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To her right was a wall built against the rock of the crag that the castle was built upon.

There was enough of a lip at the top off the wall that Josephine knew she could hide behind it.

It would be difficult, for the lip wasn’t more than two or three feet high, but it could be done.

Besides, she had no choice. Hoisting herself up onto the wall, she leapt over the top of it and settled down behind the lip.

She didn’t dare peek out. Someone would surely see her head and her concealment would be discovered.

In little time, the sounds of the army became apparent– footfalls, horses, and the creak of wagon wheels.

The dust they were kicking up floated into the air and settled down around her, nearly making her sneeze.

But she kept her hand over her nose, pinching it shut, praying that no one would spy her hiding behind the lip of the wall.

She most certainly didn’t want to meet the earl this way.

She didn’t want to meet him at all.

It seemed like an eternity as the army passed by, the rumble of men in conversation, the thunder of horses.

Everything was shaking, rumbling, and dusty, and Josephine remained tucked down, waiting for it to end.

Eventually, the sounds began to fade, and she dared to pop her head up, seeing the tail end of the army as it passed through the second portcullis gatehouse.

The storm, for the moment, had passed.

But it wasn’t over entirely. Josephine came out of her hiding place and jumped down off the wall.

The main gatehouse seemed to be operating as normal, with people once again passing in and out of it, and she walked very quickly down the hill and slipped out as the guards were talking to a merchant who was trying to come in.

Josephine lost herself in the people on the road leading up to the castle, most of them simple villeins or farmers or even merchants going about their business.

The castle was a very busy place, a seat of commerce as well as the seat of the king.

In fact, it was rather crowded, and as she reached the base of the hill, she could hear people speaking of the great army that had just come through.

Josephine knew without a doubt who the army belonged to and she also knew that, soon enough, they would come looking for her to introduce her to her betrothed.

That made finding Andrew something she needed to do sooner rather than later, and her anxiety was beginning to mount; Andrew had to know that his brother had arrived.

Looking around, it was difficult to know where to start to look for Andrew and Sully.

Directly across the road were a cluster of inns, the ones she remembered from the day she and Ridge had arrived, so she supposed it would be the logical place to start.

Perhaps someone would have seen Andrew and Sully; even if they didn’t know them by name, she could at least describe them.

The inn directly across from the road leading to the castle was called The Falcon and The Flower, and Josephine presumed it was as good a place to start as any.

Gathering her dirty skirts, she dashed across the road, avoiding horses and people, and headed straight for the entry door.

She was about to open it when it suddenly flew open and a familiar face appeared.

“Sully!” Josephine gasped.

Sully could hardly believe his eyes as he reached out to steady Josephine. Having nearly run her over, she was teetering. But he grabbed hold and pulled her away from the door, all the while looking at her with a good deal of shock.

“Josephine!” he said, startled. “What are you doing here?”

Josephine was so glad to see Sully that it nearly brought her to tears. “I came to find Andrew,” she said anxiously. “Have you seen him?”

Sully looked around, seeing the crowds of people in the street, and pulled Josephine with him until they were wedged into a tiny ally between the tavern and another building. It was filthy, smelling of urine and feces, but it was private.

“Aye, I’ve seen him,” he said, looking her up and down as if to make sure she was unharmed. “And you? Are you well? Andrew said that Ridge de Reyne took you from Torridon to bring you to the king and…”

She cut him off. “It is true,” she said. “I saw Andrew last night and told him this.”

Sully nodded. “He told me when he returned to the tavern, very late,” he said. “We saw you and Nicholas in the garden last night. We saw Ridge, too. Josephine, what is going on? Why are you here?”

Josephine clutched him. “Because I have not yet seen Andrew today,” she said, quickly realizing how silly she sounded. “I did not mean it that way. I simply meant I thought I would see him today and I have not. He is not in trouble, is he? He has not been captured?”

Sully shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “He is not in any trouble. In fact, he was just here a few minutes ago. Surely you saw the army pass through?”

Josephine nodded, fear in her eyes. “It was the earl,” she said. “I know it was the earl.”

“Who told you?”

“No one had to. We are expecting the earl today; who else could it be?”

“It was the earl.”

