Chapter 9
LAURA’S P.O.V.
I awoke on a soft bed, feeling rested. Sitting up, I almost doubled over in pain, my hand clenching at my stomach. I raised my shirt a little bit and looked down at the nasty bruise. Great.
God forbid Chris ever saw this; he’d kill that governor guy. But I was going to have to tell him when he arrived; I was going to need to travel in a caravan, I couldn’t ride in this condition… ride!
“Melody!” I gasped aloud, grabbing at the covers, I tried to struggle out of bed. I had left her tied to that tree! I had to go get her! She was probably starving and confused…
I hauled myself to the floor, and almost fell to my knees before a strong arm grabbed me and propped me back up.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Asked a light musical voice, and I looked up into sky blue eyes.
“Oh hey… Skye right? Um, yeah, thanks but I uh… need to go.” I mumbled trying to push past him.
It didn’t work, with one hand Skye lifted me right back up and placed me so I was sitting on the bed. He set down a tray filled with bread and cheese as well as a pitcher that he had been carrying in his other hand on the bedside table, and crossed his arms.
“I don’t think so. You’re hurt, it takes more than a day to shake that kind of kick off.” Skye responded, firmly.
I observed him for a moment, he wore a light brown belted tunic over deep brown pants, his long blonde hair flowed loosely today, and now that I focused on him, I realized that with his high cheekbones, and almost eleven like features, he was more beautiful than I gave him credit for.
“Honestly, I’m fine.”
“So that’s why you almost collapsed when you got up out of the bed?” Skye asked dryly with a raised brow, “I don’t believe it for a second.”
“I really have to go though.” I pleaded.
“Why?” He questioned, and I ran a hand through my hair.
“I… have a horse… I left her tied to a tree. I need to go get her, she’s probably starving, and lonely and I’m really worried-“
“Ok, we’ll go get her.” Skye responded, taking his long blonde hair and tying it up into a high ponytail, “Liesay and Frank have a stable here, so we can put your horse there.”
“We?” I questioned.
“We.” Skye affirmed, “I have no idea where she is, so I can’t just go get her by myself, and you’re crazy if you think I’m letting you go anywhere with that wound.” He gave a soft, gentle smile and I was shocked again by his unearthly beauty. He looked like an angel.
I let out a soft breath, feeling a brush creeping onto my face. My god, what was wrong with me?
“Alright.” I managed to get out, “Sounds fine.”
“I was hopping you might agree.” He told me, though his tone told me regardless of whether or not I accepted his proposal he would’ve gone with me anyways.
He nodded to the pitcher and the cheese, “Eat a little bit, wash up, and then let me know when you’re ready to come downstairs and I’ll offer you some help.”
I nodded mutely, and he left me to myself, giving me time to mull over my thoughts and try and form a plan.
So, Chris was going to be pissed when he got here. Like really, really, really pissed. I groaned and put my head in my hands. What was I going to do? Not only had I explicitly disobeyed his orders, I had gotten injured too.
That was like me handing him a chance to say ‘I told you so’ on a freaking silver platter. Not only would he probably never let me live this down, he’d never let me out of his sight again.
I sighed, no use in worrying about it now. What would happen would happen.
I finished my meal and washed my face and then, as instructed, called out for Skye. He joined me by my side. He stuck out his arms and I looked at them somewhat confused. What did he want me to do? I reached out my hand to grab a hold of one of his arms when suddenly out of nowhere he scooped me of the ground.
“What are you-“ I demanded, but Skye silenced me with his voice.
“Just carrying you down the stairs. Don’t want you to injure yourself too much.”
“I can do it-“
“Yourself? No. No you can’t. Accept help every once in awhile…”
“Laura.”
“Laura then.”
And despite my protests he refused to put me down, and carried me all the way down a hallway full of rooms, and a flight of stairs into what appeared to be some sort of mess hall that was mainly empty except for a man sitting at the bar along one wall sipping some sort of draft. He looked at Skye and I once when we entered, slightly interested, then turned back to his drink. Skye set me on a bench alongside one of the tables and disappeared into a back room.
Suddenly I heard a voice from behind me, “Well, well, well, look who’s up. How are you feeling sweetheart?”
