Chapter Twenty-One
Zora was running.
Titus saw her running through the bailey like a madwoman, which was a curious sight.
He’d been on the wall with his brothers, near the gatehouse, discussing his coming journey to the Welsh marches, when he caught sight of Zora in a pale dress.
He found it rather odd, so he watched her rush all the way through the bailey before entering the knights’ quarters.
That brought even more curiosity.
“Titus?” Markus said. “Did you hear me?”
Titus shook his head. “Nay,” he said. Then he pointed toward the knights’ quarters. “Did you see that?”
Markus and Magnus came over to his side of the wall. “See what?” Markus asked.
“De Allery’s daughter,” Titus said. “Zora. She just ran like a madwoman across the bailey and went into the knights’ quarters.”
Markus looked at him. “Why on earth did she go into the knights’ quarters?”
Titus shook his head. “I cannot tell you,” he said. “But she almost looked… frantic.”
“Do you think she is looking for a knight?” Markus said.
Titus came away from the wall. “It is possible,” he said. “Mayhap she needs assistance and is looking for one of us.”
“Should we find out?”
Titus shrugged. “Possibly,” he said. Then he sighed. “Probably. She looked as if she was in a panic.”
“Then let us see what she is panicked about,” Markus said.
It was enough of a sight, and enough of a curiosity, to move them off the wall.
If Zora was indeed looking for a knight, or help, eventually the duty would fall to one of them, because the servants would send word to the gatehouse and the gatehouse would come to them.
Therefore, the three of them simply took the initiative and headed toward the tower that contained the staircase that would take them off the wall and into the bailey, but before they could reach it, Magnus grasped Titus by the arm.
“Wait,” he said, pointing. “Look.”
They all turned to see Zora emerging from the knights’ quarters with saddlebags and a broadsword. Titus scratched his head.
“She’s stealing from someone?” he said, incredulous. “Whose possessions are those?”
No one had any answers, but her behavior was increasingly puzzling.
The three brothers took the stairs down to the bailey, emerging from the tower in time to see Zora rushing toward the kitchen yard lugging the heavy bags and the broadsword.
The knights began to follow her, quickening their pace.
They came around the side of the great hall just as Zora reached the gate that led into the kitchen yard.
Titus called out to her.
“Lady Zora?” he shouted. “Is something amiss?”
Startled by the sound of her name, Zora turned to see Titus, Magnus, and Markus about thirty feet away from her. Instead of pausing to answer the question, she screamed and bolted through the gate.
That brought the knights on the run.
They burst into the kitchen yard in time to catch a glimpse of Zora’s dress as she went through the postern gate.
Incredibly confused and the slightest bit concerned, they ran after her, plowing through the postern gate to see her halfway down the trail that led to the bottom of the gully.
They started to run after her, though the trail was steep and slippery in spots.
They hadn’t taken five steps when Zora suddenly lost her footing midway down and rolled the rest of the way, tumbling all the way to the bottom and scattering the possessions in the bags. Everything went flying.
Dazed, Zora had no hope of recovering before Titus and his brothers descended on her.
Titus was the first one, grabbing hold of her as she writhed around on the ground.
He opened his mouth to question her when he heard something off to his left.
Looking up, he saw a man on horseback with something, or someone, draped in front of him.
Baffled, he shielded his eyes from the sun, realizing that he was looking at Ansel astride the horse he’d seen the man ride in on the night before.
A horse bearing red and yellow on the saddle.
And the “something” across the saddle wasn’t an inanimate object as much as it was a body.
It took Titus a moment to realize that he recognized the hair.
It was Katiana.
Seized with terror, he began to run toward Ansel, as fast as he had run in his entire life.
Seeing Titus heading in his direction, Ansel yanked the reins off the branch he had them tethered to, which created snapping noises as the branches broke.
That startled his horse, who nearly dumped Katiana on the ground.
But Ansel held on to the reins, and his sister, and he spun the horse around and took off toward the north, where there was a smaller road leading into Scotland.
The big warhorse kicked up clods of earth as it tore off, faster than Titus could run.
And he knew it.
God help him, he knew it.
“Titus!” Markus shouted, running toward him. “Who was that?”
Titus was nearly in tears. “Ansel,” he gasped, breathing heavily. “He has Katia!”
