Chapter II

Raphael meets a mysterious woman in the woods - and ends up saving her from unknown pursuers and limping back to Black Manor with her!

Chapter II

Foxes Wear White Dresses

 

“It’s like a game of pick-up sticks,

Played by f*****g lunatics.”

-      Show Me Love by t.A.Tu

 

 

We covered more ground by splitting up into two teams. I went with a man named Jack, while the other two stuck together. I gave orders to meet back at the edge of the woods an hour before dawn with their findings. None of them argued with me, which made me feel a bit more confident in what I was ordering them to do. Durza’s men had always been vocal when they felt something could be done better �" it has been part of what made the Brotherhood such a formidable force. There wasn’t only one voice calling shots and making ideas. Everyone made commentary if they thought things were going wrong.

     Durza and I weren’t ones for small talk, so it struck me as slightly odd that Jack randomly looked over at me and spoke. “You’re doing fine, Rafe. We know you’re nervous on the inside of that stone mask you’ve inherited from Durza.” He smiled at me slightly, obviously trying to reassure me. “We’ll follow you gladly. Durza has trained you well.”

     I couldn’t help but smile a bit in return. The praise was needed, and much appreciated. “Thank you, Jack. I needed that.”

     He just nodded, both of us keeping our focus on our surroundings now as we walked, ten feet apart so anyone who wanted to hop out at us would have a more difficult target than two men walking side by side. We were silent for a couple of hours before he spoke again. “Young Brothers are pretty sure that you’re going to take over the Brethren when you get older.”

     His randomness caught me off guard, and his comment blew my mind a bit. I even laughed, it seemed so absurd. “I don’t think so,” I replied. “Durza could find someone better for the job. I’m not the right man for that kind of responsibility.” Pausing, I added, “I can hardly deal with the idea of marrying a woman �" I’ve got issues with serious commitment.”

     Jack laughed now. “That’s horse s**t. You’ve committed yourself to the Brethren since you were nine years old, little brother. How can you have issues with serious commitment?”

     I paused, saying wryly, “You’re right. Maybe my problem isn’t about commitment in general. Maybe it’s just that women are damn crazy.”

     Now we both shared a little laugh as we kept looking around. I glanced at him, seeing him check the time. Offhandedly, he told me, “Three hours left before End Time, Raphael. Should we pick up the pace?”

     I shook my head. “No, we’re making good time; I just think that we might not find any more of those b******s. Chances are, if the party that attacked didn’t return by some deadline, they all packed up and ran. No, if we don’t find something by End Time, we go back as planned.” Sighing irritably, I told him, “Though I hate the idea of having to tell Durza that I’m empty handed. He was so livid that he was talking about storming the bases.”

     “I heard,” he said in agreement with my thoughts I wouldn’t voice. Durza was very close to this mess on a personal level. It was vital that he keep his head �" or the Brotherhood might not let him be involved in handling it at all. We couldn’t afford to have someone calling shots when they were out for revenge, and not protection of the people.

     I stopped, my eyes catching movement. He stopped too, looking at me for what to do next. I flicked my wrists so my hidden blades moved out of their holsters to be used. He followed suit and I silently signaled for him to circle while I moved toward where I saw the movement. I ran forward, moving up a tree with ease gained through years of practicing how to wall-climb. I slowly moved out onto a branch, seeing a flash of movement below.

  

   I attacked.

     What I tackled was definitely not any spy sent by Rathbull. It took me all of thirty seconds for my body to register what was actually under me, but a flag went up in my head that warned against me letting her up right away.

     She was glaring up at me, both of her wrists pinned under my left hand while my right carefully held the knife close to but not touching her throat. “Who are you and why are you in the woods at night?”

     For a moment, she didn’t answer. When she did, it was with more malice than her pretty face led on to having. “My business in the woods is not your concern! Release me,” she ordered.

     My head tilted slightly and I put the knife to her neck, determined to get a straight answer out of her now. “Woman, I’m in no mood for this bullshit. Answer me and maybe I’ll be nice enough not to do more than knock you to the ground this night.”

