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TAIL/TALE! Thank you, Turq. :D Very much, and for that, this next chapter is dedicated to you. ;D
I have discovered that this story will be basically 16-17 chapters long. Not bad, really... I'm at the point of Chpt. 15 right now, so hopefully, quick updates will continue to happen.
And... there is a reason - not one with a twist into the storyline, unfortunately - why I named him Raoul... ;D Guess.
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Chapter Seven
The woman slipped unnoticed through the stables while looking around to find a single person. She felt nearly nude walking around in her husband's tunic and breeches instead of a dress, or something of the like; but they were much looser and offered his scent - a mix that strangely seemed to consist of mainly vanilla and horse, oddly - and it comforted her. So far nobody had recognized her face, but she'd gotten rather odd looks - although the awkward child inside her made her wonder if they were blind.
She caught sight of her target right past the Clydesdales. He recognized her immediately, even with the disguise, and turned to run. Clenching her fists, she broke into a jog while following him, then stopped at the effort it took to continue. An idea hit her. "Somebody! Stop that man! I have warrant for his arrest!"
Instantly, five other people that had come from who-knew-where in the stable were at his heels. They leapt on top of him, pinning him face-down into the straw-littered floor until she was able to catch up. "Thank you," she brushed them away. "And you, come with me."
His eyes flitted everywhere except at her, but he followed into the small tack room where he maintained a defensive position in the back of the room behind an old table used for oiling leather. "You shouldn't be out now, milady... If someone catches you..."
"If," the woman leaned on the table, both palms down. "What happened, Raoul? I know he didn't die."
It almost looked like the man choked. "Milady, I oughtn't upset you..."
"Tell me. You were there that night; what happened?"
"He drowned." The man met her gaze - almost fearfully, she though. Unlike him. "He said the bridge was too far upriver to cross; we tried to stop him, but he went in, and that was the last we saw of him."
"Did you look for the body?"
The man's adam's apple bobbed up and down. "There was no way he could've survived that, milady."
A slight smile twitched onto the woman's face. "Funny; because I asked Gerald the same thing, and he said you went downstream and found the horse's body, but not his."
It seemed like the man's face flushed a slight shade of pink before it drained of all color.
"Tell me," the woman leaned forward with a delicate, worried look on her face. "We've known each other since I've come here, Raoul. What happened that night? You were there; you saw it happen."
"Mi-milady..." he hesitated. "I can't. Really. He- he said if we told... we would be on a threat of death. I have a family at home. If I'm not there to care for them..."
"Who told you that?"
"No one."
The woman hesitated, then slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out two gold coins. They shimmered in the dim light, announcing their glittering value. "I don't want to bribe you; I don't believe in it, but you have a family." She paused. "I have a family, too. And my family is in danger. Raoul, please..."
"So is mine, milady."
Her fingers played lightly on the two coins as she stared at the table until she left them there. "It's a gift," she whispered. "I'll find him then... Thank you, Raoul."
The man watched as she turned around to leave. "Milady, wait!"
She turned.
"It..." he hesitated. "It was at the North Bank."
The woman leaned forward, looking so eager he couldn't bear to stop.
"It was pitch black; someone - or something - stomped out the fire and we discovered we were surrounded. He..."
"Please-" the woman was biting her lip.
"... fought, but they knocked him unconscious, I think. One of the men stepped forward and made us take an oath that if we ever said what we saw, they would kill us. I don't think anyone said anything; they were fearful swordsmen - all of them. It would be instant death."
The woman was back on the table, leaning forward anxiously. "Where did they take him?"
The man shrugged.
The woman managed a thin smile. "Thank you; thank you, Raoul. Don't breath a word of what you said to me to anyone; go home - right now. Don't come until both of us have gotten back again."
"But, milady, my wages..."
"Don't worry," the woman's smile grew a little. "I'll have Mary take them to you - no matter how long you're gone. And if she forgets, ask for everything when we get back."
The man nodded uncertainly as she hurried to the door to leave. "They... they took the East road, milady - to cross the bridge, I imagine. From there you'll have to ask."
The woman shot him a grateful look, then slipped out of the room. Once outside the stable, far from the range of snooping eyes and ears, she pulled a fearsome looking ten-shooter pistol from her pocket and loaded it with a round of bullets.
Compliments to being twinsies with an Ekat.
