He grabbed me by the arm.
I spun around and quickly threw his arm down. “Stop this.”
“You’re such a traitor.” He spat on me.
I let it get on my clothes and didn’t wipe it away. “I’ve kept my mouth shut about your behavior up until this point. But if you don’t keep your shit together, I will have you killed. This is his decision. You’re just pissed off that you can’t fuck her. During your time off, spend your money on a nice whore.” I turned away.
He followed me. “No. I’m pissed that she killed our men—”
“Who enslaved and killed innocent women.” I turned back around. “Stop changing the narrative. We’re the villains here. She did what anyone else would do…if they had the balls.”
He stood still, staring at me like he couldn’t believe a single word that flew out of my mouth. “Are you one of us? Or one of them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question anymore. “I’m loyal to my brother. Always.”
He spat at my feet. “Doesn’t seem like it.” He turned around and walked off.
I watched him go before I moved to the cabin to retrieve her.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed when I opened the door. In her work uniform and with no possessions, she immediately turned her eyes to mine when she saw me.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
She got off the bed and joined me.
I took her to the gate through a different route so we could avoid the clearing. The guards already knew she wouldn’t be reporting to work and the women obviously realized it too, but it was smart not to flaunt her existence.
“The guards won’t punish you for this later?”
I wasn’t afraid of them. Unless they came at me with a gun, they couldn’t defeat me. “No.”
“Are we riding to the chateau?”
“No. Wagons.”
“Oh.”
“There’s no reason to hide the path since you obviously already know it…”
She turned quiet.
We reached the wagons.
There were three altogether. There was a driver in each one. I would be the driver for the last. “You can lie in the back if you want or sit up front with me. Makes no difference to me.” I climbed to the front and grabbed the reins.
Instead of taking the back, she climbed into the spot beside me. “May as well enjoy the view.”
We traveled down the narrow path, three wagons in a row. In the springtime, there was much more to look at than white fields and heavy branches with piles of snow on top. The cold and dry air didn’t sting the eyes when you gazed, so you could take in the scenes all you wanted.
That was what she did.
We passed a river to the right, and later on the left was a small pond with lily pads drifting on top. Deer were visible on the other side, drinking from the water, wiggling their ears as they kept their eyes on us. Hawks passed in the skies, the world alive in the warm water. Hunters searched for food, and prey stayed hidden in the brush.
Raven didn’t make conversation and spent her time appreciating the wilderness around us. It must have made her think of her journey across the river in the opposite direction because she asked, “How’s Rose?”
I looked at the wagons in front, all spaced out with several feet in between in case one of the horses made an unexpected stop. The drivers didn’t turn around to glance at us, and they seemed too far away to hear the question. I didn’t want to be seen talking to her, not when I was already the camp’s most hated man. “She’s fine.”
“You kept her?”
“I told you I would, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but—”
“You betrayed me,” I said bitterly. “I’m the kind of man that keeps his word.” I turned to look at her. “Even if the person I gave it to doesn’t deserve it.”
Her blue eyes dropped like the insult truly affected her. Her sadness seemed sincere, and the words she’d shared with her sister had been packed with such raw emotion that she seemed to tell the truth.
Didn’t change anything.
“It was really nice to see Melanie.” She looked ahead, sitting on the edge of the seat so there was plenty of space between us. She did whatever she could to stay out of my way, pressed up against the bedroom wall at night so her presence would be nearly forgettable.
“I didn’t arrange it. That was her.”
“I know…just saying.”
My hands held the reins, but the horses were so well behaved that it wasn’t necessary. They knew the route better than we did. They even knew to avoid the bumps in the road so the wagons wouldn’t shake.
“Is he good to her?”
“We don’t discuss such things.”
“But what do you think, based on what you’ve seen?”
“You can’t change it, so what does it matter?”