Chapter 7

Betrayed

"What in the world had that girl been thinking?" Emmett thought to himself, as he paced the floor.

Ayden had just told him the story of what had happened to her, and he couldn't believe it. Why in the world would she risk her life for a horse? That just didn't make any sense. There had to be more to the story, but he just couldn't figure out what.

Soon he decided that he needed air, so he left out the back door, grabbed a shirt from their bag, and wandered aimlessly around the village. He had not told either of the girls that he was leaving, and neither of them had heard him go. They were still to busy talking.

As he was wandering the streets, he ran into the guard that had let him into the city.

"Is your sister ok?" the man asked.

"My sister?" Emmett asked, confused. How did this man know about Aria?

"Yes, the girl you carried into the city this morning. How is she doing?"

"Oh, my sister!" He realized that the man was talking about Ayden.

"Ah, she is fine. Thanks for asking. She woke up about an hour ago."

"Wonderful. Maybe I should pay her a visit. Is she still at the doctors home?"

"What? Oh, no. See we have a friend here that is good with medicine and that sort of thing. I just took her straight there. Well, thank you for your concern, but I really have to be going. I came to find some food," he said that spontaneously, hoping to get rid of the guard, but the moment the words were out of his mouth, a noise from his stomach confirmed his statement.

"Well I certainly hope your friend knows what she is doing. And did you say you are trying to find some food? Have you had dinner yet? Have you ever been here before? If not I could show you where to find the best meals around."

"She does, and no I have not been here before. And you really don't have to do that. My money is limited. If it is the best meals around, then I'm pretty sure I won't be able to afford it, sorry. Thanks though." Emmett nodded his head to the guard and started to walk off, when the guard caught him by the shoulder. Emmett froze; his thoughts were going a thousand miles an hour, worrying, and hoping they hadn't been caught.

"Oh, but I insist. I was just about to get some dinner anyway, and the meal would be free. It's the Mrs. that makes the best meals around, so I usually get them free of charge."

"That is very generous of you, but there is no way I could allow that. I don't like being indebted to people."

"No, no. You misunderstand me. I am sure you must be under a lot of stress with what just happened to your sister. I know you must be hungry. This is my treat. I want you to have a good experience here, and a good first meal is a great way to start. I know, I don't know you and you don't know me, but please. Let an old man do some good for some one. It's not often that company comes along for people like me."

"Well," Emmett hesitated. Then his stomach made a noise that made up his mind. "Ok, I would really appreciate it. Thank you."

"You're welcome my young friend. Now tell me, what is your name?"

"I'm Emmett, and you are?" he answered, giving the man a skeptical look.

"Daniel. It's nice to meet you," he said as he stuck out his gnarled hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." Emmett answered as he stuck out his own hand and shook the old mans.

…

"Hey Ayden? Why is your hair black? It used to be blonde," Willow randomly asked.

"Yeah…it had to be changed. I told you how the guards are coming after me, right? Well, in the forest, they had asked Emmett if he had seen a woman with short, blonde hair, so I had to change all that."

"What a shame." Willow mourned. "That was one of Williams favorite things about you, mine too." she started playing with Ayden's hair.

"Yeah, I know, mine too." for a moment, the girls sat in comfortable silence, until Ayden's stomach rumbled.

"Ha, ok food for the cripple!" Willow cried, jumping up from her perch on the arm of the couch. "Where's Emmett? I bet he's hungry too."

"Oh you know what? You should let him cook, he's amazing." Ayden commented.

"Really? Well there isn't that much you can do in my kitchen, but he can give it a try if he is willing."

"Trust me, if he can make whatever it was in the forest we found taste good, I'm sure he can make whatever you have taste great! Ha ha." she grinned at the though of Emmett in an actual kitchen. Somehow, she just couldn't picture him cooking over anything but a fire pit in the middle of the forest.

"We will just have to find out, now where did he go?" Willow said, as she walked through her small home. She returned to Ayden with a quizzical look. "He's gone."

