“Brodie! Is all well?” Maxwell asked. “It seems as though we have barely caught a glimpse of you since our arrival! I assumed you were too busy wooing your soon-to-be bride to pay us any mind.” He glanced over at Margaret dubiously. “Then again, perhaps you have been occupied with…other pursuits?”
“Never mind that now,” Brodie said. “This girl and I have an urgent errand to run, and there are those who will almost certainly attempt to stop us from carrying it out.”
Magnus got up from his bed with a look of concern. “What can we do to help?”
“You will doubtless be asked whether you have seen me recently,” he told them. “If so, I ask that you invent sightings of me to throw them off my track, at least for a while. Tell them you have spotted me at the stables within the past hour, or that I am walking near the stream, or the like. Your stories should contradict each other whenever possible to prolong their search for me. Understood?”
“Absolutely,” Maxwell replied. “You have our word. We shall hold them off for as long as possible. But…are you in danger? Do you not want one of us to accompany you?”
“I appreciate the offer. If our ruse is to succeed, though, you must both remain here.” Brodie clasped Maxwell’s hand gratefully, then Magnus’s. “Thank you both.”
They nodded in return, and Brodie turned to Margaret. “Do you know a secret way out of the castle so that we may depart without being seen?”
“Yes,” she answered without hesitation. Years of working as a servant had taught her many shortcuts and lesser-known intersecting passages. “Follow me closely, and none shall mark us.”
At least, I sincerely hope not.
