At the break of dawn, they had risen early and had already continued their journey. Hector was hungry and had nothing to eat and he suspected that Edwina felt the same way even though she wouldn't complain nor admit. It was his idea that Cyril should not pack any food for him in order to make his traveling, light and not put too much burden on his horse, now he regretted ever suggesting such a thing.
He would have hunted if he were alone but he couldn't trust Edwina to stay put. He had a feeling that she would make a run for it before he returned but he admired her toughness for if she was hungry like he was, she simply betrayed no sign of it.
The rain had long stopped and the sun was slowly rising up the sky, shedding its warmth on the forest once again and chasing out the lingering cold and dampness of the wind. Once again, the woods was lively with the movements and sounds of animals, especially birds. Hector noticed that Edwina's hair was dry but her clothes were still a bit wet because she had refused to come close to the fire he had made at the cave, last night and had preferred to sleep off in such an uncomfortable position.
No conversation issued between them ever since she had poured out her bitterness towards him the previous night but he rather revelled in being so close to her, loving the way his arms went around her to hold the reins of the horse who conveyed them through the woods. He could not simply tell why he felt the way he did toward the obstinate maid who wanted nothing more but to avenge the death of her family but all he knew was that he had admired her for years, in fact he had felt drawn towards her the very moment he had seen her trying to escape through the woods when they had invaded her and pillaged village and it had taken him four good years to realize this even through they had barely spoken a word to each other.
He sighed in relief when he heard the sound of flowing water which he later noticed was a stream. They had been riding all morning and he decided that it was high time they rested awhile. Dismounting his horse, he glanced up at her and before he could help her off the saddle, she was down on her feet on her own, her face devoid of any emotion.
He took the reins of his horse and they continued down the hill, through the trees and towards the bank of the stream on foot. As he halted far from the bank and searched his saddle bags for something, he noticed that Edwina didn't stop, she continued walking closer to the bank of the stream, quietly and her hands were busy knotting her hair into a rough bun.
"What are you doing?" He asked, puzzled.
Without looking back or stopping, she replied. "I need a bath."
She halted close to the edge of water and slipped out of her clothes. Hector who had crouched to examine the shoes of his horse, slowly rose to his feet and watched her wade into the water, completely naked and also watched as her body was being engulfed inch by inch by the water. His muscles tightened and his groin began to harden at the very sight of her nudity.
It was not as if he had not grown up revelling in the sight of several beautiful naked women but the very sight of this very woman made him want to go after her, haul her against a tree and ravish every part of her sexual appealing body with kisses till she was breathless but he knew that would not be possible. She would plunge a dagger into his chest if he attempted to even kiss her.
He watched as her body continued to disappear into the water as she wandered further into the stream, wading her arms at her sides. Hector forced himself to turn away quickly, trying to steady his racing heart. He had never felt this way with any woman before and worse not with a woman who held him in contempt and a slave...his father would have his head if he were to find out.
Since she was now busy taking a bath, he decided it was best to go hunting and return as quickly as possible before she even knew that he was gone, for if he didn't wander off now that he had the chance and give her some deserved privacy, nothing would stop him from doing something irrational even though a convincing part of him really wanted to damn all consequences and go for it.
Taking off his scabbard and placing it against the trunk of a tree, he scratched behind the horse's ear, pointed two of his finger to his own eyes and to the stream then he said to it. "Watch her!" As if the animal understood, it snorted and shuffled on its hooves, tail swishing.
Hector took a last lingering glance at Edwina who was already chest deep in the water and partially grateful that her breasts were out of view then he walked away reluctantly.
Soon, he returned with a dead bloodied rabbit which he dropped on the grass with a thud beside his horse who was lying on the ground and munching away indifferently. It snorted again on Hector's quick arrival and got to its feet immediately. Hector walked down to the stream, crouched and began to wash the blood off his hands and also off his dagger. He looked up and scanned the stream but there was no sign of Edwina. He quickly jolted up to his feet and glanced at the spot he had last seen her but she was gone. He looked behind him and realized that her clothes were still where she had left them on the grass.
She wouldn't have escaped naked, would she? Because that would be a very stupid thing for her to do. Suddenly, the bubbles on the surface of the stream that was far away from the bank got his attention. More bubbles broke out to the surface and that was when he noticed that she was still in the stream and that she was drowning.
