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“I haven’t done anything. And I haven’t been lying. I just don’t exactly remember where to go,” I admit. “But if we find our way out of this wilderness, I’m sure we’ll get back on track again.” I grimace as my legs dangle.
He studies me, huffing before lowering me to the ground. “Well, then let’s get out of here,” he says.
I fix my hood over my head again, swearing in my mind, stomping back in the direction from which we came.
“Why are we still following him? The man is a fool. Leave him alone to wander out here in circles. Let’s head back before the wolves get us.” Mario’s breath shakes as he whispers.
“I can’t do that,” Heath grumbles. “He might be a fool, but he’s a fool whose blessing I’ll need to marry Olivia.”
I scoff, muttering beneath my breath, “You’ll never get my blessing to marry Olivia.”
“What did you just say, old man?” he shouts.
My pounding blood makes it impossible to think rationally, and I spin to face him, recklessly. “I said, you will never get my blessing. I don’t know what I was thinking before, but my Olivia has been punished enough. I won’t submit her to a life of imprisonment with you as well.”
Damn it. I should be amenable to him. The man can help me resolve the debt and get my daughter back. Curse my tongue and its selfish utterances! Despite how much I might despise him now, this isn’t about me. My daughter’s life is on the line, and he’s the only one who can save it. Stupid, foolish me.
“I beg your pardon? Do you think that I’ve been following you around like an imbecile, all out of the goodness of my heart? Do you think I’ve offered to give up half my life’s savings for nothing in return? You’re even sicker in the head than I thought. I will marry Olivia, with or without your blessing!” He punches me in the face, and I land on my arse.
My brain slows, dizzying me as I seem to slip into a whole separate reality for a second, forgetting where I am. But his breath in my face reminds me as he clutches me by the neck of my cloak. “In fact, when I find Olivia, I’ll be the one right by her side, holding her hand and stroking her back as she clutches to me for consolation, when she learns of her father’s death.”
“No, you won’t,” I say in a moment of bravery, gripping his large hands. He swats me away like a fly, slamming me backward into the ground.
When I come to, my head is heavy and pounding. My neck hurts as I try to lift it. My eyes struggle to focus on my surroundings, and my arm is being scraped against the grit of something wide. I gasp, forcing my eyes open, kicking out my feet as my wrists are tugged upon. Mario comes into focus before me, standing only in his jacket and trousers, missing his tunic.
“I dare say, this is a pretty impressive knot.” Heath’s voice sounds from behind me, and I pull at my wrists. Heath chuckles. “I think the wolves will be glad to see that we’ve left them quite the meal. I’m guessing old meat might still be good meat to beasts.”
He steps into view, brushing his hands off. Mario gulps.
“You monster!” I scream, slamming my wrists against the tree trunk. “Release me, now!”
“No.” He shrugs, smiling. “What are you going to do about it if I don’t? Scream? You’ve led us into the middle of nowhere, you ninny. There’s no one out here to hear you but the wolves. The louder you scream, the more you’ll expose your location. So go ahead, scream.” He laughs.
My brows crook as I behold him. He can’t get anywhere near my daughter. He’s just as horrible as the beast.
“Come on, Mario. Let’s get out of here before nightfall. Unlike this old fool and his lacking sense of direction, I can lead us back into the town to retrieve our carriage, like a real, capable man. A man Olivia can depend on,” he says, turning on his booted heel and crunching through the fallen leaves.
Mario shakes, looking between Heath and me. “Please,” I whisper to him. “You were once loyal to me as well. Don’t leave me out here on my own. Untie me. Or at the very least, unsheath my knife and put it in my hand.”
Mario pales, but he nods. He looks behind him at a departing Heath before tiptoeing across the fallen leaves. A stick cracks beneath his shoe, alerting Heath who spins around to regard him moving closer to me.
“Unless you’d like to join him out here, tied up around a neighbouring tree, I suggest you stop advancing toward him,” he says, making Mario jump and spin around.
“Oh, n-no no, I wasn’t…” he stutters. “I’m not… I’m coming,” he says, hurrying up behind Heath before turning to mouth an apology to me.
Drats! Heath is right about the yelling, but I can’t help myself. “Get back here! Untie me! Let me go, you ass wipe, cocksucker, shit for brains, nitwit!”
My heart speeds up to the point of suffocation as I watch them disappear through the trees and listen as their footsteps are no more. The wilderness becomes deafeningly quiet, and tears sting my eyes. My fate is sealed, but the need to protect Olivia has me slamming my bound wrists against the trunk, attempting to rub the cloth against the grit.
But so far, I only succeed in rubbing my skin raw. It burns, and I’m sure to have drawn some blood, but it’s the only way out that I can think of. I’m willing to cut my hands off if it means breaking free and hurrying toward Olivia. But I know that even if I manage to set myself loose, without the money, my baby girl is dead. Even more so when I fail to show up.
I can’t escape the image of her hanging or worse, being brutally murdered. My cries echo amongst the trees, for I have failed. If she’s to be put to death, I might as well be dead too.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Olivia
Creakingthebedroomdooropen, I wander out in the hallway. I know I shouldn’t leave the room, but I need to stretch my legs. There’s a jittering inside me that I can’t rid myself of if I don’t get away from the constant view of the bed and bathing rooms, or the guards walking below the barred window in the green, kept gardens. Outside of the rooms, the air is already different, and I suck it deep into my lungs, before breaking into a light skip, pushing on doors, and peeking inside.
