From the top of the ramparts, Faye's tiny voice turned bold and rang out like an arrow piercing the atmosphere. She shouted the Duke's name with such intensity that it made his skin prickle when he heard it.
"STERLING THAYER!!!" His eyes followed up the outer walls of the fortress when he heard Faye call out his name loud and clear. "STOP, DO NOT KILL HER!" she cried. The Duke could detect a faint quiver of uncertainty in her voice.
Lowering his heavy sword, he shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand as he peered up through the jagged crenellations of the fortress walls. The clanking of the prisoners' metal chains rattled on the wooden scaffold as they, too, turned toward the Duchess's voice.