I turned to a woman whom I recognized from yesterday, Liesay I think, standing behind me, in an apron holding a broom, with a concerned yet slightly amused look on her face. I gave her a slight smile and responded as politely as I could.
“Fine, thank you very much.”
“Well that’s good, when Skye brought you in you were in pretty bad shape. We set you up in one of the rooms, and bandaged you best we could, but we were more worried about the internal damage that we couldn’t fix. Luckily a doctor is boarding with us, so we had him come take a look at you, hope you don’t mind, but you weren’t exactly conscious so we couldn’t exactly ask your permission.
“Anyways, he said you should be fine in a few days. Have you eaten? I had Skye send up some bread and cheese for you.”
“Oh yes,” I responded, “he sent it up straight away. Thank you for the food, and the doctor, and the room…” I felt my face flush, “I’m sorry but I don’t have much money… well not any really.”
Liesay waved her hand, “Don’t worry about that too much. It was our governor who did it to you, and as responsible citizen it’s my civic duty to clean up his messes.”
“Still I feel bad.” I responded. I hated being in debt to anyone, Julia had instilled into me since childhood that it was wrong not to pay back people who had helped you in some way.
Liesay thought for a moment then asked, “Well after this do you have anywhere to go?”
I shook my head, “I’m meeting up with someone, but I don’t know when he’ll arrive.”
She raised her brow a bit when she heard the one I was waiting for was male, but if it bothered her too much she didn’t mention it, “Well, then how bout this, once you’re feeling better, while you’re waiting for you friend you can help out here. My husband and I are always short on staff.”
I smiled, “That sounds wonderful, thank you,” I paused before continuing, “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you’re much nicer than the other people in this town I’ve met.”
She smiled sadly, “Most of the people here are from old money, unlike my husband and I who came from humbler beginnings. Remind me to tell you the story sometime later.”
I nodded, and told her I would, just as Skye walked back in with two cloaks, mine and a dark blue one that I had seen him wearing yesterday.
“And where are you headed with those?” Liesay asked, giving me a concerned look, “She can’t go to far yet Skye, I hope you know.”
“I’m aware,” Skye told her, as he handed me my cloak before shrugging his on, “She has a horse she left on the edge of town. I’m going with her to get it. I would’ve left her here and gone to get is myself except I don’t know where it is, and she’s not familiar enough with the area to tell me how to get there. I was planning to put it in the stable; I hope that wouldn’t be too much trouble for you and Frank. If it is I’m sure I can find other arrangements.”
Liesay shook her head, “Sounds perfectly alright to me. Go ahead dear, I’ll let Frank know.”
Skye looked down at me as I finished buttoning my cloak.
“Ready to go?” He asked.
I nodded and he offered me his elbow, I took it and he helped me to my feet, allowing me to lean on him as he lead me to the door.
We emerged into a beautiful courtyard, and for the first time I got a good look at the Inn. It was rather large, with two stories, and made of wood and white washed stone. It was a beautiful building, with ivy trailing along the sides and I could tell by the manicured lawn that it was a loved building as well.
I smiled to myself, as I looked over it.
“It’s their pride and joy.” Skye told me as he saw where I was looking, “Frank built it and does all the repairs and expansions himself.”
“Wow.” I responded, looking at the place, “It’s beautiful.”
Skye nodded, but his eyes looked extremely hard for some unknown reason.
Then quickly the look faded as he turned me, “Shall we go?”
“Sure.”
We made our way through town, and as we walked Skye and I talked. He told me how he had come to stay with Liesay and Frank. He had stumbled into town a few weeks ago, starving and had received the same reception of disgust as I had by its occupants. His instrument, a sort of harp, he had informed me, had been broken at the time so he had no way to make money.
Liesay had seen him sitting on the side of the road and had offered him food and a room, and Frank, a skilled carpenter had fixed his harp thing for him. He had been with them ever since, giving them some of what he earned each day.
“It’s the least I could do.” He shrugged.
We eventually (not to mention slowly) made our way to the meadow where Melody was tied up.
When she saw me she nickered, and swung her head side to side impatiently. Her tail whipped down in an angry arc.
Leaving Skye’s side I rushed to her, stoking her side.
