Elizabeth hurried from the parlor at a run.
Stephen stopped her just before she reached the murder room andgrabbed her by the elbow. “Do you really trust him? His soldiers havearrows.”
“It’s a cease fire. I want to see his face when I give him the news.”
Stephen didn’t look convinced. “I like your pretty eyes too much to want some overzealous archer sending off a wayward arrow and inadvertently giving you a new nickname.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Oh, very well, spoilsport. Give me your safety helmet.”
She held perfectly still while Stephen settled the leather helmet onto her head and strapped the thick goggles over her eyes.
“That’s better.”
“I’m waiting!” came Reddington’s impatient voice through his speaking trumpet.
“Your patience is about to be rewarded,” Elizabeth murmured.
Stephen lifted the heavy wooden drawbar securing the door.
She pushed the door open and stepped out into the bright sunlight.
The army seemed significantly closer now than they had when she’d first spied them an hour ago. The huge glass lenses over her eyes were magnifying the enemy. Reddington had wasted no time encroaching farther on Castle Harbrook territory. Elizabeth could probably speak in her normal voice from this distance and still be heard.
She put the speaking trumpet to her lips anyway. She wanted to be certain every single soldier heard the news.
“You are not the owner of Castle Harbrook,” she bellowed into the trumpet. Her voice shook the trees. Yelling into a speaking trumpet was surprisingly satisfying. “We have the late countess’s will in our possession. The castle was bequeathed to the countess’s sister. It never belonged to her son. You cannot have won it in a game of cards. It wasn’t the earl’s to wager.”
Reddington’s men exchanged hesitant glances.
“Go home, all of you,” Elizabeth forced herself to say. “You have vowed to follow the law. Ownership is clear. There is no war to be waged.”
“His Grace will decide that!” shouted Reddington, aiming his speaking trumpet at his men, rather than at Elizabeth. “If you really do have such a will and testament, then produce it at once. His Grace wishes to inspect the document for himself.”
“No way in hell,” came Graham’s voice behind her. “He’ll rip up the will and storm the castle anyway.”
Elizabeth nodded and raised the trumpet. “For now, you’ll have to trust us. We can arrange a meeting in the coming days with our client and her lawyer—”
“Trust the enemy? I’m afraid that’s not how wars are won, wench. You have my castle. I’m coming to get it. Cease fire over.”
“You gave your word to—”
Stephen yanked her back inside seconds before the first arrow struck the wooden door right where Elizabeth had been standing.
“But we found the will,” Philippa protested weakly. “The case is over. We saved the day.”
A swarm of arrows rained against the door and the stone walls.
Elizabeth straightened her spine with determination. “It’s not over until we win the war.”
34
All right, everyone.” Graham held up his palms. “Let’s distract ourselves with something else for a while until we calm down enough to think.”
“Like what?” Philippa asked.
Elizabeth’s eyes shone. “Stephen has gifts!”
“Gifts?” The siblings looked at one another.