     “Call me a fox, sir, for that’s all I am to you. I am a being you glimpsed in the woods because I was not as quiet as I had wanted,” she told me, her bravado rapidly dissipating. Jack was standing a few feet from me, sword at the ready in case he had to defend me long enough to get up.

     For a moment, I held her gaze. “You cannot be just a fox, madam. Foxes do not talk, they actually are harmless to my purpose, and they do not wear men’s clothing.”

     She seemed to realize that the big talk and brave face wasn’t going to help her here, and immediately changed tack �" which only served to make me paranoid. “Sir, please, I beg of you. You have to let me go. Every second you spend in my company will only get you killed �" I’m begging. Please, just go. Run from me now while your legs work! I’m a danger to you.”

     “Lady,” I said with a wry grin, “You’re not convincing me at all that I should walk away from this. In fact, you’re making me believe that I should stay to help if I can.”

     “You can’t,” she said angrily, tears in her eyes. She blinked them away with irritation before looking back at me. “There’s nothing you can do. I’m cursed, sir, and bound to die for it unless you release me and run.”

     My eyes narrowed, saying, “I’m not sure I believe you. In fact, I don’t. First, this is none of my concern and I should bugger off. Then, you’re a harmless fox and I shouldn’t worry. Now, you’re the one trying to save me… by making me leave?” Shaking my head, I told her, “Sorry, sweetheart, but that dog just won’t hunt.”

     She started to say something but then froze, turned her head to look at Jack and said, “Look out!”

     Jack moved just in time to avoid an arrow that would have ripped open his throat. I rolled, taking the woman with me to avoid another flurry of arrows that were aimed at me. She got to her feet with me, but didn’t bolt like I expected. “I told you, you foolish b*****d,” she snapped at me.

     “Shut up,” I ordered her, nodding to Jack. I scooped her up and said, “Hang on; this is going to get rough!” She climbed onto my back, holding on tightly as I took off sprinting after Jack, who got ahead of me.

     “Orders,” Jack demanded at my side, running just slow enough to keep up with me but still keep ahead of the arrows.

     “I want you to go find the others. I’m going to lose them. They’re after her �" so they’ll follow me. If I’m not back at the check point, go home without me. Tell Durza that he has to wait until dusk before he can assume I’m dead, got that?” Jack nodded, obviously not liking the idea of leaving me to lose some unknown number of men on my own.

     “Split on one, two… Go!”

     We shot off in completely different directions. I leaped through heavy brush and pushed myself to the limit of my speed, focusing purely on whatever obstacles were in front of me. I dodged between trees, leaped over rose bushes, and kept randomly turning left and right, mentally keeping track of the straight line I was trying to make for a waterfall I knew in all my zigzag movements.

     We ran for twenty minutes before we came to the waterfall. I didn’t bother to see if they had caught up, having just run clean through a clearing I knew was regularly visited by wolves (I went hunting enough to know; it was a terrible place to try and find game). I knew that either the wolves would come out of their nearby dens and see their guests just in time to buy me a few minutes, or they too would get lucky and go unnoticed.

     Either way, I’d only managed to get maybe a two minute head start and every second counted. I didn’t even bother going through the careful path to get behind the waterfall, but rather played hop-rocks to get to the ledge that the water hid. We were sopping wet by the time we both climbed up the ledge and into the small but fairly sizeable cave inside.

     She lay against the cold rock, panting, while I sat down against the cave wall. It was no more than fifty feet wide and thirty feet deep.  It made a fair place to sleep when I went hunting. I had about nine different places all over the woods around Black Manor, the list developed from years of scouting the woods whenever I couldn’t sleep.

     There was even a cot, a wool bag loaded with blankets, a few pillows, and other supplies, and an array of cooking knives laying on a shelf in the rock. I never worried about leaving things here, because people would have to be crazy to go through the waterfall. It wasn’t a weak fall �" it actually hurt like hell to have all that water pound down on you.

     Sure, there was a safe, dry path in, but I was the only one who knew about it and just in case, I had made the path slightly difficult by cutting down all the vines one day.

       Neither of us spoke for a long moment until she said to me, alarmed, “Damn it, you’re hurt.”

     “What?”