“I’m sorry girl,” I mumbled, “I know, I know. Sorry, sorry.”
“This is your horse?” Skye asked behind me, his voice sounding somewhat surprised.
I turned to look at him, to find him studying with me with an unknown expression. I swallowed a bit nervous.
“Yeah, is something wrong?”
His curious eyes looked from me to the horse, “No, it’s just… where did you get her from?”
It surprised me that he knew the gender of the horse at first, before I realized I had said ‘girl’ a few minutes ago, so of course he knew, before I told him a bit hesitantly, “She was… a gift. From a friend.”
“The same friend you’re waiting for?”
I blinked, “How did you…?”
He shrugged, unabashed, “I heard you and Liesay talking from the other room. So, was she?”
“A gift from the friend I’m waiting for?” I turned to Melody, stroking her muzzle, thinking of Chris, “Yeah, she was.”
Skye didn’t move, just eyed us both, “Interesting.”
There was silence for a moment, before Skye asked, “Can I help you into the saddle?”
His tone was so different from the one he had used with my just five seconds before, I did a double take. Skye seemed back to normal, but the whole thing had been kind of… weird.
He looked at me expectantly, and I realized I hadn’t answered his question, “Um, no. She’s a bit fussy, so I don’t think she’d let me ride her right now.”
Skye nodded as though Melody’s prissy temperament didn’t surprise him in the least. Taking Melody’s reins in one hand and supporting me with his other, we made our way back to the Inn. We put Melody away in the stables and walked back into the mess hall.
The guy from the bar was gone, but others had taken his place, loud and rowdy.
Liesay was now bustling around tables, helping serve, and behind the bar was a large burly man with a salt and pepper beard, and clear, intelligent blue eyes that seemed to defy his age.
He was introduced to me as Frank by Skye, and I thanked him for his kindness in allowing me to stay here. His only response was a gruff grunt. I was worried I had offended him, but Skye told me that Frank wasn’t a big believer in words, so I decided not to worry too much.
Seeing how busy Liesay was, I then offered her some help, but she told me since I was injured that it wouldn’t be such a good idea, and I’d do plenty of work when I was better, so no use in rushing it.
Upon my instance, she told me to sit and watch her so that I’d know what to do later when I was helping. Which I did.
The days began to go by like this, and once I healed I began to help Liesay out. I was a bit clumsy at first, but soon got the hang of it, and was often praised by Liesay for my usefulness. I even got a few compliments from Frank.
I saw less of Skye, since he began to leave early each morning, and return late at night, but he stopped by for lunch and to see how I was doing every once in awhile.
And we all ate dinner together at night after all the costumers had retired, so it wasn’t like we never saw each other.
I learned from Frank and Liesay, that they had once been farmers, but their dream had always been to open an Inn. One day a man had dropped by their farm starving, and despite their meager profits, they gave him as much as they could to eat. Turns out the man was a rich landowner, and later, he heard of their dream and returned offering them some money in thanks. With the money they built a small sort of bed and breakfast, that suddenly became widely popular and the money had begun pouring in.
They had used their newfound wealth to build this current Inn, and had gained plenty of profits from that, and had come into even more wealth.
“We were more successful than we could ever dream,” Liesay had told me with a soft smile, “But we never forgot our beginnings. We were lucky we got this far, there was surely our hard work that had something to do with it, but there was also a sense of luck that created what is today. We never forgot that it never hurts to be kind.”
I admired them for what they had achieved, and how just a little bit they reminded me of Julia. The way that even though she could barely feed herself she took me in.
We grew close because of that, and soon days turned into weeks.
While I was enjoying the comfort of my new life, I began to feel a bit… restless. This wasn’t the hustle and bustle of Shanty Town I was used to; it was far quieter here, and I hadn’t heard anything of Chris.
The caravan was slow, but not this slow, when was he going to arrive?
About two and a half weeks after my arrival, I woke up in the middle of the night, parched and with an empty water jug. Rising to my feet, I grabbed the clay jug and padded down stairs and into the kitchen. I was just about to raise the pump, when suddenly, I heard voices.
Laying the jug down on the table in the middle of the room, I sleepily wandered towards the back door that led to the stables, and the hushed voices grew louder.
