“Aye,” Thomas said as he reached his horse. “Lock her in and keep her there until I return. If anyone lets her out, or if anyone opens the cell door before I return, I will personally kill the man. Is that clear?”
Desmond knew he meant every word. “It is clear, Thomas.”
As Thomas mounted his war horse, Desmond relayed quick but succinct orders to the gate sergeant, including the arrest of Lady Adelaide. As Thomas turned his steed for the gatehouse, the next sounds he heard were those of Adelaide’s screams as she was set upon by a dozen Wark soldiers. Crying his name, she was dragged off to the vault.
Her screams of terror were like music to Thomas’ ears and perhaps the only thing that settled the murderous rage in his heart. Thundering out of the gatehouse with Desmond, Markus, and about two dozen Wark soldiers behind him, he turned for the road north, the one that would lead him to Northwood Castle.
With every step his horse took, Thomas could feel his fury cooling. It was a forced cooling, because if he didn’t force himself to calm down, he would go on a murder rampage. With a few deep breaths and distance between him and Adelaide, it became easier. He wasn’t so blinded by his rage any longer but, now, fear took hold. Fear for his father, fear for what had happened. Markus knew nothing more than what he’d already told him, so there was a greater fear of the unknown. If Garr Ellsrod had ridden in the dead of night for Castle Questing, that told Thomas that the injury his father suffered must be very bad, indeed.
But he couldn’t panic, not yet.
He was hoping it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. He could get to Northwood and William could be up and moving with nothing more than a bump on his head, or he could get there and find his father dead. At this point, any scenario was possible, and Thomas found himself praying that it wasn’t all that bad. His father was immortal, wasn’t he? A man who was elderly, but incredibly healthy and active. Truly, William was ageless, and a foolish accident wasn’t going to steal away England’s greatest knight.
The Wolfe of the Border…
Nay, an accident wasn’t going to take him away.
Thomas refused to believe it.
Up ahead was the bridge that Wark guarded, the one that crossed the River Tweed. But instead of going over the bridge, Thomas intended to take the road that veered to the right and ran along the river. That road would take them straight to Northwood Castle, which was easily less than an hour’s ride. They would be there quickly. In fact, Thomas was so focused on the road turning east that he failed to see a tiny figure crossing the bridge, running as fast as the little legs would move.
In fact, Desmond saw it first and he threw up a hand, catching Thomas’ attention as he reined his excited horse to a halt.
“Thomas!” he shouted. “Look!”
Thomas did. He wouldn’t have thought anything of a lone child except for the fact that she was dragging a dark, heavy cloak and he happened to recognize the fabric on the child’s tunic.
The blue fabric his mother had donated to Edenside.
Shocked, Thomas pulled his horse to a halt, directing it back towards the bridge as the soldiers accompanying him nearly crashed into each other at his swift change in direction. Thomas found himself thundering over to the bridge where the child dropped the cloak and tried to climb onto the railing, terrified of the big horses. When Thomas saw that, he reined his horse to a halt and vaulted off the saddle, landing on the ground with his feet running. He ran straight up to the child, seeing that it was the tiny little girl, Dyana.
He fell to his knees in front of her.
“Dyana?” he said, great concern in his voice. “What are you doing here, sweetheart? Did you wander away?”
The little girl realized that it was Thomas, the man she had been looking for. She was so cold that her lips were blue and, somewhere, she’d either lost her shoes or never had them on because her feet were filthy, bloody, and cold. She let go of the railing on the bridge and came towards Thomas.
“Tibelda is sleepin’,” she said, sounding frightened. “She told me tae tell ye that bad men came and took them away.”
Thomas was trying to make sense out of it. “Bad men?” he repeated. “Who was taken away?”
The little girl was pale with exhaustion and fear from her night on the road, but she knew that Thomas was safety, aswas Desmond, whom she also recognized. She went straight to Thomas and put her little arms around his neck.
“Everybody,” she said. “The men came and they were screamin’. They took everyone away.”
Thomas was seized with dread. “Everyone at Edenside was taken away?” he clarified, realizing that he was starting to tremble. “Men came and took them away.”
The little girl nodded as she tried to climb on Thomas. As he put his arms around her and picked her up, something fell out of her hand and onto the dirt of the bridge. Thomas found himself looking at the wolf’s head dagger he’d lost at Coldstream when battling the reivers, something he thought was forever lost.
Until now.
Horror such as he’d never known swept him. Bending over, he picked up the dagger.
“Oh, God,” he breathed, looking at it in shock. He held it up to the child. “Sweetheart, where did you get this? Did… did someone give this to you?”
Dyana was finally safe, so her manner had eased considerably. She petted the top of the wolf’s head as if it were a living animal. “Pretty,” she said, pointing at the bejeweled eyes. “See? Pretty.”
Thomas was trying very hard to keep his composure in the face of a weary, frightened child, but Desmond wasn’t so calm. He put his hands on the little girl, trying to force her to look at him.