The voice came from behind, towards the back of the ally. Josephine and Sully turned, startled, to see Ridge standing there. He did not look pleased.

“Ridge!” Josephine gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Ridge’s gaze was mostly on Sully as he moved forward. Specifically, he was looking to see if the man was armed, and he was. That was enough of a sight for Ridge to bolt forward and grab Josephine, pulling her back with him so Sully couldn’t get hold of her and possibly make a run for it.

But Josephine fought back, slapping at Ridge as he held on to her. “Let me go!” she demanded.

Ridge didn’t let go and he didn’t take his eyes off of Sully. “So d’Vant is here, too, is he?” he asked. “Where is he?”

“Gone.”

“Gone where ?”

Sully shook his head. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “He rode off to the east about fifteen minutes ago.”

D’Vant was off in the city somewhere. Ridge couldn’t be concerned with that at the moment. He had Montgomery in his sights and needed to deal with the man.

“Truthfully, I am not surprised you are both here,” he said. “I suppose I expected you to come.”

Sully hadn’t moved from his position by the wall, and most especially now that Ridge had Josephine. “You knew we would figure out what had happened,” he said.

Ridge sighed faintly. He wasn’t angry, in truth. He was rather sedate about the entire situation but for the fact he was holding on to Josephine.

“And you did,” he said. “Now what? Where are you going to run so that the king cannot find you? Back to Torridon? Into England? No place you could go would be safe. And do you intend to run with d’Vant and the lady, now that you have a wife and Torridon Castle in your possession?

The king would strip that from you faster than the blink of an eye.

You are not thinking properly, Montgomery.

You have not thought any of this through. ”

Sully knew that. He knew that he and Andrew had come to Edinburgh to protect a woman who, more than likely, probably could not be much protected by the two of them. But much like Andrew, he’d acted on emotion. Josephine had been taken and they had to go after her.

There was no giving her up.

But they’d made connections to get them into the castle and last night, Andrew had made contact with Josephine.

Clearly, Ridge did not know that. As Sully thought on a reply that wouldn’t give away the fact that they had more access to the castle than de Reyne realized, Josephine continued to beat on Ridge’s hands.

“Let me go, Ridge,” she demanded again. “How did you find me here?”

Ridge’s gaze was still on Sully. “How do you think?” he said. “I followed you. I saw you leave your chamber after I told you to stay there, so I followed you.”

She frowned and stopped trying to dislodge his grip. “That was sneaky,” she said. “You have no right to follow me!”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Aye, I do,” he said. “Evidently, you cannot be trusted to keep your word.”

“That is a terrible thing to say!”

“You told me you would stay to your chamber when I told you the earl was expected. You lied.”

Josephine was so angry that her face started to turn red, but the man was correct, so she couldn’t very well berate him for it.

“So you have found me,” she grumbled, turning away. “I suppose you are going to take me back now.”

Ridge didn’t reply for a moment. He turned to look at Sully, still standing against the wall. “Aye,” he said. “I am going to take you back. But Montgomery is coming with us.”

Josephine looked up at him, shocked. “Why?”

Ridge lifted an eyebrow. “Because he has come to abduct the betrothed of the Earl of Annan and Blackbank,” he said. “Surely you know I cannot let him go free.”

Josephine was horrified. “What are you going to do with him?”

“Put him in the dungeons for now.”

Josephine’s mouth popped open as she looked at Sully, who didn’t seem all that surprised. He was looking at Ridge.

“And if I refuse to go with you?” he asked.

Ridge didn’t seem too surprised by the question.

“I will tell the king that you have come to take the lady back to Torridon,” he said.

“I will tell him that d’Vant is here, also.

Given that the lady’s marriage to Blackbank is an important political move, the king will more than likely send his army to Torridon and raze it.

D’Vant will be an outlaw in Scotland and no Scottish laird will hire the man for fear of incurring the king’s wrath. Shall I go on?”

Sully knew the threat against Torridon was very real. He didn’t relish spending any time in Edinburgh’s dungeons, but he suspected he had no choice at the moment. He couldn’t risk Torridon, in any fashion. After a moment, he simply lowered his gaze as if resigned to the entire thing.