“All I’m saying is, we’ve been here for weeks and nothing has happened. The men are getting restless, it’s time to get on with it and move on. Why are you stalling? This isn’t like you,” an unknown male voice asked.
“Something came up, ok?” A voice that I recognized as Skye’s responded.
What was Skye doing up so late? And who was he talking to?
I rounded the corner that blocked Skye from my view and called out softly, “Skye?”
The two figures froze, I recognized Skye for his bright blonde hair that seemed to be shimmering in the moonlight. The other man who stood right outside the open doorway was almost impossible to see, his features hidden by a deep blue cloak.
A cloak very similar to the one I had seen Skye wearing.
Skye visibly relaxed when he saw it was only me. “Laura. You scared me.”
The other man stayed stalk still. I looked at him, blinking slowly, “Who’s that?” My voice came out drowsy and thick with sleep.
“A friend.” Skye told me, just as the man gave a gruff, “Holy Hell.”
Skye shot a look at the man, but the other man stayed stalk still, and for some reason I got the feeling that from under that hooded face he was staring at me, and I shivered.
“James.” Skye said, warningly.
“There’s no way.” This man, James, said, ignoring Skye, “She looks exactly like her…” A sense of understanding seemed to come into him, as he whipped around and questioned, “Is she the reason you’ve stayed for so long?”
Skye looked at me a little nervously. “That’s not any of your business.”
I blinked slowly, trying to comprehend; who was it that I looked like? Who was this James guy? What was going on? “Skye… are you… leaving?”
Skye smiled sadly, “Yes, in about a week I think.” He directed the time limit to James, and for some strange reason I got the lurking of something… sinister.
It was completely weird, I had been spending all this time with Skye, and there was nothing sinister about him. He was a complete angel. But for some reason I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was… off.
Instead I just told him, “Liesay and Frank will be sad.”
The hooded man, James, chuckled and remarked, “I would think so.”
I didn’t like the way he said that, as though there were some sort of joke I wasn’t getting….no, as if some prank were going to occur. I decided I didn’t like this James guy. I gave him an angry glare, while Skye shot him a look that James choose to ignore.
“I don’t like you.” I told James, sleep depriving me of any mental filter, and under the hood, I saw a white grin, shining on borrowed light from the moon.
It was vicious and frightening… almost like that of a predator. A shiver curled down my spine as I got the feeling this man James was going to eat me.
“Well,” James told me, that same sickening grin on his face, “I think I like you.”
Alarm bells rang in my head. Where had I heard that before? I tried to rack my sleep deprived brain for an answer, but couldn’t find any. Where… where…
It escaped my grasp, and I just stared James down.
Finally, Skye asked, “Laura, what woke you?”
I turned to him, “I was thirsty…”
Skye smiled, “Then let’s go get you some water.”
“But what about…?” I questioned, but when I turned to the door, the James guy was gone. “Wha-“ I asked aloud.
Skye gave me a smile that seemed too big, “He was sneaking off from work and he had to return. Don’t worry too much about him, he’s not always that… unpleasant.”
I blinked, “Why was he then?”
Skye gave a lame shrug, “Work is tiring him out. His boss has been giving him some… complications. But that should all be fixed soon.”
Skye wandered over the tub and the pump, and filled my jug for me. As he handed it back to me he said, “Oh and Laura, would you do me a favor and not tell Liesay and Frank I’m leaving? I don’t want a big fuss.”
The smile he was giving me seemed so… innocent. It was just like Skye not to want a big fuss, so I nodded, ignoring the warning bells sounding in my head.
“Sure.”
Skye’s smile grew relieved. “Thank you.”
I shrugged, and Skye helped me back to bed with a “Night Laura.”
“Night Skye.” I mumbled, and I drifted back off to sleep.
When I awoke, I couldn’t recall what my dream had been, but I had a single memory of eyes staring out at me from the darkness of the rafters, and an achingly familiar voice.
Somehow, I knew it had something to do with the conversation we had had last night. Some sort of connection, but nothing came to me.
Quickly it came to the day Skye was to leave. Like I promised, when Skye left in the morning I said nothing to Liesay or Frank about how he might not come back that night. I’d tell them later.
