“His name is Gregor,” she mumbled. “The guard, I mean. I pass him occasionally, and he often says things to me. If I’m alone, that is. It makes me uncomfortable, the way he speaks. Delphine said I ought to just ignore him, but it only seemed to make him angrier. I shouldn’t have gone out when I saw it was him guarding this door. I should have known that he’d follow me. If I’d only thought for a moment—”
“Don’t blame yourself for this,” Thomas interrupted. “None of this is your fault. And Gregor hasn’t heard the last of this, that’s for sure. I’m sorry, Emma.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes. Thomas longed to reach out and touch her but knew that would only make things worse.
The last thing the poor lass needed now was a man’s touch.
Emma scrubbed her face with her hands and scrambled to her feet. “I should go,” she mumbled, snatching up the basket. She picked up her skirts and ran, darting through the forest before Thomas could say a word.
He picked up the lantern and hurried after her, keeping a distance. As he stepped out of the forest, he saw her disappearinside the gate, racing across the courtyard. He followed, suddenly eager to make sure she made it back to her rooms.
Gregor could be hanging around nearby, waiting for revenge. He wasn’t at his post, at least, leaving Thomas to hastily lock the door after him.
Thomas followed Emma through the wide, empty hallways, her careless footsteps clattering loudly on the stone floor. He followed her until she reached the door to the Healer’s Chambers, unlocked it with shaking hands and let herself in.
Then, he could breathe, knowing that she was safe. For the first time, he glanced down at his hands properly, in the light, and sucked in a breath.
His knuckles were red-raw, his hands and the white cuffs of his shirt splattered with blood that wasn’t his. How many times had he punched Gregor, anyway?
His hands were shaking, too. He clenched them into fists, ignoring the sting across his knuckles.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first attack on one of the Keep women. Thomas did not tolerate them, but never had he found himself so irresistibly angry. He grabbed a passing guard, making the poor man squeak in surprise.
“Go and get Gregor, the man who was on sentry duty at the west forest entrance,” he growled.
The man blinked, wide-eyed. “Aye, Me Laird.”
“He attacked a woman. The healer’s apprentice. He is to be taken to the dungeons and imprisoned until I say otherwise. He’ll be punished.”
The guard nodded, pressing his lips together. “At once, Me Laird. The… the woman, is she hurt?”
“She’s safe, but no thanks to Gregor. Find him at once.”
“Aye, Me Laird.”
The man gave a quick, nervous bow and scurried away.
Thomas watched him go, turned purposefully around, lifting the lantern to light his way, and marched down the hallways. Not to his room—he’d never sleep now—but to the library.
As Thomas had expected, the library was not empty.
It was dark, except for one set of candles lighting up one table in the corner. A stern-faced woman with iron-grey hair leaned over the table, carefully turning the pages of some ancient manuscript. She glanced up as he approached.
“Close the door, Me Laird, ye are letting in a draft,” Tabitha observed. “Ye are back early. I didn’t expect ye home until three or four in the morning, too drunk to even sit on yer horse.”
Thomas grimaced, closing the door behind him. He made his way over to Tabitha’s table, placing the lantern on the desk.
She eyed his bloody knuckles. “Ye ought to visit the healers for those. Whom did ye punch? Not the owner of the Sinner, I hope.”
“A guard. Gregor something-or-other. I’d recognize his face.”
Tabitha narrowed her eyes, closing the manuscript carefully. “I know him. A troublemaker who says filthy things to the women when no one’s around. What has he done?”
“Followed Delphine’s lass into the forest and tried to take her against her will.”
“Good Lord. The healer’s apprentice? He’s bitten off more than he can chew, there. Does he truly think that we’ll favor a single, run-of-the-mill guard above ahealer?”
Thomas snorted, pulling up a chair and sitting down. “I don’t know what he thought. I suppose he thought nobody would see him, and she’d be too ashamed to tell anyone.”