     “Your arm, you fool! They got you,” she said, moving toward me. I was leaning against the rock still, and I looked down at myself, seeing an arrow sticking out of my right bicep. I didn’t feel anything though, even though I saw the blood and knew it would be very painful come tomorrow. “Damn it, look at your leg,” she said.

     I did, and I saw that my left leg had been grazed but cut enough to be bleeding freely. She went for the wool bag, starting to tear up thin blankets to use as bandages. When she had what she needed for the moment, she rushed over and started administering first aid, to the best of what she could manage with what limited supplies she had here.

     “I told you to run, to leave me back there, and now look at you!” She seemed to not be angry, but merely upset that helping her had gotten me injured. I caught my reflection in a puddle near me, and saw my short black hair matted with sweat and my blue eyes seemed to be going fuzzy. She saw my head start to lull and ordered, “Don’t you dare pass out and leave me alone here, you b*****d. Stay awake.”

     I looked at her, meeting her eyes. My head felt thick and thinking was a slow process, but when I met her eyes, everything went blank. I was suddenly lost in the green hues. She was speaking to me, I could hear it, but my brain was so heavy and blank.

     I only remember saying one thing before it all went black. “You have such… beautiful green eyes… They’re like the trees in summer… so lovely…”

     Then I was out.

 

     When I woke up, there were stings of light on my face and my arm and leg were screaming. Groaning, I sat up, ignoring the pain. She tried to make me lay back down, but I batted her hand away. “We have to get moving. My men are expecting me.”

     “It’s well past dawn,” she told me, not without sympathy. “It’s nearly noon already. You’ve been asleep for hours.”

     I saw that she’d stripped me of my upper-layers, though my assassin’s robe had merely been peeled back to my waist. It surprised me that she had been able to get me out of the two layers of cloth and armor without waking me. She had to have a good touch �" and knowledge of how armor is put on and off. I didn’t say anything other than, “We have to get moving.”

     “You’re hurt, don’t you understand that? We can’t go anywhere with you in this shape. Face it, you’re stuck here,” she scolded. Softly, she added, “I’ll stay with you until you’re better.”

     My tone wasn’t polite or nice anymore, but rising to annoyance. “We’re going back, and we’re going now.”She started to argue until I growled, “You have no idea what will happen if I don’t get back to the manor by the time dusk falls. This is so much bigger than you or me. This is about keeping a man from making a mistake that will ruin his career, put his family, and my brethren in danger. I don’t care if I’ve lost too much blood or if I’m too injured to be moving. I can move, so I’m going to move.” I paused, adding, “You have two options. You can either leave me to get back on my own, or you can help me get there alive.”

     For a long minute, she didn’t say anything, but then started helping me back into my clothes. “What’s your name?”

     I hesitated before telling her, “Call me Rafe.”

     “Call me Rose,” she said, smiling very small. Her lips were tight together, but it was a smile, one where she ducked her head a bit and looked at me shyly. I decided I much preferred this to be lectured about what I can and can’t be doing.

     We had a bit of trouble getting out of the cave, and I was in some pain by the time we were walking away. She kept close to me, my arm around her shoulder so she could help take some weight off my bad leg. It wasn’t completely useless, but it did hurt to walk. We didn’t speak. Words somehow felt wrong right now.

     However, three hours into the walk, she demanded I stop for a ten minute rest. I obliged, only because she wouldn’t let up about it until I did. Sitting against a tree, she sat with me. I finally noticed that she’d changed clothes while I was sleeping. She was wearing a sheer white dress. It was simplistic, with no frills or lace to take away from the way it hugged her every curve. A beautiful woman, she had long dark brown locks hanging about her shoulders in half-wavy and half-curled hair. It literally looked like her hair couldn’t decide between subtle waves or extremely loose curls. It looked thick, soft, and heavy.

     Without thinking, I reached out and brushed a lock of hair back from her face. My fingertips lingered by her temple before the hand dropped and I said softly, “Thank you.”

     She looked at me with something akin to confusion in her eyes, her mouth open slightly as if from shock. She closed her mouth, though, looking away from me as she muttered, “Don’t thank me. You’re involved now.”

     “Bullocks,” I told her. “I’m just in the way. Of what, I don’t know, but an obstacle isn’t involved until it refuses to be broken down.”

