Chapter 38

Kenna opened her eyes and stared at the dead body in front of her. The knife stuck in his heart. And there was blood everywhere. Kenna turned and pressed her hand to her mouth, because she was afraid to throw up otherwise. She heard a faint whimper behind her.

"It's all right. He can't hurt us anymore." Emeline tried to calm her weeping sons. "He will never hurt you again."

"I... I killed him..." Kenna stammered incredulously. "Why...?" She didn't finish the sentence. A tremor seized her entire body, while she was still staring at the lifeless man in front of her. She wrapped her arms around her body. "I... I wanted to stab his back, that he would let go of you. I didn't intend to kill him!"

"It was self-defense!" Emeline tried to soothe her. "Otherwise, he would have killed us all."

"I... I don't understand.." Kenna felt numb inside.

"He must have heard a noise and turned to it." Emeline guessed. "That's why you stabbed his heart and not his back. I didn't pay attention to what happened. I was probably in shock." She reached for Kenna's hand. "Don't have feelings of guilt! He deserved it. I mean, he was my brother, but the brother I knew was long dead."

Kenna nodded uneasily. She tried to convince herself, that she had no choice. She had to kill him to save Emeline and her children. But it gave her only little consolation. She killed a man. She couldn't deny that.

"We are taking his horse. Then we'll get faster to the Castle."

"We... we want to leave him just like that?" Kenna stammered.

Emeline nodded. "He doesn't deserve to have a burial. He wanted to kill us! He would have left us like that, too."

Kenna looked at Emeline doubting. She couldn't believe, that the death of her own brother didn't affect her. But apparently, the desire to live was more important, than a blood-relationship.

"Children, come here!" Emeline took the horse by the reins. "I'm helping you up." She wiped the tears from the cheek of her youngest son. "Stop whining! Remember how many times he had hit you and your brothers!"

Kenna looked at her shocked. Victor had abused the children, too? No wonder that Emeline hated her brother. She probably would react just as Emeline, if someone would do something bad to Daniel.

"Are you all right?" Emeline looked at Kenna with concern. "You are white as a sheet."

Kenna looked down at her bloodstained hands. "Is there a river nearby, that I can wash my hands?"

"Yes, over there." Alain, one of the twins, replied to Kenna. ''We discovered the stream when we were playing."

The boy led Kenna to the stream and she washed her hands. She also discovered some blood spatter on her dress. But she couldn't change, because she only had this dress. When she returned to Emeline and the other children, she saw that the young mother had spread a blanket over her brother's body.

"Can we continue?"

Kenna nodded. And with a last look back at the man, who had made her go through hell, she continued her way.

Bash reined in his horse and finally stopped it. From a distance, he had noticed an object, lying on the ground. But only after he had pulled the blanket away, he saw the total extent.

It was a man, not older than 30 years old, lying in his own blood, a knife plunged in his upper body. Bash crouched down and started to search for a piece of information in the man's jacket pocket. He didn't know where the man came from, nor what he had wanted in the middle of the forest. It was an unusual place to ambush someone and kill him, Bash thought. Rather atypically for the gangs, who mostly mugged carriages or set houses on fire.

Bash stopped searching, when his fingers touched something familiar. He pulled it out and could hadly believe his eyes, when he saw what it was: A necklace and a bracelet, that seemed strangely familiar to him. He frowned and searched further and stopped again.

There was a ring hidden in a fold of the pocket. Bash pulled it out and held his breath. There was no doubt. This was the ring of his late grandmother. The ring, he had given to Kenna as a wedding present. His heart began to beat faster. He knew now, why the other jewelry had looked familiar to him. Everything belonged to Kenna. Bash stared at the man, frowning. Was he the man, who had kidnapped her, had burnt the carriage and had killed the driver?

He took the jewelry, including the wedding ring, and put it in his pocket. Then he straightened up and looked at the ground for traces. He could see horse-shoe marks on the forest floor. If he would follow them, it crossed his mind, would they bring him to where Kenna was locked up? He had to try. A trace was better than nothing. He mounted his horse and followed the traces.

They were walked many more miles, when Emeline suggested to take another break.

Kenna was glad, because she felt weak and light-headed. She accepted the water bottle from Emeline and took a sip.

"I think I need to sit down." she said and settled on the soft mossy ground.

Emeline touched Kenna's forehead. "You are too warm! I think you've caught a fever."

Kenna took another sip from the bottle and shook her head. "No, I'm all right. I just a need a little break."

She closed her eyes. But the image of Victor's dead body flashed across her mind. She opened her eyes abruptly. Just a few more hours and they would be at the Castle, she tried to think positive. She was still absorbed in her thoughts, when she heard the noise.

"Get in the bushes! Someone's coming!" Emeline shouted. "Quickly!"

Kenna felt nausea rising up when she rose. Were Victor's men coming after them?

"Don't move!" Emeline gave order to her children, while she tried to see through the bushes. "Are you seeing anyone?" she asked Kenna.

Kenna shook her head. "Not yet. He's still too far away."

But the sound of hooves came closer, and the tension grew. Frightened, she winced, when Victor's horse started to neigh suddenly. And then she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Kenna had recognized the voice of thousands. She jumped up and ran from her hiding place. She ignored Emeline's warning shout and ran until she reached him.

"Bash...!" she could only stammer, before everything went black, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.