Part 6 – Battles

The sun was already rising at the horizon when they finally reached a smaller village. They had always stayed near the coast. Jack knew that the region where Irina lived was searched by his soldiers, so he thought it better to take her to his manor for now. There they could talk about how to go on.

Unfortunately, he had not yet told Irina about his plans and he feared that she would be outraged if he did.

"There's a bar in this village, I know the owner of. The woman has rooms for rent, so in about five minutes we should have a place to rest." He announced. They hadn't spoken for hours, but when he didn't get an answer, he looked at the woman leaning at his shoulder and found her sleeping.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and pulled her closer to his body to prevent her from falling off the horse. When they reached the bar a few moments later, Jack got off the horse and took the sleeping woman into his arms.

When she felt the movements, Irina awoke from her sleep slowly, not really knowing where she was. She protested weakly against being carried, but then her head sank back against Jack's shoulder.

"Good morning," Jack greeted the woman who opened the large wooden door.

"Jack Bristow!" she cried out happily. "I didn't expect to see you anytime soon! What are you doing here so early with... a woman in your arms?" Her voice didn't hide her surprise.

"That's a long story. We need a room! We haven't slept all night and I will tell you everything after I have rested for a few hours."

"Of course, come in! I hope the lady is here voluntarily! Don't want to be involved in any woman-robbery crime. I just had a raid for smugglers last month and..."

"Chrissy!" Jack interrupted her. "I'm a high ranking officer, not a bandit."

The woman laughed while she went up she stairs. The wood creaked under their feet and when she opened the door to a small room, it gave a loud squeak.

"This is the only room I've left. If you want you can sleep in the barn..."

"Not necessary," Jack answered. "She's my wife."

Irina, who slowly came to her senses, opened her eyes still half asleep. "I'm not his wife..." she murmured half-hearted.

"And she's drunk." Jack added friendly when Chrissy looked at him suspiciously. "Does this door have a lock?"

"Sure!" Chrissy looked at the beautiful woman and for a moment envied her. Those rich ladies were sometimes very weird creatures. She herself would have done anything for the chance to be married to Jack Bristow and that lady obviously denied. "Call me if you need anything else. I will send Bruce to take care of your horse," she said, then she left the room and pulled the door closed behind her.

Jack sighed and laid the woman down on the bed. Irina held her head and tried to fight the urge to drift back to sleep. Only when she felt someone pulling off her shoes, she succeeded. Within a second she was sitting upright.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You don't want to sleep with your shoes on in this bed, do you?" Jack asked.

"No! But I can do this myself, thanks!" She pulled off her shoes and let them drop to the floor, then she fell back onto he bed and pulled the sheets over her body.

When she was just about to fall asleep again, she felt Jack lying down next to her and was wide awake again.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked sharper than before and with a certain amount of aggression in her voice. He stared at her as if she was crazy.

"I am trying to sleep!" he explained. "And I suggest you're doing the same."

Now for Irina all thought of sleep was gone from her mind, her rage returning and forcing away her sleepiness. "I'm not going to sleep in the same bed with you! I don't trust you."

He moaned frustrated since obviously he couldn't avoid having to give her an answer.

"Miss Derevko, I don't trust you either, but may I remind you – again – that I saved your life... not to mention my own! We would both be dead now. Can we discuss this after a few hours of sleep?"

"You saved my life?" Irina laughed sarcastically. "I was totally in control over the situation until you appeared."

Jack sat up in annoyance and pierced her with his eyes. "How is 'about to be killed' having everything under control?"

"Gerard would have never killed me! I know him! He was bluffing!"

He stared at her for a full minute, unable to believe what he had just heard from her mouth, and wondered if she was really convinced by her own words. This woman was unbelievable, and for a split second he truly regretted having given a promise to her maid. He would love to just leave her here.

"Bluffing?" Jack asked ironically. "They had already tied you and were about to throw you into the water. Now, if you don't want to sleep in this bed, feel free to take the floor. There's enough free space as you can see. Good night."

"Bastard!" she murmured and folded her arms angrily, then she sat down on the floor, followed by his amused glance. He made her angry... No, she corrected, in fact he was not the person who had caused her anger, Gerard was. For years she had done him favors, supplied him with important information from the most trustworthy contacts, even shared his bed a few times. And now she had made one little mistake and he let her down... even worse, wanted to get rid of her. And the worst of all was that her enemy had saved her life and now she was stuck with him.

She had never needed a man to protect her. She could handle her problems on her own and if Jack Bristow thought that she was thankful to him, he was wrong. Sure, he had saved her life, but he was also the reason for her troubles. Why couldn't he just go away and leave her problems to her?

