“Leave her out of this,” he snarled. “She has naught to do with the Order of the Osprey.”
“Maybe not,” said the guard. “But she has everything to do with Oskar Galbraith.” He smirked and looked Lily up and down appraisingly. She didn’t like the hungry gleam in his eyes. “And I canna say I blame him, either.”
Magnus growled deep in his throat. “Touch her and I’ll kill ye.”
“Oh, ye will? And how will ye do that, exactly? Use some of yer accursed Seelie magic to turn the chains to dust? No, I thought not. So keep yer mouth shut.”
“Hurry up will ye, Rob?” came a shout from the top of the stairs. “Ye were sent to fetch the prisoner, not have a debate!”
Rob scowled. “Hold out yer hands so I can take off yer manacles,” he said to Lily. “And dinna even think about doing anything stupid.”
Lily meekly complied, then preceded him through the door, casting a look back at Magnus and Emeric as she went.
Once upstairs, the guard thrust Lily into a dimly lit hallway. She could hear whispers and voices echoing from down the corridor, and the acrid smell of smoke hung in the air.
The guard shoved her forward, and she stumbled against the wall. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Oh, dinna be in such a rush,” the guard smirked, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. “Ye’ll see soon enough.”
The guard turned a corner, went through a door, and they emerged into a large, lavishly furnished chamber illuminated by flickering candles. The air was thick with the scent of pipe smoke and people were scattered around the room, some seated in chairs, others pacing restlessly.
A man standing in the center of the room turned to her. It was Eberwyn. Anger burned through her and she lunged at him, brought up short by the guard’s grip on her arm.
“What have you done with him?” she demanded. “What have you done with Oskar?”
Eberwyn just laughed. “I’m afraid yer questions will have to wait. First, ye have a job to do.”
He gestured for her to come closer and the guard dragged her towards the fireplace where she saw a chair pulled up. Alfred Brewer was sitting in that chair, his leg stretched out before him, looking pale and sweaty. Another woman, one Lily hadn’t met before, was kneeling in front of him, unwinding a bloody bandage from around his leg.
“Alice,” Eberwyn said. “I’ve brought the healer.”
The woman’s furious gaze snapped to Lily and it was all she could do not to take a step back. So this was Alfred’s wife, the one who had orchestrated his rescue and who the Order of the Osprey had been after for months. She was thin-looking with wild, curly brown hair and dour features, but her eyes flashed with a sharp intelligence and even sharper fury.
“I can do it!” she snapped at Eberwyn. “Do ye think I canna even take care of my own husband?”
Eberwyn held his hands up in a placating gesture. “I wouldnae dare suggest such a thing, but Lily is a healer and has helped Alfred before. “
“Let her through, woman,” Alfred barked at his wife. “Ye have all the bedside manner of an abattoir butcher.” His face was white with pain.
Alice opened her mouth for an angry retort, but snapped her mouth shut as she looked at her husband’s pained face. She turned her gaze on Lily.
“Treat my husband. He needs to be able to walk. But I’ll be watching ye closely.”
Lily’s gaze flicked from Alice to Eberwyn to Alfred, then back again. She crossed her arms over her chest.
“No.”
“No?” Eberwyn said incredulously. “I dinna think ye are in any position to refuse.”
Lily glared at him. She was done with being pushed around by these people. “And you’re in no position to make demands. Give me one reason why I should help you or him.”
“Because if ye dinna, I will kill ye here and now!” Alice snapped, her hand going to the hilt of the knife strapped to her hip.
“If you were going to do that you would have done it by now. The same with Magnus and Emeric. You need us all alive, don’t you? Why?”
Eberwyn chuckled darkly, his eyes never leaving Lily’s face. “All right,” he said finally, his voice surprisingly calm. “How about a bargain instead? Alfred’s leg must be treated, and soon, or else the need for a healer will become moot. Fix his leg like ye did at my manor so that he can walk and I will tell ye where Oskar is.”
Lily’s stomach clenched. “Is he all right? If you’ve hurt him—”
