulting, Richard. God forbid that we'd ever be civilized."

"And you have a wife?"

Tom Graham shuddered. "Don't ask. But, I have good news. Sir James and Duke Rodrigo are headed to Pola. The army will be here in six days, seven at the most."

"I just hope we're still here to greet them."

That night, Castle was called out by the guards at the southern gate. Will Fox and Kate went with him.