"What?" Ayden bolted upright. "Where? When? Why? What happened?" she looked frantically around as she tried to get up, but fell back and doubled over in pain.

"Whoa! What do you think you are trying to do?" Willow exclaimed as she helped her friend to lie back down.

"I've got to find him! He has no idea where he is, and the kings' men are looking for me! I'm sure by now they have figured out that he is with me! I've got to find him!" she grunted with pain as she attempted to get up again, only to fall back down.

"Ayden, stay right here. You will only hurt your chances of full recovery if you try and move. I will go find him, don't worry. He will be fine. I will find him." she gave Ayden a stern look as she emphasized the last sentence. "Stay here."

"Please hurry, I don't want anything to happen to him," she whispered to her friend as she rushed out the door.

But sitting and waiting wasn't going to well for Ayden. It had been about ten minuets, and she was trying to get up again. She made it this time, and had almost gotten to the front door, when she heard the back door open.

"Emmett?" she called.

…

"This is amazing!" Emmett said, with his mouth full of apple pie. He hadn't eaten food like this since his mom passed.

"I'm glad you like it," Daniels wife, Sara, beamed.

"It's an old secret family recipe," Daniel started to say, but was interrupted when his wife playfully slapped him upside the head.

"Oh don't start with that again," she laughed. "I just stumbled across it a few years ago. Now, I won't share my secret on what I did, but I had been making this pie without something. Then one day, I just decided to add a little something extra and ta-da! The perfect apple pie!" she grinned.

"Well, what ever you did to this, it's wonderful." Emmett commented.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door.

"Now, I wonder who that could be…" Daniel mumbled as he went to answer the door. The minuet he opened it, Willow fell in, talking ninety miles an hour.

"Oh good, your home. I have a friend, who visited me today, but he kind of wandered off, and now I can't find him anywhere! I searched all over town for him. He looks like that man there, eating your pie, except the last time I saw him, he didn't have a shirt on. And he…wait a second, Emmett! What are you doing here?"

All eyes turned toward Emmett, and he sat still for a moment, with a fork full of pie suspended in mid-air, half way to his partially opened mouth. Everything but his eyes had frozen, as he gazed at one face to another, but that only lasted for a moment, then he composed himself and answered the frantic Willow.

"Well, I got a little frustrated, and decided to go view the town. Daniel ran into me and invited me to come eat with him. So I accepted his offer. Wait, did you just leave Ay…my sister alone?"

"Oh ok, well don't do that any more! Yes, she is at home, and worried sick about you! Sorry to storm in and run, Sara, but I really have to get him back home with me."

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet, Willow dear." Sara said, in a timid voice.

"Why not?" Emmett asked, suspicion rising again.

"I am truly sorry about all this." Daniel said, clearing his throat.

"About what?" Willow questioned. Doubt and mistrust started to cloud her face.

"Well, you know how we keep a log of everyone who comes into the city, and it gets turned into the king every few hours, with the change of the guard?" the old man started.

"Yes…" Willow hesitated, before realization started to dawn on her face. "Oh Daniel! You didn't!"

"I had no choice, Will!" He cried out.

"What? What happened?" Emmett asked, confused.

"The king knows you and your sister are here. He told me to find you with any means necessary and hold you for a few hours. I don't know why, he just wanted that to happen. I didn't see any harm in it."

"Daniel, they aren't brother and sister…you remember Ayden, don't you?"

"Yeah, why? What does she have to do with this?"

"That was Ayden. You just gave Ayden over to Rupert!" Willow almost shouted in the old mans' face. Shocked, Daniel sank slowly into his chair.

"But…. I don't…. why does the king want Ayden?"

"She was sent on a mission a while back and did not kill her targeted person. Rupert then killed her husband, blamed it on her, and she ran." Emmett explained. "He's been after her ever since."

"He wants to kill her, Daniel."