by Ivy Hayes
It takes us quite some time to get dressed, as Parker is more playful than helpful, but finally we emerge, relatively put together.
“Let’s stop by my room really quick, there is something I need to grab.”
When we enter, what I see sends terror through my body and I can’t help but scream.
TWENTY-NINE – PARKER
Gwen lets out a frantic scream and I immediately fall into my fighting stance. Years or battle training rising in me, preparing me to defend against the unknown attacker. I glance around the room and relax my stance when I don’t see anyone else in there, but what set her off?
My question is answered when I see the bloody lump of gore on Gwen’s bed. It looks like some sort of large animal, but it is impossible to distinguish what kind from this distance, all I can make out is exposed flesh, blood and matted fur.
Gwen starts to walk towards it and I reach out a hand to still her. She looks back at me and shakes her head, as if telling me she will be fine. I won’t let her approach that thing alone though, so I lace my fingers through hers and together we approach the bed. Gwen figures it out first.
“It’s our new dog. He didn’t even have a name yet,” she starts sobbing.
I pull her into my chest, using my body to block her view. My shirt catches her tears as her sobs increase in intensity.
“Who would do this?” She asks.
I am certain it is Theo, but I don’t want to accuse him quite yet. My eyes rake over the mess and I notice a white envelope. Whoever did this, stabbed the envelope, securing it to a pillow just out of the reach of the blood.
“There is a letter.”
I don’t want Gwen to look back and see the gore again, so I loosen my grip on her slightly and reach forward. My fingers wrap around the hilt of the dagger as there is a commotion at the door. I yank it out of the pillow and prepare to defend us with it, until I see who came in. With Grant, Gregory, and Ash in my view, I relax.
I see their eyes scan the room, taking everything in, including me standing next to the disaster on the bed holding a dagger. I see Ash pale and run over to Gwen, pulling her sister-in-law in for a hug.
Gregory’s eyes are stone when they meet mine, “What is going on? Gwen, are you okay?”
“I have an idea,” I say, while doing my best to look unthreatening. I hold up the letter, still wedged on the dagger, “I have a feeling the contents of this letter will answer all of our questions.”
Gregory takes it from me and he rips it open. I watch him read over the first few lines and his face is transformed with anger.
“Read it out loud, Gregory,” Ash instructed.
He hesitates for a second, looking at his sister before deciding it is only fair for her to hear it, after all, the message was meant for her. He gives a small nod, then begins:
My Elusive Gwen,
I am sorry for any fear this brought to you, but I needed to show you what I am willing to do for you. What a real man is willing to do for you.
Remember this when you are thinking of being with my cousin.
I will be seeing you.
Theo
The implication of the threat is obvious. Theo means to have Gwen and to kill me in the process. Everyone around the room reacts differently. Gregory and Grant have matching faces of anger, Ash pales further, Gwen shivers and starts to sob anew.
I move to her side, needing to console her and make her feel safe. She must know that we won’t let anything happen.
“How did he get into here?” Ash asks.
Gregory responds, “It must have been when we were all running about and preparing.”
Gwen’s soft voice breaks through, “What if I had been in here alone?”
“You weren’t,” I say and squeeze her tight, “and you won’t be alone, Theo will not get anywhere near you.”
“He is probably gone,” Grant said, “I bet he did this to scare all of us then hit the road, heading for your father.”
“You may be right, but I don’t want to take any chances with Gwen’s safety.”
Ash spoke next, “We should check the surrounding areas, he might not have left, maybe he is lying in wait, preparing for his chance when we all go to sleep.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to look,” I responded. I will do all I can keep him away from the woman I love.
Seeing a plan, Gregory took charge, “Ash, stay with Gwen, we will go check the stables first, see if his horse is still here, then go from there.”
I shake my head in protest, “I won’t leave Gwen, not when we aren’t sure if he is gone.”
“Ash can keep me plenty safe,” Gwen said, “Theo wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”
“What?” I ask, not sure if I heard that correctly.
Gregory responded with a defensive tone in his voice, “Ash is a better fighter then either me or Grant, believe us when we say she is more than capable of protecting Gwen.”
I try and hide the shock from my features, “You guys are serious? She only weighs like 120 pounds, and that’s with the baby.”
Grant spoke first, “Shocking, I know. It doesn’t seem possible, but Ash is wicked fierce, and I feel bad for anyone that would cross her. You should have seen what she did to these two men that cornered her a few months back, they were lucky we stopped her before any more damage was done.”
They are serious. “Well then, I am sorry I doubted you, Ash. After your pregnancy is over, I would like to see your reputation for myself.”
She let out a low chuckle, “It would be nice to spar with someone other than these two brutes.”
I still had a tight hold on Gwen and I noticed instantly when she started shaking. Probably shock or the adrenaline wearing off. It is time to get her out of this room and hopefully something strong to drink.
