your service so easily, but obviously he is now devoted to you. I thought the boy had enough wit to know better than to turn against me, but apparently he does not.'
'Don't give him the book,' Dalian cried. 'I don't care if he kills me.'
Lucretius did not take his eyes off Clare. 'You do not know your lady very well, boy. She is too softhearted. She will never allow you to die for the sake of a mere book. Is that not right Clare? No book is worth the death of one you care about, is it?'
'Nay,'' Clare said quickly. 'I will bring you the book if you will promise to release Dalian.'
'You may have your minstrel back as soon as I have Sir Humphrey's book.
The clumsy boy was never of much use, anyway.'
'Very well, I shall drop the book down to you from this window,' Clare said.
'Nay, madam. You will bring it to me. I want you as well as the book.'
'Me? Why do you want me?'
'I am a prudent man. I desire a more useful hostage than Dalian to ensure my escape. You are going to accompany me until I am safely off Desire.'
'But why?' Clare asked desperately.
'Something tells me that the Hellhound will bargain more seriously for your life than he will for the boy's. You are vastly more important to Sir Gareth, are you not? After all, you are the source of the wealth of this isle.'
'I will bring you the book.' Clare whirled away from the window and ran to the door.
'Clare, you must not open the hall door,' Joanna said. 'You will risk all our lives.'
William's eyes were huge. 'Maybe he truly is a magician. If that is so, we are doomed.'
'That is ridiculous. He is no magician. There is no such thing as true magic. Lord Gareth had the right of it. Lucretius is merely a clever alchemist.' Clare opened the door and raced down the hall to her study chamber.
Joanna and William followed.
'William, bring me a large pouch that has a flap,' Clare said.
'Aye.' William took off in the other direction.
Clare dashed into the study chamber and grabbed the heavy leather-bound book off the shelf. She unlocked the clasp and reached for a nearby urn of dried flowers.
Joanna stared at her. 'What are you doing?'
'This mixture contains a large amount of mugwort.' Clare sprinkled several handfuls of the dried concoction inside the heavy covers of the book. 'The magician does not care for mugwort. It makes him sneeze uncontrollably.'
William appeared in the door. 'Here's the pouch, Clare.'
'Give it to me.' Clare took the bag from him. She emptied the remaining contents of the urn into the pouch.
Then she closed the flap and slung the leather bag over her shoulder.
She picked up the book in both hands. 'Lucretius will want to see the book before it goes into the pouch in order to be certain that he had not been tricked.'
'Clare, please do not do this, I beg you,' Joanna whispered. ''Tis much too dangerous.'
Clare looked at her. 'I shall go out alone. Close the door and bar it behind me the instant I have stepped onto the steps. Do not open it until Lucretius and his men have gone.'
'But what about you?' Joanna wailed.
'Lord Gareth will soon realize what has happened. He will return to retake the hall. And then he will come for me.' Clare smiled wistfully.
'The magician is right. I do have a certain value to the Hellhound.
These lands would not be nearly so profitable without me.'
She went quickly past Joanna and William. Her soft boots made no sound on the stone floor of the corridor as she raced toward the tower stairs.
Downstairs in the main hall she found Eadgar and the servants huddled near the hearth. Their faces were stark with fear.
'Unbar the door, Eadgar,' Clare said.
'But my lady?'
'Please do as I say.'
'Aye, my lady.' Eadgar bowed his head and went to the door.
Eunice and Agnes wrung their hands.
Eadgar raised the heavy iron bar that secured the front door.
Clare stepped out into the night. 'Close the door, Eadgar. Hurry.'
The door swung shut behind her. She heard the bar drop back into place.
She had never felt so alone in her life.
'You have the book?' Lucretius asked.
'Aye.' Clare held it up so that he could see the volume. 'And a pouch to carry it.' She raised the flap of the pouch and dropped the book inside. It settled amid the mugwort mixture. 'Now release Dalian.'
'Come to me, Clare,' Lucretius commanded.
'Nay,' Dalian pleaded.
Clare started down the steps.
At that instant a hail of fiery arrows arced down into the courtyard.
The black-cloaked knights yelled in warning and confusion.
'What in the name of the devil?' Lucretius's cloak swung wide as he turned around to see what was happening.
Gareth and his men appeared on the roof of Clare's workrooms. Three of them held bows.
'Gareth,' Clare whispered.
'Damned Hellhound,' Lucretius muttered He thrust Dalian out of his way.
'Take them, men,' he shouted. 'They are no match for the Knights of the Star Stone. Take them now, I command you.'
Swords drawn, the cloaked knights started warily toward the workrooms.
Before they had gone more than three paces, the fire arrows that had landed nearby in the courtyard exploded in a series of thunderclaps.
'What magic is this?' One of the men yelled.
Thick smoke, denser than any fog, billowed aloft into the torchlit night, obscuring the scene.
A man screamed.
Dalian ran up the steps to Clare's side. He stared in wonder. ''Tis Lord Gareth's sulfur and charcoal recipe, my lady. We told you that it worked.'
'Aye,' Clare said. 'So you did. You did not mention that you had discovered a use for it.'
Another round of thunder shook the yard. Panic set in among the cloaked knights. Screams echoed above the din of exploding arrows.
'Tis the damned Hellhound who is the true magician,' one knight shouted.
'Run for your lives.'
More smoke rolled across the courtyard. Lucretius suddenly appeared from the thick of it. He lurched toward the hall steps, his hand reaching out to grasp Clare.
'Do not dare to touch her.' Dalian caught Clare's hand and yanked her out of Lucretius's reach.
'Aye, heed him well, magician.' Gareth's voice was a dark, disembodied command that could have issued from the mouth of hell itself. 'Do not dare to put your hands on my wife.'
In the glow of the torchlight, Clare saw the clouds of smoke swirl and part. Gareth came toward the steps, striding through the hellish mist as though he were the hellhound men called him.
Lucretius stared at him. 'What strange alchemy is this? What secrets have you learned from the book, bastard? What have you wought here?'
Gareth's teeth flashed in a smile that would have done credit to the devil. 'What's the matter, magician? Did you think you were the only knight who knew how to read?'
