Chapter 11

"Hazel, do you want to talk about the dream before we set off?" I asked her. I looked at her with pleading eyes.

She shook her head and said "Not today, nor tomorrow, and absolutely not ever." Before I could protest she climbed in the carriage and slammed the door shut. Damn! Was it all that bad? I put Accipitrem into a trot and we continued our journey. We traveled for 4 days and it was nearing noon when we reached a small town. The town was nearly empty except for a few people wandering the streets.

A man walked over to the carriage and motioned for me to stop. "You might want to not leave this place. What lies ahead is a group of bandits, monsieur. They steal whatever they want and kill without a single care. Please, monsieur, think this through."

Bandits, my dear good friend? I pulled forward leaving the man in the dust. No bandits are touching anything that belongs to me. Without stopping again for warnings, Hazel and I were out of the wretched town in no time.

...

"YOU FOOL! HOW COULD YOU HAVE LOST HER AND THE MAN?" I screeched. These two are pathetic! "You lose them one more time and I swear... you won't live more than three seconds when I see you."

"Yes, monsieur Maxwell, we won't fail again." Gabe said. Augustus nodded in agreement as they both were about to leave.

"Oh and one more thing gentlemen... bring me the ballet instructor at the opera house." I smirked and turned my back on them. She is going to get what's coming to her...

...

I was staring out the window the entire time we were in town. The people look scared of something. When we stopped for a man, I had no idea what Erik was doing, but then I heard part of the conversation. Bandits up ahead! Erik please don't go forward, we can take a different route. The carriage lurched forward and a clutched my head. Erik, I hope you know what you were doing.

We exited the town and were on our way again. My hands were shaking with fear of losing Erik again. Maybe I was worrying too much about what I heard. I won't lose Erik anytime soon. Suddenly, the carriage stopped. Erik opened the door and this time I was sure it was him. "Erik that is you right?" I asked.

Erik nodded. "Grab your suitcase and a blanket or two." he said. I quickly grabbed my suitcase, cloak, and two quilts. Erik had already grabbed his suitcase and two quilts as well. I was helped onto Accipitrem's back and Erik quickly was holding the reigns with his arms around me. Without noticing, I blushed and Erik saw. "Is somebody blushing?" Oops!

"Erik what are we doing?" I asked.

"We have to take a different route because of the bandits; because of it, we have to leave the carriage behind." Erik answered my question.

"How close are we to Nante?" I asked as Accipitrem started to trot.

"We should reach there by tomorrow night if we travel until sunset."Without another word, I leaned my head back on Erik and fell asleep.

...

Hazel was asleep as we made it to an inn at the side of the road. The path I took to get around the bandits was long, but I made it. I put Accipitrem into a stable after I had a stable boy take all our stuff inside. With Hazel asleep in my arms, I went inside and had got a room. Gently, trying not to wake Hazel up, I placed her in the bed. Whew! I have gotten better at that! I climbed in next to her and held her around the waist.

Her lips curled into a smile and she sighed. I love her, Erik. Of course you do, stupid! After about five minutes, I too succumbed to sleep. When I woke up, Hazel was awake, but still lying next to me. "Why didn't you get up?" I asked.

She blushed and said "I didn't want to wake you up." After she said that, she stared up at the ceiling with a distant look. "Erik about that dream I had..." she began.

"Hazel, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I interrupted.

"I think it would help if I got it off my shoulders and talked to you about it." I nodded and let her speak. "I was lying in a bed and the room I was in was small, yet it was a fine room. Out of nowhere, I felt a pain jolt in my stomach. Slowly, I peeked under the covers to see..." Please don't let it be... "I was pregnant. Whose child it was, I didn't know at the time. A maid walked into the room and I asked her a few questions. She said something along the lines that my husband was this Destler guy." I froze to where I stood. That's my last name... "When I went to ask her another question, she was gone. The Destler guy came to the door and I found that it was you. We talked and then you asked if I needed anything and how our child was doing." Hazel stopped when she saw the color leave my face. "Erik, I can stop if you want me to."

"No, go on Hazel, you need to get it off your shoulders." I gulped.

"Okay. I answered by saying fine and that a kiss for our child would make me happy. When I turned to find you, you weren't there. I stood up and walked into the hall. I looked down at the other end if the hall to find Maxwell holding a dagger. Quickly, I hid in the closet in my room, but he found me and started saying creepy things. Before I woke up, he brought the dagger down on my stomach." she finished and was panting.

"Oh, my poor Hazel." I hugged her around the waist. "I'm sorry for not protecting you better."

"It'll do us no good sitting here crying, Erik. Let's get cleaned up and on the road again." Hazel said pulling herself out of bed. I quickly did the same. Within thirty minutes, we were both ready to make the final leg of our journey.