Page 64 of Castle of Refuge

“What are you to the Earl of Dericott? Are you his concubine? His betrothed?”

“No, neither. He is a kind man who is letting me stay at Dericott Castle.”

“Why didn’t Sir Clement want to marry you? Lord Dericott must have told him not to, that he wanted you for himself.”

“Why would he do that? You’re always telling me how ugly I am.”

“You are ugly, as you well know, even uglier now that you have those disgusting scars.” Maris’s expression twisted.

“But perhaps you bewitched Lord Dericott somehow. There is no predicting how men will behave. When a woman is determined to have him, she can turn his head and make him do whatever she wants.”

How would Maris know such a thing? She had been in a convent for the past four years. Had she even seen a man in all that time? But some monasteries were less strict and chaste than others, Audrey had been told.

Perhaps she would be wise to play along with Maris. Could she say that she was sorry for trying to turn Lord Dericott’s head and lure him into marrying her? For trying to bewitch him? But she wasn’t sure she could lie like that. Helena and Sybil both had told her she was very bad at lying the two or three times she had tried in jest.

Audrey kept her head down, trying to look defeated in the hope that Maris would leave her alone. And Maris did indeedwander over to Umfrey’s fire and gaze down at it. Then she started asking him about how he would cook the pheasant and the two hares he had killed and had been carrying with them, tied to his saddlebag.

Audrey lay down and closed her eyes. She should try to rest and sleep as much as she could if she hoped to be able to untie the bindings and put some distance between herself and her captors during the night.

***

After waiting, still and quiet, until night had fallen, Edwin crept carefully through the forest toward Audrey.

Thankfully he always kept a knife strapped to his belt. He paused to take it out of its sheath and held it in his hand as he moved slowly around bushes and trees.

Maris and her giant lay close to Audrey, but they both appeared to be sleeping. Poor Audrey was lying still too. The girl had been through so many injustices, and he knew just how she felt. But he was a man. She was soft and vulnerable, like his sister, Delia—though Delia could be strong, now that he thought about it. But Audrey was smaller than Delia, shorter and more delicate. She was sweet and feminine and caused an ache in his chest, his longing to protect her.

He despised the loss of his arm even more now that Audrey needed him fight for her. Nevertheless, he would save her, since his men had not yet arrived. He had to.

He crept closer, carefully watching Maris and Umfrey. Butthey hadn’t moved for what he guessed was at least half an hour. Now that he was closer to Audrey than to her captors, he could see she was working at the strip of cloth that bound her ankles. She was actually trying to free herself, even though her hands remained bound.

He crept still nearer, checking where his feet would go, making sure there was nothing that would make any noise when he stepped on it, checking to make sure Umfrey and Maris remained motionless, their eyes closed, all the while clutching the knife handle in his hand.

When he was about ten feet away from where she lay on the ground, he took a step, looked up, and she was gone.

He glanced around, frantically searching the darkness for her. Not seeing her, he closed his eyes and listened, detecting a slight crunching of dead leaves to his right. He turned in that direction. A low-hanging tree limb moved. Then another limb a little farther away. He headed toward it. Then he heard a rather loud crackling, as if she had stepped on a large twig and it broke.

Edwin looked back to see if Maris or Umfrey had heard the noise.

Umfrey rolled onto his side, then used his hands to push his torso up, looking at the spot where Audrey had been lying.

“She’s gone!”

Edwin’s blood jolted through his limbs as he sprang forward. He had to protect her.

***

Audrey stepped onto the twig and felt it—and heard it—break into pieces. Her heart trembled. Was that as loud as she thought it was?

She held still, listening, afraid to move. Then she heard Umfrey say, “She’s gone!”

Audrey started running, crashing through the brush, no longer paying attention to where she was stepping or how much noise she was making. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt her chest.

She heard sounds that were not coming from her own footsteps, and they were very close. Had Umfrey grown wings and flown? He seemed to be right behind her.

She put every ounce of her strength into moving faster, running harder. She leapt over bushes and fallen trees, holding on to her leather slippers with her toes. Still the noises behind her grew louder and closer.

Suddenly, her foot caught on something unyielding. She pitched forward at such speed she was not able to catch herself with her hands. She hit the ground on her shoulder and the side of her face. She lay, too stunned to move.