This man was older, bulky and dressed in the finest clothes. He had a mask on his face like one would wear to a masquerade ball and exuded authority. His brown eyes were dark and screamed danger.
In the seat next to him sat an improperly dressed woman. The scraps that hid her beautiful charms fell from her shoulders and exposed herself with a sultry grin before lowering herself to a position Delilah could no longer see. As impolite it was to stare, she couldn’t turn her eyes away from the couple.
There was a shuffle and sounds of zippers and belts unsnapping, and the man, whom she presumed to be Mr. Chester, took a sharp inhale before his eyes became half-lidded. He groaned.
“What do you want from me?” she asked quietly, averting her eyes to spare herself from their indecency.
“You’re a pretty young thing. Why don’t you step inside?” He cracked the door open, extending his invitation formally.
Horrified by the implication, Delilah stepped back. The man tilted his head and laughed, then opened the door further, gesturing her inside.
Yelling from behind caught her attention. It was then she realized the grave mistake she’d made by allowing a stranger to stop her dead in her tracks in the middle of a manhunt.
Her manhunt.
“I may still have you yet,” the man yelled from behind her between groans and slurping wet sounds.
Delilah shivered, not wanting to know what exactly they were doing. Even though she was twenty-eight, she was still unmarried and virginal. Between the late hours of forced labor and her father’s beatings, she never once had the time or desire to settle down and find a man. She knew of other women her age slipping into the beds of men, but never her.
Not only would her father kill her, but she was not in the right place of mind. She never felt the urges and needs she’d occasionally heard whispers of. It made her feel lost, alone and stupid being the only one of her age completely unaware of what happened between a man and woman, but as far as she was concerned it could stay that way.
They are all the same.
She darted behind the carriage, ignoring the awful sounds that came from it, before taking a sharp right and down another alley. At the very least, she was grateful the arrival of the Chesters would slow the village folk down for a time, and if she was lucky, block their line of sight. It was sheer luck, and one she didn’t take for granted.
An older couple exited Graham’s Butchery.
The smell of raw beef filled the air reminding her grumbling stomach of its hungered state. Her father, out of spite and his pure cruelty, withheld her meals for the entire day before the Suitors’ Ball. She could only presume it was his way ensuring her willing attendance. But she didn’t need fear to ensure she behaved as any proper woman should. His beatings were more than enough to ensure that.
A woman wearing a satin blue dress and a plain bonnet donned with florals—a style reminiscent of an older time, usually worn by those who held a strict regard to the past—rounded a corner and stepped directly in Delilah’s path.
Whether it was an accident or not, the two women collided causing baskets of fruit to tumble to the ground. Apples and other round fruits rolled away on their own volition, becoming tarnished on the soiled ground not yet swept clean from Bethania’s nightly routine.
More like a waste of time if anyone thought my opinion was worth a damn.
The woman grasped her arm forcefully. “Mind your manners,” she snapped like a mother corralling a disobedient child.
But Delilah was no longer a child at twenty-eight and certainly wasn’t the daughter of this woman. In fact, many would consider her an old maid in her unmarried state. So, she attempted to pull her arm free, but the older woman persisted with an iron grip.
"Don’t you dare. Learn your place. No wonder you’re still unmarried," she sneered.
She thought the comment odd. How did this woman know, then realizes the lady was staring at her bare finger, the one that should have held a beautiful ring signifying she was an upstanding citizen, a woman who did her duty of providing babies for the man she’d married.
“I’m so sorry, but please, let me go,” Delilah begged fearfully.
The woman’s angered eyes grew wide when she spotted something behind her.
It was fair to assume the woman had spotted the councilmen and guardsmen. It was hard to miss with their pitchforks and blazing hot torches in their hands.
While she didn’t want to be anywhere near them, at the very least, the heat their torches provided thawed the icy cold wind painfully biting her skin. Although it was only late September, the temperatures steadily dropped in a warning that screamed a brutally frigid winter that was already on its way. Usually, the weather was of little concern to Delilah, who focused nearly all of her time and energy avoiding the brutal lash of her father’s whip.
After what had happened today, however, his lashings were no longer a concern for her. Delilah was now facing an entirely different set of complications altogether; survival. And this woman now stood in her way.
“What did you do?” Her demeanor changed and her eyes slightly softened. The previously snapping voice turned to a hushed tone barely audible from a few feet away. “If you want my help, you need to tell me, or I’ll let them have you. Be quick with your choice.”
Delilah glanced over her shoulder again and gasped. Turns out the Chesters were not much of a distraction for them after all. The men had nearly caught up, and she knew once they’d arrived, she’d never have the chance to flee again.
This was it. One chance to convince this woman. While it was tiring to constantly prove herself, she didn’t exactly have a choice.
Live or die.
“I…was attacked by someone. He didn’t survive. They will kill me.” Delilah painfully winced. She didn’t want to go into more details, the thought of what happened stole her breath and tore at her insides. It was just an accident.
The woman muttered under her breath, placed something in her hand and shoved Delilah forward. “Don’t let them catch you. The men of this town have lost their way.”
