{"id":7027,"date":"2022-09-16T16:49:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T20:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/?p=7027"},"modified":"2022-09-16T16:51:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T20:51:09","slug":"bring-her-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/bring-her-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring Her Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Hannah Currie<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the morning he woke to find his precious daughter gone with only the remains of their latest argument left behind, King Lior has been praying she\u2019d come home. For four years now, he\u2019s prayed and searched, sending his best knights to find Evangeline, only to hear nothing. Until the day their missive arrives with three words: we\u2019ve found her. He sends one right back with orders to bring her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that order isn\u2019t easily achieved. Evangeline, now a lowly servant, has no plans to return. Though the knights claim her father still loves her, she knows the truth: he\u2019d cast her aside as quickly as everyone else if he knew how far she\u2019d truly fallen. She can\u2019t go home. Not with her scars. Or her failures. Or her son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only, the knights won\u2019t leave without her. And just as she starts to wonder if maybe they might be right, the choice is taken from her altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Darrek thought the hardest part of his quest would be finding Evangeline. He had no idea how difficult it would be to get her home.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Raedonleith, 1423<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sobs wracked his body as King Lior fell on his knees, the missive clutched to his chest as if it hadn\u2019t already imprinted its message on his heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve found her.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years of searching. Four years of waiting. Four years of hoping she was even still alive. He\u2019d never once been bested in battle, yet three hastily written words had brought him to his knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His reply was as short as his knight\u2019s letter had been. Three simple words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bring her home.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

There were tapestries on the walls. The windows. The cottage\u2019s door. Enough to keep out the light and prying eyes, but not the screams. No amount of tapestries could dampen the screams. They came, again and again, piercing the night air and shredding Darrek\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPut down your sword. You can\u2019t go in there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek gritted his teeth against the quiet words of the man who\u2019d become more of a father to him than his had ever been. Manning\u2019s hand on his arm might have been gentle, but Darrek knew the strength behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gripped his sword tighter. \u201cI can\u2019t take it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStay with the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sound came again, through the trees to their makeshift campsite. Terror-filled, like that of a child, instead of a grown woman. Darrek wanted to block his ears, but even if he did, he\u2019d still hear it. In his head. Etched in his soul. It was too much. They\u2019d come to rescue Lady Evangeline, not listen to her scream. \u201cWhat if I can\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen you should leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout her?\u201d Unthinkable. She was the reason they were here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLord Cavendish is a dangerous man, as well you know. Until we find out precisely what the relationship is between him and Lady Evangeline, we wait. I won\u2019t lose good knights to poor preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait and watch. Day in, day out. Wait and watch. The years of searching, empty leads, disappointment, and frustration had nothing on this. Sit. Wait. Watch. While Lady Evangeline screamed herself hoarse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019d thought the sound was an animal being attacked the first time they\u2019d heard it\u2014and kept their swords close to their sides all night. Three nights later, when it had come again, they\u2019d been closer to the castle and recognized it as that of a woman. It had sickened Darrek that night too, though he\u2019d not known yet whose screams they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if it\u2019s not a nightmare?\u201d Darrek asked. \u201cWhat if she\u2019s in pain? What if she\u2019s being attacked?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCraig would have told us if she was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in his life, Darrek felt a spark of jealousy toward a squire. A spark growing quickly into a wildfire. Oh, to be small and inconsequential enough to be all but invisible sneaking about the castle grounds. Darrek, with his height and bulk, would have been spotted the instant he walked through the gate, but a barely teenaged boy? No one paid him any attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Craig walked about freely, gathering information, Darrek and the other knights hid in the forest. Waited for their chance. A chance Darrek was starting to think would never come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curse common sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek had been the one to spot Lady Evangeline when they neared Cavendish Castle five days ago. They\u2019d searched the castle twice before\u2014the week she\u2019d gone missing and then two years later\u2014but found neither her nor any sign she\u2019d been there. They likely wouldn\u2019t have found her this time either, if not for Adam\u2019s hunger for meat and