“Please escort this woman from Northwind Castle.”

“Yes, sir.”

Selene kept her chin lifted as she turned, but humiliation, anger, and loneliness pounded within her heart. She clenched her hands, pressing her fingernails into the soft part of her palms, and took each breath slowly.

“My lady?” Boots pounded along the hallway. Cohen appeared seconds later, his burgundy robes flying behind him. “My lady,” he panted as he crossed the corridor. “You left, and I couldn’t find you—what’s going on?”

“Do you know this woman?” Steward Bertram asked. The guard paused, a look of confusion on his face.

“I do. This is—”

“Lady Selene!” Taegis’s voice rang out behind the steward. The steward turned and dropped his arms. The guard gave Taegis a small bow as he approached.

“Thank the Light you’re here,” Steward Bertram said, taking a step toward Taegis. “This woman was prowling the castle. I was going to have one of the guards escort her away, but now that you’re here—”

“This woman is Lady Selene, Lord Damien’s new wife!” Taegis’s voice boomed across the corridor.

The steward froze. Slowly, he glanced back, his face pale.

“I can attest to that as well,” Cohen said, “since I performed the rites of matrimony myself.”

The guard looked between the three men, and then at Selene. He bowed. “My lady.”

Steward Bertram opened his mouth and closed it, like a fish out of water. “I . . . I . . . I had no idea.”

Taegis shook his head and closed the gap between him and Selene. “My lady, I did not mean to leave you. My first thought was to get Lord Damien to the healer.”

“I know. But I want to see him. And don’t try to stop me.”

The corner of his mouth quirked, and she could have sworn Taegis was pleased by her words. “My lady, I’ll take you there now. But first”—he turned toward the steward—“Steward Bertram, let me present to you Lady Selene Maris, wife of Lord Damien, formerly lady of House Ravenwood.”

Bertram bowed low, sweat coating his forehead. “My lady, please forgive me. I didn’t know who you were.”

The former lady of Ravenwood reared up inside of her. Mother would have expected her to coldly reprimand a man like him, one who dared to lord over a lady of a Great House. But then she remembered how Damien had treated the people they had met so far on their journey with kindness and grace.

She took a deep breath and let the anger from moments earlier wash away. “I understand. There was no evidence that I was Lady Maris.”

He lifted his head, a red sheen to his cheeks. “You are most gracious, my lady.”

Taegis cleared his throat. “Steward Bertram, would you please see to arranging the room next to Lord Damien’s for Lady Selene’s use?”

“Next to his lordship’s room?”

“Yes, until other arrangements can be made.”

“Yes. Right away.” Steward Bertram turned and hurried down the hall.