“Then perhaps I shall . . . help her!” Gelis hitched up her skirts and tugged on the door latch.
Hugh MacHugh’s hand closed around her wrist. “It willna do you any good to go out there, my lady.”
“Ah, but I do disagree,” she owned, jerking free.
She yanked open the door and scooted out onto the landing before he could try to stop her again.
But she saw at once that he had no need.
A tight phalanx of guardsmen lined the entire length of the keep’s outer stair, their close-packed ranks grim-faced and silent.
And even if she’d consider nipping past them, their drawn and crossed swords blocked the way.
She was well and truly trapped.
Though shewouldcatch Anice and speak to her later.
That knowledge — and her pride — lifting her spirits, she straightened her back and walked to the edge of the landing with all the dignity she could muster. She put her hands on the cold stone of the landing wall and leaned out into the chill morning wind, pretending to relish its briskness.
One, two obviously deep gulps of the brittle air — and perhaps an appreciative sigh or an artful head toss — should be enough to convince the guardsmen.
It wouldn’t do to have them think their new lady had been about to gallop down the keep stair and streak across the bailey, looking for broody hens!
But when, after enough air gulping and head tosses, she turned to go back inside, all thought of hen eggs, Anice, and even stony-faced guardsmen fled her mind.
Maldred the Dire’s heraldic crest was gone.
Or rather, she couldn’t see it.
Her jaw slipping, she stared up at the space above the hall door where the great hoary stone should have been. Either her eyes had suddenly gone as milky as old Buckie’s or hertaibhsearachdwas playing some new trick on her.
Yet no weird buzzing filled her ears. And neither the landing nor the solid bulk of the keep walling appeared to fade or waver.
Everything looked and felt as it should — save for the missing crest stone.
Her heart thumping, she stepped closer, craning her neck to get a better look. In that moment, the sun broke through a cloud, its bright morning light silvering the tower wall like a polished mirror.
At once, she spotted the great stone slab that was once Maldred’s, recognizing its distinctive shape set so prominently above the door.
But the sight sent chills down her spine and she had to clasp a hand to her mouth to keep from gasping.
The stone might still be there, but no one could ever call it Maldred’s again.
Every last faded line of incising and carvings had been erased.
The stone stared down at her, its age-pitted bulk looking no different from the other squares of granite masoned so proudly into Dare’s walls.
But the power of it stopped her heart.
That, and the distinct impression that the stone could see her. Then the clouds closed over the sun again and the odd sensation vanished.
Gelis shivered and rubbed her arms.
Then she smiled.
Whatever force had smoothed the stone’s surface, she knew in her heart it boded well.
Dare was on its way to healing.
