Plus, it would be nice to have some time to meself before arrivin’ at me new home.
With a sigh, she climbed into the carriage, and the door clicked shut behind her.
She smoothed down her skirts as she sat on the plush bench, turning to look out the window just as the carriage lurched and began moving.
Her family stood exactly where she’d left them, waving at her as the carriage crunched over the gravel drive. Her heart fluttered with a mixture of sadness and excitement as the carriage turned a corner and her family disappeared from sight.
“How long is the ride?” she asked, nearly yelling to ensure that her voice reached Arthur.
“We should be there by late afternoon, early evenin’,” he answered. “And ye dinnae need to yell. I can hear ye just fine through the window.”
Marissa blushed. She was glad he couldn’t see it as she settled into her seat. She glanced around the cabin, wondering how she would fill the hours of travel they had ahead of them.
With a start, she spotted the book on the bench across from her. She reached forward, plucking it off the cushion.
“What’s this?” she murmured to herself.
However, that didn’t stop Arthur from hearing her.
“Did ye find the book?” he asked, and she could have sworn that humor laced his tone.
“Aye.”
With shaking hands, she rubbed her finger down the spine, reading the title under her breath. It was one of her favorites.
“I asked yer sisters if they kenned yer favorite,” Arthur explained. “And if they had a copy we could bring with us for ye to pass the time.”
“That was incredibly kind.” Marissa hadn’t been able to keep the awe from her voice.
“It was so ye wouldnae babble me ears off.”
His words had been brusque, and she could have imagined it, but she could have sworn that they didn’t hold the same bite they had every other time he’d spoken.
With a smile on her face, she opened the book and delved into the all-too-familiar story.
Between the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves, the creaking of the wheels as they rolled over the well-worn dirt, and the rocking ofthe carriage, Marissa was lulled into a complete and total sense of comfort.
She leaned back into her seat as the hours passed, losing herself entirely in her favorite book.
“Oi!”
A man’s voice broke the silence as the carriage came to an abrupt, shuddering halt. The horses let out high-pitched whinnies, and through the window at the front of the carriage, she could just make out the beasts rearing on their hind legs.
The voice did not belong to Arthur, and immediately, Marissa knew that something was afoot.
“Ye dinnae want to come any closer,” Arthur’s voice spoke, filled with menace. “It willnae end well for ye.”
With her heart thumping rapidly, Marissa closed her book. Placing it gently on the seat beside her, she shifted.
Rising as delicately as she could so as not to draw attention to herself, she peered out the window at the front.
Her view was partially obscured by the bench Arthur sat on. But if she crouched, peering only through its bottom edge, she could make out the road beyond.
A fallen tree lay across the road. It wasn’t large—something that could easily be removed by a man of Arthur’s physique. But it was large enough to prevent their carriage from passing.
Three men came out of the woods, identical sneers on their faces. A flash of metal caught her eye, and Marissa was able to just make out a longsword that one of the men was carrying by his side.
“Bandits,” she hissed, her voice traveling to Arthur.
