She sniffled, holding them for a long moment. Then, as one, they pulled back, inspecting each other. They began talking as one.
“I was looking for you,” Willow told Sage.
“We didn’t know where you were,” Raven uttered to Willow.
“I was waiting for you here,” Sage chattered.
They all laughed. Willow hugged her sisters again, never wanting to let go. She couldn’t believe they were together.
She chuckled again and perused Raven and then Sage, noticing her shortened locks. “What happened to your hair?”
“What’s wrong with your arm?” Raven asked her.
Willow rolled her shoulder. “Nothing. I’m well.”
Sage tugged at her shortened brown hair. “I cut it.”
Willow’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “I found the braid.”
Sage’s mouth dropped. “You did?”
“I was tracking you. When Brother Nicolas told me you were kidnapped—”
“Kidnapped?” Raven asked in shock.
Suddenly from behind them, Christian stormed past, growling, “Marcus.” He punched the chin of the man who had appeared from the barn.
“No!” Sage hollered as Marcus tumbled backward.
“Christian!” Willow shouted.
Sage stepped protectively before Marcus, putting her hands out to Christian to stop him.
Christian snarled at Marcus. “You were dead.”
Marcus wiped the blood from his lip as he sat up. A strand of his blond hair, darkened in the moonlight, hung over his forehead.
“You work for the king,” Christian spat.
The dark-haired man who had the sword to Christian’s neck stepped up beside Christian, glaring at Marcus.
Marcus pushed his hair back from his head as he climbed to his feet. “I used to work for my cousin. But he tried to kill me.”
“He doesn’t work for the king,” Sage said, turning to Marcus. She placed her hands on his face and turned it, inspecting his jaw with concern.
“You have to be kidding me,” Christian growled, shaking his head.
“What are you doing, Sage?” Willow demanded, shocked at Sage’s defense. “Hekidnappedyou.”
Raven’s pinned Sage. “You said you met Marcus in the chateau.”
Sage shrugged. “That is true. I did meet him in the chateau.”
“And he kidnapped you,” Christian added through clenched teeth. “We’ve spent the last week searching for you.”
Sage gazed at Marcus affectionately. “I love him.”
Silence settled across the air like devastation after a storm. A horse whinnied in the distance.
