‘But they’ll know,’ Callie cried. ‘As soon as they see Lev, they’ll know it wasn’t him in the boat with me.’
‘And by then we’ll be gone, one way or another,’ said Stephen.
The thought sent a chill through Callie.
‘Okay, let’s do it,’ said Lev.
‘Come on, El.’ Callie led her sister down to the boat while Stephen and Lev undressed.
‘Will you tell Howell we had to go?’ Stephen asked as he struggled to pull Lev’s blackened chain mail over his wide shoulders. ‘He already knows most of our story. Will you please tell him I had no time to say goodbye.’
‘I’ll do that. But I won’t go to the castle until you’re safely away — and until it’s safe for me to go there.’
Lev stepped into Stephen’s breeches. They were far too big for his thin frame. He pulled them up and tightened the girdle to keep
