Chapter 20
The two priestesses came out of the room with unreadable faces. They weren’t happy, or sad, or disappointed… What were they thinking?
“We managed to return the soul of the woman to her body, but her injuries are severe. We have her resting in a pod now, it may take some time before we know if she will stay with us.” Midshore said.
“May I see her?” Romeo asked.
“Do you normally look at women while they sleep?” asked Everstar.
“No!” he claimed, reeling back. “I just want to make sure that she’s alright.”
“She isn’t!” she snapped. “This mother-to-be died! The spirits were very nearly unwilling to help us. Her child, though, the spirits feel that it is in the crux of destiny, and that is why they returned her spirit.”
She approached Romeo “If you EVER show up here again and make Midshore beg the spirits for a soul again, I will personally kick you to the shore myself! It is far too much of a burden to place on the shoulders of two priestesses. The spirits may not talk to her for a month now, and you know how that affects her.” she huffed and walked away.
“I--- What?” Romeo asked, genuinely confused. “What is she talking about?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll pull out the extra beds, you and Lara may stay here tonight before you walk back to the refugee camp. There are other things besides this woman to think about. Are you going to stay on the islands? Are they? What will you do if you stay?” she blinked. She was obviously quite tired. “But first, I want you to tell me how any of this happened in the first place.”
~*~
Mr. and Mrs. Cupshire looked around the sunken ship that was their temporary home.
“Kids, don’t touch anything sharp. No playing around inside, this is primarily just for sleeping and eating, you can play outside. Kids?” Mrs. Cupshire turned around to see the three kids sleeping on the blankets on the floor. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about tetanus…”
Everyone split off and found places to lie down, resting their weary bodies after days in the sun and wind. They were able to stop running, and after being on alert for so long they didn’t know how to relax again, for a while. It took some work to relax enough to fall asleep in such a strange place, but eventually the sunken ship was filled with quiet snores.
~*~
Romeo gritted his teeth and took a breath. He then put on the most innocent smile he could think of and tried to act oblivious. “Hey, Montoya, I have some family we’re going to be passing, in a very small village. It’s about two miles off the path we’re going on, and I was hoping I could take a day or two to visit them.”
“A village nearby? I haven't heard of any village near here, are you sure you have the right place? If there’s a village nearby, maybe we could take a stop there, see if they have an inn that would put us up for the night.”
Romeo quickly compensated for his interest. “By small village, I mean really just like three families living near each other. All of them are farmers. Rather dull people. One room houses. You wouldn’t really want to visit them.”
“I thought you were from the city. Why would you visit family all the way out here?” Montoya looked skeptical.
“My mother’s side came from here. We used to visit in the summers and my grandmother loved to see my family. I just want to see her again.” Romeo layed a bit into asking for sympathy.
Montoya considered for a moment. “Alright, but be careful. I suspect that there are bands of barbarians roaming around, be on your guard. Be back in two days from today. We’ll stay near the road.”
“Aye, sir!” he quickly walked back to his tent to gather his things. “You owe me big for this, Reed. Next time, it’s your turn to lay down your life.”
“If we ever get to that point, I’d be happy to. Remember, up the east hill, north at the giant tree.” he recited.
“Yeah, those two directions are easy to remember. You don’t have to repeat them over and over.” Romeo grumbled. “If I don’t come back in two days, come looking for me.” he suddenly turned somber.
“Romeo- I can’t thank you enough.”
“Then you’ll be shining my boots for months.” he said, snapping out of his sentimentality. He grabbed his pack, a few rations, and walked away from the camp.
~*~
Liam had a knot in the pit of his stomach now that his plan was in motion and everyone was in more danger than normal. He should tell Anwyn, but she was under constant surveillance. They had been traveling for about a month now, and she seemed to be showing obvious signs of pregnancy. She was ill all at odd times, then suddenly better. She was tired, and she had to let out her dresses at the seams to fit them better.
Still, she had to know. He quietly approached her tent and listened for anyone around. He spotted the king at the table eating dinner along with the duchess and her lady, and the Templar knights were sitting around their fire, complaining about their feet. Anwyn should be alone in her tent.
“Anwyn, are you in there?” he asked quietly in a hiss.
“Liam, is that you?” She asked, just as quietly.
“Yes, I need to tell you something. It’s urgent that you know.” he said, going back to the back side of the tent to be more hidden. “We’re going to make a run for it.”
“What? When? How?” Anwyn’s confusion was evident.
“I sent Romeo to lead a pack of natives to our group. In two days, they will attack and in the ambush we will make our escape. I have planned the route we’ll flee on, and we’ll make it to the Western Islands by a month from now. We’ll be free.” he assured, hardly believing it himself.
“But my family- The king will punish them for our actions-” Anwyn stuttered.
“They’ve been informed, and they’re going to meet us. I sent a message to the maid from the manor, and she passed on the message to your family. They’ll meet us along the way.” Liam said.
He thought he heard her sniffling in the tent, and he wanted to hold her until she stopped shaking the way she did when she was overwhelmed with emotion, but it was too risky.
“I love you,” she whispered to him, and his eyes became wide and welled up with tears.
“I love you,” he said simply in response. He was willing to lay everything down for this girl that had become the sun to him, and where she went he wanted to be there also. For the rest of his life, forever and always. While he had previous lovers, none of them compared to what he felt for Anwyn, and he knew that while he had filled the hole the others had left, he knew that he could never replace Anwyn.
He crouch- walked away from the back of the tent, and noticed the duchess and her lady coming back from the table towards him. He smoothly hid behind a tree and waited for them to enter the tent so he could get away and act normal.
“It’s too bad Romeo left, I miss looking at him. No one else here is as nice on the eyes.” Briella said casually to the duchess. “I mean, Sir Reed isn’t bad if you’re into red hair, but I’m not all that interested.”
“Sir Reed is a traitor, don’t even think of bedding him. He’s too much of a loyal soul anyhow, so it would take far too much effort to try. He wouldn’t look at anyone but that girl, and you’d just scare him.” the duchess answered. “No, now that we know he’s a treasonous guard, he’ll make a good example of what happens to anyone who stands against the king. He’s to be executed once we get to the front line as a warning to the soldiers not to dessert. It ought to be nice to see his pretty head roll of the ground. It’s been forever since I’ve seen a proper death; the island is far too isolated.”
“Speaking of the traitor, I get my payment at some point, don’t I? If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had a clue who the queen was having an affair with. Heh, I can’t believe how easy it was to play into Sir Romeo’s insecurity like that! Act like you’re afraid he’s taken and he’ll spill all of his secrets!” she laughed.
“You’ll get your reward, but we have to wait until we return back to my manor. I didn’t bring all of my riches with me to the palace. Now, would you get me out of this corset? It’s beginning to pinch.”
Liam stood in shock. Even if he hadn’t set the actions in motion by now, he had no choice but to make an escape. It was no wonder the Templar knights were so watchful of him, they had been informed of his crimes and were escorting him to his death. He hoped that the rest of his plan went smoothly, or he’d meet a much worse fate than a quick death.
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