Broken

What happens now?

Stumbling back, Felix blindly reaching for the horse reins. How could she be Lady Ashley, his betrothed? Then it hit him, he had heard the same voice coming from her that he head heard on that dreaded wedding day. There was no use denying it, she was his betrothed, the whore that only wanted him for his money. He could not imagine that the angel he had seen was actually the same whore, but he knew that appearances didn't matter.

Grabbing hold of the reins with shaking hands, he rode off in the distance, going as fast as he could, as if he could escape this like it was all a horrible dream. But it wasn't. The words brought him back into reality. She was Lady Ashley, daughter of the Earl of Wiltshire, the slut that just wanted him for his money. That would also explain why she was related to that son of a bitch, Adam. They were of the same stock, all in the same family.

He feverishly ran a hand through his tousled hair, trying to stop the dissappointment he was feeling get to him. Why was he dissappointed? He should have been relieved that he knew what she was like before he made the mistake of pursueing her. She was Lady Ashley. The words kept coming back to haunt him, playing in his head over and over again. He was still speechless. The initial shock of discovering her name still hadn't worn off.

He barely noticed as galloped past his own property, only stopping when a servant called out to him. His eyes were unfocused, caught up in his own thoughts until he crashed into a pillar before the door. Cursing, he opened the door, ignoring the raucous laughter that emitted from his servants. Scowling, he he climbed the stairs to his study, trying to clear his mind but the same sweet voice haunted his mind and he gave up, muttering to himself like a madman.

I am Lady Ashley, the words played in his mind as if on a broken tape recorder. The same sweet voice accompanying the shocking words. Frustrated, he swept his arm across the desk., relieving it of the mountains of paper that had been stacked on it. Almost sprinting towards the stables, he found his stallion and galloped away, trying to calm himself down. The steady beat of hooves pounding against dirt soothed him but to his annoyance, he found that he still couldn't get the ange-slut off his mind.

Meanwhile, Ashley looked around the abandoned body, grimacing as her eyes swept over the crumpled form that had been her brother. Resisting the bile that rose up her throat, she tried to find any food as it would mean that she could live here. Dissappointed, she found that all the shelves were bare and there was no food to be found at all. She reached into her pocket, only to produce a single silver coin. All the shopping money had been taken by the coach driver when he had left her.

She could not afford anything. How was she going to survive? Peering around, it seemed that the only thing she could do was wait for her death. There was no water or food to be found even remotely close to this hovel. Although she was panicking at scared, Ashley was not one to cry unless it was desperate circumstances. Cool logic would take her through this problem, she reminded herself. Taking deep breaths, she walked outside and sat down on the step, pondering the problem before her.

Weariness suddenly kicked in and she could barely open her eyes. Quickly, she fell asleep, leaning back against the door but not before she was horse tracks going down the lane.

Ashley woke up to find that it was dark and only the moon and stars illuminated the abandoned house. What was she going to do? Everything hit her hard. It seemed impossible that so much had happened over the past few hours, it was so unrealistic. Pushing the panic out of her mind, she tried to look for a way to get home. She considered walking, but she would soon get lost as she didn't know where she was. Still, she knew that there had to be a method to reach home, racking her brains she looked around wildly.

Slumping back onto the step, nearly faded hoof marks caught her eye. They lead down a small path and glimmered in the moonlight, as if taunting her, daring her to follow them. She had no choice but to follow them if she valued her life. Biting her lip, she started walking behind the tracks, step by step. The tracks seemed to go on for eternity and she groaned, continuously walking to somewhere that she probably wouldn't know. One minute passed, One hour passed and still she was walking down the old worn out track.