As we were cleaning up from lunch, always an event, Liesay opened the cabinet and gave out a small curse. I looked over at her, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
Liesay let out a sigh, “We don’t have enough thyme for dinner tonight.”
I frowned, putting down the plate I was holding. “How is that possible? I went and got some just the other day, more than you told me too in fact. How could we not have enough?”
Liesay opened her arms with a flourish and stepped away from the cabinet so I could see into it, revealing only one measly bundle of the herb.
“But I-“ I stammered, shocked.
Liesay sighed. “I know you did, I saw you when you brought it all in, remember? But somehow it’s…” She frowned, “Disappeared.
“Disappeared, as in someone took it?” I asked, eyes narrowed. We had our share of petty thieves in our travelers from time to time.
Liesay sighed again, “Possibly. But the problem now is that we don’t have enough, and I don’t have time to go gather more.”
This was true, this weekend was a festival, and the inn was full of people so Liesay needed to stay here and make sure everyone was happy. She was the only one who could do it, seeing as Skye was busy all day, and Frank was a great carpenter and an even better chef but in no way a people person. As for me, I still didn’t know enough about running an inn and dealing with people’s problems, so Liesay really did have to stay.
But I didn’t.
“I’ll get some more.” I told her, and Liesay looked over at me, clearly relieved.
“Would you, dear?”
I nodded and smiled, “Of course! I mean, I know right where they are since I got some a while ago so it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
Liesay smiled brightly at me, “That would be wonderful, thank you.”
We finished cleaning for lunch, and I grabbed a basket off the side of the table, pulled on my cloak, and left through the back door.
“Be safe!” Liesay called after me.
“Same goes for you!” I called back, and I was off. I passed by a couple of guests and villagers as I walked through the town. I said friendly hellos to all of the guests and a few of the townspeople. I had found that some of them, like Liesay and Frank, were people coming into new wealth, and weren’t as… unfriendly as the rest of their fellow counterparts.
When I reached the field where the wild thyme grows, I tried to make quick work of the gathering process, worried that Liesay might need me to get back soon so I could help her with something.
As soon as the basket was filled, I left. While I had walked back quickly, it was only when I began to smell the smoke that my pace turned truly hurried.
It was a foul overpowering stench, and the air was thick with it when I arrived back at the town. I stared in utter horror at what I saw; everything was on fire.
And when I say everything, I meant everything. Rich to poor, old to new, it was a blazing inferno that stretched up tall into the sky.
“My God…” I breathed, dropping the basket I broke into a mad dash… only to be grabbed by the collar when I least expected it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A voice said.
A voice I recognized.
I blinked, looking up into a pair of completely calm blue eyes. “Skye?” I questioned aloud.
He grinned in response, and a chill went up my spine.
“Skye?” My voice trembled as I called his name again, and felt something I hadn’t felt in a while; I was afraid.
His eyes shifted to the basket, then to me, his grin stretching wider, “So she sent you out, just like I hoped.”
“What?”
“Did you think it was coincidence?”
“Did I think what was coincidence?”
“The fact that you had the right amount of herbs two days ago, but suddenly not yesterday?”
I stared at him, “You aren’t saying that you…?”
“Took them? Possibly.”
“Why? What reason would cause that?”
His eyes glittered, reflecting the flames, “I didn’t want you to get… burned.”
The horror sunk in as I understood what he was saying. “You caused this fire?”
“I had some help.”
I looked at Skye, really looked at him. His long hair was loose again, flowing in the blowing smoke, his clothes were dusted with a fine layer of soot, and there was this coldness emanating from him. This darkness. His eyes were cold and hard, and vicious. He looked like an animal in humans clothing.
A vicious beast; a demon.
“Why?” I asked horrified, and disgusted, “Why would you do this?”
“Oh don’t look so disgusted sweetheart,” he sneered, “I’m a bandit it’s what we do.” Before I could even fully digest that bit of information, he slapped with another, “Do you think your precious Christian wouldn’t have done the same?”
“What?” I gasped.
Skye rolled his eyes, “You said that you got that horse of yours from a friend. Well, the thing is love, I knew that horse the moment I laid eyes on her. You see she used to be one of ours, and the last time I saw her she was grazing in the field of a plain we were camping in, before a certain Christian Cross rode up and stole her.
