CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
From the battlefield, they marched to the castle, and Royce was relieved to find it empty. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want the dangers of a siege for his people, but he didn’t want them for anyone else, either. Even the best-trained force might sack a town, if it only broke into it through force.
Instead, they marched through the settlement, and the people there turned out to watch them, looking worried at first, then happier as they realized what had happened to their hated duke, then happier still as they realized who had done it. By the time their small army reached the castle, people were throwing flowers in Royce’s direction.
The castle’s emptiness made it echo. It seemed that everyone had run from it, right down to most of the servants. Perhaps they had taken
