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M aitland had no idea where she was.

She hadn’t slept all night, tossed around and battered with the old blanket over her head, dulling her senses, until the group finally stopped moving. Then, someone pulled her off of the horse she’d been slung over and dumped her onto the ground.

The blanket came off her head.

It was just before dawn and the land was covered in dew, a mist rising from the fields all around her.

She’d been brought to the ruins of a castle or some other type of structure.

It was difficult to tell, but the entire thing was crumbling around them, set amongst a gentle landscape of green fields and tall trees.

But there was nothing bucolic or gentle about the ruins.

It smelled like human habitation, that acrid stench that assaulted her nostrils.

Men had been living in these old stones, exposed to the sky and the elements except for one small area that had once been part of the vault, for it had a barrel ceiling and was buried under rocks and grass and fallen trees.

The interior of the ruins was stripped for the most part, as men cleared the ground for them to live and sleep and eat, and burn their cooking fires when they could.

It was a den of animals.

Fortunately, Maitland had been dumped with the children, who now huddled with her.

She had her arms around most of them, as many as she could, and Artus sat on the other side of them, pressing his body against Phin and Nora for some heat and protection.

They were notably missing Dyana, the littlest, but Maitland was afraid to ask about her, afraid that if she asked and the abductors didn’t realize there was a child they had missed, that they’d go back to Edenside and look for her.

She didn’t want to tip them off.

So, she sat there with the six children and kept her mouth shut.

The children were terrified, exhausted, and hungry, and Maitland tried to comfort them as best she could.

Considering she had no idea what was going on, it was rather difficult to do so.

She had no idea what to tell them. As she sat there rocking the twins, trying to soothe them, a shadow fell over the group.

Looking up, she could see the figure of a man as he blocked out some of the morning sun.

“Greetin’s, my lady,” he said in a Scottish accent, although it wasn’t particularly heavy. “I apologize for yer rough treatment, but it was necessary.”

He sounded gallant, which enraged Maitland. “Necessary for what?” she asked. “Necessary to frighten us half to death? You know that you raided a foundling home, don’t you? We have no money to give you and no one to pay a ransom. It was a wasted effort on your part.”

The man crouched down a few feet away, a poorly dressed wretch with dark-circled eyes and a mop of shaggy gray hair. “It was not, I assure ye,” he said. “They call me The Bold Hobelar, my lady. May I have yer name?”

Maitland was angry and weary, and very frightened for the children. “I am the guardian of these children,” she said warily. “What do you want with us?”

Hobelar didn’t seem offended by her reply. “Ye’re valuable tae us,” he said. “Ye’re very valuable tae the de Wolfe pup.”

“Who is the de Wolfe pup?”

“The commander of Wark Castle.”

Maitland stared at him a moment before averting her gaze. “I do not know what you mean.”

Hobelar’s pleasant manner changed in an instant. He picked up a nearby stick and whacked it against the ground in a startling motion, causing Maitland and the children to jump with fear and surprise.

The message was clear.

“Dunna lie tae me,” Hobelar growled. “We followed ye from Kelso. We saw every move de Wolfe made and we saw his attention tae ye. Are ye goin’ tae tell me again that ye dunna know him?”

The whistling stick in Hobelar’s hand had Maitland’s attention. She didn’t want any of the children to be hit by it so she thought better of her resistance.

“I know him,” she said. “He is a patron of Edenside’s foundling home.”

Hobelar’s pleasant manner returned frighteningly fast. “Is he, now?” he said, though it was more of a statement than a question. “Then ye do mean somethin’ tae him.”

Maitland wasn’t sure where the conversation was going, but she knew it couldn’t be good. “He is very generous and so are his parents,” she said. “Please… the children are cold and hungry. We can do nothing for you. Won’t you please let us return home?”

“Not now,” Hobelar said. “Ye’re goin’ tae tell me what ye know of Thomas de Wolfe.”

“I told you that he is our patron. He lives at Wark Castle. Beyond that, I do not know much.”

Hobelar eyed her for a moment. Then, he reached out, quick as a flash, and grabbed Artus by his skinny arm.

