“Blessings of the day, mistress,” the young man said after a brief hesitation. “Are you alone?”

A little wary, she watched him loop the reins around the brake and get out of the cart. “My family is nearby.”

“These are dangerous times, mistress. A young lady shouldn’t wander about on her own.” When he got a man’s length away from her, he stopped suddenly. His eyes widened. “Are you one of them?”

“Them?”

“A—One of the Mother’s Daughters.”

She was more hedge witch than witch, and wouldn’t have been called one of the Mother’s Daughters around them, but her grandmother had been a witch and that counted for something, didn’t it? “It is best not to mention such things,” she said coyly, looking up at him through her lashes. “As you pointed out, these are dangerous times.”

“Of course.” He smiled. “If being seen in such a humble cart would not offend you, may I offer you a ride?”

“You are very kind.”

He extended a hand to indicate the cart. “The daylight is waning, mistress. We should be on our way.”

“Yes. You’re right,” Jean replied, walking toward the cart. She lowered her head and smiled. He seemed nervous. And the way he kept looking around, as if to reassure himself that there was no one who could see them, he was probably hoping to coax her into giving him a kiss or two. And maybe she’d let him since he was nice looking.

As he placed one hand on her arm to help her into the cart, she noticed him reaching inside the leather vest he wore over an unpressed shirt. Was he going to offer her a present in the hopes of getting more than a kiss?

Then the hand on her arm yanked her off balance. As she teetered on the edge of falling backward, his other hand whipped out of the vest, and something soft yet heavy struck her on the head.

As he lowered her to the ground and her vision dimmed, the look on his face made her very afraid.

He looked back at the bundles in his cart, then grinned as he slapped the reins over the horse’s back.

He’d done it! Succeeded beyond expectation. He’d no longer have to work at the charity house where he’d grown up, receiving nothing more than lodgings and a few copper coins each month. When he returned to Master Adolfo’s camp, he’d receive the promised reward of an apprenticeship. He’d be trained to be an Inquisitor, a man of power, a man who was somebody.