Almost instantly, the woman dropped to the ground and yelled, “Thief. That woman is a thief.”
Delilah didn’t look back as she whispered a quick thanks to the woman and ran. Again.
***
Colorful, crisp leaves and other debris crunched beneath her fancy black shoes as Delilah raced down the bumpy cobblestone path. It led from the heart of her village, Bethania, to its outer boundaries, where she planned to follow it to its end, the wilderness.
She was almost there, thanks to the old woman who saw reason with her request to let her go. It wasn’t uncommon for women to band together against injustices whenever they could. Perhaps the older woman disliked the changes in the laws that allowed men the absolute power over the other gender, or maybe she understood the implication Delilah had made and concluded the pursuit on her heels was not only unjust but unfair. Either way, Delilah silently thanked her for her understanding and generosity.
Even though she had spent countless nights dreaming of ways to escape her life, she was at a complete loss as to where she should go or what she would do once she’d arrive. There were decisions that even her earlier plans for escape lacked. She had spent all her free time collecting things she thought she’d need for her escape and focused more on the when than the what. It was all about timing. Never in a million years had she thought that she’d be leaving tonight, but given what happened, there was no other choice. Her hand was forced, and now she was stuck with it.
Doubt crept its way in the closer she got to the outer edge of her village. All the horror stories of men and women being attacked by vicious beasts and unknown creatures prowling around in the forests had been enough to give her pause. Perhaps she should try to reason with the villagers.
No! They want your blood. Besides, you don’t believe those stories. There’s been no proof of such things.
Never in her wildest imaginings had she conside
red that she would make it this far. She almost couldn’t believe it. Staying in the village was no longer an option for her, so she turned her head and glanced over the tall, time-weathered bell tower standing proud in the distance and some of the other antique buildings that made up her home for one final time, silently saying goodbye.
Eventually, the single cobblestone road ended, splitting into two worn paths going off in opposite directions. She came to a hard stop and nipped her stubby nails. Her eyes darted over the wooden post that stood in the middle with two directional signs nailed to it.
The one for Devonware, an old town devoid of anything aside from the hard labor of those who ruthlessly mined deep into the earth, was extremely weathered and obviously neglected. The other pointed toward Aurelia, a village she’d heard was about as colorful and prosperous as one could imagine, but as a daughter of a prominent councilman of Bethania, she knew both villages had close communications with each other. Neither option was particularly appealing.
“There she is! Don’t let the Councillor’s daughter out of your sight. Catch her!”
No! Her heart thundered in her chest. Anyone but him.
Delilah recognized that voice. It was the Head of the Guard himself, Head Guardsman Miller, the man responsible for dismissing the charges of rape she had brought against her attacker, who just happened to be his son.
At the time, she hadn’t been aware there was any familial relationship between the man who had hurt her and the man charged with keeping the village safe. Delilah was lucky if she received any time away from her father’s estate, and when she did, she didn’t spend it getting to know the personal details of the other townsfolk. Had she known who he was, she would have never even filed the report in the first place. And my father would have never lashed out on me for ’whoring’ myself out.
Tears streamed down her face. The memory was painful enough to deal with, but now she stood at the crossroads on the edge of her village, struggling to decide while men hunted her down like a common criminal.
It came as no surprise that Head Guardsman Miller would be leading the manhunt, he’d been looking for any excuse to jail her ever since the charges had been brought against his son. And now he has it, despite not having anything to do with the case he was attempting to build against her.
She had never meant to harm anyone, she was only trying to defend herself. It was entirely an accident. Women don’t have legal rights in Bethania anymore, remember? Consequently, the combination of her status as a woman and those she would have to go up against prevented her from receiving a fair trial. If she was caught, she would be facing murder charges and be put to death.
Without time to think it through, Delilah ultimately decided for Aurelia. While she was sure that word would have spread by letter pigeon by the time she reached her destination, she was hoping the village was crowded enough that she could arrive unseen and lie low until things smoothed over. Then afterward, when everything had cooled down, she would evaluate her plan and go from there.
Chapter Two
Delilah
Delilah slumped against a tree with a hand held against her chest. Her lungs burned. Her legs ached. Her body was spent. Despite the cold sweat dripping down her forehead and the nape of her neck, her body was damp with perspiration and burned hotter than an oven, but she was too exhausted to care. She thought she had gotten farther, but realized she barely made any headway escaping the villagers determined to see their justice. Justice that wasn’t theirs to take.
More than once, some nearly caught up to her, throwing rocks and debris to knock her down, and more than once their accuracy was spot on. Welts riddled her battered and bruised body. It took her to the brink of pain and exhaustion.
Every time she paused to regain her breath she wished for nothing more than to lay down and die. She could hear her father’s voice spinning, berating comments in her ear, whispering words of doubt of her ever outrunning the guardsmen. Even though she believed the words to be true, each time she got up, she persisted onwards.
But each time was harder than the last.