the rabbit he and Darrek had chased. It had led them to a cottage tucked into the edge of the forest and so covered in vines and leaves that it blended in with the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The large lock on the door had been the first hint of the treasure within. The two guards who\u2019d scurried over to unlock it before hurriedly moving aside, the second. Darrek and Adam had whispered wonderings over who might live there for several minutes before the door opened and a girl stepped out. It had been their first glimpse of hope in almost two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lady Evangeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She might have been garbed in the clothes of a peasant and far changed from the girl he\u2019d once known, but there was no mistaking those features. Red hair. Blue eyes. A beauty, just like her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guards had moved several more steps back, eyeing the girl as if she were a wild animal about to rip out their hearts instead of the cowed woman shuffling along with her gaze on the ground. It had taken every bit of Darrek\u2019s self-control\u2014and Adam\u2019s vice of a grip on his arm\u2014to stay hidden in the trees and not throw her onto the closest horse and take her home. The image of her had wavered then, tears marring his view as he imagined that day. Lady Evangeline\u2019s homecoming. He\u2019d had to clear his throat before whispering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nervousness had tempered the thrill of their find. They knew how hard a mistake was to live with. None of their small group wanted to be the one who made it. And yet, they\u2019d never stopped looking, riding the length and breadth of the country, and even across seas, certain their king\u2019s youngest daughter had to be somewhere. Sooner or later, someone had to find her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only it had been somewhere other than here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarrek.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anywhere but here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSir Darrek.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manning\u2019s voice was louder this time, breaking through Darrek\u2019s frustration. He turned to see not only his mentor but all three of the other knights\u2019 gazes focused solely on him. Wary. They\u2019d fight him, if they had to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou must wait. There is nothing we can do tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek lay his sword back on the grass beside the threadbare blanket he called his bed and pulled on a thick brown cloak. Manning was right. He couldn\u2019t save Lady Evangeline. Not tonight. There was too much they still didn\u2019t know. But that didn\u2019t mean there was nothing he could do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The men\u2019s protests were instant. Darrek brushed them aside and tucked one knife into his belt and another into his boot. He couldn\u2019t rescue Evangeline, not from Cavendish or the nightmares that plagued her, but he had no intention of letting her face them alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarrek,\u201d Manning tried one more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek paused, turning back slightly to look at Manning. \u201cI have to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe careful. Cavendish won\u2019t show mercy if he finds you, and neither will his guards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek nodded once, before moving away. His steps were quick but certain as he walked through the darkness to the tiny cottage. He\u2019d take every care possible, but he would<\/em> get to Evangeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screams filled his ears again. He wondered, not for the first time, how the forest patrols and the men guarding the castle each night could so easily ignore the agony of the woman just outside it. Were they truly so heartless? Or did they, like so many others within Cavendish Castle, believe her to be cursed? Crazy, even. Darrek had laughed when Craig relayed that rumor. The Evangeline Darrek remembered might have driven men<\/em> crazy with her beauty, but she was far from touched herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the Evangeline he knew had also been missing for four years. And now screamed like a demon fought for her soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He slowed as the cottage came into view, careful to keep his steps light and his mind alert. His breath fogged the air, mingling with the sound of another childlike scream. Darrek rubbed his chest and forced out another breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think. Focus. Breathe. <\/em>Getting himself captured wouldn\u2019t help Evangeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The screams played with his mind as his gaze silently tracked the area around the cottage, searching for guards. According to Craig\u2019s reports, the patrols stayed clear of the cottage once it was locked each night, but Darrek had been a knight for too long not to be wary. He forced himself to stay still for a minute before creeping forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lock on the door was heavy, solid, and tightly closed. As expected. He wouldn\u2019t be entering through there without far more noise than even the screams could cover. But\u2014he walked around the cottage\u2014there<\/em>. A window. It would be a squeeze, but he\u2019d do it. For Evangeline. He\u2019d do anything for the daughter of his king. Darrek hesitated only a moment, considering Evangeline\u2019s honor, before climbing through. The girl was in pain. Propriety be hanged. He almost hoped there was a guard inside just so he\u2019d have someone to fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eyes already adjusted to the dim light, it was a simple task to find the woman he sought. She lay curled in a blanket on the floor of the one-roomed cottage, every muscle