That was all Markus needed to hear. He turned on his heel and began to run back toward the castle with Titus on his tail, leaving Magnus to bring up the rear with a hysterical Zora as his prisoner.
By the time Titus and Markus ran back up the hill and reached the castle, the alarms were already sounding.
Patrick, Scott, Troy, Blayth, Thomas, Nathaniel Hage, and Atreus de Norville were already congregating, having emerged from the keep when they heard the alarm.
All hell was breaking loose, and Titus was at the head of it.
“Titus!” Patrick shouted as his sons came barreling through the kitchen yard gate. “Titus! Markus! What’s happening?”
Titus was running for the stable, so it was Markus who went to his father and uncles. “Katiana’s brother has captured her and is making a break for it,” he said breathlessly, pointing off toward the north. “We must go after them.”
Atreus, Nathaniel, and Thomas were already in motion, rushing to the stables after Titus.
Scott, Troy, Patrick, and Blayth were a little slower, but not by much.
All of them rushed for their mounts as Patrick bellowed orders to the nearest soldiers, demanding they secure Berwick, lock it down, and make sure each guest from the previous night was accounted for.
Truthfully, no one was quite sure what was happening, but if their liege and the others were moving that swiftly, it couldn’t be good.
While Rian and Espen were making sure Patrick’s orders were carried out, Peter and Krister rushed to Patrick’s side to help.
Bowen, who had been in the bailey, had rushed into the stables to make sure the horses were being rapidly saddled.
As everyone was commandeering horses and saddles, Magnus came through the kitchen yard, dragging Zora with him.
She was dirty, sobbing hysterically, and had a bloodied arm from her fall.
Titus happened to catch a glimpse of Magnus with Zora, and as a groom hurriedly saddled his animal, he ran over to where his brother was holding on to the weeping woman.
“Where is he taking her?” Titus demanded, grabbing Zora by the arm and giving her a shake. “Tell me where he’s taking her. And what were you doing, running to him like that? Were those his possessions in your hands?”
Zora was cornered and terrified. “I… I… I do not know where he is taking her!”
Titus gave her a good shake again. “Don’t lie to me,” he snarled. “Where is he taking her?”
“I don’t know!” Zora screamed. “He is going to sell her to Lancaster!”
Titus froze, his eyes wide. “He… he’s what?”
Zora had tears and mucus and dirt all over her face, her bushy hair askew. One look at Titus’ pale features and she wasn’t so fearful any longer. She was enraged to see such concern for Katiana on Titus’ face.
Why couldn’t he be that concerned for her?
“You heard me,” she said, spittle flying from her lips.
“You married that little bitch without permission, and it was not your right! Ansel is going to sell her to Lancaster to use her as a hostage against de Wolfe siding with Edward! And Lancaster will pay him a fortune for a de Wolfe wife, so she’ll be out of your reach forever.
Of course you’re never going to get her back!
She was never meant to be yours to begin with! ”
Titus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “And you did this?” he asked, aghast. “You are helping him?”
Zora had one hand free. With a roar of anguish, she lashed out and tried to slap Titus, but he was too quick for her. He backed away just in time, catching the hand that tried to strike him.
“Your father promised that I would marry you!” she screamed. “We were to be betrothed. You were mine!”
Now, the situation was starting to make some sense.
It was the same old Zora, the same girl he’d fostered with, the same troublemaker.
Only now, her trouble could be deadly. Horrified, Titus turned to see his father and his Uncle Scott standing behind him, listening to everything.
As Titus ran for Jesus, now saddled and waiting, Patrick ordered Zora put under arrest and locked up.
Magnus turned her over to Krister, who sent Peter and several soldiers to find Edmund de Allery.
The man had to know what his daughter had done.
As the entire bailey of Berwick descended into chaos, Titus, his father, his uncles, and his brothers charged out of the gatehouses, taking the road north in pursuit of Ansel and Katiana.
Titus was at the head of it, pushing Jesus faster than he’d ever pushed the animal in its life.
Fortunately, Jesus was a swift horse and was up to the challenge.
Even so, Titus couldn’t keep the tears of genuine fear from his eyes.
The same words kept rolling over and over in his mind…
Please, God. Please keep Katia safe.