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“After Mercy let us know you inquired about her, Tara simply said she was leaving and to please give her time to make her escape.”
Carnoth turned to his men. “Go find her.”
“We will help,” Carmag said. “It is cold and dark out there. She certainly couldn’t have gotten far.”
Reeve admired the way his father didn’t give Carnoth a choice while making his concern for Tara known. Carnoth couldn’t turn him down, or he’d look the fool.
Carnoth accepted the help, though reluctantly.
There was a scramble for the door, and, in the chaos, Reeve took Willow by the arm and guided her to a dark corner of the hall.
“Tell me what is going on,” he demanded.
Tara kept on the path, careful not to wander away from the trees that marked her course. Having spent so much time alone, the solitude of the forest didn’t disturb her though the darkness was a bit frightening, as was the crunch of snow beneath her feet, which sounded much too loud to her ears.
She kept walking, knowing she needed to place as much distance and time between her and her father as she could. She would need to keep her hurried pace, tired or not. She could not take time to rest. She needed to keep going and not stop until she reached Pict land.
The crunches of her footfalls remained constant in her head until she suddenly stopped, it dawning on her that she was leaving a trail that anyone could follow. Her father would find it in no time.
She remained frozen, not sure what to do when suddenly the dead silence of the night was broken by ... footfalls. She cocked her head and listened, not sure where they were coming from, or if they were moving toward her or away, their volume remaining steady.
Had her father finally found out that she had left? Had he informed the king’s men? Was danger closer than she thought? She was grateful that the moon was just a sliver tonight, her dark, hooded cloak making it easier for her to blend with the night shadows.
The question that most disturbed her was that if she had heard their footfalls, had they heard hers?
Tara wasn’t sure of her next move. Stay or go?
Suddenly the footfalls grew louder, and she feared someone had picked up her trail and was heading toward her. She took off, her pace even faster than before.
Hours later, when dawn broke, and her body was racked with fatigue, she thought herself safe, and she stopped for a moment to rest. Leaning against a large boulder for support, though she dare not let herself sit for fear of not getting to her feet again, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The air was cold, though, gratefully, no snow was falling. Enough already covered the ground to prove challenging at times. Snowdrifts had also tested her endurance, and no doubt those who followed her as well. In the last hour or so, when she had stopped to listen, she hadn’t heard the footfalls. Before that they had remained in the distance, which allowed her to linger if only briefly.
With aching arms, she shoved away from the boulder, ready to return to her arduous, but necessary, journey.
“You’ll be going with us now.”
Tara let out a shout she was so startled by the unexpected voice. And when she saw that she was surrounded by five of the king’s men, she grew angry. She had not come all this way to be caught.
Her eyes narrowed, and her lip curled in a snarl as she said, “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
The soldiers laughed, and the biggest one, in height as well as width, who seemed to lead them, stepped forward. “You’ll be going with us like it or not. And we might just be having a little fun along the way.”
Tara knew what he implied, but the king would never allow it. She was his future bride, and so she reminded them. “You dare touch me, and you will answer to the king.”
The big one thought that funny and laughed again. When his amusement subsided, he informed her, “It was the king who suggested we have fun with you.”
Now she knew for certain that the king had no intentions of seeing her live past their vows. The only thing left to threaten them with was the curse.
“If you touch me, you will be doomed,” she warned calmly.
Two of the soldiers’ brows furrowed though her words had no effect on the other three.
“We don’t plan to make you our bride,” the big one snickered. “Though you will surrender to each of us if you know what’s good for you.”
He stepped forward as did the two behind him, though the two that raised their brows in doubt remained where they were.
Tara dropped the bundle and made a fist.
