She sent him a smile and he caught the cringe she tried to hide. She was in pain and he cringed along with her, though it resembled more of a scowl, he was so angry that she suffered. Her forced walk through the woods certainly hadn’t helped her. Or that he hadn’t gotten to her faster.
He could almost hear what her smile was saying. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
She never doubted he would come for her just like she had never doubted he’d return home to her.
“Leave, leper, now!” Firth screamed at him and raised his dagger, taking the tip in his hand, ready to fling it at the man.
“That is not a wise thing to do, my son—” A cough interrupted him for a moment, a reminder of the danger of his illness. “You will have to retrieve it from my body and you don’t want to be that close to me. Even from that distance you must smell the stench of my rotting flesh. Then you’d have to retrieve the dagger awash with my blood. And during the time it would take you to do that, you would be left weaponless, thus vulnerable.”
“You didn’t plan this well, Firth,” Trevor said, stepping out of the woods, his sword drawn. “You may have escaped my warriors, a lucky moment, but there isn’t a chance you’ll escape the Beast.”
The two men with Firth looked around, then at each other. Their decision didn’t take long, without a word, they took off into the woods.
“You’re done,” Royden said, Firth’s unexpected laughter sending a chill through him.
“You think I learned nothing while fighting for the Beast,” Firth flipped the knife and caught it by the handle.
A rumbling noise in the woods caught Royden’s attention and he worried whose arrival it portended. Suddenly warriors emerged on horses, one by one, from the woods behind Firth. They were a ragtag group and from the many scars on most of their faces and along their necks, they looked to be a vicious lot and fought for one thing and one thing only—coin. This was never about revenge for Firth. It was about coin.
“Who was it that didn’t plan well now, Trevor?” Firth asked with a smug laugh.
Fear choked Royden and twisted his gut. He couldn’t let Firth take Oria. She was exhausted and in pain. He had to get to her. He couldn’t wait. He ran to his wife. His only thought was to get her safely in his arms.
Her scream tore through him and when he saw two arrows had landed on either side of her, he stopped dead.
“Back away, Royden, and you too, leper, or I’ll order the next arrow through her wounded arm,” Firth warned.
For a brief second Royden thought to lunge himself at the man, but he’d do his wife no good if he died. He reluctantly did as Firth ordered as did the leper, backing slowly away from Oria.
“I would put you out of your misery, leper, but I prefer you suffer for interfering with my plans,” Firth said and with a sharp snap of his hand, a horse was brought to him. He mounted and the warrior that brought the horse, yanked Oria to her feet.
Royden cringed but again it was more a deep scowl when he saw his wife’s face tighten in pain.
The warrior lifted Oria none to gently and dropped her carelessly in front of Firth on the horse.
Royden made sure to mark the man’s face in his memory so he could make certain he suffered for causing his wife even more pain.
“Tell the Beast it will cost him to get his sister back,” Firth said and laughed, his dagger appearing suddenly in his hand. “I can’t promise in what condition. Though, I do think she needs a scar like the one her husband gave me. Tell the Beast he’ll hear from me when I’m ready to make the exchange.”
Royden wanted to roar with rage as his wife sent him the same smile she had sent him before. She would wait again for him to come for her. He failed her again and he had to fight with himself not to take off after her. But he’d never be able to keep up with the fast pace they were sure to set. He needed a horse to go after them and he could use the help of a good tracker just in case, and he didn’t have a minute to spare.
“He set a fine trap,” Trevor said, shaking his head. “I underestimated him.”
Royden was aware that he had done the same thing. He’d been so intent on getting to his wife that he hadn’t considered all the probabilities of the situation. All he had thought about was that he had to get to Oria, just as he did now, her life being in even more peril.