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“I just have your trunk to search, and I’m finished,” said the guard, opening the lid anyway.
“Leave it,” ordered Conrad. “My sister doesn’t have anything to hide.”
“She sure doesn’t act that way,” said Branton.
Hazel started crying and shaking again.
“For Heaven’s sake, this has got to stop.” Willow hurried over to Hazel and took the girl’s hands in hers. “Hazel, would it be all right if I touched your things and the guard watched over my shoulder?” she asked in a soft voice.
“I – I don’t know,” she said, looking up at Conrad for support. Conrad nodded to Hazel.
“It’s all right,” said Conrad. “We want to prove to them that you aren’t hiding anything and they will leave you alone.”
“I suppose so, then,” agreed Hazel, hanging her head and looking at the ground.
“Move aside,” commanded Willow, pushing past the guard, opening the trunk and going through Hazel’s things. The guard looked over her shoulder and finally nodded, satisfied that Hazel wasn’t the thief.
“That’s good,” he said. “I’ll let Lord Beaufort and the earl know that you two have been searched and nothing has been found.” The guard left with the handmaiden and Branton following. Branton stopped in the doorway and turned around.
“Lady Willow, if your cousins were here they would have found the thief by now. Lady Fia would have noticed something out of place, and Lady Maira would have used her weapons to bring him down.”
“Branton, are you insinuating that I have no skills to find the thief on my own?” asked Willow.
“I’m just saying . . . even Morag would have done something to figure it out by now.”
“Get out!” she shouted, ready to throw something at the boy. Once he left, Conrad walked over to the door and held it open.
“Let’s go. Both of you,” he told them.
“I’m not hungry,” said Willow, feeling sick at Branton’s comment. Mayhap, she really had no skills at all and shouldn’t have been chosen as a member of the late queen’s secret group. Why did she feel stronger when she was around her cousins? Without them, she was starting to feel as insecure as Hazel right now.
“We’re not going to the great hall, we are going to the secret garden,” Conrad told them. “Toby, saddle the horses.”
“Aye, my lord,” said his squire, hurrying from the room.
“I think you both need to root around in the dirt a little to relax,” Conrad told them.
“I don’t want to go,” said Hazel. “Please, Conrad, don’t make me leave.”
“It’s all right, Hazel.” Willow put her arm around the girl and tried to calm her so she would stop trembling. “Conrad is going with us. And he’s not leaving you anywhere, so you don’t need to worry.”
“I want to go home,” cried Hazel.
Willow looked up and her gaze interlocked with Conrad’s.
“That’s not possible right now,” Conrad told her in a soft voice.
“Why not?” asked Hazel.
“Aye, why not?” Willow repeated, wondering what his reply would be. Hazel was insecure and always frightened. One minute she wanted to be noticed and acknowledged and the next she wanted to hide away. Willow didn’t understand why she acted this way. All she knew was that when she spent time with Hazel, the girl was calm and even happy. But that would all come to an end soon. When Hazel left Castle Rothbury, Willow could only hope that the girl could be happy with Conrad as well.
“We can’t leave because the competition isn’t over yet,” stated Conrad. “Besides, I’ve made a deal with Lord Rook. I must watch over Lady Willow until his return.”
“And what about Hazel?” asked Willow. “Who will watch over her?”
“I want you to do it, Willow,” said Hazel in a soft voice. “Please . . . don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to be alone.”
Willow didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t used to being a caregiver of any kind. Neither was she good at it. But her heart went out to Hazel. Before she realized what she was saying, she agreed. “All right, Hazel, I will. I’ll be with you. You don’t have to be frightened anymore.”
Hazel smiled, and her trembling stopped. But when Willow looked up, Conrad was frowning and shaking his head. Suddenly, she had doubts about all this. Willow was used to going where she wanted and talking to whomever she chose. She also needed to be alone with some of the nobles because she had a feeling one of them was the thief, and she wanted to prove it. She had to find a way to help Earl Alnwick because without the ruby, he was doomed. What had Willow just agreed to, and how was she going to get out of this mess?
