“Who are you, and why are those men chasing you?” Bruce asked her again, his voice low but guarded piercing through the silence of the night.

His sword hovered inches from the girl’s neck. His grip was steady, his tone flat, his eyes sharp enough to pin her in place.

She froze at first, then her knees buckled, and she dropped into the dirt. “Please, Your Highness,” her voice broke in a rush. “Please, spare me. Please save me. Those men—they will kill me!”

Bruce’s face didn’t ...