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If Isabel remained here, could she fill their needs? Did she even want the responsibility? Amazingly the thought didn't frighten her as much as it once did. Though it was a moot point until she knew whether she would remain here or not. And she wouldn't know for certain until she either found the chalice or Détra returned on her own.

As Maude helped her dress, Isabel broached the subject with her.
"
I was considering a little walk by the lake this morning. Would you like to come with me?"

Maude looked oddly at her. "How do you know of the lake? It is hidden from view."

Damn it! If she couldn't see the lake from the castle and she wouldn't remember it, how could she know about it? Then again, why would Maude question her about it? The maid hadn't questioned her actions before.

"Hunter told me about it," Isabel said truthfully.

"It would be foolhardy to go outside the castle gates, my lady, considering the Scots are but a day's ride from Windermere."

The lake wasn't far from the castle, less than a mile if Isabel remembered well. They could be back in about an hour
.
Isabel was hoping Hunter had thrown the chalice on the edges of the lake near the place she'd found it in the future. That would be her only chance of finding it.

"I shall take the
ri
sk," Isabel said. "You do not need to come with me."

"I mean no disrespect, my lady. You have changed much since the morning you lost your memor
y
—"

"I do feel like a totally different person," Isabel agreed.

"That is wh
y
. . ." Maude hesitated. "It is not my plac
e
..."

Maude shook her head and moved away.

Isabel wasn't sure what kind of relationship Maude had had with Détra before, but the maid was the closest to a friend Isabel had ever had, and she wanted to know what so distraught her.

Isabel followed her. "Speak your mind without fear."

"You used to meet Lord Rupert by the lake."

The air whooshed out of Isabel's lungs. "Good God, Maude! I am not looking for Rupert, if that is what you are thinking. I have no interest whatsoever in that man. I go to the lake because Hunter told me there is where the chalice I seek is. I asked you about it some time ago, do you remember?"

At Maude's nod, Isabel continued, "I believe the chalice is magical and can bring back my memories." That was all Maude needed to know for now.

"
There are many bad memories in your past, my lady. Are you certain you want to find them? You have found joy with Lord Hunter, have you not?"

"Yes, bu
t
—"

"Please, do not put your happiness in jeopardy."

"My happiness will be in constant jeopardy if I do not find the chalice." Isabel paused. "I know you cannot understand this now, and I hope that one day I will be able to explain it to you, but for now I ask that you trust me. That you believe I have Hunter's best interest at heart. I love him, Maude."

"Then why do you prevent his child from growing in your womb?"

What could she say to that? Guilt and regret and longing tore at her heart.

She must have looked stricken, for Maude immediately apologized. "Please forgive me, my
l
ady. It is not my place to dispute your decisions. And I do not, but I care for you and for Lord Hunter and I do not wish to see the hard-earned understanding between you two destroyed by yet another secret."

"And neither do I," Isabel said. "But I need this chalice, and with or without your help I will go to the lake to search for it."

With a long-suffering sigh, Maude nodded agreement.

******************

THE MORNING WAS BEAUTIFUL, THE SKY BLUE, THE SUN shining, the birds singing, and a soft breeze blowing about in a total mirror image of Isabel's inner turmoil. How could the day be so radiant when her life was falling apart?

With the gates closed until Hunter's return, Isabel had a hard time convincing Sir Gervase of the wisdom of her short excursion. She finally wore him down. Guarded by two men-at-arms, her little entourage found its way to the lakeshore on a healing herb exploratio
n
—
M
aude's brilliant excuse.

The lakeshore had changed much, or more appropriately, in the future it would change much. Where in the future there'd been a clearing, now tall and dense trees grew all around the shore. Isabel couldn't even be certain of the exact spot she'd found the chalice in the first place. What was she thinking? She wouldn't find the chalice without knowing exactly where it was.

While Maude busied herself collecting plants to give
credence to her excuse, Isabel walked down the pebbled shore looking at the immensity of the lake with doleful thoughts. One of the guards accompanied Maude and the other followed Isabel at a distance. Although disliking being guarded and watched like a prisoner, Isabel understood the benefits of having a soldier protecting her.

She reached a bent near the
l
ake and lowered herself to pick up a pebble when a shadow fell over her. She lifted her gaze to see Rupert standing before her.

Isabel swayed with the shock, and glancing over her shoulder, she discovered the guard was no longer in sight. Where in hell did he go?

"I asked your escort for a moment alone with you," Rupert said. "It has been much too long since we talked."

Isabel didn't like the sound of that. Did Rupert have people inside Windermere watching her? "What do you do here, Rupert? Do you not know your castle is under attack?"

"Attack?" To his credit he looked surprised. "Surely you are mistaken."

"
There is no mistake. Hawkhaven is under attack from Scots raiders and Hunter is over there defending what is yours."

"It is just
f
itting then, for he holds what is mine." Rupert pulled her into his arms.

She struggled against his grip only to have him tighten his hold. "Let me go, Rupert," she demanded. "You have no right to touch me."

He cocked his head to the side, a bitter grin slashing his face. "How fickle is a woman's heart. Not long ago you reveled in my touch. Now that your husband has bedded you, you have changed your mind."

