Jacob knew something was wrong the next morning when he’d approached the castle to find the wall walks void of any soldiers and the gates to the castle opened wide. It was way too easy to enter, and that concerned Jacob. He had camped at the edge of the woods and, to his knowledge, only a dozen soldiers left on the hunt.

That wasn’t right. The High Sheriff was much too greedy to only send a dozen men on the hunt. And if there were so many soldiers left in the castle, why weren’t they patrolling the battlements?

He knew. The High Sheriff knew Jacob was coming. That had to be the answer. Jacob had to sneak in but, then again, mayhap Sir Gregory knew about the secret tunnels as well. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Jacob knew the High Sheriff too well. Even if he did have the tunnels guarded, he wouldn’t think anyone would come in through the tunnel that led into the well. Plus, the man would never want to get his hands wet. Aye, that was how Jacob was going to sneak in. Without an army, he was going to have to find the High Sheriff and kill him, and then try to appeal to the knights that used to be loyal to Jacob.

As the former Captain of the Guard, Jacob had made friends with the men he led. Hopefully, enough of them would still be loyal to him and feel the same way as the villagers about the High Sheriff. If not, he would probably lose his life in the process, but it was a chance he had to take.

Silently, he crept toward the castle and the secret tunnel under a stump that led to the well inside the courtyard. He missed Maira deeply and hoped to see her again. But even if he was killed in the process, one thought made him feel at ease. Maira was long gone from Castle Durham and hopefully by now, she and her cousin were nearly back to Whitehaven. Her father would care for them and see to their safety. Jacob would never forgive himself if anything happened to Maira. And if he died today, his biggest regret would be that he would never be able to hold her in his arms again and look into her beautiful blue eyes and tell her how much he really loved her.

“Lady Maira!”

Maira stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. She had been carefully staying in the shadows as she sneaked to the stable, wanting to get a horse to ride out to warn Jacob. But with her ill luck, the High Sheriff saw her.

“My lord,” she said, slowly turning around to see him walking across the courtyard with his sidekick, Delbert.

“I thought I locked you in your room.”

“Aye, my lord, I was,” she said, trying to think of an excuse. “But I snuck out when the guard left to use the garderobe.”

“Delbert, did the guard at her door leave at all?” he asked his soldier.

“I don’t believe so, my lord,” said the man.

“Don’t play me for a fool, Maira,” spat the High Sheriff. “I know you snuck out through the tunnels.”

“What tunnels?” she asked, hoping she sounded convincing.

“I have known about them for years. That’s how my henchman, Delbert snuck out of the late bishop’s room after he hung him three years ago.”

“My lord! What are you telling her?” asked Delbert.

“It doesn’t matter,” chuckled the man. “She already knows all our plans.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. Her hand wavered above her dagger.

“Don’t think I don’t know you were spying through the peephole.”

“What peephole?”

“Shut up!” He swung at Maira but she managed to step out of the way of being hit.

“My lord, I don’t think she should know all this,” complained Delbert.

“It doesn’t matter, you fool. Because as soon as you kill the bishop and frame Jacob, you’re going to kill her, too.”

“I am?”

“No one is going to do that.” Maira reached behind her back and drew her sword.

“Ah, good!” The High Sheriff seemed to like the fact she’d drawn her blade. “I would love one last swordfight with the wench. It makes my blood flow with excitement.”

Maira’s sword clashed with the sword of the High Sheriff. She was light on her feet and he was clunky, and that gave her the advantage. She jumped to the side as his blade swiped down next to her, ripping her gown in the process. She managed to catch him off guard and strike him across the cheek.

“Damn!” he spat, wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand. By now, everyone crowded around to see what was happening. “I think it’s time you shed a little blood as well.”

The man came after her like a demon possessed, swiping his blade left and right, backing her up against the well. Then he knocked the blade from her hand and it fell into the well with a splash. He pricked the skin at the base of her neck, causing blood to drip down between her breasts. Forcefully, he reached out and grabbed her by the hair.

“Take her daggers,” commanded the High Sheriff to the henchman. Delbert removed her daggers and spoke in a low voice.

“Shall I kill her now?” asked Delbert.

“Not yet,” said Sir Gregory, bending over and licking the blood from between her breasts. She cringed, wanting to kill the man with her bare hands. “If she is really married to Jacob, then I want him to suffer even more by knowing that I’ve had her before she died.”

“I’ll never lay with the likes of you!” Maira dug her nails into the man’s hand and pushed away from him, spitting in his eye.

He stilled with one eye closed and a smile on his face. “Lady Maira, I want you to wash up with water from the well and then meet me in my solar.”

“Why would I ever do that?” she shouted.

“Delbert, tell the guard to come forward.”

“All right,” shouted Delbert with a wave of his arm.

The guard who had been outside the bedchamber door walked forward holding on to Morag. Her cousin’s hands were tied behind her back.

“Morag!” Maira gasped, taking a step toward her cousin, but the High Sheriff held her back.

“Nay, you don’t,” said the man. “You will come to me willingly to couple with me in my chamber, or my guard here will kill your cousin.”

“Maira! Dinna let them kill me. Help me!” cried Morag.

