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the table. What kind of monster was he?
    "Would you like me to bring you something?"
    "Oh, no, Oriel would be angry."
    "She will not be angry with me," Lynette stated firmly. The child's eyes grew round. "What is your name?"
    "Cerise. Are you truly not afraid of Oriel?"
    "No, I am not. Now, you come with me. We will go down the back stairs and see what there is for you to eat."
    Still not quite believing there was someone in the world not afraid of Oriel, Cerise slid from the bed and put her trembling little hand in Lynette's. Together they went to the Kitchen. Cerise was more than awed by the buxom woman who fawned over her and brought out the food.
    "Bless ye, child. Are ye hungry? Well, there's a fine piece or two of the bird from supper and a bit of cheese. I'm sure I can find a sweet to help bring ye good dreams. A child can't find sleep on an empty stomach."
    "A piece of bread and some milk, too," Lynette said.
    "Of course, of course," the cook replied. A tray was quickly filled, and Cerise carried her mug of milk while Lynette carried the tray. An hour later they were seated in the center of Lynette's bed, nibbling on the cheese and chicken and some crusty bread. Lynette wondered just when the child had last eaten. The thought filled her with new anger. She would face Royce tomorrow and call him the name he so richly deserved.
    "How old are you, Cerise?"
    "Nearly six."
    "When will you be six?"
    Cerise paused to think, and Lynette found this aggravating too. Had the child never had any kind of celebration for her birthday?
    "I will be six when the first roses bloom," Cerise said brightly. She didn't know the date, but the roses were her way of marking time.
    "We shall have to have a celebration."
    "Why?"
    "Because you are going to be a year older and you are a very special person. Your father will be lord here, and his daughter—you—will one day be Lady Cerise of Creganwald."
    Cerise blinked as if this were something of a shock; then she half smiled as if she thought Lynette might be teasing.
    "
You
will be Lady of Creganwald," Cerise replied.
    "Yes, but when your father and I have wed, we will both be the guardians of this manor. We must help each other to learn all we must learn to be just and kind and to rule well. You will one day be lady here, so you must learn too."
    "I will not be lady here. Papa will have Oriel take me somewhere else. We are always going somewhere else."
    Lynette could hear the longing in Cerise's voice for the security of home and family. It only made her angrier with the child's careless father.
    "No... this time you will stay." She bent toward Cerise conspiratorially. "Perhaps we will see if Lady Oriel won't be going someplace else alone. I've found the lady not to my taste, so we will just have to be friends, you and I, and keep our secrets."
    This pleased Cerise, and by the time Lynette tucked her into bed she drifted into sleep quickly.
    But Lynette could not find sleep so easily. She didn't know all the truth, but she meant to find it. There was, it seemed, a lot more to this new force in her life than she had bargained for.
    Below, men were finding their beds, and the main hall was empty except for Eldwyn and Royce.
    "I was informed that you had agreed to this wedding, but your daughter seems to feel differently."
    "Lynette has been without her mother for a number of years. It has made her a bit headstrong. But she is a good, obedient daughter."
    "I will try not to make this any harder for her than it is already, but this manor must be secured. She must understand her position."
    "My lord, no one understands her position better than Lynette. She is a woman of tender sensibilities. She is also a woman of honor, and would not see that honor dragged in the dust. I plead that you but give her time. You will soon discover that she will abide by her vows, once she takes them."
    It was not her abiding but his own that Royce was worried about. He did not want a loyal and honorable wife, but a