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heavy door shut.
    â€œMy apologies for the delay, gentlemen,” Victor said, coming to take his seat on Roman’s left side. “The brethren have been set astir by the goings-on this afternoon.”
    Adrian came around the far side of the library to deliberately pass behind Roman. He stopped near his chair and squeezed Roman’s left shoulder. “Doing well enough?”
    Roman gave him a sideways nod but didn’t meet his eyes.
    Adrian clapped his shoulder a pair of times before continuing around the table to his own seat, something Roman was still not used to, after so many long evenings of Adrian sitting removed from the group near the window, preferring his own misery for company. The red-haired woman caring for Isra had changed Adrian Hailsworth deeply.
    â€œI was certain Brother Hilbert was going to follow us all the way into the gatehouse,” Adrian commented, adjusting his seat as he settled in.
    â€œAs was I,” Victor muttered. “Hilbert is a capable servant, but at times too exacting.” Victor looked around the table at each man in turn before settling on Roman. “Where is she?”
    Roman opened his mouth, but it was Valentine who answered. “Below. In one of Wynn’s empty cells.”
    Victor nodded. “And the . . . other?”
    â€œAlso below,” Valentine answered, holding forth his hand to examine his fingernails. “In one of the no empty cells.”
    â€œThere will be bones,” Adrian said. “The larger ones, any matter.”
    The abbot inclined his head in acknowledgment. “They will be interred in the crypt for the indigent, God have mercy on his soul.” Victor crossed himself.
    And then Roman knew what they were talking about. It seemed as though everything had been taken care of; he had been taken care of. Perhaps it was because he still felt so weak, but the idea of these men taking such pains for him this afternoon caused a lump in his throat.
    He cleared it as quietly as possible before asking, “Has anyone seen Lou?”
    Valentine was putting away his blade. “He had flown back to the mews and was crying to get in. I saw him as I was coming up from the river, so I pause a moment for him. You’re welcome.”
    All eyes turned to the Spaniard, but it was Constantine who spoke.
    â€œYou stopped to let a falcon in a cage while dragging a dead body?”
    â€œHe’d had a trying morning as well, yes? He was tired. And I was no so much dragging the body. It is no as heavy if you tie up the hands and feet just so and then wrap it—”
    â€œ Did anyone see you ?” Victor interrupted, holding forth one palm with a pained expression across his kind face.
    Valentine looked offended. “Of course no.”
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Adrian interjected.
    All eyes in the room turned to Constantine. But when the general looked up again, it was to pin Roman with his gaze.
    â€œWell? You are the only one she’d talk to.”
    Roman shifted in his chair, adjusted his throbbing arm. His forehead prickled with sweat. “She is the woman who found me in Damascus. The one who led me to the prison.” He paused a moment. “Isra Tak’Ahn.”
    â€œEgyptian surname.” Adrian’s brow was creased in a frown. “Why is she here now looking for you? And how did she find you?”
    â€œThe how of it I don’t yet know,” Roman said. “She is too weak to speak at any length. But she told me that we must return to the Holy Land. That King Baldwin’s life is in danger. There is a plot to assassinate him.”
    â€œApparently the Christian king’s life is no the only one in danger,” Valentine said, “if the package I dragged through the wood is any measure. Perhaps Saladin’s men?”
    â€œPerhaps,” Victor conceded. “But there has been a well-respected truce between Saladin and Baldwin for at least two years. I’ve