Not wanting to infuriate him further, she said nothing.

"What would you say if I told you of your husband's spurious nature?"

"I will not listen to you bad-mouth a man who is not here to defend himself."

"Not bad-mouthing, my beloved, just speaking the truth. All Hunter has achieved in his life was obtained through witchery. Naught came to him through effort or deserves."

Taking her silence as encouragement, he went on, "There is a magical chalic
e
—
"

Isabel drew in her breath. What did Rupert know of it?

"Oh, I see you know of it. Is that what has changed your mind? You think to make use of the chalice for your own benefit? Tsk, tsk, Détra, Détra. What a conniving little bitch you are. So perfect for me."

Discarding the last vestiges of civilization, Rupert gripped her throat with one hand, bringing tears to Isabel's eyes. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"I think you do. If you wish no harm to befall your beloved husband, you had better tell me where it is."

Gasping, she pulled at his hands. "It is at the bottom of the lake," she finally cried.

"You think me a fool, my beautiful Détra, but when I get hold of Hunter's source of power and fortune, we will see by whose side you would rather be." He kissed her harshly, then pushed her away.

Isabel stumbled and fell backward, her buttocks and hands smarting from the fall and the pebbles on the ground, and her throat and jaw still feeling the pressure of Rupert's fingers. As she watched him disappear in the woods, she realized how dangerous the man really was. And he was on his way to Hawkhaven. She needed to send Hunter an urgent message.

Rising to her feet, Isabel rushed back to where last she'd seen her guard, bitter words of reproach burning her
tongue. And yet before she had a chance to speak, the guard smiled at her, a smug, knowing grin. He knew about
Détra
and Rupert, Isabel realized, and secure in that knowledge he didn't fear her reproach or that she might te
l
l Hunter about him slacking on the job.

Seething, she stepped on his toes, then circumvented him. Out of nowhere someone jumped in front of her, scaring her witless. She spun around only to witness another assailant slit her guard's throat. The guard fell to the ground with merely a cry in a pool of his own blood.

Isabel's scream lodged in her throat. Sandwiched as she was between two savages, with the lake on one side and the woods on the other, she had to make a split-second decision. Lifting her skirts she dashed into the woods. She hadn't reached far when she was caught from behind and pushed to the ground. She hit her chin on a small rock, the pain shooting up her jaw as her breath swished out of her lungs with the impact and the weight of
the
man pinning her to the ground.

The man pulled a dizzy Isabel to her feet and threw her over his hard shoulder. Recovering some of her senses, Isabel fought her assailant, but to no avail. The man had arms the breadth of a tree trunk and held her firmly in place. A few moments later she saw the other guard who was supposed to be protecting Maude motionless on the ground. Of Maude, there was no sign.

Isabel's heart froze. Was Maude dead? She couldn't fathom even the thought. She looked at her captors, mere were three of them, and tried to commit their faces to mind, with the exception of the one who carried her, whose face she couldn't see now. Were these men Scottish? They weren't dressed in kilts as Isabel had expected but a shirt reaching their knees and a mantle tied to one shoulder.

What could they want with her? Was Rupert involved
with this?

In silence the man holding Isabel threw her over his hors
e
like a sack of potatoes, a heavy hand on her back holding her down. He kicked the horse forward and Isabel's head bobbed and then began to swirl, fear and nausea an explosive mix. Hard as she fought she couldn't hold the bile sliding up her throat and she vomited over the horse's flanks, the man's legs, and the rapidly moving ground.

She closed her eyes and her ears to the expletive coming from her assailant
's
mouth.

******************

THE BATTLE WAS OVER BEFORE IT HAD BEGUN.

Hunter and his men had arrived at Hawkhaven's outskirts at dawn after a hard ride through the night, catching the group of about thirty Scots by surprise and swiftly defeating them, despite being outnumbered.

Though naturally pleased with the results, Hunter was concerned. Apart from laying waste to the village there had been no indication the Scots expected to engage in battle. They had made no visible attempt to breach the castle's gates, scale its walls, or even dig a tunnel to allow their entrance into the castle they besieged. They had camped outside Hawkhaven as if in expectation of a tournament. Could they be waiting for reinforcements? Surely they knew the castle was undermanned.

Something was very amiss here. A sense of foreboding, not unlike what he had experienced a few times in battle, assailed him.

As Hunter and his men victoriously entered the open gates of Hawkhaven Castle, they were greeted with cheers of joy from the villeins and castle people alike in joyful celebration of their victory.

However, even as he dismounted and greeted Sir Thomas and received his many heartfelt thanks, Hunter could not shake the feeling of impending doom.

Rupert's absence, however blessed to Hunter and the very reason he had been summoned and had come to Hawkhaven's aid, seemed odd.

He intended to get to the bottom of it.

As soon as he was seated at the lord's table in the great hall with a tankard of ale in his hands, he asked Thomas. "What do you make of this attack?"

"I know not, my lord." The man looked as puzzled as Hunter felt. "With Lord Rupert and most of Hawkhaven's knights away we were in a predicament. That was why I summoned your help when Scots were sighted coming our way. I am as surprised as you are that they did not attack us immediately. Mayhap they were waiting for reinforcements or for direct orders from Robert the Bruce."