At some point, she had ditched the path to Aurelia and headed into the thick brush at the base of the mountain hoping to lose her pursuers. While she noticed fewer people trailing her, she was certain she was far from safety.
Heavy footsteps thudded against the earth, growing closer with each step. With no energy to spare, Delilah squeezed herself into a thick bush and crouched down, holding her hand over her mouth to quiet her breathing. If she was lucky, the men would come and go just as quick and she could be on her way.
On my way to where? I have nowhere to go and the sun is setting.
“I thought she came this way?” a young man’s voice asked.
“She did. She must be hiding somewhere,” a familiar-sounding male’s voice thoughtfully responded.
Mathias?
Delilah peeked through a small opening to glimpse the men who caught up to her. Her heart thundered in her chest as she eyed the man she grew up with. It was him.
As a child, she would spend time with Mathias during playdates while their mothers enjoyed afternoon tea. Despite not seeing him for some time, she still considered him as a good friend. She had always thought that if she were to ever wed a man, it would have been Mathias.
He was neither tall nor handsome with his brown eyes and disheveled brown hair, but he had always been kind to her, even after her ordeal with the Head Guardsman. Even after her near-rape, her father paraded her around the village claiming her whorish ways, as per the law had a woman been found and charged for the crime.
In her case, she had only been spared the charge because the charge itself required the man to step forward as well, and Guardsman Miller refused to bring the negative spotlight to his son.
Of course, her feelings about men changed and so had the thoughts of considering Mathias as a suitor. While she knew she could still trust Mathias, and she felt safe to be around him, the idea of attaching herself to a man sickened her. Even though there was a feeling that Mathias was holding out for her, or perhaps he was waiting for the right moment, Delilah feared it would never come. Her heart needed time to heal, and between her plans to escape Bethania and the upcoming annual Suitors’ Ball, there was no way she could even think of such things now.
Unfortunately, nothing went the way it should have. With her father discovering her previous escape plan, her attendance at the annual Suitors’ Ball became mandatory. Either way, whatever would have come between her and Mathias was now gone. Even if he was waiting for her heart to heal, watching him stalk her down like a hunter aiming his bow at a deer, made her change her mind altogether. The fact that he stood only a few feet away from where she crouched churned her stomach faster than milk turning into butter.
Did he not believe her?
For the first time since her mother had passed, Delilah felt truly alone in the cruel and unfair world. The one person she thought she could depend on, her only friend, was ready to bring her to her own death.
“She’s going to hang for this. Attacking a councilman is punishable with the death penalty,” the young man said as he aimlessly kicked his foot around.
“Roy,” he sighed with his hands on his temples. “We can’t let that happen! Don’t you understand?”
Delilah watched the men, eavesdropping in on their conversation. Maybe Mathias was on her side after all. She considered slipping out beneath the bush and begging for his help. The only reservation that stopped her from doing so was not knowing what kind of character Roy was, and more importantly, if she could trust him.
“The village can believe what it wants, but Head Guardsman Miller has other plans for this one,” Mathias added.
Plans? I thought a trail was mandatory?
“But she’s a Hackley...her father–”
“Is dead and now nothing is stopping Head Guardsmen Miller from taking her to the relief house. Good thing too, I don’t know what I would’ve done if some other bast
ard took her to bed before I did. I’ve been waiting on her for a long time now,” Mathias said, his voice growing louder with irritation.
The relief house? Doesn’t he mean to get married? Why doesn’t he realize it’s still too soon?
“Hmmm. I haven’t been to the house in a while, it’s been getting a little stagnant over there. Not enough fresh women coming. How are we supposed to do our jobs as members of the council when there’s not enough wom–”
“You know I almost had her too. I had a buddy that was supposed to collect her from town square and take her to me so we could take turns bedding her, but Tristan screwed up. Tried to take her right then and there in the streets. Idiot got caught. Only saving grace is his father, the Head Guardsman. And even after all the time I spent consoling Delilah, she never came to me. Not once. The bitch didn’t offer to relieve my stress once.” Mathias scoffed, but from the tone of his voice, Delilah knew one thing. He was stone cold, pissed.
The hair on the nape of her neck and on the back of her arms bristled. Shock coiled through her body. Without conscious thought, she instinctively leaned back and accidentally disturbed the bush’s leaves. They rustled. Loudly.
No no no no!
Her breath caught in her lungs as her eyes grew wide. Her palms started to sweat and her stomach rolled.
“What was that?” Roy whipped his head around, pitchfork held firmly in his tight grip.
“The bitch is here,” Mathias whispered under his breath while walking around in a circle, eyeing his surroundings. “You hear that, Delilah? We’re going to find you. Then I’m going to fuck that tight little hole of yours until you scream my name. You should’ve come to me when you had the chance. When I’m done with you, Councilman Miller’s going to take you to the house. You’re going to be shared around like the dirty slut you are.”
Disgust, horror and fear collided inside of her trying to find purchase in the darkest of places. No lingering moments of doubt of handing herself over, thinking things might be all right. No feelings of guilt for trying to defend herself. Nothing. How could she?
The Lonely Troll Page 2