     Rose sighed, saying, “I want to thank you, actually. It was kind of you to just rescue me like that. You didn’t have to. You and your friend could have made a clean getaway if you’d left me behind,” she said.

     Glaring, I asked, “Is that the kind of man you take me for?” She stammered, trying to respond. I let her suffer for a minute before breaking out into a weak grin and saying, “Gotcha.”

     She punched my good arm, furiously snapping, “That was cruel! I thought I’d really offended you!”

     “You did a bit, but I did tackle you and put a knife to your throat. I rather deserve the assumption,” I said with a bored tone.

     “Why did you do it? I mean, why did you tackle me?”

     I looked at her a long moment before saying simply, “If I told you, I might have to kill you and right now, you’re my only ticket to getting home half-alive, if not dead. My arm reopened an hour ago. It’ll be bleeding on and off until I get it stitched up.”

     She seemed to start to get angry that I hadn’t said a word about my arm, but then apparently realized that getting mad at me was not only completely useless, but a waste of breath. So instead, she tried to look at it but I recoiled. “Let me look at it, maybe I can stanch it for a couple more hours.”

     “Don’t bother. The time you would need to make it stop bleeding until we get to the manor isn’t time I have. I’m racing the clock here, and right now, I’m losing,” I said to her, a note of frustration in my voice.

     For a minute, she was quiet before asking, “Why is it so important that you get back?”

     I looked at her, saying, “Rose, let me put it to you this way. There’s a man back home that’s been like my father since I was nine. That being said, if I’m not home by dusk as I promised, he’ll storm one of the bases that he’s going to assume I’m locked up in to save me.” I paused and then continued. “I can’t let that happen. If he starts an open war with the Guard, it’ll be devastating to everything me and my people believe in, stand by, and fight for.”

     Her voice was very soft as she came up with another question. “What do you fight for?”

     “Freedom,” I told her simply, figuring that was the best way to describe what Haven and the Brethren wanted.

     Her eyes held mine before she got to her feet, dusted off her dress, and then started helping me get up. “Let’s get moving then.”

 

     It was dangerously close to dusk when we finally came out of the woods and to the top of the hill that overlooked the manor. I relaxed considerably when I saw it, knowing that we were fine from here on out. Unfortunately, my legs took that as a cue to stop working.

          So I fell over.

          She was at my side in a second, making sure I hadn’t damaged myself any further. After deciding I was alright, she asked, “Does this mean you can’t walk any further?”

          I tried to make myself get up and then swore under my breath before answering, “Yeah, I’m down for the count at this point. I’ve been running on fumes for two hours.”

          Rose just nodded, putting her knapsack under my head as she said, “If I go to the manor looking for help, will I find it?” This confused me for a minute, as my brain wasn’t exactly working at rapid speed. She rephrased, “I’m stranger, Rafe. Will they listen to me?”

          Catching her point, I took my knife off my belt, putting it in her hand and saying, “You need to go to the door, demand �" and I mean demand �" to see Ana, Bethany, or Durza Black. Show them the knife. It doesn’t matter which one is willing to see you, one of those three will know.” I paused, adding, “If the maid won’t go bother them, tell her to tell Master Derek these exact words.” I paused, making sure she was listening before I said them. “Remember the Green Lane attic.”

          She hesitated, asking, “What does that even mean?”

          “It’s not important that you know, Derek will. Get going, now.”

 

          Derek sat at his desk trying to get some more work done that Bethany had given him to do. However, his mind was stuck on where his friend had gone. Rafe was reckless sometimes, as responsible as he had been trained to be. Looking out the window idly, Derek wondered what the hell had kept Rafe back. Jack had returned with the other three men, reporting that the two of them had run into some girl. In the middle of trying to discover who she was, they were attacked. Rafe went one way, trying to draw them off, and Jack followed orders �" though he seemed very angry with himself for doing it.

          Durza had patted Jack on the shoulder, telling him he had done right, but everyone in the room knew that he was worried for Raphael. He’d just never admit it out loud. Rafe was like his son in almost every way except blood. It was evident in the way he talked to the younger man, the way he treated him, talked to him �" Derek had always been happy for Rafe, that Durza loved him so much.

