"You should not be here, Lady Selene."
"I know." She sighed. "I could not sleep."
He gazed at her suspiciously.
"Lord Kadar visited Captain Balkir's camp today. He said the captain threatened to storm the castle." She shivered. "He frightened me."
The young soldier's demeanor softened a trifle. "You shouldn't worry. His force is not large enough to prevail against us."
"I'm not sure. Captain Balkir is a fierce, cruel man. I woke up a short time ago from a dream in which he was creeping closer and closer to this wall. I tried to go back to sleep, but I lay there shaking." She nibbled at her lower lip as she gazed out into the darkness. "I thought if I could see for myself that he was nowhere near, I'd be able to rest. Is that his encampment over there?"
The soldier nodded. "And there's been no sign of movement all night."
"Are you sure? What if he's managed to slip his men out of the encampment? What if he and his men are down at the bottom of the wall right now, just waiting to loose their arrows?"
He smiled indulgently. "There is no one here."
"What if there is?"
"I will show you." He took a step closer to the balustrade and leaned over so that he could see the ground directly below. "No sign of anyone. You see? No one at--"
He grunted as Selene struck him with the brass pitcher she had hidden beneath her cloak.
She caught him as he fell so that he wouldn't tumble to the courtyard below.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. She hoped she had done no more than stun him. He had seemed a pleasant young man.
An instant later he gave a low groan. A mixed blessing. Now she must worry about him regaining his senses before she could get down the wall.
She quickly untied the rope she had wound around her waist and tied it to an abutment.
The guard moaned again.
She slipped over the side and began crawling carefully down the wall.
"There you are." Tarik threw open the door of the library and limped into the chamber. His dark hair was mussed but he was fully dressed. "I've been looking all over the castle for you. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Kadar closed the cover of de Troyes's manuscript. "I remembered something and I wanted to reread a few passages."
Tarik's gaze narrowed. "Why?"
Kadar countered, "Why are you so concerned about my whereabouts that you come looking for me in the dead of night?"
"I thought you might have gone too."
Kadar stiffened. "Gone?"
"Selene saw fit to knock out the guard on the south wall and leave the fortress."
"Lord in heaven." Kadar muttered a curse at his own stupidity. He had known she was upset. He should have followed her. "Haroun?"
Tarik shook his head. "She went alone."
"And you came looking for me."
"I didn't think she'd be able to persuade you to leave, but I thought you might have followed and tried to find her."
"I will," he said grimly.