After a few more minutes of silence, Irina finally got up and went to the door.

"Where are you going?" Jack asked and Irina found him looking at her. He had obviously not slept at all but had been watching her with all his attention.

"I'm sleeping in the barn in the hay... actually that's what you should have offered, but since you're one of the queen's cheap employees, I don't expect you to know anything about behaving like a gentleman. And since you surely have duties at court, I think I will continue from here alone, so I won't bother you anymore. If Gerard has a spy following us, I will explain everything to him. Good night!"

She turned the key and went to open the door. Before she had even realized that he had left the bed, his hand was pressed to the wood and he held the door closed.

"You are not leaving this room!" he stated dryly and completely under control, yet there was a certain sharpness in his voice that didn't allow any contradiction. "You will get over there to that bed and sleep. NOW!"

Irina's eyes darkened with rage. "How dare you..." She watched open-mouthed as he turned the key. "Let me make something very clear, Mr. Bristow. You do not give me orders. You have no right to lock me up or..."

"Wrong. I had orders to arrest you, not only did you flee but also knocked me out. So, actually, I have every right to kill you at once. Now get to sleep." There was a dangerous tone in his voice that warned her not to push him further, yet she was too furious to just accept being given orders by one of the queen's employees.

"I will! In the barn!" She unlocked the door again and pushed him away. Before she could even open it, he had grabbed her and carried her to the bed.

"I've had enough of your damned stubbornness!" he hissed.

Irina started to struggle against him when he threw her onto the bed. She yelled some curses into his face, trying to prevent him from grabbing her hands. Panic rose in her. Maybe she had tempted him too much. She cried out in a mixture of fear and rage, wanting to catch the attention of the landlady. He tried to prevent her from doing so by covering her mouth with his hand, wanting to tell her that nothing would happen to her if she calmed down and stopped her insanity. But before he could do so, her free hand hit his face in a punch that made him dizzy. Their fight continued for two more minutes, and ended when Jack finally managed to close an iron cuff around Irina's left wrist. She pushed at his chest and tried to kick him away with her legs until he finally managed to catch her free hand and pin her to the bed with his weight.

When he felt her body tremble and saw the tears standing in her eyes, he suddenly felt sorry for his harsh methods.

"I apologize if I hurt you..." His hand touched her cheek and his eyes scanned hers, then wandered lower to her moist red lips. His thumb brushed over them and formed them out before he suddenly realized what he was doing. He sat up to bring distance between him and her. For a moment he stared at her breathlessly while he felt some scratches at his cheek. He hissed in pain, his rage returning when he felt his hurting eye where her fist had hit him.

Irina looked in disbelief at her left hand that was shackled to the bed. She tried to open it with her free hand and when she didn't succeed, she started to pull at the chain in despair, letting out frustrated cries when she failed. Jack held up the key for the cuff and with an infuriated cry, Irina tried to grab for it, but Jack was out of her reach.

"Give me that key, you damned son of a b..." she cursed, while she continued pulling at the chain. She ignored the pain that originated in her wrist when the hard metal rubbed over her delicate skin. She hated being locked... and even more she hated being chained.

"I won't, otherwise you will run away tonight." He explained and didn't look at her once more, but got up from the bed and took a woolen blanket from a table.

"Bristow..." Irina's voice showed anger, but also insecurity. When she saw him head to the door, she stared at him. "Where are you going?"

"To the barn. I see that I won't get any sleep here anyway, since I have to expect that you'll kill me once I close my eyes." He looked at her and she still saw anger standing in his face, but also regret... "Good night. You have this room for yourself now, lady... just as you wanted." With these words he opened the door and left the room.

"Hey! Wait!!!" Irina yelled and pulled at her chain. "Bristow!!! You can't just leave me here... damn it! Move your butt back in here!"

But he didn't even react. He locked the door from the outside, then she heard him leave. She continued yelling for him, mixed with the worst curses and promises about what would happen to him when he returned until loud knocks could be heard through the wall mixed with the angry voice of a man.

"HEY! Stop the noise! There are people trying to sleep here!"

Irina sank down onto the bed, her eyes filling with tears – tears of rage. Rage about being unable to get free. With a furious cry she threw one of the cushions against the wall at the other side of the room from which the strange man's voice had come. Then she let her head sink to the bed in defeat. A terrible headache told her that it was time for her to get a little sleep and her exhaustion finally forced her to give in to the need to close her eyes.

Only for a few moments, she told herself, and only seconds later she was asleep.