The water rushed in, swirling her up and around in circles. She was caught in a whirlpool making it impossible for her to grab onto anything. The water carried her, dipping her, swirling her, filling her with fright. She choked and sputtered each time her head surfaced and fought to gain control of her thrashing ride, finally reaching up to catch hold of anything solid. Her hand snatched a heavy branch hanging over the stream.
She dug her wet hands into the tree bark and looked around her. She could not tell how far she had traveled. The stream had widened and deepened as it had carried her off, but she had never gone farther than the castle, so she did not know if she was merely around a bend or a good distance away.
She felt foolish and fearful. She was naked and knew not where she was, and she did not know what she would do. For the moment she thought it best to pull herself to the water’s edge and sit in the shadows of the large tree that had rescued her.
When her mind calmed she gave her plight rational thought. If she followed the stream she was bound to return to where she had entered. Her clothes would mark the spot.
She would need to be very careful and extremely alert. She shivered at the thought of walking along the edge of the stream naked, but what choice did she have? She could not remain where she was.
She gathered all her courage and set a quick pace alongside the stream, keeping a keen eye and ear to her surroundings. Her pace was steady and she prayed that she was close to the castle.
She stopped suddenly, listening, sure she had heard something.
Voices and the snort of a horse.
She hurried reluctantly into the stream to hide in the water, her head concealed by the drooping branches of a large willow tree. She kept a firm hand on a thick branch so that the swift water would not carry her away. She heard the voices again. They drew closer and she shivered not from the cold water but from the sound of men.
Then one voice, far different from the others, spoke. He commanded like a man confident of being obeyed. His threats were subtle and meant to instill fear and he certainly succeeded, for the other men’s voices quivered when they spoke. She imagined they cowered at his side like the dominions of the devil doing his bidding out of fear.
It could only be one man.
Decimus.
“You will travel where I order, do you understand?”
“Aye, sir.” The voices responded in unison.
“I will snare my prey, no thanks to the likes of any one of you. You are a useless lot with not a brain among you.”
Decimus continued to belittle his men and Mary closed her eyes and prayed they would not find her, though she opened them fast enough when a reference was made to her.
“You allow a mere woman to avoid capture. You were not even able to prevent her escape. She is more a warrior than any of you.”
How odd to hear Decimus praise her.
“Find her or suffer the consequences,” he said sharply. “Now, be on your way.”
She remained perfectly still. They would be gone soon, very soon she told herself. Mary listened as rider after rider rode off. She waited patiently, taking extra care that all the men had left the area and just as she was about to pull herself out of the water, she heard a horse draw nearer to the stream.
“Idiots all of them.”
Fear shot through Mary like an icy arrow. It was Decimus’s voice and he was inching his horse closer to where she hid. She froze and urged her body not to tremble, but her fright was great and shivers raced through her.
She heard him dismount and walk to the water’s edge. She bit her trembling lip and dug her fingers into the branch. She warned herself not to panic, to remain still and he would not find her.
The sight of his hand dipping into the stream suddenly made her angry. It was the hand of the man who robbed her of her family and her life. She took notice of his lean fingers and a sapphire ring he wore, and the urge to see more of her enemy tormented her. If she inched over just a bit she might be able to have a look at him.
He stood abruptly and she stilled.
Had he heard or spotted her? She waited for her fate to fall.
In seconds he mounted his horse and rode off and she remained in the cold water, shivering in relief. She would not dare leave its safety until she was sure Decimus was far away.
She waited and waited, then finally pulled herself out, her body trembling. She walked as softly and soundlessly as possible, hugging the water’s edge. Every now and again she thought she heard voices and she quickly sought the protection of the stream or within the dense branches of a willow until she was certain no one was near.
Was Michael safe? Did he know Decimus was near? The thought haunted her, but she had no time to worry over him; she had to make her way back to the castle, and then she had to warn Michael that Decimus was nearby.
Relief sent a final shiver to rack her body as she spied her clothes on the ground by the tree. It was near to nightfall. She had stopped many times and waited endlessly to make certain no one was near. She hurried into her skirt and blouse and slipped into her boots.
She shivered, feeling cold to her bones from the constant dunking in the cold stream and her close brush with the devil himself, Decimus.
She was almost to the castle when Michael stepped out of the shadows and she jumped.
“Where have you been?” His voice was harsh and filled with concern.
Mary was so relieved that she had survived her ordeal and that Michael was safe that she wanted to throw herself into his strong arms, but she knew that it was imperative that he be made aware of Decimus.
“Your hair is wet.” He grabbed hold of her hand. “Your skin wrinkled. You have been in the water.”
She nodded, her eyes round with fright.
He grabbed her by both arms. “What happened?”
He did not wait for an answer. He hurried her along to the castle with a firm hold of her arm. He gently shoved her down to sit on the bench in front of the hearth.
She quickly sought the fire’s heat, rubbing her hands together in front of the blazing flames. The warmth tickled her cold flesh and she shivered hard; it took several minutes before the flames’ heat began to penetrate her cold flesh and set to warming her.
He handed her a branch. “Tell me.”
Her hand shook as she wrote and he moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her and pressing his body next to hers to share his heat.
Briefly she described her fall into the stream.
“You were naked in the water?”
She stared at him for she had purposely omitted that fact.
“Your garments are dry,” he said, explaining how he knew.
Foolish, she wrote.
“Very.”
His blunt, terse response told her he was angry.
“I told you to stay away from the stream.”
Foolish, she wrote again.
“More than foolish.”
She did not want to hear any more about that. It was imperative he know the rest.
Decimus. Men. Close by.
“You came across Decimus and his men?”
She nodded vigorously and explained as best she could what had happened.
“Decimus travels north, thinking we have gone to seek safety from Magnus.”
Her eyes widen with fear for her friend.
“Do not worry for Magnus. He can well take care of himself. Worry for you.”
Her eyes rounded with the harshness of his words.
“Do you know what would have happened if he had found you?”