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Gillian stood passively next to Liese, but when she saw her father being dragged inside, she ran to the banister rail and knelt down “Papa,” she whispered, and then she saw a old cape raise his sword over her father “Papa!” she screamed

Those were the last words she spoke From that moment, Gillian retreated into a world of numb silence

Teeks later, the young man who had seized control of her fa

ther’s holding, Baron Alford the Red of Lockmiere, called her before hi a single word, she let him knoas in her mind and her heart

Liese held Gillian’s hand and walked into the great hall to meet the monster who had killed the child’s father Alford, barely old enough to be called a ry demon, and Liese was no fool She knew that with the snap of his fingers or a wave of his hand, he could order both their deaths

Gillian jerked away from Liese just inside the entrance and walked forward alone She stopped when she reached the long table where Alford and his young companions dined Without a hint of expression on her face, and with her hands hanging li vacantly at the baron

He had a pheasant leg in one hand and a wedge of black bread in the other Specks of grease and nored the child for several minutes while he devoured his food, and after he had tossed the bones over his shoulder, he turned to her

“How old are you, Gillian?” Alford waited a full ain “I asked you a question,” hetemper

“She cannot be more than four years old,” one of his friends volunteered

“I’d wager she’s past five,” his cohort suggested “She’s small, but she could even be six”

Alford raised his hand for silence while his eyes continued to bore into the little girl “It’s a simple question Answer me, and while you’re at it, tell me what you think I should do with you My father’s confessor believes you can’t speak because the Devil has taken possession of your soul He pleads the right to force the de very unpleasant methods Would you like me to tell you exactly what he would do?” he asked “No, I don’t suppose you would,” he added with a smirk “Torture will be necessary, of course, for it’s the only way to get the demons out, or so I’m told Would you like to be strapped down to a table for hour upon hour while my confessor works on you? I have the power to order it done Noer e,” he demanded in a snarl

Silence was her response Chilling silence Alford could see that his threats didn’t faze her He thought she ht be too sihter after all, and what a naive, stupid fool he had been to believe that Alford was his friend

“Perhaps she isn’t answering you because she doesn’t kno old she is,” his friend suggested “Get on with the ied “Ask her about the box”

Alford nodded agreear, “your father stole a very valuable box froet it back for him There were pretty jewels on the top and sides of the case If you saw it, you would remember it,” he added “Did you or your sister see this treasure? Answer me,” he ordered, his voice shrill with his frustration “Did you see your father hide the box? Did you?”

She didn’t give any indication that she had heard a word he’d said She sih of vexation, then decided to stare her into timidity

In the space of an indrawn breath, the child’s expression changed froht in her eyes quickly unnerved hiooseflesh rise up on his forearms It was unholy for a child of such tender years to show such intensity

She frightened hiirl as little ain “You’re a sickly looking child, aren’t you, with your pale skin and drab brown hair? Your sister was the pretty one, wasn’t she? Tell me, Gillian, were you jealous of her? Is that why you pushed her down the stairs? The woman who sewed you up told me you and Christen both went down the stairs, and one of the soldiers ith you told the woman you pushed your sister Christen’s dead, you know, and it’s all your fault” He leaned forward and pointed a long, bony finger in her face “You’re going to live with that black sin for the rest of your life, however short that ht be I’ve decided to send you to the end of the earth,” he added offhandedly “To the bitter, cold north of England where you will live with the heathens until the day coht You make my flesh crawl”

Tre with fear, Liese stepped forward “Milord, may I accompany the child north to look after her?”

Alford turned his attention to the ht of her scarred face “One witch to look after another?” he scoffed “I don’t care if you go or stay Do what you will, but get her out of here now so that my friends and I will not have to suffer her fetid stare a er”

Hearing the tree He picked up a heavy wooden bowl from the table and hurled it at the child It sailed past her head, narrowlyher Gillian neither flinched nor blinked She silistening with hatred

Was she looking at his soul? The thought sent a shiver down Alford’s spine

“Out,” he screamed “Get her out of here”

Liese dashed forward to get Gillian, and then ran out of the hall

As soon as they were safely outside, she hugged the little girl to her bosom and whispered, “It’s over now and soon ill leave this foul place and never look back You’ll never have to see your father’s ain, and I’ll never have to look upon ether, and God willing, we’ll find some peace and joy”

Liese was detered his mind Permission to leave Dunhanshire liberated her, for it one over the edge of sanity during the attack on the castle and was too befuddled to go anywhere After witnessing the slaughter of most of the soldiers and the household staff and narrowly escaping with his own life intact, his mind had snapped and he had turned as crazy as a rabid fox, roa the days with his dirty knapsack filled with the rocks and cluht he made his bed in the southeast corner of the stables, where he was left alone to stew in his own nightlassy, faraway look to the to hi Richard hi hiet his due Even the infidels and their leader, Alford, who now clai’s naive Ector a wide path As long as the denored hier soldiers, it was observed, dropped to their knees and n of the cross whenever Ector passed by The holy ritual was a talis the crazy loon’s affliction They didn’t dare kill hi Ector’s hts and actions

Liese felt that God had granted her a dispensation froe vows In the seven years that they had lived as man and wife, Ector had never shown her as much as an ounce of affection or spoken a kind word to her He believed that it was his duty as a husband to beat her into submission and humility so that she would be assured a place in heaven, and he took on his sacred responsibility with a gleeful vengeance A hard, angry man who as a child had been coddled and sha parents, Ector presu he wanted He was convinced that he should live the life of leisure, and he let greed control his every thought Just three months before Gillian’s father was killed, Ector had been promoted to the coveted position of chief reeve because of his clever ith figures He then had access to the vast amount of money coll

ected in rents from the tenants and knew exactly how much the baron orth Avarice took hold of his heart, and with it came a bitterness as rancid as bile because he hadn’t been rewarded hat he believed was his share

Ector was also a coward During the attack, Liese witnessed her husband grab hold of Gerta, the household cook and Liese’s dear friend, and use her as a shield against the arrows hailing down on theed her body over his and had pretended to be dead

The shaer look at her husband without hatred She knew she was in jeopardy of losing her own soul, for to despise another of God’s creatures the way she despised Ector was surely sinful She thanked God for giving her a second chance to redeem herself

Concerned that Ectorher, Liese, on the day she and Gillian were scheduled to leave, took the child with her to the stables to say good-bye Clutching the little girl’s hand in her own, she marched into the stall where her husband now -and-blood-spattered knapsack hanging on the peg in the corner and turned her nose up in disgust It s about in front of her

When she called out to hirab his knapsack and hide it behind his back His eyes darted back and forth as he crouched down almost to his knees

“You old fool,” sheto steal your knapsack I’ Dunhanshire with Lady Gillian and I’ll not ever see you again, praise the Lord Do you hear what I’ and look atafter me Do you understand?”

Ector let out a low snicker Gillian squeezed closer to Liese and grabbed hold of her skirt The wo her “Don’t you let him scare you,” she whispered “I won’t let hi her attention and her repulsion to her husband again