A Royal Romance

Chapter 19 Lady Elisabeth Brandon

I tightly tied my knife around my thigh walking behind Richard. Watching his strong body move I thought of the man that was found lurking behind the bushes and being dragged for questioning. Seeing that the men before me were farther away than I had wished for I began to speed up my pace, but a pair of arms grabbed me from behind; one hand around my mouth keeping me from screaming calling out and the other holding me tightly. I was dragged through the woods, I fought, I kicked, but in the end my captor was tougher than me. My hands were tied together and the more I moved the deeper the rope dug into my skin.

"Elisabeth???!!!" Richard's voice was coming from behind. Hearing his strong voice I turned just in time to find a second man hitting the back of his head.

"Noooo!!!!" I screamed as Richard's body fell to the ground. "Richard???!!!"

The second man ran towards us and quickly mounted his horse. He looked into my eyes and his hand flew across my face and if it were not for my other captor reaching out for me I would have fallen off the horse. The taste of blood was surprising, but very present in my mouth.

"That is a warning. Do not dare think of speaking during our trip, the punishment would be greater. Do you hear me?"

With a smile I answered back, "I cannot wait for you to get what you deserve."

His hand flew a second time. After that I kept quiet, but thinking clearly of all the nasty things I would do to him if I had my knife. But I do have my knife, now I will have to find the right moment. What will happen to me? If they wanted me dead they would have killed me already. As we rode for some time I could not help to think of how I could put in action my revenge. I smiled slightly once I had the right scenario in mind.

For long moment I thought if Richard was well and if he was he alive? He had to be alive. Night was falling fast and we had yet to find the right place to make camp. When we arrived at a clearing near a river I thought it was now the best moment for me to make my move. I had to try I could not just sit here and wait to be rescued.

Discretely looking around me I lifted my skirts and removed the knife from its hidden place. One of the men came towards me and yanked me off my horse. I nearly lost my balance, but since his body was just before me I reached for him and when he held me up I struck him directly into his gut with my knife. His eyes widen as I pushed the blade deeper. He grunted and fell to the ground. I did not have time to retrieve my knife when his companion was next to me and hit me so roughly that I fell to the ground. My head hit the ground and I could not move, but I was able to see the anger in his face.

Seeing his friend's motionless lifeless body on the hard ground with disbelieve he bent over it and whispered a few words that I was unable to hear. I watched him closely for I knew that I was going to pay for it. I tried to move very quietly but he heard me and his eyes looked at me. I saw them change from pain into a raging anger in moments. He abruptly got to his feet and ran to my side. Then with all his force he began to kick me.

I tried not to cry, but the effort was useless. After a while I could not feel anything anymore and I even lost consciousness. The next time I opened my eyes he was dragging me by my hair and placing me before a tree. He roughly placed a rope around me tying me against it. There was no possible way for me to escape.

My body ached, it was difficult to see and even more so to breath. That night I barely slept, the uncomfortable position I was in and the unknown sounds of the woods kept me awake. Early in the morning my captor woke me with the same tenderness he had given me the night before, with a kick to my side.