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The Paladin, her family’s home, or notify her that she had been betrothed to some lord she’d never even heard of. Either way, Alessandria knew she didn’t want to do either. She wanted to remain at Newington and become a nun. They had, in fact, been some of the only people who had ever been kind to her.
    Therefore, the appearance of eight hulking knights demanding that she accompany them had come as something of a horrifying shock. She’d never even really been around men, and especially not for the past several years, and the fact that she found herself on the front of a charger as they raced through the black night was utterly terrifying. She understood that there was some threat and hazard afoot, from the king no less, but she still wanted to go home. She didn’t want to go wherever these men were taking her.
    Yet, they’d made it clear she had no choice. They’d swept her from the priory and out into the blackness, so black that she could hardly see a hand before her face. There were men with torches up ahead, trying to light the path, but it was dangerous going as they tried to keep pace, to stay one step ahead of men they had said were coming for her. What if, in fact, they were Henry’s men? What if they had lied to the prioress about everything?
    Then she was in a good deal of trouble.
    Alessandria came from a long line of powerful men and strong women. She wasn’t a tall girl, or even very big for that matter, but she was strong in both mind and body. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself, to defend herself if necessary, as Lady Orford and her stupid daughter had discovered.
    Truth be told, she had been shocked and overwhelmed when the knights had come to Newington and she had allowed them to take her without a fight. Now, that shock was wearing off and she was coming to feel quite threatened by these men. As they charged through the dark night, she gripped the saddle and struggled not to fall off.
    “Where in Canterbury are you taking me?” she yelled to Chad, seated behind her with his big arm wrapped around her waist to keep her from slipping. “I heard you speak of your father?”
    Chad’s visor was up as they charged through the night. He couldn’t see very well with it down and he was quite concerned with the night traveling they were doing, for many reasons.
    “Be silent,” he commanded sharply. “Your voice carries.”
    Alessandria didn’t like the tone of his voice. He sounded angry and evil. She was starting to think that perhaps she shouldn’t show any resistance, not now when he had seven men and two dozen soldiers at his disposal, men who could easily force her into submission, or worse. Perhaps it would be foolish of her to do anything other than what she was told, at least for the time being. But she would never give up hope that there would be an opportunity for her to escape.
    So she shut her mouth, holding fast to the galloping horse and praying she wouldn’t fall to her death. If she fell, the horses behind would surely trample her and she wasn’t ready yet to die in any case.
    At some point in their harried flight, men in torches broke off from the main body of men and disappeared to the north, taking a smaller road and heading into a thick cluster of what seemed to be trees. Truth be told, Alessandria couldn’t really tell because it was so dark but she thought she saw the outline of trees against the blanket of stars and she could see the torches flitting in and out of sight, fading away as they went.
    After that, the group seemed to ride faster. There was already a sense of urgency but it seemed to increase. They moved as fast as they could along the road, which wasn’t very well maintained, and the horses were tripping and struggling on the uneven ground. One horse even pulled up lame at one point, which wasn’t unexpected, and the rider of the horse, a soldier, was told to remain behind with his horse and seek shelter until the morning. Another soldier remained