tensed as she screamed. Two other people were in the room, though neither of them were guards. One was an older woman dressed in the same simple garb as Evangeline. The other, a young, sleeping child she carefully stood in front of. He didn\u2019t blame her\u2014not for that, not for the glare she set on him. Certainly not for the iron pot she grabbed in lieu of a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek held up his hands. \u201cPlease. I\u2019m not here to hurt any of you. I only want to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the woman didn\u2019t throw the pot at his head, he lowered his hands and slowly moved to Evangeline\u2019s side, kneeling beside her. A gentle but firm shake of her shoulder did nothing to wake her. He tried again. \u201cEvangeline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who you are or what you\u2019re doing here in the middle of the night, but she won\u2019t wake. She never does when the terrors come. Not until morning, when she\u2019s limp from the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek looked up, surprised to see the woman had sat down. The pot was still in her hand, and she was still hiding the child, but she seemed more wary than threatened by him. Had she decided to trust him after all? He nodded to her before trying again to shake Evangeline out of the nightmare. The woman was right. Evangeline wasn\u2019t waking. Was it like this every time the terrors came? What fears held her so tightly in their clutches? \u201cEvangeline,\u201d he said again, more force behind his words this time. \u201cEvangeline.\u201d Again and again he said her name, shaking her shoulder. \u201cEvangeline!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her screams lessened, but now her whole body shook. Darrek wanted to pick her up and cradle her in his arms, like one would an upset child, rocking her against his shoulder until she calmed. But she was no child. More, she was the daughter of his king. He\u2019d already come into her room in the middle of the night\u2014something he hoped her father would understand, given the circumstances. He didn\u2019t need to compound that by embracing her. Even if the older maid could vouch for his honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He reached for Evangeline\u2019s hand instead, stroking his thumb up and down the back of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Almighty, give her peace.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Most High, calm her heart. Banish the terrors and fill her mind with beauty.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShh\u2026 Sleep, lass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tear ran down her cheek, caught for a moment in the moonlight before disappearing into her hair. Darrek held her hand tighter, his whispered prayers becoming a jumble of more sentiments than sense. If only they\u2019d found her sooner. Might they have been able to save her from the terrors that claimed her mind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShh\u2026\u201d he said again. \u201cSleep now. No harm will come to you tonight. You\u2019re safe here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His voice caught as her screams turned to whimpers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a good lass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a wonder they\u2019d found her at all and even more that they\u2019d recognized her. They\u2019d been searching for a flighty teenager. This was a woman, not only in looks but in temperament. It was Evangeline, yet so different from the one he\u2019d known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The girl he\u2019d last seen was slim, always ready with a smile, confident to the point of being arrogant, and certain of her effect on men and women alike. The men were drawn to her, the women envious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This woman\u2014and she definitely had the body of a woman\u2014was quiet. Cowed, almost. It wasn\u2019t just the clothes\u2014the brown and white servant garb she donned each day. It was the way her shoulders drooped forward when she stood. The wariness in her eyes. A shuffle of a walk where once she strode. Even her hair, once the vibrant red of fiery autumn leaves, now seemed dull. Trailing her this past week had brought an ache to his chest and an overwhelming longing time and time again to swoop her into his arms and carry her away from this place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d foolishly admitted as much to the other knights two days ago. Adam and Landon had laughed, joking that he was a besotted romantic who\u2019d been deprived of the fairer sex for too long to fall so hard for a woman like her. Even Spencer, always ready with a word of affirmation, had tried to stifle a grin. Only Manning had seemed to understand, nodding quietly as he whittled a piece of wood by the fire. It wasn\u2019t a romantic love at all but a fierce sense of loyalty. Of protection. She was hurt, and he wanted to save her. He had to save her. This was why they\u2019d come. Why they\u2019d given up four years of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve a gift, sir,\u201d came the quiet voice of the older woman. \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA friend,\u201d Darrek said quietly. He daren\u2019t give his true name, not so near the castle of his king\u2019s greatest enemy, not until he knew who his friends were. The woman nodded, not seeming to mind. Would she be friend? Foe? Would she tell her master he\u2019d been here tonight? She hadn\u2019t gone running yet, so perhaps not. Perhaps, she might even become an ally, if she cared as much about Evangeline as it seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, friend. I thank you.