Chapter 23‘Don’t scream,’ a voice whispered commandingly in Marna’s ear. ‘It’s me, Aaren. Do you understand?’
Marna nodded and mumbled behind the hand clamped over her mouth. Aaren slowly released her. Marna turned on her. ‘What did you do that for?’ she demanded. ‘You frightened me to death.’ She held out her hands; they were trembling. ‘And what are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were up past the castle somewhere. Did Nilsson’s men find you?’
Aaren offered no apology and answered only one of the questions. ‘I didn’t know it was you until I was on top of you,’ she said. ‘It’s the old man, Gryss, I wanted to see. He’s on his way up now and I couldn’t risk you — whoever you were — raising an alarm if I suddenly appeared. It is Gryss coming, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, probably, but...’
Aare
