She wanted to explain. She wanted to apologize. But nothing she said would be enough for him. She had disobeyed his order. She nodded glumly but didn’t move.
“Is there something else?” he demanded impatiently.
Her throat closed.Yes! Put your hand onmyshoulder. She shook her head. “Be careful.”
As he strolled away, she watched him for a moment. For years, she’d longed for nothing other than for him to see her as more than a child, as more than someone that needed to be protected. But it was to no avail.
Finally, she looked at Landyn and found him gazing at her with judgmental eyes. She lifted her chin defiantly. “I can find my sisters. I don’t need your help. Good day.” She started down the corridor, back the way she had come. She examined each room, searching for Willow.
“I’m certain you can,” Landyn agreed, following her. “But John gave me an order. One I plan to see to completion.” He trailed her. “Are you looking for someone?”
She didn’t pause, continuing to glance into open rooms. “My sisters,” she replied with disdain.
“You said one of them was with Brother Nicolas.”
“Aye,” she said curtly.
“Where is the other?”
“In the chateau,” Raven said and paused at a juncture.
An armored knight with a red cross on his white tunic passed her down the intersecting hallway.
She glanced this way and that but couldn’t remember which way the monk had led her. All the stone hallways looked the same. She started down one of the corridors, continuing her search.
“Where in the chateau?” Landyn asked.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t have to find her.”
“We can have the le Bezu monks look for her,” Landyn offered. “And get the sister that is with Brother Nicolas.”
Raven stopped and turned to him. “I don’t need your help,” she said firmly.
“You do,” he insisted. “Or you would know where your sisters were.”
She stared into his black eyes as she balled her fists at her sides. She didn’t know what her father saw in him. He was annoying. Commanding. Domineering.
“Your father gave me an order,” he reiterated. “Unlike you, I will do as told.” He brushed past her.
Raven’s mouth dropped open. The insult rankled her. She snapped her jaw closed and gritted her teeth as she watched him stalk down the corridor. She took up step behind him and her eyes burned into his broad-shouldered back.
He paused to speak with a monk with a shaved head. “We are looking for two women. The Hawke sisters. Have you seen them?”
“No,” the monk replied.
“We need to find them.”
Raven stepped up to his side. “Can you bring us to Brother Nicolas?” she interrupted.
The monk’s gaze scanned her imperiously. He looked askance at Landyn, who nodded.
Adding insult to injury. Why did the monk seek Landyn’s approval for her request? If Raven kept grinding her teeth, she knew she would have none left.
“This way,” the monk said, leading them down the corridor.
Raven glared furiously at the two men walking before her. Then she shook herself. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was finding her sisters and making sure they were safe. Willow had to be here somewhere. Raven glanced into a room with an open door, but the room was empty. She tried to occupy her mind, but her rage wouldn’t abate at being treated so poorly. It burned in her like a scorching fire.
They passed another doorway, and she peered in. Templar knights, wearing their familiar white tunic adorned with a red cross, sat around a large table. One man rose to close the door as if she were spying on them. She grimaced in distaste.