          Personally, Derek never minded that he’d left home as a child and had no real father to think of. In fact, he’d asked Durza to have his father murdered when he turned sixteen. That way, Derek’s two siblings �" who were also mean little s***s �" might have a chance to change before the violent behavior his father had taught them could settle in.

          His thoughts were interrupted by an angry-sounding discussion going on downstairs. Rising from his chair, he went to investigate.

          At the door, a beautiful woman in a white dress was arguing with Jacque, who was an old-fashioned by-the-book butler. “Please,” she was saying, obviously getting annoyed. “I just need to speak to Ana, Bethany, Durza, or Derek for a few seconds. I’m sure they’ll want to hear what I have to say!”

          He stood for a moment, waiting to see if he should step in. This woman knew his name, and the names of the entire Black Family. She wasn’t just some stranger. However, living in a house run primarily by the Brotherhood made Derek paranoid to get close to her until she said something that might make him have reason to believe she wasn’t a problem.

          “I’m sorry,” Jacque was saying. “I cannot allow you to disturb the House. Please be on your way, madam.”

          He started to close the door but she forced it open with surprising strength for a woman of a mere five-six. “Look, a*****e,” she snapped. “I just need you to deliver a five-f*****g-word message to Derek. Are you so dense that that’s impossible for you? Get the stick out of your a*s for ten seconds and listen to me!”

          Glaring, Jacque said, “Fine. What is your message?”

          She stared at him for a long moment, as if deciding if he was being serious and then said, carefully like she was trying to make sure it was right, “Remember the Green Lane attic.”

          Instantly, Derek moved down the stairs, announcing his being there by saying to her, “Who told you to tell me that?”

          Shoving past Jacque, she snapped, “It’s about time! Rafe is up on the hill, and he’s injured. He took an arrow to the right arm and a second grazed his left leg pretty badly. Please, you have to help me get him here. It’s taken me so long to get this butler,” she said, obviously having another word in mind, “to listen to me that he might be passed out by now.”

          “Did Rafe tell you to say that?”

          “Yes,” she answered, looking hopeful that he was going to help her.

          Derek nodded, saying, “Lead the way, miss.” She let out a relieved smile and laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her as she took off.

          When they got to the hill, Rafe was on the edge of consciousness. The woman crouched near him, touching his cheek as she spoke to him firmly, “Rafe, wake up. It’s Rose. Please, wake up. I brought Derek.”

          Rafe’s head lulled, but then his eyes came into focus and he grinned up at Derek and Rose. Looking at Rose, he said, “Jacque really has a stick up his a*s, if it took you this long.”

          She laughed, a sound that Derek saw made Rafe smile a bit wider. Derek kept this to himself though and said, “Come on, brother. Let’s get you inside and to the infirmary.”

          “I don’t want to go to the infirmary, I’m fine,” Rafe slurred, obviously losing his clear head from the blood loss.

          “Of course you are,” Derek agreed, just to keep Rafe placid. “When we get inside, remind me to find a lovely courtesan and a mug of ale to celebrate how much blood you’ve lost, okay?”

          “A-Are you b-befuddling me?” Rafe sounded so drunk, that Derek almost laughed but he refrained.

          “I think you mean belittling, Rafe,” Derek corrected, grinning as he helped Derek walk down the hill, one arm around his shoulder.

          Rose was openly laughing at this exchange though she said nothing, even as Rafe said, his volume control gone with the delirium, “It’s not nice to pick on short people, Derek! Y-You should be a-flamed.”

          “Ashamed, Rafe, you mean ashamed.”

          Looking very shocked and outraged, Rafe said in a not-whisper-whisper, “Derek, that’s such a dirty word! In front of such a pretty lady, too!”

          Derek just laughed, looking over at Rose, who was like-wise giggling uncontrollably at how ridiculous Rafe sounded. It was okay though. The fact that he had energy to be ridiculous meant he was going to be alright in the end.

          For now, that was enough to make the day better.

 

Author's Note

IGNORE " BECAUSE WRITERCAFE REPLACES - WITH THEM. -- Tell me what you think. (: