A Moonacre Fanfiction Peace on Earth

"Maria?" the black form shouted through the wind.

"Robin! How did you—" Maria froze in her tracks when she got close enough to see. She tensed. "Ambrose, how did you get out?"

"I am smart, you know."

Her cheeks almost grew hot, were it not for the raging blizzard.

"Then you ought to be smart enough to stay away from me, especially after what you did to Robin—"

"Listen, I'm sorry about that." He shifted in the snow. The charming, easy façade he had worn last night was gone. In its place was a frightened young man.

"Oh, indeed?" She could hardly believe his audacity.

"I am, I—I didn't mean to hurt him."

"I suppose you didn't mean to hurt him when you threw the dagger at him?"

"I panicked."

"You could've KILLED him. How could you—"

"Where's your horse?"

"What?" She could barely hear. Her senses seemed numbed by the cold.

"WHERE'S YOUR HORSE?"

"Gone, hopefully back to the manor. But now I've got to take you back to the De Noir village."

"No thanks."

"I'll stop you right there, sir—" she gasped sharply as she turned her neck. Pain flared.

"You're hurt?"

"No."

"You're hurt. I wasn't really asking. What happened?"

"Oh, never mind what happened. Let's just go back to the village."

They stood motionless for a moment. In that brief period, Ambrose was able to divine a crucial piece of information.

"You don't know where you are, do you?" Maria opened her mouth to reply, but he quickly added, "I know you don't, don't bother answering."

"Well, I suppose you can leave, then," Maria said. "But of course then you'll be guilty of murder." This drew him up short.

"What?"

"I don't know where I am. I'm likely to die. What if they assume you killed me? By now, they know you've escaped. Come back to the De Noir village with me, and you may even be rewarded. Leave me, and you'll be chased. And once they find you—for they will find you—they'll have reason to execute you."

Ambrose squinted in the piercing wind. Perhaps he was trying to tell whether or not Maria was bluffing. But at this point, her features were so hardened by the cold that she might have been a porcelain doll, and dolls do not give up secrets. Eventually his cowardly nature won.

"Very well. But we're closer to your home." He peered at her. "You really don't know where we are, do you?"

"We've already established that fact."

"Right. Well…follow me." He began walking slowly. Maria couldn't tell if he was doing this for his sake or her own. At any rate, she accepted it. Still, she was wary. It was still possible for Ambrose to turn on her. Perhaps he planned on killing her somewhere they wouldn't find her body quickly. She shuddered at the thought. Or perhaps she was shuddering from the cold. She fixed her eyes on Ambrose's dark figure before her. If she had something on which to focus, it would give her reason to keep moving forward. The blizzard was unrelenting. Maria hoped dearly that her horse had returned home by now. The snow was climbing higher and higher around her legs. If Ambrose hadn't been moving in front of her, it would have been twice as difficult to forge a path.

Presently, Maria saw the forest begin to fade behind them. They reached the outer fringes of the woods, and Moonacre Manor cut a welcome, albeit blurry figure in their path. She breathed a frosty sigh of relief. Ambrose hadn't tried to kill her. Still, she felt nearly dead herself. Her legs did not feel as though they belonged to her anymore, such an effort it took to lift them. Whether or not she had toes, she didn't know anymore. All feeling was lost. The same applied to her fingers, though she tried to bury them in Robin's pockets. Her cheeks were blistering cold, and her lips were chapped. She was so focused on moving forward that she didn't realize her leader had stopped.

"Oh!" She bumped into him, staggering back. He turned. Her muscles, sore as they were, hurt when she tensed.

"Listen."

"I'm listening," she said impatiently.

"I—I appreciate what you did."

"What?" Her teeth chattered.

"They would've stabbed me. I probably would've died." He squirmed.

"You probably would've deserved it," she muttered bitterly under her breath. He leaned forward, but she backed up.

"What?"

"Nothing. I want Moonacre Valley to be a place of justice and peace. That is why I said what I did."

"Right." He stood uncomfortably still. "Right." Maria looked at him as though he'd gone mad. Here they were, standing in the freezing elements, when they were so close to a warm, comfortable shelter!

"Right," she said, "let's go on in, then."

"Wait! I mean, are you sure they won't…" he trailed off.

"Won't what?"

"I don't know." His cowardly expression looked foolish. Maria wondered how she had once thought him handsome. Nevertheless, she obliged some relief.

"At the moment, they'll be glad you brought me back in one piece. Don't worry."

"All right." The creases in his brow cleared. He stood awkwardly a moment longer, then turned and resumed plodding forward. After what seemed like a frigid eternity, they reached the entrance. When Ambrose hesitated before the door, Maria stepped in front of him, rolling her eyes. Seizing the handle in her aching, clumsy hand, she fumbled to open it. At last, it swung open.

"I'm home!"

A/N: My dear reader,

Thanks for continuing with me on this long journey! Let's hear a round of applause for Immergladsss' correction prediction of Ambrose's appearance here. I absolutely love reading your reviews, and I encourage you now to not only review my stories, but to also

Read other Moonacre fanfics, there are some lovely ones out there; most recently A Reason to Stay by Donutbird! And

Write! Even if it's a super short one-shot, you can make a compilation of them and publish them! Or go ahead and start that Moonacre novel you've been considering. We'll all read it and comment on it and send hearts and you'll smile. I promise.

Anyway, thanks for reading this. Bye for now!

Ponygirl7 :)