It was the room on the right! His heart almost stopped its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, lifted it, and pushed the door in.

Kneeling beside the bed he saw a woman.

She had turned toward the light and in the dim illumination of the room Nathaniel recognized the beautiful face he had seen at the king's castle the preceding day--the face of the woman who had sent him to find the prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on Marion's head as he had looked through the window.

There was no fear in her eyes as she saw Nathaniel.

Something more terrible than that shone in their glorious depths as she rose to her feet and stood before him, her face lined with grief, her mouth twitching in agony.