Chapter 11
Teren reined in his horse outside yet another inn in yet another small town. If his calculations were correct, Isabella and her new friend Nell had been there only the night before, and he could spend the night here before picking up the trail again tomorrow. Perhaps, he thought optimistically, he could have Isabella on his saddle tomorrow evening, making their way back to Kellineton.
And then what? he thought. Take her home? Marry her? He recalled King Yurick's words, that Isabella did love him, but she didn't know it yet. He wasn't entirely sure he believed that, though he could still feel her touch on his arm when they had explored the secret passageway. She had left Gavin, but from what he'd heard, that was only because she'd caught him with another woman.
He dismounted and tossed his reins to the waiting ostler. By now the routine was so familiar he could do it in his sleep. He pushed open the inn door, found the innkeeper, and asked about two girls, one with red hair.
But the innkeeper was not, as usual, stationed by the door. When Teren asked, he was pointed to the counter, where a red-faced, balding man was deep in conversation with a girl young enough to be his granddaughter.
"If'n you puts a pinch of rosemary in the chicken, it tastes loads better," the girl was saying enthusiastically as Teren approached. "Since we 'ired the new cook, we've got twice the business, just on accounta the chicken!"
He cleared his throat, and both looked up at him.
"'Ello, wha's this?" the girl said. "'E's a rich 'un, no doubt about it. Not bad lookin' either. 'E'll want yer best room."
"How may I help you, my lord?" the innkeeper asked, his accent much cleaner than the girl's. Proximity to the large city of Bordertown, Teren supposed.
"If your best room's not taken, I will have it gladly," he said. "But first I need to ask about some of your previous clients."
The girl was looking intently over his shoulder, distracting Teren until the innkeeper said, "Out with it, then."
"I'm looking for two girls," he said, the story pouring easily from his lips after weeks of practice. "One a rather tall redheaded girl, the other rather short and—"
The girl at the bar had blanched, and without explanation disappeared into the crowded dining room. Teren turned to see where she was going, but was distracted by a flash of what looked like red hair that vanished quickly up the stairs.
"Isabella," he murmured, and excusing himself from the innkeeper, turned to follow her.
"We have to leave now," Isabella gasped, her heart racing with adrenaline.
"Why? 'Tis a nice place, and we've already paid the room," Nell said, her own breath a little short after running up the stairs.
"Down the back stairs! Praise the gods, we haven't unpacked yet. Hurry!"
"Are ye gonna explain at any time?"
"Once we're out of here! Come on, we're five miles from Bordertown, it's big enough we can get lost."
Isabella had grabbed her rucksack and had her hand on the doorknob when she heard heavy booted feet in the hall. "He's coming! Out the window!"
"I knew it, ye've gone mad," Nell said, but she opened the window and shimmied down the trellis outside. Isabella followed suit, ignoring the thorns that cut her hands.
"We'll have to steal a horse if we're to outrun him," she thought aloud, but Nell grabbed her arm.
"We ain't about t'rob this inn. The innkeeper's a right nice fella. I'll not 'ave it."
"Nell, please!"
She couldn't be moved. Isabella let out a quiet shriek of frustration, then grabbed her arm and dragged her down the alley behind the inn. They sprinted out of the town, stopping only to wait while the guard opened the gate for them, and then ducked off the road into the brambles at its side.
"We ain't goin' nowhere fast in this muck," Nell said distastefully.
"We don't have to be fast. We just have to be unseen," Isabella replied, wincing as a branch slapped her cheek.
"Mind tellin' me wha's goin' on?" Nell asked after several moments of fighting through brush.
"That man was Teren Thundergrad. I was supposed to marry him before I ran off with Gavin. He must have come after us. Oh, gods, if he's after us Gavin must be, too!"
"'Ow many gentlemen you got wantin' to marry you?" Nell asked incredulously.
"Two too many. I'm done with men," Isabella declared, angrily batting aside a twig.
"But 'e seemed so nice! And awful 'andsome. Why'd ya leave 'im?"
Isabella sighed. "I didn't love him. I loved Gavin. But then he went and—" she stopped and shuddered, imagining the life she'd nearly trapped herself in. "And now I want nothing to do with either of them."
Nell sniffed. "I imagine ye'd be singin' a different tune if'n it'd been Gavin what was in that inn," she muttered, but a look from Isabella silenced her. They continued on in silence in the biting cold, until after an hour Nell said, "I reckon we've barely gone 'alf a mile. 'Less we get on the road, we ain't gettin' ta Bordertown tonight."
Half a mile was nowhere near far enough away from Teren for Isabella to feel safe, but her eyelids had started to droop and she longed for a warm bed for the night. So she nodded and followed Nell up the steep bank to the empty road. If Teren had come after her, he was well on his way to Bordertown by now, she reassured herself, and then stopped thinking and staggered exhaustedly after Nell down the moonlit road. She barely noticed when they slipped into town under the gatekeeper's watchful eye, blinked sleepily in the light of the inn Nell chose for them, and collapsed into the bed Nell led her to without even taking off her shoes. If Teren came for her tonight, so be it.
Teren kicked the foot of his bed in frustration. After weeks of searching, weeks, he had finally found Isabella, only to have her flee from him like a deer before wolves. What had he ever done to terrify her so? What did she think he was going to do? Take her back to the king and force her to marry him? As if he could ever do such a thing. All he wanted was to talk to her, understand what was going on, perhaps tell her—
Tell her what? That you love her? She's likely to believe that.
