Scarlet Rose
James
Chapter 2
Rose sat there quietly in Will's hut, sewing away at the fabric before her, Will's face in mind. She was set on making him a new shirt, one more suitable than his current brown set of rags. She smiled faintly as she thought of what it would look like in the end, just hoping that he would like it. In fact, this had been the first time she had done this out of gratitude instead of having to do it upon an order. Thinking of that, her face scrunched up bitterly, a sour look on her face.
"Something not agreeing with your taste buds my lady?" Will asked, standing in the doorway of the hut.
Rose's face flushed as she looked at him, surprised at his sudden entrance.
"Um...no, just a bad memory," she said quietly, continuing with her stitching.
Will looked on at her, curiosity in his eyes. He'd never met a woman so quiet and reserved as she was. In fact, he found it rather perplexing in his mind. Although, he vowed to figure her out, no matter how long it took him.
"So, what are you making?" he asked, coming to sit down across from her.
"What doesn't it look like I'm making?" she asked with a slight laugh in her voice.
Will merely grinned at her before responding.
"Sleeves," he answered simply.
"Your conclusion is spot on," she smiled, continuing with her stitching once more, only stopping when Will took the cloth from her hands.
"That's a nice bit of cloth you have there. It will make a fine shirt," he expressed, before handing it back to her.
Will sat there for about 5 minutes, just sitting and watching her sew. Shortly after that though, he gave her a small bow.
"I'll be back later, it's my turn to hunt," he said, quickly running off out of the hut and jogging into the forest before she had the chance to say anything to him.
Once he was out of sight, she shook her head, a faint smile curling onto her lips.
T
A few hours later, Rose was finished with her sewing for the night, leaving the finished products folded up for Will to find. She herself laid there on the bed of hay asleep, her legs curled up near her chest as she slept.
Will himself came back a couple hours after Rose had fallen asleep, finding her laying on the bed of hay, a shirt and scarf folded up on a small stool a few feet away from her.
"So much for the deer," he muttered quietly, his eyes taking notice to the clothes that had been folded up.
Upon further inspection, he found it to be the shirt that he had seen her working on earlier, the red material burning clear in his memory. Laying with it was a rather warm looking black scarf. What he found even more curious was a small square of blue cloth that laid upon the bundle. In white thread, she'd sewn his name upon it.
"So, she was making it for me all along?" he mused quietly to himself.
He couldn't help, but to smile as he gazed down at the shirt. She had truly done a fine job on it. In fact, if he were truly honest, he would admit that he had rarely seen such quality work when sewing a shirt. Heck, she'd probably give the King's tailor a run for their money.
"Now what to do?" he spoke quietly, scratching the back of his head for a few moments.
He knew that he had to do something for her in return, but he didn't know what exactly to do for her. He supposed that he could possibly pick her some flowers, maybe fix her dinner in the coming nights, perhaps return her favor. Then again, he knew that his sewing skills were nowhere near as good as hers were. Then again, perhaps he could get John's wife to help him. He was sure that she wouldn't mind lending him a hand for such a task, especially, if he supplied the material.
After all, she does need something warmer to wear, he thought to himself, noticing how she shivered on the bed.
Seeing this, he pulled a pelt from the corner and draped it over her small form, hoping that it would be warm enough. Surprisingly enough, her shivering grew less and less, until it was no more. From there, he found a spot upon the bed of hay on the other side of her, putting enough distance between them so as not to make her uncomfortable. After all, it was his hut and he wanted to be able to sleep upon his own bed.
T
By the time that morning came around, everyone had already risen from their huts, stretching their arms above their heads to meet the bright new day. The only one that wasn't up yet was Rose, whom had spent the previous day working tediously upon her sewing. She was slightly surprised though upon waking up and finding the warm pelt on top of her, but also the fact that the shirt and scarf were absent from the stool that she had placed them on the previous night. This made her smile though, for she knew that Will had found them. She only hoped that he liked them.
With a well placed yawn, she began the task of smoothing out her hair, and whipping the sleep from her eyes. After that, she stood up, making her way out of the hut.
"Good morning little lady," John greeted in his usual manner.
"Good morning John," she responded with a smile. "Do you need help with anything this morning?" she asked, wanting to help in any way that she could.
"Well, if you could bring back a few buckets of water, it'd be mighty appreciated," he said, rubbing the hair of his beard for a moment.
"Will do," she nodded, before quickly running off and grabbing a few empty buckets.
From there, she made her way to the river, her feet moving at a comfortable pace upon the forest floor. She found it comforting though, feeling the earth beneath her feet, the coolness of the soil against her skin. It was something so simply, so small, and yet she never used to have such luxuries with this freedom. Normally, she would have been locked away inside somewhere, no chance of seeing the outside world. She was lucky to have even escaped her Master.
"Uh…" she grumbled faintly, feeling a shiver run down her spine at the mere thought of the horrid man.
It was something that she truly wished to forget, but knew that she never would. After all, how can one possibly forget such tortures? The answer is, they can't, no matter how hard they try. This itself was one of the things that she hated the most. She attempted to put this behind her though as she stepped in front of the river, kneeling down and filling one of the two buckets that she had grabbed. Once that one was filled, she filled the other one. She didn't realize how heavy they would be until she tried to pick them both up at the same time.