And those that steal the horse keep it, I’m familiar with the way theft works among bandits. You see that was one of his first mistakes, forgetting that the Death bandits can hold a grudge.”
“So that’s why you want me?” I asked, “To mess with Chris?”
“No, I want you, because I want you.” He grinned, and instantly I began to struggle.
His hand left my collar and grabbed for my hair, yanking it and pulling me back to him. I yelped at the pain, “Oh come now Laura darling, don’t make this difficult. I’m not such a bad guy.”
Tears stung at my eyes, as I glared at him, disbelieving.
“Oh come now, I’ll even give you a choice, come with me or… you can end up like that man over there.”
He pointed, and down the road I saw I dead man. His body, and clothes were shredded stained in blood. I recognized him as the governor who had kicked me the first day I’d arrived. Even though I had hated him, his wasn’t an ending I wished on anyone. I let out a soundless scream as I viewed his vacant eyes that stared at the sky.
“Guess that answers that question.” Skye chuckled.
He let out a low whistle, and man appeared out of nowhere. “What do you need?” He growled low, and I recognized him as the hooded figure, James, from the other night.
“You!” I gasped, as Skye said, “Her. On the horse.”
James grabbed me around the waist and effortlessly lifted me onto Skye’s horse, and then in a flash tied my hands.
“Safety precaution.” James told Skye, and he nodded.
“Tell the men to get ready to leave.” Skye said, “I got what I came for.”
“Rogger.” James disappeared, and I stared after him helplessly, before quickly something else came to mind.
“Wait! What about Liesay and Frank!”
“What about them?”
“Did they get out? Are they safe?”
Skye scoffed, “How should I know?”
“Didn’t you help them?”
“Why would I?”
“They helped you! They clothed you, and fed you, and they saved you! How could you just leave them?” I shrieked, tears streaming down my face.
“They didn’t help me. None of that was real Laura, it was all a ploy, I was never really starving or in need of a place to stay. It was all acting. It wasn’t real.”
“But- but-“
“But what?”
My sorrow suddenly turned to anger, as I yelled, “So you only care for yourself then? Is that it?”
“And is there anything wrong with that? Never forget Maya, in the end, the only person you can rely on is yourself.”
“You’re a monster. I hate you.” I hissed.
His voice in my ear, he told me, “Don’t worry, I’ll change that opinion of me in no time.”
He spurred his horse and we went through the front gate, near the entrance to the forest and it’s road. The trees swayed in the smoky wind, the rustling sounding like laughter at my situation. I fought back a fresh round of tears.
Moments later we were joined by a group of smoke, soot and blood covered bandits riding of horses with saddle bags weighed down with money and treasure; a group of devils with their plunder.
One of them grinned when he saw me, “Skye, the days not even done yet and already you’ve made a girl cry? Shame.”
They all broke into loud, voracious laughter, as Skye responded, “I’m sure I’ve made more than just one girl cry.” He grinned as he looked at the circle gathered around him, “Now enough joking around gentlemen, what’s next on our agenda?”
The question appeared to be directed at James, because it was him who responded, “I believe it’s Ruesville.”
One of the men whistled, “That monster of a town?”
Another man responded, with a blood-stained face and vicious grin, “The bigger the better I always say.”
But it was one man who said, “Oy, I heard tell of the cross bandits heading that way. Do ya think we might run into them?”
“Oh,” Said Skye, his fingers lightly stroking my jaw, before suddenly gripping it so tightly it brought tears to my eyes, “I’m counting on it.” His voice was like a hiss.
But I refused to cry in spite of the pain, because there was something I could depend on in Ruesville. Something that could help me out of this mess.
Though really, ‘something’ wasn’t a proper term. After all, the Cross Bandits were more than just something. They were everything.
And as we rode away despite the fact that I was in the hands of bandits that were actually of the dangerous breed, and I felt like a complete an utter mess, I couldn’t help but smile a little bit as I remembered a tid-bit of information I had forgotten.
Elaine lived in Ruesville, and if I could get to her…
These bandits would have no idea what hit them.
<End of Chapter 9>