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Therefore, the evening meal was an odd standoff, but Josephine had more important things on her mind.

Now, on the fourth day of The Red Fury’s arrival, she was coming to feel resignation with the king’s impending arrival.

Andrew d’Vant or no Andrew d’Vant, that would not change the motive behind Alexander’s visit.

In Josephine’s mind, she was convinced it was for a marriage to bring together two houses and end their nasty feud.

In this case, there were two choices– Colin could either marry her or Justine, and she knew that it had to be her.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

It would be with great reluctance that she would marry Colin if the king wished it, but she would never love him.

She couldn’t. She might even present him with children for the rest of his life.

So what if she was miserable? She had to think of the greater good– Torridon, her sister, and her knights would be spared.

But she wondered how Sully would react to taking orders from Colin Dalmellington.

Most likely, he would do something foolish and get himself killed.

She shuddered at that thought. She would have to talk to him and convince him, for her sake, to behave.

On this rather cool and blustery day, it was just before the nooning meal and Josephine descended into the foyer and crossed into the great hall on her way to the kitchens.

The kitchens of Torridon were on the ground level of the keep, a low-ceilinged series of rooms that were always hot and smoky, at any given time of the day or night.

The cook was just setting out huge platters of boiled beef.

She looked up as her pretty little mistress entered, her attention on the steaming meat and huge bowls of peas and onions.

Josephine caught the woman’s eye as she looked up.

“You know that I love boiled beef,” Josephine grinned. “Is there enough for the evening meal, too?”

The woman nodded. “This is from the meat we butchered last month, the same meat that has been in the cold vault since then,” she said. “There is plenty for tonight, too.”

That pleased Josephine greatly. Dora was the best cook who ever graced a kitchen and could make a spiced crab apple pie that sent Josephine into a virtual feeding frenzy. As children, she and Justine and James would practically thrash each other for the largest piece.

But now, there was no such competition and Josephine picked up a large hunk of freshly baked brown bread, dipping it into a bowl of honey before taking a healthy bite.

The door to the kitchen yard was open, emitting light into the dingy kitchens and giving the smoke somewhere to evacuate, and Josephine chewed on her bread and engaged Dora in a light conversation.

It wasn’t often that she was able to come to the kitchens with Justine as chatelaine.

But she was so preoccupied with food and conversation that she didn’t see the two little villein children stealthily creep in through the open kitchen door.

The two young children stood quietly by the table near the door, the one harboring cooling meat pies that Dora had just baked.

Moreover, Dora’s back was turned to the door and she had no idea they were there.

Children of the servants often frequented the kitchen, which was why Josephine gave no thought to the children until they snatched two of the nearest pies and dashed out the door.

Dora and Josephine quickly turned in time to see the children racing off. Dora was already howling as Josephine ran after them.

“I’ll retrieve the pies, Dora!” she said as she blew by the flustered cook.

The little boys were fast. They rounded the corner and flew with unnatural speed into the inner bailey.

Josephine, however, was closing the gap behind them.

She rounded the corner as well, her dress flying out behind her as she pounded the dirt with her slipper-clad feet but she found herself hoping that the children would not drop the pies in their panic.

Dirty meat pies would be a sad loss, especially Dora’s pies.

She began to run faster, hoping to catch them.

Sully, Andrew, Etienne, and Thane were entering the inner bailey just as the children ran past them, almost plowing into Etienne.

He jumped awkwardly out of the way, and all four men turned curiously to watch the children run off towards the main gate.

They shrugged and started to proceed again, but then Josephine ran between the four of them in a pounding flash of braided hair and purple wool.

That glimpse caused more of a reaction from the knights, and they were surprised at their mistress running after two children at top speed. It was Sully who moved first.

“God’s Bones,” he muttered, putting his hand on his sword to hold it steady. “This will prove to be interesting.”

He took off, followed by the other three in a close pack.

Everyone in the outer bailey was frozen in mid-movement, watching their mistress run after two small children, and then watching two knights and two mercenaries running after her.

Albert and Burl stood with their arms crossed and grins on their faces, shaking their heads at the humor of it.

They had no idea what was going on, but it was great entertainment.

But Christoph, John, and Severn, at their posts on the wall, gave the parade exiting the front gates uninterested looks.

Whatever had happened was no concern of theirs.

The children were tireless as they tore down the road and, miraculously, the pies were still intact in their grubby little hands.

A quarter of a mile down the road, however, they veered sharply to the left and headed into the woods.

By now, Josephine was growing tired and was no longer amused by their little chase.

She considered stopping, but rather decided it was the principle of the situation that she didn’t.

To let them run free would constitute a success in their thieving little minds and would encourage them to try again.

Besides, she was curious now– they had turned away from the village.

Where were they going?

Josephine stumbled a little as she entered the woods, but not bad enough to trip, yet enough to slow her a little.

Ahead, she could see the little boys growing smaller in the foliage.

Growing increasingly irritated, she started to run again, picking up speed, determined as ever to catch the little louts.

They were not going to make a fool of her!

But the undergrowth was slowing her considerably.

She plummeted through a thicket and splashed across a small stream, all the while growing angrier.

Those little buffoons were ruining a perfectly good dress!

As she went deeper into the growth, she began to slow, realizing the kids had lost her.

It was difficult for her to admit that. Coming to a panting, sweaty stop, she stomped her foot in frustration.

“Damnation!” she muttered, planting her fists on her hips.

She glanced about, looking at the trees and surroundings, but there was no sign of the children.

The smell of moldy leaves was heavy in her nostrils, causing her to sneeze once or twice.

With a reluctant sigh, she turned to go, but something up ahead in the trees caught her attention.

There was something moving through the trees in front of her.

Smiling craftily, she drew up her skirts and stepped quietly towards the movement, being very careful to make no noise.

She was going to capture those boys yet.

Josephine could see a small group of people in a clearing up ahead, sitting around a small fire.

It was difficult to tell who or what they were, but her better sense told her to turn around and leave as quietly as she came.

Generally, a group of people camping far deep in the woods was never a good thing.

It indicated thieves, outlaws, and the like.

Suddenly, her enthusiasm to catch those young thieves wasn’t so strong anymore.

Cautiously, she stopped behind a large tree, peering around it and watching the people in the distance.

They looked like wanderers, dirty and unkempt.

Decidedly uncomfortable, Josephine decided the best course of action would be to return to the castle, quickly, and she kept her eyes on the clearing while she began to back away.

But it was already too late; her path was abruptly blocked by a warm body, and as she started to scream, a dirty hand went over her mouth.

Blind panic filled Josephine as she was dragged into the clearing by her neck, kicking and fighting all the way.

She still had not seen her attacker, but she could hear him mumbling something unintelligible with his stinking breath.

He had her by the neck and by the hair, and she was unable to even make a fighting attempt to flee.

He had her solidly.

As they approached the group of people in the clearing, everyone seemed to panic at the sight of her at first until they realized that she was, in fact, a prisoner.

They suspiciously eyed Josephine, looking at the person who held her questioningly.

Josephine’s heart sank as she realized these people were the scum of the earth, uneducated and without sense or morals.

They taught their children to steal but the older ones did worse than that.

Taking the possessions she had on her, her shoes and jewelry, would probably be the very least they would take.

She was going to have to think fast to get herself out of this one.

God, why did she run after those boys?