Lista sighed heavily. “Damnation,” she grumbled. “I am going to find everything they bought at the apothecary’s and throw it in the fire. They have been nothing but trouble since we arrived.”
“If you give the stuff to me, I’ll do it.”
Lista nodded firmly, disgusted by her mother and aunt’s behavior. “They are going to embarrass themselves and me in front of these kind people,” she said. “I like them. Lady Addington and Sir Julian have been very kind and I could throttle my mother for behaving so poorly.”
“My lady?”
A voice came from the mist and Lista whirled around to see Julian and another knight emerging from the fog. When their gazes met, Julian smiled timidly.
“Do you require assistance?” he continued. “We saw you abruptly leave, so we came to see if there is something we can do to help.”
Lista didn’t want to drag Julian into her mother’s folly, but she did indeed need help at the unfamiliar castle. She had no idea where to even start looking and her anxiety was on the rise.
“I am sorry to trouble you,” she said. “It seems that my mother and aunt have disappeared. If you could…”
They were interrupted by a howling sound. It was more like a baying, like animals crying at the moon, and there were two of them. Two decidedly female voices that then started laughing.
Lista clapped her hand to her forehead.
“God’s Bones,” she said. “Where are they?”
Everyone started looking around. “Is that your mother, my lady?” Julian asked.
Lista nodded, exasperated. “It must be unless you know of anyone else who would bay like a wolf and then laugh,” she said. “It has to be them. It sounds as if they are in that direction.”
She was pointing off to her right as more howling sounds filled the mist. The knights turned in that direction, listening carefully.
“The gatehouse,” Julian said. “It sounds as if they are on the wall.”
He started to move, with Anteaus and Amaury and Lista following close behind. Having no idea where she was going, all Lista could do was stay close to Julian as Berwick’s great gatehouse came into view. There were stairs on the outside of the structure, slick with the wet but also well-lit with torches, and Julian headed up the stairs with the knights right behind him. Lista took the stairs more slowly because they were slippery and she didn’t want to fall. She was about midway up when a body was suddenly in front of her and she looked up to see Julian standing there, extending his hand to her.
For a moment, their eyes met and Lista realized his hair wasn’t hanging in front of his right eye like it usually was. She’d tucked it back and he’d left it there. Gratefully, she took it and he steadied her up the rest of the way. Even when they reached the wall walk, he didn’t let go of her hand.
He held it tightly.
Lista would have been giddy with delight had more howling not caught their attention. More howling, more laughing.
Lista’s anxiety had turned to anger.
“There,” she said, pointing off to the right. “It sounds as if it is coming from that direction.”
They were all looking to the west, towards the river, and Anteaus led the way with Amaury, Julian, and Lista following. Julian was still holding on to Lista because the wall walk didn’t have any railings on this side because they were being repaired. The wooden railings had rotted away and Cole was in the process of having everything replaced with stone, so there were only partial stone barriers as high as a man’s ankle. Not being able to see the fifteen-foot drop from the wall because of the mist, Lista was very glad for Julian’s steadying hand.
Truth be told, she was almost glad for her mother getting lost.
Almost.
More howling. They were nearing a tower when Amaury suddenly spoke up.
“Lady Felkington?” he said sharply. “Lady d’Orbec? Cease this foolishness. You’ve caused enough trouble this night.”
Lista could see her mother and aunt come into view. They were sitting on the edge of the wall, their legs hanging over the side. She gasped because of the dangerous position and she felt Julian squeeze her hand reassuringly. She was so startled by the squeeze that she was caught off guard when he released her and went towards her mother, slowly and carefully.
“My lady,” he said in that steady, raspy voice. “I am going to help you to your feet, but you must be very careful not to slip. It is a long drop to the ground and I do not want you to injure yourself.”
Meadow looked up at the knight, having no idea of the danger she was in. “It is a lovely night,” she said. “We were just commenting on how lovely the night is. So dark and close. This is a time when witches walk the earth. Did you know that?”
Julian shook his head. “I did not, my lady.”