She groaned in annoyance as she wrapped her hands around the handles for a better grip, heaving them up quickly and walking forward. It only took a few minutes though for her to become tired, the weight of the buckets already pulling at the tender muscles in her shoulder. She had to bite her tongue as the pressure pushed on a particular nerve in her shoulder, sending pain through it in a heartbeat. As a result, she nearly dropped the buckets, but managed to quickly sit them down for a moment.
"Well, well, well…what do we have here?" she heard a gruff voice ask, one in which made her blood run ice cold.
"J-James!" Rose exclaimed, whirling around to face the man.
"So, I was right then," he chuckled, a sick grin on his face as he looked upon her.
"So, this is where you've been hiding Rose? With a band of outlaws and thieves?" James accused.
"Just leave me alone!" she shouted, backing away from him.
"Why? It's not like any man would ever take you. After all, you're broken goods," he grinned, referring to her many scars.
"Just leave me alone!" she repeated, leaving the buckets and making a run for it.
She didn't get very far though as James grabbed hold of her arm roughly, throwing her down to the ground and placing a foot on her stomach.
"You know…you look rather lovely in those rags of yours," he cooed, kneeling down in front of her.
All that did though was earn him a kick in the gut as she tried squirm away. It also earned her a slap in the face though, momentarily stopping her struggles as she held her face.
"Master still wants you back, but sometimes I think that you're more trouble than you're worth," James spat, kicking dirt up into her face.
She sputtered frantically as she tried to rid the earthy mist from her lungs, her eyes blinking rapidly in protest. This only made the man laugh.
"I think it's time to get out of here and take you back home," he said, pulling her up by her hair.
"Go to hell!" she shouted, before throwing her fist between his legs and running.
"You ungrateful wench!" he cried out, laying on the ground as he held his pride in pain.
Rose paid him no attention though as she ran, tripping over her feet every now and then as she rushed forward. She dared not look back, but perhaps that was one of her mistakes. Even though she ran, she could not avoid him as minutes later she was grabbed around the waist, a hand gripping her throat tightly.
"L-l-let g-go!" she choked out, trying her beside to squirm out of his arms.
It did her little good though as he held her tighter, cutting off even more of her oxygen. It was then that her thoughts went to Will, his face popping into her mind.
"Will…" she whispered, pinching her eyes shut as tears fell.
She tried once more to worm her way out of James' grasp, but as usual, she could not. He just held onto her even tighter than before, squeezing her sharply.
"Rose!" she heard someone call out.
"Will…" she whispered, recognizing the voice.
"Let her go!" Will shouted sharply, jumping over a small bush and running forward.
From there, he knocked into the guy, freeing Rose from his clutches. After release, she sputtered a bit, clutching her throat painfully.
"Will," she choked out, drawing his attention for a moment.
That was all that it took though before a dagger was thrust painfully into his side, sending him to his knees for a moment. Rose stood quickly though when James rose a sword above Will's head, intending to strike.
"No!" she cried, running forward and grasping at James' hands.
Annoyed, he merely threw her to the side, causing her to fall on her shoulder and tear the muscle a bit.
"Now, be a good girl and stay put," James grunted with distaste, turning around only to receive a punch to the face by Will's hand, sending him to the ground.
"Never touch her again," Will spat angrily, stabbing the man in the shoulder with the knife that had previously been placed in his side.
The man howled in pain, yelling out and throwing his arms around to try and swat at Will.
"Now…get out of here!" Will ordered as he knelt down beside Rose, clutching his side with one hand.
They both watched as James ran off, cursing them before he left. After that, Rose broke into tears, apologizing to Will. He didn't understand why she was apologizing though, for it was not her fault.
"Come, let's go back," Will said, taking her hand and carefully leading her back to their hut.
As they entered the campsite they noticed the pairs of eyes on them, some going to Rose, while others went to Will.
"What happened to the water?" John asked as he walked up to them, not noticing how Will clutched at his side.
"She's no longer allowed to travel these woods alone," Will told him, gripping her shoulder for a moment as he tried to stand straight. "It's no longer safe for her," he said.
John's brows furrowed when he heard this, now wanting to know what had happened.
"Who was it?" John asked, clutching his long wooden staff in his right hand.
"I don't know. Rose?" Will turned his head in questioned as he looked down at the young woman, her shoulders shaking slightly as she stood there.
Yes, she knew who it was, but she didn't want to admit it to herself. She didn't want to admit that it had been true, that it had really happened, but it did. Her Master wanted her back and he had sent James to fetch her. What she didn't understand though was how he had found her.
"Rose?" Will spoke again, pulling her from her thoughts.
She looked up at him for a moment, her eyes traveling to John, then back to Will again. She hesitated for a moment before speaking, still unsure of herself.
"His…his name is James… James Henry," she whispered, turning her head away from the two men.
"Rose, who is he? Why is he after you?" Will asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.
She nearly flinched away as he did this, the muscles in her shoulder protesting painfully. She knew that a question like this would come up eventually, but she was still dreading it.
"Can we…go back to the hut, please?" she begged, her head still turned away from him.
"I want an answer Rose. I want to know why that man was after you," Will said firmly, ignoring the pain in his side.
"I promise to tell you whatever it is you want to know, but please…let's go back to the hut?" she whispered as she turned toward him, tears welling up in her eyes.
When Will saw this, his grip loosened and he found himself nodding to her request. He knew that he couldn't have her answering him out in the open, otherwise, he'd have her falling to her knees and crying.