Weeks had gone by since the night Delphine had escaped from the fire. Bash could still remember the burn. The slow build up of heat that crept over his body had ended just as mysteriously as it had begun. He hadn't felt right since. In his dream she'd said they were bound. But what did that mean? How deep did this bond go? So many questions with no answers. He'd spent nearly every day since searching for her, so he could get those questions answered. The last few days, he felt as though he was getting close. Some people in a nearby village remembered seeing her, so he started patrolling the woods between that village and the castle.
He'd been tracking all day. He found some dead animals hanging in the woods, pagan symbols drawn nearby. He knew he had to be close, but in the last few hours he'd felt as though he was being followed.
He heard a cracking branch from behind him and slowly stalked the sound, drawing his sword and moved around the foliage. He heard another crack and swung around only to see a rabbit run out from behind a bush. He sighed and put his sword away. As he turned a rope wrapped around him from behind and a knife went to his throat.
"So now you want me dead too? I thought you understood me, but you're just like the rest of them." Said a voice from behind him. It was Delphine. He struggled against the ropes and tried to push the knife away.
"I just wanted to talk to you. Put the knife down." Bash replied as he started to get loose.
"Liar!" She yelled. Bash tried to fight her off, but it proved difficult with the awkward angle and the fact that he could barely move his arms. She pushed him on the ground and sat on top of him.
"I won't let you bring me back there to die." She raised the knife over her head and brought it down on him.
Just before the blade entered his body, an arrow came out of nowhere, hitting her hand and making her drop it. She hissed in pain and ran off. He rose, pulling the ropes away and picking the knife up off the ground. He could sense someone standing behind him. He turned.
"I appreciate your help but..." he stopped speaking when he noticed who it was. "Catherine?"
"But what? You can be beaten by a woman but not rescued by one?" She said gesturing with the crossbow in her hand. She was dressed down, hair braided simply to the side. She looked...different.
"She didn't beat me. I was trying not to harm her." He replied while putting the knife in his pocket.
"Yes. You seemed very in control of the situation." She said sarcastically.
"I was in control. And now you've let her get away." He argued.
"Well you let my dinner get away so we're even." She mused.
"Your dinner?" He inquired.
"The rabbit." She says holding up the crossbow again. "I was trying to hunt it."
"You hunt?" He asked.
"No, that was just a lucky shot." She mocked. He looked back at the arrow that was now sticking out of a tree. "Why would you want to keep a loose cannon like her alive?"
"Information." He said.
"Information? On what? How to find stray cats to skin." She asked, hand on her hip. He rolled his eyes at her.
"It's personal." He sighed. "Look, you did just try to help me, so let me at least escort you back to your party. It's not safe out here."
"I'm sorry who just saved whom? Besides, I don't have a party." She said as she started to walk away. He followed.
"You're out here all alone?" He asked.
"Yes. That's usually what happens when one is exiled." She responded.
"You don't have any guards?" He wondered.
"Seeing as Francis has taken my income along with my titles...I can't afford them." She explained.
"Don't you have plenty of your own money?" She stopped walking and turned to face him.
"I did, until Mary had me kidnapped and stole it." She said.
"Wait, you knew it was Mary?" He asked, taken a back.
"Of course I knew. I'm no fool. Yes, she did trick me briefly into thinking it had been Hortensa, a fine choice, but the moment her mother sent word that she was safe so soon after, well it was rather obvious." She told him.
"And you didn't try to kill her?" He said surprised. Catherine turned her nose up, clearly not wanting to answer him. The last thing she wanted to think about was Mary. She turned again and started to stomp off in frustration.
"Are you quite finished with this interogation, or must I suffer through more if you inane questions?" She spat defensively. He could see he'd struck a nerve.
"I'm not trying to interogate you." He said.
"Really? How many questions would you ask if you were trying?" She wondered. He sped up his pace and stepped in front of her.
"Must you get so defensive about everything? I find you hunting a rabbit alone in the woods and you expect me not to be a least a bit curious." She looked at him a moment.
"You're bleeding." She said flatly, ignoring what he'd said, as she noticed a slash on the upper right hand of his chest, almost to his shoulder. Bash looked down, confused and touched the wound.
"I suppose I am." He said.
"Come on then. Let's get that patched up." She said taking off again. He stood still for a moment, staring after her. "Well are you coming or not?"
He said nothing, just simply followed her into the woods.