Thanks for all the follows, favs, and reviews. It's very much appreciated!
Chapter Three
Earlier
The man and his wife desperately needed money to eke out their meager income from the land and to pay the king's taxes. It was the man's wife who came up with the wicked plan. They could lie in wait for a solitary traveler, someone foolish enough to be traveling alone, and they would use trickery to take him unaware. Her intent was not robbery but to sell the unfortunate individual to slave traders. Her husband at first was horrified - this would be his first foray into crime - but the longer she talked and schemed, the more he listened and seemed inclined to acquiesce. Finally he agreed.
They had been operating in this manner for six months snatching some unfortunate person an average of once a week, always keeping to roads some distance from the lands they worked when they had their first mishap. One intended victim pulled a knife, nicking the man on the arm. The husband had wrenched the knife away from him and after a savage, brutal fight had managed to kill him by stabbing him through the heart. The couple had taken a small bag of coins from his body and left him lying in the road.
After that, the pair decided to lie low for a while, the man working their land and the woman taking care of their simple-minded, half-grown son.
Their first chance victim after their self-imposed hiatus came to an end was a young man with dark hair riding a buckskin. It was an inky black night with a pale half moon providing the only illumination, occasional dark clouds scudding over its surface. The couple's son was instructed to lie down by the side of the road.
"Keep your eyes shut," his mother told him.
The husband hid himself in some nearby brush and waited. When the rider neared, the woman rushed out in the middle of the road. "Oh, please help us!" the woman cried. "My little boy has taken ill."
Merlin brought Theta up short, glancing first at the woman, then looking cautiously around. Despite the shadowy gloom of the night, he could make out someone lying near the road.
"What happened?" he asked.
"My son has been ill," she explained, sounding frantic, " but I thought he'd be well enough to travel."
Merlin dismounted and hurried over, still holding Theta's reins. He hunkered down beside the body, puzzled. Something seemed off. Her 'little boy' was at least fifteen years old. The woman's son suddenly sat up and grinned. "Did I do good, Mum?"
Merlin's mind screamed trap! and he grabbed the pommel of his saddle, intending to mount. He was far too late. Strong arms grabbed him from behind, and a rag smelling of something sickly sweet was forced over his mouth and nostrils. He struggled and clawed at the man's arms before falling into darkness. The last sound that he heard was the panicked scream of his horse.