if word of her being in bed should get back to Oliver Howard. As long as the man was alive his hatred of the Peregrines was alive, too. "I will remain here," she said, ignoring the looks of the men at Tearle's back. There would be time in the future to show them the truth of who she was.
He started to kiss her but then straightened as he became aware of the men. "I expect you to keep your word," he said, then he was gone.
Alone in the room Zared leaned back against the pillows and looked about her. This room was what her family had fought and died for. It was what her family and Tearle's family had killed each other for.
She turned over onto her stomach and closed her eyes. Her husband no longer hated her, and that was all that mattered to her in the world. She fell asleep within seconds.
Chapter Seventeen
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Zared didn't know what woke her. It wasn't a sound, for when she opened her eyes she heard nothing. It was night outside, so the room was dark, and she looked about, seeing nothing unusual or different in the room. Her eyes began to close again, but in the next moment she sat upright, clutching the sheet to her.
Standing at the foot of her bed was a woman. She was a pretty older woman dressed in a simple gown like the ones that Zared barely remembered seeing her mother wear. The woman looked at Zared with interest, then she smiled at her, a gentle smile.
Zared would have returned the smile to the woman except for one thing: She could see through the woman.
Through the woman's gown and body Zared could see the door behind her, could see the tapestry hanging to the left of the door.
Zared pulled the sheet closer about her and began to pray.
The woman's smile left her face, and she looked a bit sad that Zared should be so frightened of her. She turned away from the bed and walked to the door. At the door she paused and motioned to Zared to follow her, then she slid through the oak of the door and disappeared.
Zared sat paralyzed where she was. She had no intention of moving. In fact, she thought she might never leave the bed again in her life.
She was still shaking when the woman reappeared at the foot of the bed. Her face wore a look of urgency as she motioned to Zared to follow her.
Zared shook her head no. She was not going to go with a ghost. No doubt it was a Howard ghost who knew that she was a Peregrine.
The woman's mouth opened, and Zared put her hands up as though to protect her face. Would fire come out of the woman's mouth?
After some time Zared lowered her hands, and the woman was still there. She had a soft, patient look on her face.
"W-who are you?" Zared managed to ask. "What do you want of me?"
The woman held out both of her hands, palms up, in a pleading gesture.
Zared shook her head again. "No," she whispered. "I do not want to go with you."
The woman's face took on a look of urgency, pleading.
"No!" Zared half yelled. "I will not."
At that the woman looked about the room as though searching for something.
Zared didn't know if she was going crazy, but she was growing used to the woman. "What do you seek?"
The woman looked back at Zared, then pointed at her hair.
"Aye, it is short. I had to cut it again to be able to come to my husband. It will grow longer."
The woman pointed again and again, this time with some urgency. Zared tried to figure out what she meant, for she was beginning to realize that the ghost was not going to leave until she had something from Zared. She searched her mind to figure out what it was about her hair that intrigued the woman.
"This is as bad as the riddle," Zared muttered, and at that the woman began gesturing frantically.
"The riddle?" Zared asked, and the woman nodded her head vigorously. "You have something to do with the riddle?" Again the woman nodded.
Softly Zared repeated the riddle, and when she came to the last line she looked hard at the woman, seeing the small oak table through her. " 'Then shall you know,' " she said, and her face lit up. "My husband's brother is dead, and he is now the one."