Maira realized she no longer had a choice. If she didn’t do as the man said, Morag would die. When she sent Morag back to the room to keep her safe, Maira had all but sealed the girl’s fate. She wasn’t sure if they would both be killed either way, but she couldn’t do anything to help her cousin without her weapons.

“Nay, don’t hurt Morag,” Maira cried. “I’ll come to your solar, but please let her go.”

“Whether your friends live or die is up to you.”

“Friends?” asked Maira, noticing he used the word in plural.

The High Sheriff motioned with his head and Maira looked up to the battlements to see Branton being held by a guard. He had his hands tied behind his back as well and had a rope around his neck that was connected to a parapet. The guard was ready to push Branton over the edge.

“God’s eyes, nay!” exclaimed Maira, feeling as if this were all her fault. And now, her cousin, her friend, and her husband would all die because she wouldn’t be able to help them.

“You have five minutes,” warned the High Sheriff, sheathing his sword. “If you are not in my solar by then, your friends will die either way.”

“You are a heartless, no good son of a bitch,” she spat.

He reached out and slapped her hard across the cheek. The force sent her sprawling against the well and she gripped the stones, feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

“Five minutes,” warned the High Sheriff, walking away, leaving his henchman to watch her.

Maira wanted nothing more than to cry, but she was too furious to do it. Her blood boiled and she felt an intense hatred for the High Sheriff, wondering now why she had ever felt bad for the man when Jacob told her he was going to kill him. Sir Gregory deserved to die. And if it was the last thing she ever did, she would see to it. Aye, she would go to his solar and pretend she was there to couple with him, but she would kill him instead.

She reached down and patted her short boot to make sure the eating dagger she had hidden there this morning was still in place. It wasn’t a very thick blade, but if her aim was accurate and she used enough force, she could hopefully stab it right through the man’s heart and the results would be deadly.

“Lady Maira, are you coming?” called out Delbert.

She looked up to the battlements to see the guard watching over Branton. He struck up a conversation with another of the guards. Then she looked over to Morag. The guard had thrown her into the back of a wagon and was drinking from a flask.

“I’m coming,” she said, following Delbert to the solar, wondering how in Heaven’s name she was going to kill the High Sheriff, save Morag and Branton, and warn Jacob all at the same time.

Jacob emerged from the tunnel that led from the inside of the well, almost getting hit by Maira’s sword as it fell into the water from up above.

He had stayed hidden and heard what was going on, now regretting that he had dismissed his army. He didn’t expect to walk into a mess like this. Having Will’s help as well as the villagers he’d trained would come in handy about now. He never should have had a change of heart because someone was going to pay for it with their life.

Jacob knew Maira enough to realize she would never lay with the High Sheriff of her own accord, even if her friends’ lives were in danger. Nay, she was a fighter and would never give up. He hadn’t expected to find her still at the castle, but he shouldn’t be surprised. Maira was not one to run from danger. But now, she had put him in a very bad position. He would have to think fast to do something to save her and her friends and still be able to kill off the High Sheriff and convince the knights and soldiers to follow him instead.

He stuck Maira’s sword under his belt and grabbed on to the bucket connected to a rope, meaning to climb up. But someone started turning the handle and the bucket moved with him holding on to it. Looking up, he saw Tommy’s face staring down at him.

“Hold on tightly,” the boy whispered. “Alf and I will get you out of there in no time.”

When he got to the top, the boys stood in front of him to block the view from the guards as he climbed out of the well.

“Lady Maira is in trouble,” said Alf.

“Good thing you brought the army,” added Tommy. “You’ll need them.”

“It’s just me,” mumbled Jacob, hunkering down behind the well. “Block me from the guards. I am going to the High Sheriff’s chamber to help Maira.”

“Are you going to kill him?” whispered Tommy.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to save my wife.”

“So you really are married,” said Alf. “Congratulations.”

“Don’t congratulate me because I’m not even sure Maira wants to be married to me.”

Jacob snuck into the great hall and headed to the kitchen to access the secret tunnel. His clothes were dripping wet and he left puddles wherever he stepped.

“Sir Jacob!” Cleo saw him enter the kitchen and ran over to join him. “Are you here with the army? We are all ready to help you attack the High Sheriff and his men.”

“Nay, it’s just me, Cleo.”

“Oh,” she said making a face. “How are you going to save your son and wife and her friends all by yourself?”

“Well, I’m . . . did you say . . . son? I don’t have a son.”

“Aye, you do,” said Cleo. “Maira told me that she heard the Bishop of Durham telling the High Sheriff that Ricker is your son. Lady Catherine confessed to him on her deathbed.”

“Ricker is . . . mine?” Jacob swallowed deeply, trying to digest what he’d just heard. He liked the lad and also the idea of being a father. “Where is he?”

“Lady Maira said the High Sheriff put him in a cage in his solar.”

Jacob heard that and anger and vengeance burned in his veins. “No one is going to cage my son and defile my wife. I’ll kill that bastard, I swear I will.” Jacob headed over to the secret tunnel.

“There’s more, my lord.” Cleo ran after him. “The High Sheriff is going to have his henchman kill the bishop to keep the secret of the boy not being his son. He is going to pin the murder on you again.”

“Nay! I won’t let that happen a second time.” Jacob hurried through the tunnel, on a mission to kill the High Sheriff.