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face was inscrutable.
    Leah wearily tapped her throat.
    He swore and raked a hand through his dark hair. “It makes no sense, Maida. None of this does. It should have taken us weeks to overtake the castle, not two nights. And now Rutledge is fled to the south, taking all his soldiers with him and abandoning his castle?” His hands grasped Leah’s arm and she stiffened when he snapped off the long end of the arrow. “I thought for sure the girl was some sort of spy sent by him to catch me off guard.” Great. He had gone from accusing her to talking as if she weren’t here.
    He seized her upper arm in a burning grip. His dark eyes focused on her frightened ones.
    “This is going to hurt, girl.”
    That was all the warning she got before he grasped the arrowhead on the other side of her arm and yanked the remainder of the arrow straight through her flesh.
    Hot agony poured through her. She could feel her mouth open in a scream, but no sound came out of her throat. Blood gushed from the wound, and Leah felt dizzy with the pain. Tears poured from her eyes and she gasped like she was drowning.
    Gentle fingers stroked her cheek. “It’s all right,” Royce murmured. “‘Twill be over soon.” He brushed the tears off of her cheek. “Maida will fix your arm, never fear. She was my nursemaid when I was but a boy, and she took care of me then.” A hint of a smile curved his mouth. “I have no doubt she can take care of you now.”
    “Oh you,” Maida scolded, a girlish giggle escaping her throat. “Still a charmer after all these years.” She moved forward with a damp cloth and bustled past the large man, clucking over Leah’s arm. “Christophe tells me that the arrow was meant for you, milord. I’m thinking you owe her your life.”
    “It would seem so.” At his words, Leah looked up and stared into his searching eyes. He gave her an odd, appreciative look and she blushed, remembering that he’d seen every inch of her naked. He’d even hinted that she should become his lover.
    Maida’s touch was as gentle as she could make it, and Leah knew she was trying. When she winced at one particularly rough motion, the woman gave her an apologetic look, and Leah returned it with a faint smile of her own. “Such a pretty child,” Maida clucked. “Where is that boy with the knife?”
    “Here,” Christophe said, returning through the door and breathing hard. “I ran the whole way.” He showed Maida the knife. “Cleanest one I could find.” Leah’s eyes bugged at the sight of the large carving knife with the wicked edge.
    Maida took the knife from him and stuck it in the flames, wiping her bloody hands on her apron. “Almost done,” she announced cheerfully.
    Long, silent moments passed. Maida returned to the side of the bed, the red-hot knife held by the carefully wrapped handle. The tip of it glowed white-hot. “Hold her arms,” Maida warned the men.
    Before Leah could panic, both men were holding her down to the bed, even as Maida neared with the knife. Luckily for her, she passed out the moment the smell of burning flesh hit the air.

Chapter Six
    Leah awoke some time later with a dull throbbing in her arm and a massive headache.
    Her hand automatically went to her wounded arm, and she tore the covers off to see the damage.
    Thick bandages swathed her upper arm, and they looked to be clean and wrapped tight. The faintest touch caused a shockwave of pain to shoot through her arm.
    The crisp bite in the air told her that the fire had died and she’d been alone in the dark for some time. Since there were no windows to the room, she didn’t know what time it was.
    She was also still naked, a fact that caused her more than a slight bit of consternation. Did no one clothe prisoners around here? Grabbing a blanket, she wrapped it around her body and slid out of bed, her feet touching the hard stone floor underneath. As soon as she put her full weight on her legs, a wave of tingling pain shot up her legs,