“Ash, can you take Gwen to another room and maybe get her something to calm her nerves?”
“No problem.”
“Gwen,” I give her a squeeze and another kiss, “we will take care of this and with luck, find Theo, but don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She shakes her head against me, “I am worried about everyone. Who will protect my whole family? Who will protect you?”
“We will all keep an eye on each other,” Gregory assured her.
I kiss the top of her head, “We will be alright, Theo isn’t as tough as he makes himself out to be.”
“Hurry back,” she whispers to me.
“I will, I promise.”
THIRTY – GWEN
Watching the early morning light as it inched its way across the land, I try and muster the strength to make it through another day. It has been six days since the death of our new dog, and five sleepless nights since Theo’s disappearance. I have been running on frayed nerves and constant fear the entire time.
I tried to sleep in my room the first night, but I was too disturbed to even crawl on the bed. Though the mess had been cleaned up, I couldn’t get the bloody image out of my head. Almost unconsciously, I left my bedroom behind me and ended up knocking gently on Parker’s door. He silently opened and seeing it was me, he opened his arms and welcomed me into his embrace. Wordlessly, I melted into him and together we walked towards the bed.
That night and every night since, I fell asleep in his arms and he held me through the night. Parker held me through the nightmares and with him, I was able to at least get a few hours of sleep.
Tonight, was the worse night yet, I awoke from a dream in which I was helpless to watch as Theo slaughtered each person I cared about, finishing last with Parker. I held his dying form and I woke screaming. Despite his comforting, I was unable to fall back asleep, not wanting to risk falling back into that reality, so after I heard his soft snoring, I arose from the bed and spent the remaining early hours standing guard and watching outside for any signs of movement.
I know I am being paranoid, but sooner or later, an attack will happen, and I will be helpless to save anyone. I am not a fighter, I ne
ver bothered to learn any of the defenses my brothers were taught, instead I spent my time reading, which will be the most useless skill to have during any form of battle. Nobody kills anyone with the profound ability to read.
I hear the sounds of feet shuffling on carpet as Parker approaches me from behind. He plants a gentle kiss on my cheek then wraps his arms around me, pulling my back into his front.
“How long have you been up?”
“Since the nightmare.”
“You should have woken me.”
“No,” I shake my head, “you needed your rest, we have no idea what today might bring.”
He holds me tighter, “I need to be there for you.”
“I love you.” I let the silence fall for a few seconds then add, “Please, promise me you will make it out of whatever this is?”
“I promise, Gwen.”
Parker twirls me around and tilts my head towards his, opening me up for a kiss. His soft lips touch mine and I nearly sink to my knees and the amount of passion he placed in that one chaste touch.
“I love you too, nothing is going to stop us being together.”
“I am going to hold you to that.”
I see Parker’s eyes narrow and stare outside the window, I quickly turn to try and see what he did. Far away, I see a lone rider, pushing his horse fast enough to create a cloud of dust.
“What is that?” I ask.
“Bad news, I’d bet. Let’s head downstairs and see.”
Parker quickly tosses on a shirt and laces up his boots, I grab a shawl to cover my night gown. I would have liked to change, but we don’t want to risk missing any information. As ready as we will be, I follow Parker out the room and together, we walk downstairs and wait in the entry hall for the lone rider to appear.
“At least it is something, I am tired of waiting and stressing about what might happen,” I mention, and Parker meets my eyes, his are stressed but alight with humor.
“I would say, ‘be careful what you wish for,’ but that seems too morbid.”
“Yes,” I laugh, “it does.”
The door swings open and I immediately recognize the rider, it’s one of the men from town, Simon.
“Gwen, I am so glad to see someone awake. I saw some armed men in the woods when I went out to hunt this morning. They are not far from town, we need to get everyone ready for battle, now.”
My hand flies to my mouth and I try to hide my shock. “They are here, oh god.”
“How many were there?” Parker asks.
Simon shakes his head, “I am not sure, maybe sixty? I didn’t stay around long enough to get an accurate count.”
“Sixty? I didn’t think my father had access to that many men, he must have pulled from other villages. If they haven’t attacked yet, we might have a few more hours.”
Parker started pacing and continued speaking, “We need more information. How many horses? A more accurate count on their numbers and anything else we can find out.” He stopped his pacing then looked at me, “Gwen, go wake everyone up, we need to come up with a plan.”
“I will be right back,” I say then head towards the stairs.
As I am leaving the room, I hear Parker ask, “Which part of the woods were they in?”
I hesitate and listen, “They are just south of town, off the road to Westhaven.”
As soon as I hear that, a plan forms in my head. I race upstairs and wake everyone up as fast as I can, telling them something happened, and they need to hurry downstairs, that Parker will fill them in. My parent’s room is last, I tell my mother I will be down shortly, I just need to grab something from my room. As soon as my door is shut, I climb out my window, down to the ground then run to the woods behind the house.