As the boy yelled and Maitland screamed, Hobelar picked up the stick he’d so recently smacked on the ground and lifted it to Artus as if to strike him.

The children were screaming and crying as Maitland bolted to her feet, holding out her hands.

“Nay!” she cried. “Please do not strike him, I beg you!”

As Artus squirmed in his grip, Hobelar brought the stick to a halt just shy of Artus’ face. “Then ye’ll tell me what I wish tae know, woman,” he said. “If ye dunna tell me, I’ll take it out on these bairns.”

Maitland nodded quickly, reaching out to pull Artus from the man’s grasp and tuck the child behind her. She stood there, the only barrier between the children and a man who would abuse them. Her heart was pounding with fear.

“I swear that I will be honest with you, but leave the children alone,” she said, her voice trembling. “They have been through enough. They are parentless, for God’s sake. Would you really abuse children who have no one to love them?”

Hobelar lifted his shoulders. “I had no one tae love me and I’m no worse for the wear,” he said as his men chuckled behind him. Then, he crooked a finger at Maitland. “Come here, woman. We are goin’ tae have a talk.”

Maitland was becoming more frightened by the moment. “What about?”

“De Wolfe,” Hobelar said. “I want the man. He killed many of my men and I want him.”

Behind Hobelar, Maitland could see a host of unhappy faces.

Scruffy, dirty, smelly men who lived like beasts in the wilderness.

Outlaws , she thought. They must be outlaws.

The men didn’t look like Scots to her, or even English, and she was quickly trying to assess just, exactly, who they were.

The only thing she could come up with was outlaws.

“Did he kill your men in battle?” she asked.

Hobelar shrugged. “Ye could say so.”

“And you were fighting against him?”

“Aye.”

“Then I am sure you killed many of his men, too.”

Hobelar eyed her. “It is not so easy,” he said. “What de Wolfe did was murder. He murdered my men and I will have my revenge on him.”

Maitland could hear the thirst for vengeance in his tone.

Even if he hadn’t spoken the word, she would have still known.

Now, she knew why she and the children were here and it frightened her to death.

The man wanted revenge and those kinds of men were the most irrational to deal with, fed by the anguish of others.

Her heart began to beat faster as bile rose in her throat.

“And you are going to murder the children and me in revenge? Is that why we are here?”

Hobelar shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “But dunna give me any ideas, woman. First, we’ll do it easily.”

“What do you mean?”

Hobelar’s eyes narrowed. “I want ye tae draw the man out of Wark,” he said. “I’ll let ye walk tae the castle and draw him out, and if ye dunna do yer duty, I’ll kill the bairns. I swear I will.”

Maitland’s jaw dropped in shock as she looked at Hobelar and the dirty, filthy scum behind him. “But they are children! ”

“I’ll litter the road with little bodies if ye dunna bring the de Wolfe pup tae me.”

She gasped in horror. “You would kill innocent children for no reason at all?”

“I have a reason!” Hobelar shouted over her. He thrust a finger at her. “I have a reason and ye’ll not stop me. Now, go sit with the bairns. Do what I say, woman, or it will go badly for ye.”

Maitland did as she was told. Rushing to the children, she sat down and quickly pulled Roland and Renard into her arms, holding them tightly as she pulled the others towards her as well.

She wished they hadn’t heard Hobelar’s threat, because they were all trembling and weeping, but there was nothing she could do but comfort them.

She couldn’t make them un-hear what they’d already heard.

She wished with all her heart that she could un-hear it.

They were in quite a bind.

Quickly, she began to relive the last conversation she’d had with Thomas.

He’d told her he would return to Edenside in a couple of days with men to guard the place.

That meant she had to survive at least two days before he figured out something was amiss.

And Dyana? What had happened to her? And Tibelda?

Hopefully the pair was together and safe.

That was all Maitland could pray for because she had enormous trouble on her hands at the moment.

Sacrifice six children or sacrifice Thomas.

God help her, that’s what it might come down to.

The disbelief, the horror of it, was unfathomable.