AURORA MOON
"Yes, your grace." Artu exchanged an is-she-okay look with his wife. She saw Belna slightly lift her shoulders in a hell-if-I-know way.
"You found him alone?"
Artu nodded. "I have soldiers checking the perimeter and the surrounding forest. So far, we've found no other interlopers."
"Double the guards around the castle," she found herself saying. The command came from a place of instinct, a strategic part of her brain that seemed to operate independently of her conscious, confused self. "Where is the duke now?"
"In the dungeons, your grace."
She wanted to ask how to get to the dungeons, but the duchess would know. She spent a lot of time in the lower bowels of the castle torturing information out of captured soldiers. A fresh wave of revulsion washed over her. Belna saw her hesitation and looped her arm around hers. "Come, your grace. I would like to see this Duke Warden."
"Okay," Aurora said, relieved.