He hurriedly took off his jacket and his shirt and dove into the stream, swimming quickly towards the bubbles. She was slowly sinking and the water was filling her lungs while the bubbles were escaping from her mouth and her nostrils and he wondered how long she had been thrashing before she succumbed to being subdued by the water and had begun to drown.
He grabbed her upper arm and hauled her to the surface of the water, slipped his arms under her and carried her limp heavy weight, lifting her almost out of the water with her arms and head hanging limply. He swam towards the bank of the stream and when he could walk, he waded through the water and placed her on the grass when he reached the bank, he realized that she was not breathing. She just remained motionless, her eyes closed. Hector quickly knelt down before her naked form desperately trying to revive her. He placed his hand on the other on top of her chest and pushed down several times but nothing happened.
Clamping her nostrils shut with his thumb and index finger, he placed his lips over hers and exhaled into her mouth, down her throat, yet nothing. Pressing down harder on her chest again and repeating the act of exhaling into her mouth, she suddenly jolted, choking back to life as she spurted water out of her mouth, and Hector sighed in relief when her eyes slowly fluttered open as more water poured out of her mouth and nose.
Hector gave her a displeased look now. "Next time you want to take a bath and you don't know how to swim, never you wander from the bank." He scolded her. "You won't be so lucky next time!" He chided.
As her eyes fully opened and she could see him, with a gasp of shock after she remembered that she was completely naked, she quickly scrambled for her clothes and covered her nakedness with it which could barely cover everything she wanted to conceal from his eyes.
Hector ignored her reaction, grabbed his shirt and his jacket off the grass and rose to his feet. "Get dressed... We leave after lunch." He stared and walked away.
Moments later, when she finally joined him, now dressed, he was already done gutting the rabbit and was roasting it over the fire he had made again. When the rabbit was roasted enough, he offered her some but she only shot him a scornful look and he knew that she wasn't going to eat anything from him. What the hell was wrong with this woman?! He had just saved her life a second time and yet, she was still bitter towards him.
He watched her get up and wander off but he kept her in sight and watched her search the nearby bushes and soon found some little fruits and she settled far away from him, her back against the trunk of a tree and began to eat them. Hector gave a weary sigh as he watched her finish eating and she stood up and went down to the stream to drink the water with her hands. He had packed up and put the fire out by the time she returned and they continued their journey in silence after he returned from filling his water bag with some stream water that would last him till they came across another drinkable water source. He was however grateful that even though she would not talk to him, she had not attempted to escape since they began their journey.
***
Queen Rohesia stood by her window, her gaze fixed on the horizon on the large sun which had turned reddish-orange and was beginning to sink gradually into the point where it seemed like the sky touched the earth. It had been two days now since Hector took Edwina away and she wondered if Edwina was now dead or if she had succeeded in escaped to somewhere safe where no harm would come to her like she hoped. Ever since Edwina's departure from Avalon, Rohesia had kept herself confined to her chambers, brooding over Edwina and nothing the king did could cheer her up.
There was no one she could confide in and there was no one to talk to her nor make her laugh like Edwina could. The king had sent her two new maidens in place of Edwina but she had rejected and sent them off and had attended to herself and anything she needed to do, only that, it was inevitably lonely in her chambers without Edwina and there was no other maid she found pleasing enough to confer with.
She turned slightly at the sound of a knock on her door and ushered the knocker in. As usual, Helena walked into the room and curtsied. On seeing Helena, the queen turned back to the window and asked sternly. "What is it?"
"The king wishes you to dine with him and King Tiberius." Helena answered.
Without turning away from the window, Rohesia replied. "Tell the king that I decline to join him for dinner and for any other meal. I would very much prefer to dine in my chambers and tell him not to call on me in person because I do not wish to see him." Rohesia said.
Helena's brows rose in surprise at the Queen's words. She was rather shocked by the Queen's anger towards the king, her husband and she lingered a while, thinking of how to deliver the Queen's message to the King when Rohesia said over her shoulder again. "You can leave...I wish to be left alone."
Curtsying again, Helena turned and left the room without a word while Rohesia sighed deeply. She needed Edwina and would do anything to have Edwina back safely in Avalon but there was nothing she could do now.
She loved her husband dearly but she couldn't bring herself to forgive him just yet...not when the emotional pain he had inflicted on her was still new.