unique, much like Tor de Wolfe.
When Isalyn reached the town, it had just been coming alive with farmers from the fields and other people who were there to do business. The metalworker’s stall was towards the eastern end and she made her way down the avenue through the cold, dark morning, plodding along a street and being lured by the smells of the bakers who were churning out their bread for the day.
Isalyn was so used to traveling by herself and never having any trouble that she wasn’t particularly watching her surroundings. She was usually so good at staying unobtrusive and out of sight that she became accustomed to focusing on her destination and not the world around her. It seemed strange that she had never had any trouble in all the time she had traveled alone, it was the truth. Therefore, she functioned under a false sense of security, as her father had told her.
She thought he worried like old women.
Even when she had traveled north from London to Featherstone, it had to been with Fraser and a few of her father’s men because Gilbert had sent Fraser to London to summon his daughter. Had her father not sent an escort, she would not have hired one. She saw nothing wrong with traveling alone at a time when even men did not frequently travel alone, so she was a unique soul, indeed.
And a bothersome one, according to her father.
But Isalyn didn’t care what he thought.
In a few days, she’d be heading back to London, probably to never see him again. Therefore, as she neared the metalworker’s stall, she didn’t notice three soldiers who were also approaching the stall. She was hunting for the dog’s head dagger and didn’t see the three men as they looked her over, elbowing one another. She was looking at daggers and they were looking at her.
Her lack of observation was going to be her grave mistake.
“What’s a sweet young miss doing all alone this morning?”
A burly soldier with a big scar on his cheek had sidled up beside Isalyn without her even noticing. Startled, she looked at the man, who was too close for comfort, and started to move away. But in doing so, she bumped into one of his companions, who was on the other side of her and looking at her rather lasciviously.
Startled anew, she backed up but the third soldier was right behind her. Frightened and enraged, she threw her elbows out and began kicking and shoving.
“Back away,” she barked. “How dare you stand so close to me. I do not recall inviting you to do so. Get back!”
She said it so viciously that they instinctively did as they were told, but their obedience was brief. The man with the scar on his cheek frowned.
“You have no cause to behave like that, girl,” he said. “We were only saying good morning.”
Isalyn’s heart was thumping against her ribs. She knew, just by looking at them, that they were up to no good. She struggled not to let her fear get the better of her.
“I do not know you and I do not wish to speak with you, so go spew your morning salutations on someone else,” she said. “Go away.”
They didn’t move, but they didn’t advance, either. “You’re an uppity little chit, aren’t you?” the man with the scar asked. “You need to be more mannerly. When someone wants to be nice to you, it is polite to be nice in return.”
Isalyn had a choice at that moment – continue to bark at them or simply turn away and hope they got the message. She was afraid that if she continued being combative, they might grow angry with her, so she turned her back on them and moved to another side of the stall. Her decision was to ignore them.
They followed.
“You’re all alone,” Scar-Face said. “Don’t you need protection? We’re willing to give it for a price. Always for a price.”
The men snickered lewdly, but Isalyn continued to ignore them, moving away even as the trio followed. They followed her all the way around the stall until she came back to where she had started.
By this time, the metalworker and his apprentice were watching and when the trio passed close to where they happened to be standing, the metalworker held out an iron rod, putting it between the soldiers and Isalyn. When they looked at the man in outrage, he cocked a bushy, dark eyebrow.
“The lady said tae leave her alone,” he