Rose shook her head, looking at the band of thin cloth that ran up from under her chin to the hat placed on her head. The hat itself was white and in the shape of a pillbox.
Her hair had been brushed in such a way that it was only visible at the back with a little more emerging from the sides of the hat.
"You need no color to your coif," Marion said. "Your hair is lustrous enough on its own. Now stand and let me look at you."
Rose stood up, looking down at the full sleeves, the folds of the dress just reaching her ankles, the shoes which fit her perfectly.
There was a knock on the door and a voice she recognized asked, "Are you decent?"
"Excellent timing, Lennox," Marion replied. "Come and see for yourself."
The door opened, and Lennox walked in, stopping dead as he stared at Rose.
"What do you think?" she asked.
He coughed gruffly before speaking. "It'll do for now," he said with a curt nod. "Come, we must depart."
As he spoke, a horn sounded in the courtyard. "What was that?" Rose asked.
Lennox was already running. "The castle is under attack," he called back over his shoulder. "They must have taken the west road."
Rose ran after him, but he was too swift. By the time she got to the courtyard, he was gone from sight.
People were running frantically everywhere, and it seemed chaotic at first but the more she looked, the more she saw order to what was happening.
Women were collecting children, heading into the keep with them. The men were gathering bows, running up the various steps to the battlements.
Others were having armor attached and over by a crumbling hall, an older version of Lennox was taking charge, pointing from left to right.
There was Lennox next to him, in the middle of a heated argument. She approached slowly, not wanting to interfere.
"How can you say that?" Lennox was asking. "You need every man you can get to fight him."
"We can survive a siege for more than a month. You need to get out now before they set up out there. If I die, you take over as laird. If we both die, the clan dies as you have no heir."
"But father, you need me here."
"What I need, Lennox is for you to get that letter to Walter. Get going out the sallyport."
"I will not leave you unprotected."
"You will go or the clan will die. With haste, they are approaching."
"What's happening?" Rose asked as Lennox ran over to her. Her didn’t stop, snapping as he went by, "I need to go to Rievaulx Abbey."
He rushed across the courtyard toward the stables. By the time she caught up, a groom already had a horse ready. He climbed up, looking down at her. "You must come with me."
"Must I? What if I want to stay here?"
"I spoke to the druid. He told me how to get you home."
"How?"
"I’ll show you on the way."
He leaned down and grabbed her, lifting her effortlessly up behind him. She almost fell as they rode for the sallyport. "Slow down," she called out, feeling herself sliding off the back of the saddle.
"No time," he replied. "The gate closes and it will not reopen until the siege is lifted." The horse sped up, rushing through the narrowing gap just in time. The gate slammed shut behind them. Rose had to grab onto Lennox's waist to stay on the horse.
