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look at her and hear her speak to know she’s nobility.”
    “Very peculiar, don’t you think?”
    Mina rested her head on Hugh’s muscular chest.   “Is it coincidence that she arrives here now when the Shields are getting ready to fight the creatures and the Chosen are trying to figure out how to destroy the evil?”   She leaned her head back and looked into Hugh’s eyes.   “I’ve always trusted your instincts.   Will you talk with her yourself?”
    “If it’ll put your mind at ease, aye.   Besides, we cannot take any chances.”
    Mina hugged him then rose up on her tip toes to kiss him.   “She’s in the east wing.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Hugh stepped from the stairs and turned down the hallway that would lead to Jayna’s chamber.   He was curious to see this woman, not because he wondered what she looked like, but because Mina had literally felt her emotions.   He had never heard such a thing, but he wasn’t surprised by it.
    He lifted his hand and knocked on the door.   “It’s Lord Hugh.   I’d have a word with you, please.”
    A soft shuffle from within and then the door opened, and Hugh found himself staring at a slender woman with a wrinkled, out-of-fashion gown.   Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face in a long plait down her back and her hazel eyes stared into his, patiently waiting.
    “You’re Jayna?”
    She gave a stiff nod.   “I am, my lord.”   She stepped aside and allowed him to enter.
    Hugh cast a glance around the chamber and only found a black cloak that had seen too many days hanging on one of the pegs.   No other items of clothing could be seen.
    He stopped before the hearth and clasped his hands behind his back as he regarded her.   “My wife tells me that you’re a traveler.”
    She nodded.   “I find it suits me.”
    “How is it that you have survived as long as you have?”
    “I’m quick-witted, which has gotten me out of several situations that could’ve proven ill-fated,” she replied in a tone one would use if they were talking down to a servant.
    Mina was right, Hugh thought.   Jayna is no commoner.   “Mina says you ran away from your uncle.   He could be looking for you.”
    Jayna laughed softly.   “He was always too drunk to even know I was around, my lord.   I was probably gone for months before he realized I wasn’t there.”
    “Any other family?”
    “Nay.”
    Hugh scratched his chin as he contemplated the situation.   “Tell me, Jayna, what brought you to Stone Crest?”
    She shrugged.   “My feet, I suppose, my lord.   I was on the road this morning when I encountered an elderly man with a horse that was more dead than alive.   He was headed here and I offered my aid to him.”
    It was a good story, and one Hugh could check for himself since he knew she spoke of Jobbins and his mare Ol’ Ruth.  
    “May I ask you a question, my lord?” Jayna asked.
    “Of course.”
    “Are you at war with someone?”
    A frisson of fear snaked down Hugh’s spine.   “Why do you ask?”
    “The guards have doubled since I’ve been here, and it is highly unlikely that they are for me.”
    Hugh smiled despite himself.   Jayna had spunk.   Whatever she had endured in her years traveling, if she did indeed travel, it had only made her stronger.
    “We are at war.   In fact, it might be prudent for you to leave soon, though with the storm about to blow in, you might be here for a few days.”
    “I’ve no wish to be caught in a war between two lords,” she said as she stood as still as stone.   “Though Lady Mina worries I might freeze to death, I’ve been in worse and will survive.   If it is all right with you, I’ll be on my way.”
    Hugh clenched his jaw as he debated on whether to let her leave or not.   “I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to leave in such vile weather.”
    If they were lucky, the storm would hold off the creatures long enough for Jayna to leave before he had one more innocent to think