Entering the cover of the trees, I don’t waste a second and shed out of my clothes, changing into my animal form seconds after the clothes hit the ground. I am off and running, racing south and trusting my nose to get me close enough to the attacking men, but also helping me stay hidden.
Despite racing towards danger, I am enjoying the feeling of running. This is only my second time being my animal outside and I am loving it. I cover the distance much faster than I thought to be possible and before I know it, I am moving past the town limits. I started to detect the scent of a gathering of mostly unbathed men a few minutes back, but now that I am closer, the scent is nearly overwhelming.
I follow the direction, but slow from a run to a walk, doing my best to not step on any twigs. I debate changing back to human, but I don’t want risk getting spotted naked, that would not go well even in the best of circumstances, so I stay in my dog form and crouch low on the ground, staying below the thickness of the bushes. I stop my movement when I hear voices.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought I saw something out there.”
My heart starts beating faster and I am suddenly glad to be in a much smaller form, hopefully they won’t notice me in my hiding place.
“Was is a person?”
“No,” I hear his voice slightly hesitant, “it looked more like a stray dog.”
“It was probably interested in our breakfasts. Keep those eyes out, no one can know we are here, it would ruin the element of surprise and that is the only way we are going to take the town.”
“Don’t worry, no one will get past me. I can’t put my daughter and wife at risk by us losing here.”
“That’s right. Don’t waste all of your energy though, you need to be ready at sundown.”
“I will be.”
That was a lucky conversation to overhear, I now know where and when the attack will happen, but I still need to know what we are working against. I have already been seen once, and I am scared to risk it again, but I must try, so I slowly back up, doing my best to stay silent. I make a wide circle around their makeshift camp, using all my senses to gather information and avoid danger.
I counted forty-two men, but there were a few tents that had people in them, making it impossible to get a more accurate count. There were also ten horses, not nearly as many as I thought they would bring, but they must not be planning on using them in the battle.
It just goes to show how new my abilities are though when I nearly walk right into someone asleep on the ground. I stop in my tracks and try not to panic. This is probably the sign I needed to get the hell out of here, besides I have gathered quite a bit of information.
I start out slow, but the further I get from the camp, the faster and more reckless I run, which was the worst thing I could have done. Someone must have seen movement and the men were not going to take any chances. A sharp pain lanced my side and I stumbled a step, but then kept running. Every movement hurt, but I couldn’t risk stopping, lest they find me.
I don’t bother with stopping and grabbing my clothes, I need to get inside and have someone help with my wound, but more importantly, I need to pass this information on.
The main door is still cracked, so I charge in. It takes everyone a few seconds to see me and I am thankful that the room is only filled with my family, Simon must have been sent off on some task. I don’t waste any time and run to the middle of the room and shift back.
The pain in my side is much worse in my human form and I stagger as I stand after the shift. Parker is at my side in a second, holding me steady while I adjust. It takes me a few seconds, breathing through the pain to push back the growing darkness that was crowding my vision.
THIRTY-ONE - GWEN
“What the hell happened, Gwen? Please tell me you didn’t just do what I think you did.” Parker growls in my ear.
“If you are thinking I went on a scouting run to check out the enemy’s camp, you would be correct,” I straighten as I respond.
“You were injured!” my mother shrieks out.
I look down at my side and see the trickle of blood slowly falling from my side, it doesn’t look too bad.
“It’s just a scratch, mother, we can patch it up shortly.”
Ash comes u
p to me and passes me a blanket, which I gladly take a wrap around my shoulders.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” she winks at me. That look tells me she approves of what I did, though it seems my sister-in-law might be the only one not mad at me for my venture this morning.
“I found out when they are going to attack, they will be hitting town right after sunset,” I blurt out, hoping they will start discussing that and not focus on me putting myself in danger.
“How many were there?” Gregory asks.
“Simon was a little high with his estimate, I counted between forty and forty-five. Oh, and ten horses.”
“That is still too many,” my father added, “we only have about fifty men, but they are going to have to be split up, defending different parts of the city. We could easily be overrun.”
My father and brothers started talking logistics and I pulled Parker to the side and whisper, “I overheard a conversation between some of the men from your village, they still believe the attack is an offense against the threat of Cliffden. Would it be possible to sway them? Could you assure them that Cliffden is not a threat?”
“No,” he shakes his head, “my father would not get me near enough to talk to the masses.”
“Could we try one at a time?”
“That would take way too long, and it would be wildly dangerous. It would only take one of them to raise the alarm and my chance would be over.”
“Then we need to find a way to force them to listen to you.”
“Gwen.” I hear my mother’s voice ring out and I turn to look at her.
“Yes?”
“I’ve just sent Rose up with some bath water, why don’t you go clean yourself up and get dressed?”
“Thanks, I will.” I lean back into Parker, “We will figure out a way to stop this.”
“I hope so,” he replies, and our eyes connect for a moment, sharing strength and love.