Tonight had made it eminently clear: Isabella hated him. No, worse. She feared him. And now what was he to do? Chase her over the mountains and into Speroa? How would he ever find her in that vast forest? More than likely he'd be set upon by bandits and murdered before he had a chance to draw his sword. And his father would never know what had happened to him, nor his mother, nor Isabella…
His thoughts were growing unbearable. He staggered down into the common room, plunked himself into a stool at the bar, and ordered the strongest liquor they had in stock.
Teren hadn't come during the night, Isabella realized blearily as the dim winter sun on her face awoke her. She sat up, noticing only then how rumpled and dirty her dress had become in their late-night dash and how irreparably tangled her long hair was. She combed her fingers through it until it was at least passable before she braided it and tied it off with a small leather thong. Nell had already left, presumably to find some breakfast downstairs in the common room. With a sigh, Isabella accepted her haphazard appearance and left the room to join her friend.
Nell noticed her as soon as she appeared on the stairwell and waved her over to the bar, where she was happily chatting with two strangers.
"These men 'ave a caravan goin' over the mountain pass t'morrow, an' they're willin' t'take us no charge!" she said excitedly as soon as Isabella had sat down beside her.
"No charge?" Isabella cocked an eyebrow, suspicious.
One stranger, a tall man with a pock-marked face and watery blue eyes, nodded. "We're one o' the las' groups ta go over afore they close the pass. An' after yer cousin here tol' me abou' yer sister, well, how could I say no?"
Isabella shot a grateful glance at Nell, whose quick tongue and sharp mind had explained away their situation many times. She had clearly used one of their favorites this time, the story that Nell and Isabella were cousins, headed to Speroa to help Isabella's older sister with the birth of her first child. Isabella was only grateful it had worked so well to their advantage.
"I thank you for your kindness, sir," Isabella said with a small involuntary curtsy. When the second man raised an eyebrow, both at Isabella's clearly cosmopolitan accent and her odd manner, Nell merely explained, "She's worked at a lord's 'ouse as a maid near on seven years now."
Isabella flushed, not for the first time grateful to Nell's quick thinking for covering her mistake. Despite Nell's daily tutoring, Isabella's country accent still sounded stilted, and she had a tendency to forget it. Now, at the very least, she was covered if she forgot again.
"In tha' case, m'lady," the man replied, tipping his cap sardonically, "we'll be glad to have ye along. Many's the folk wha' prefers a genteel type ta do business with."
Isabella forced a smile, then excused herself politely, saying she wanted to look for a new cloak before they left. Nell was too caught up in her conversation to come along, so Isabella slipped out alone. She had heard many tales of Bordertown, and she wanted to appease her curiosity while she had the chance.
Their inn was located off the main road, but still near the middle of town. Despite their exhaustion, they had been smart enough not to stay in the inns close to the edge of town, where Teren was sure to look first. By the time he got to their inn, hopefully, they would be long gone.
Still, Isabella covered her head as soon as she stepped into the frigid air. Her hair had given her away last night, she was sure of it, and the last thing she wanted was for Teren to spot it from afar and come after her again.
As it so happened, it wasn't Teren she had to worry about. Hardly had she entered the main square when a strong, callused hand grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around.
"Isabella?" Gavin asked incredulously. His tone matched her expression, she was sure, for she never would have expected to see him again, much less in Bordertown.
"Gavin! What are you doing here?"
He looked away, and she noticed how much thinner he looked, how his eyes were sunken and dark-rimmed, how his cheeks were shadowed in stubble. What had become of him since she'd left?
"I was looking for you," he said. "I wanted to apologize. I never should have…you know."
Isabella's pity was replaced with a wave of annoyance. Did he expect her to believe this tripe?
"You're right," she said, not bothering to conceal her irritation. "And that's why I left."
"Isabella—" He took her hand in both of his, and a shiver ran down the spine at the memory of those hands gently stroking her hair, protecting her from evil at night. She shook her head to banish the thought.
"As soon as you left—" he began, stopping when she raised a dubious eyebrow. "As soon as I sobered up," he corrected himself, "I realized I couldn't live without you. No matter what I said before, you were my life. And I realized that I wanted to be with you. I wanted to marry you. At first I tried searching inns for you, but I decided it would be easier to wait here for you instead. Isabella, I was so scared I'd missed you and I'd never see you again. I know I've treated you horribly, but please—" His voice choked up, and Isabella felt the sting of tears in her eyes. "Please take me back."
How could I resist such a plea? she wondered. She tried to find the resentment she had so long held towards him, but she couldn't. He was sorry for what he had done, and to top it off he had come here to wait for her, like a romantic hero, and apologize. It was just like a poem!
"Oh, Gavin," she said, but hardly had time to take a breath before his mouth sealed over hers and she was lost, for the first time in a long time, in the sheer joy of kissing a man who loved her.
"We're going with a caravan tomorrow," she whispered when he finally pulled away. "Over the mountains, to Speroa, like we always planned. Come with us."
"Only if you'll marry me once we get there," he replied, and the rakish grin she had always loved so well was back on his face. She smiled up at him before leaning in to kiss him again.
Isabella, you gotta walk the walk if you're gonna talk the talk. Silly.
I would like to apologize for taking so long to update...again. One of my goals for this summer is to finish part one, and hopefully once I get to the climactic portion it'll go a little faster. And then, part two, which has some of my favorite characters and which (hopefully...again) I will be better at writing.
If y'all were to drop a review, I'd be much obliged.
~~Mazzie~~