Hola, guys!

From now on we will be updating during the weekends, probably on sundays - that's why this week you had two updates.

Other than that, thanks for ready, reviewing, following, favorite-ing, etc. Makes us happy :)

Hugs,

Vicky and Alex

This one goes to Reeny, who gets bossy when she likes what I write.

The gallop of six horses broke the silence that reigned on the dark, cold woods. The sheriff and his men were getting closer to their prey. Kate and her mother, Johanna, were being chased by the Sheriff himself and three of his finest men. Four men against two women. That was the bravery of the King's guard.

Johanna had been charged with had been giving bread to some outlaws, apparently that was assisting the enemies of the crown.

"Katie, watch out!" Johanna screamed just in time for Kate to dodge a knife that was directed at her head.

"We are almost there!" the younger woman screamed back.

They were headed to a small church outside a neighboring town,the only place where Johanna could hide for a while. The sheriff's men couldn't enter a church unless they had a permit from the Cardinal, and although it would eventually be granted, it gave the two women a chance to come up with a plan.

One of the men caught up with them and was aiming to jump onto Johanna's horse. Gracefully Kate threw a knife at him, hitting him in the center of his chest. The dead man fell off his horse while it kept running without a master. In another situation Kate would feel bad for killing someone, but their lives were at stake. It was him or them.

The sky was purple and light blue with the sunrise. It would have been a beautiful spring dawn if they weren't being followed by four, now three, evil men. The smell of the morning dew filled her lungs, not only with that fresh scent but also with hope.

A cry caught her attention. She turned to face her mother, who still rode at her side.

All of Kate's fear became real.

Johanna was lying on her horse, an arrow buried in her back, the feathers fluttering in the wind. She was not dead, but she was losing a lot of blood. And if someone didn't treat the wound soon, it would get infected.

"Mother," Kate said, voice strained and cracking. "Stay with me. We are almost there."

With her last ounce of strength, Johanna extended her horse's rein to Kate.

Riding with one hand and pulling her mother's horse with the other, Kate managed to keep riding towards their destination. But the men didn't stop. If anything, they were getting closer to the women. Kate spotted the churchat the top of a hill, only a short distance away from them. A little ray of hope brightened the girl's soul. She spurred on her horse to make him go even faster. Her steed was exhausted, she knew, but he followed her directions, putting an increasing distance between the King's men and them.

For a second Kate Beckett dared to think they had won.

For a second she believed what the people say: that rubbish of 'good always wins'.

But so much can happen in a second.

The sheriff's scream of 'aim, fire!' The sound of two arrows piercing her mother's already torn body. The panic that invaded her when she saw the lifeless body of her best friend hit the ground.

It took one second for everything in her life to turn upside down.

In a rash attempt to avenge Johanna's death, she let go of her mother's horse and turned to charge towards the man that had killed her mother. Kate shot one of them down before she felt the thud of an arrow against her left side.

The burning sensation made her lose concentration and control over her horse.

The burning sensation woke her up, gasping in terror. Her breathing was frantic, her heart was pounding, sweat pouring off her forehead as the adrenaline left her body. Kate tried to calm herself in vain. She needed fresh air. Without stopping to think, she grabbed her belt and knife and started running away from the nightmare and the camp.

Kate remembered the night her mother died as if had been yesterday instead of five years ago. She had dreamed of the scene over and over again; sometimes she tried to control the Kate in the dream, desperately trying to see if she could change the inevitable. But her actions didn't matter: one way of another her mother always ended up dead. Maybe it was destiny's way of telling her that she couldn't have changed the events of that night, even if she went back in time.

The leader of the group was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't hear someone running towards her, falling to the ground as someone tackled her, too late to react. She instinctively reached for her knife and pressed it to the throat of the man above her.

"Do you always act like this towards the men that are on top of you?" an irritating, yet familiar, voice said.

"Get off me, Castle!" she spat angrily when she realized who had knocked her over.

"I can be on the bottom as well, I don't mind," the newbie joked and rolled to the side to lie next to her.

Between the trees' leaves he could see the sky getting lighter. The sun was starting to rise. It was still too early for the animals that inhabited the forest to be up and around, so there was no movement around them. It was still, and peaceful.

"I'm guessing I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep." He broke the silence. "What's troubling you?"

"Not your concern," she replied unemotionally as she felt warmth radiating off his body. It contrasted with her other side, which was uncovered.

His silence took her by surprise. As much as she hated answering his questions, if there was something she had learned about Richard it was that if he was determined to find out about something, he would persist until he succeeded. Then again, his silence felt like a huge question mark, like if he was not asking very loudly.

"How's Meredith?" she asked looking into his eyes. She had never had him so close; she had never lain so close to him. A part of her wanted to tell him the truth - she had a weird sensation that she could trust him. The other part of her was still mad at him for leaving the bonfire with Meredith. That redhead knew how to ruin her life.

"She's crazy." He looked terrified for a moment, then smiled. "I feel like I just entered a tornado."

"That's because you did," Kate replied honestly. "Meredith is - well, she's not girlfriend material." The woman tried to say it as nicely as she could. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" He grinned.

"I didn't know she would be so intense," he confessed. "In everything. I mean, the sex was awesome but -" Castle felt his body get tense as he stopped talking. Talking to a woman about sex was unacceptable, even if Kate was more tomboy than woman he still needed to respect her.

"Yeah, everyone that had sex with her says the same thing." Beckett replied without any regard to what her companion was thinking. "Don't worry, she'll get bored of you eventually."

"Oh, she won't. I have a lot of tricks," Richard said without thinking.

Kate ignored the comment and sat up, wrapping her arms round her legs and propping her chin on her sky was completely blue now. The Merry Men should all be awake and ready for their tasks by now. It would be a matter of time before they started to wonder were their leader was.

"Come on, Castle," she said, standing up and stretching. "I bet there's certain redhead waiting to have breakfast with you."