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of the chapel again. A moment later he was gone, and she was left alone with his man to be taken to the tower room.
    â€œMy lady?” the man said.
    â€œHow does he know the tower room?” she whispered. “No one has been there since my father—”
    â€œMy lady, in better days, he knew your father.”
    â€œHe never knew my father!”
    â€œLady, he did.”
    â€œI would have remembered—”
    â€œYou were very young, and in London, serving at the queen’s court. You see, my lady, we would have remembered you as well, had we ever met, I am certain. Will you accompany me?”
    â€œMy father was no friend to outlaws.”
    The tall warrior smiled at her. “We were not outlaws then, my lady. For Edward of England had not seized this country that is not his.”
    â€œBut your leader is—”
    â€œNot a savage, uncivilized barbarian out of the Highlands, my lady. Though he’s kin enough among a rugged breed! I swear to you, my lady, he did meet your father, and does know the castle, and was welcomed here once.”
    â€œSir, whatever the past, you are rebels and outlaws now!”
    â€œNow will you please accompany me?”
    He seemed a decent man for an outlaw. She gazed at him, studying him. He was young, with handsome features of a gentler nature than those of his leader, who seemed a rough-hewn, ruthless savage, no matter what this man had to say in explanation.
    Aye, if he was savage, he had just cause!
    She was not to blame, yet it seemed she would pay the price. There was nothing to do but fight them….
    As long as she was able.
    â€œAnd if I do not do as you say? Follow your orders?” she inquired. “Will you skewer me here and now? Perhaps I should allow you to do so. I will die an easier death—and you’ll not have your barbarian minds taxed in determining a more imaginative end for me.”
    The dark-haired man smiled, giving her the first breath of hope she had felt since knowing they had come. “My name is Jay, lady. Will you accompany me, please?”
    â€œWhy should I cooperate with you, sir, with men who will decimate my people and destroy me when they see fit? Why should I make things easy and accompany you?”
    â€œBecause you have far too much mercy in your own soul to make me go to him with the words that I cannot do so much as accompany an unarmed young woman to a different room within a castle. Then he would come back for you himself….” Jay allowed the implied threat of his words to linger on the air; then he shrugged. “As it is, unless I must admit to my incompetency, he may be occupied for hours.”
    â€œLead the way, sir. I will follow you.”
    â€œNay, lady, you will go before me.”
    She arched a brow. “Do you think me dangerous, too?”
    â€œIt’s best never to trust the enemy.”
    â€œThe unarmed enemy?”
    â€œMy lady, if you will …”
    He bowed, indicating the door. She exited the chapel and walked down the second-floor hallway, tempted to stop and stare down to the great hall below to see for herself what damage might have been done to the hall and to the folk who worked there. Yet she kept her spine stiff, her chin raised—and walked. From the corner of her eye she tried to see what was happening below; she could not.
    She turned around, facing Jay. “Will you tell me, sir, if my priest has survived? His name is Father Michael Corrigan.”
    â€œIt’s not my place, my lady, to tell you anything.”
    â€œWhat of the captain of the inner guard? A brave man named Tyler Miller.”
    â€œLady, what has become of your people is not for me to say.”
    â€œYou cannot answer simple questions?”
    â€œAgain, I say it is not my place.”
    â€œAre you a puppet then, sir, nothing more than a plaything for a greater man?”
    She was startled when he smiled. “My lady, you will not goad me into