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“I think you’re angry with her because you’re envious. You’d do the same thing... if you could.”

“The devil, you say!” Delaney spun and faced his father. “I’d have stood against Knowles without lying about it.”

Harry stepped forward and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You still can,” he said.

Bria stared down at the tunic in her hand. Who would have thought all those years ago when she and Mary and Garret had played the Midnight Shadow together that she’d become him? That the Midnight Shadow would be real?

Who would have thought all those years ago she would have fallen in love with the enemy? How could Terran execute Mary when he knew Mary was her friend? Bria clenched the fabric in her fist. It will end now, one way or the other.

Bria donned the black leggings and black tunic. A sense of destiny filled her, a sense of calm and direction. She bent to the bed to pick up the cloaked hood and stared at it for a long moment.

For Garrett. For Mary. For the people who had been wronged and robbed and beaten by Kenric.

She would face Kenric and defeat him. She was no longer afraid of him. But what of Terran? Could she confront him? Could she beat him? Would she have to?

Bria finished dressing and raised the black hood over her head to become the Midnight Shadow once more.

Chapter forty-one

Terran stood silently in the Great Hall, staring into the flickering flames of the hearth, his arm resting on the stone mantel, a mug of ale dangling from his fingertips. But he didn’t see the orange-red flames biting at the logs, nor did he see the brown bark turn to charcoal black as it burned, and he was completely oblivious to the gray and white smoke swirling up from the fire. All he could see in his mind’s eye were two blue eyes. Two startlingly blue eyes staring at him from behind a mask.

Kenric stood behind him, his words barely heard. “Oh, how she begged for mercy,” he chuckled, “looking up at me with that piteous face. My mercy. As if I have any to give!” Kenric laughed aloud.

Terran ground his teeth. He’d known his cousin had a vicious streak, but to hear him talk about the girl like this made his stomach turn. She was just bait to catch much larger prey. Innocent bait... he pushed aside the memory of Bria’s voice defending her friend.

Not only would he capture the Midnight Shadow. His ploy would also show him who the traitors were. He wasn’t sure which of his men sided with Kenric. He had to expose them all or he could never keep Bria safe.

“She was trembling so much she could barely –”

But how could he defeat him if he didn’t know how many loyal men would fight Kenric’s traitorous dogs? He clenched his teeth. “Is the trap set for dusk?” he asked, cutting off his cousin.

Kenric nodded. “Aye,” he replied. “I’ll have men stationed around the walls and throughout the crowd. Double posts of guards near both gatehouses.”

“Leave the gates open so it’s easier for him to get in,” Terran ordered.

“He’ll get in, but he won’t get out.” Kenric smiled. “After tonight, the Midnight Shadow will no longer be a threat.”

Kenric leaned against the wall of one of the battlements, his gaze trained on Terran. His cousin spoke earnestly with the farmer who’d found Bria after Kenric had poisoned her.

Sir William joined him. He glanced around, his gaze coming to rest on Terran in the courtyard below. “Everything is going as planned. The men are ready.”

Kenric nodded his head, but remained quiet.

Below them, Terran nodded and clasped the farmer’s arm before turning toward the keep.

Kenric shook his head. “He’s never concerned himself with the peasants before.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s he up to?”

Terran stared down at the inner courtyard from his room in the keep. People packed the small square from stone wall to stone wall. He found himself transfixed by the play of events outside his window; he hadn’t moved for hours, watching as the usual traffic of carts and peasants and merchants gave way to meandering knights and curious farmers. They formed a massive sea of eager onlookers, all eyes locked on the execution platform in the middle of the courtyard.

“It’s time, Terran.”

Kenric stood in the doorway. Terran nodded to his cousin, but for a moment he couldn’t move. The thought of what was to come left him momentarily paralyzed. Am I doing the right thing? he wondered. Will this trap work? What if the Midnight Shadow gets killed? What if Bria... He forced the questions to stop lest they drive him mad.

Terran took a step toward the door. “Mary shall not be harmed,” Terran ordered.

“Of course not,” Kenric said. “The plan is to capture the Midnight Shadow.”

Together they proceeded down the stairs to the open keep doors. Terran paused on the steps of the keep and looked out over the murmuring crowd. Two dozen guards had positioned themselves in two lines leading from the stairs to a viewing stand, making a path for him. The viewing stand was a small, rectangular structure about three feet off the ground, providing an unobstructed view of the execution platform.