\u201d She smiled at him before closing her eyes. \u201cPerhaps we\u2019ll get some sleep this night after all. I can\u2019t say I wouldn\u2019t welcome it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek sent a nod of his own back to her. If he\u2019d been the one whose sleep was interrupted by a screaming roommate several nights a week, he\u2019d likely welcome anyone who calmed the screams also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangeline was quiet, her breathing steady, her muscles lax in sleep again. He should go. With a final prayer, Darrek eased his hand out of hers. She whimpered. He stood, gently shaking his feet to bring back circulation. Her whimpers turned to cries. He bent back down to take her hand again. She instantly stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe ye should stay,\u201d came the sleepy voice of Evangeline\u2019s fellow maid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2019Twouldn\u2019t be right.\u201d Much as he wanted to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a light sleeper, friend. There\u2019s not much trouble you could get into with the boy and me in here. Still, \u2019tis your choice. Do what you think best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His choice. Almighty, would it be right?<\/em> He was a knight, honor bound to King Lior. He\u2019d already crossed the line of impropriety simply by coming into her room. Would he eradicate it altogether if he stayed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek eased his hand out of Evangeline\u2019s again, testing. Again, she whimpered. He couldn\u2019t leave her, not like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sat beside her pallet, stretching his legs out across the stone floor, careful not to touch any part of Evangeline other than her hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaning back against the wall, he tipped his head to the ceiling and settled in to pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFriend, you must wake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A shake of his shoulder had Darrek instantly alert, if completely disorientated. Where was he? Inside a house, given the tapestry-lined walls and stone floor. But whose house?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to leave. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek looked from the loudly whispering woman to the hand clasped within his, following it up an arm to\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangeline. He\u2019d come to help Evangeline. He must have fallen asleep. The room was still dark but, based upon the panicked expression of the woman still shaking his shoulder, he guessed it to be close to morning. In a half hour or less, the servants would all be up and the nearby castle buzzing with preparations for the new day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe won\u2019t take kindly to your presence. Nor will the master if he finds you here. Go, now, before they wake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pushed at his shoulder, urging him to move. Darrek needed no more incentive. Taking one last look at the soundly sleeping Evangeline, he rose and walked to the window by which he\u2019d entered, peering out to see whether any guards were there before climbing through it. Before he could run to the shelter of the forest, the older woman placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned in time to see a tear dripping its way down her weathered face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who you are, friend, or what kind of miracle worker you be, but I thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a touch of her hand to her heart, she waved him away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019d closed the window on him before he could extend any gratitude of his own. Perhaps that was for the best. Checking again for guards, Darrek crept across the grass back to the forest and his fellow knights. He whistled, letting whoever was taking the last watch know it was him coming, lest he find an arrow in his arm, or worse, gut. He was unsurprised to see Manning waiting for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou stayed all night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darrek rubbed a hand across his bleary eyes. How much sleep had he gotten? Two hours? Three? Fewer? It felt like fewer. His mind might have been on high alert, but his body could have done with a few more hours. He pulled a log over to where Manning sat against a tree and lowered himself onto it. No point in waking the others with their talking. And, no doubt, talk they would. His mentor wouldn\u2019t let this go unexplained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you think that wise?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot wise, no. But necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould King Lior think the same?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to think so. She was asleep the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manning ran his knife over the stick in his hand, scraping a thin layer of wood off it before repeating the process twice more. Darrek was only too happy to stay silent as the older man ruminated. He hadn\u2019t meant to stay all night, but neither would he apologize for having done so. Evangeline had needed him, even if she hadn\u2019t known he was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou weren\u2019t seen?\u201d Manning asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot by Lady Evangeline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy someone else, then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe maid who shared her room. I fell asleep. She was the one who woke me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But her kindness might have been an act. Even now she could be going straight to Cavendish\u2019s side to report him. As if he\u2019d come to the same realization, Manning\u2019s whittling stopped. He might as well have been a statue as he sat there on that log. The sky lightened from black to dark indigo to violet. Birds took up their call. Darrek waited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manning nodded toward the other knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI expect you ready to break camp in one hour. We have work to do\u2014first and foremost, finding information, which can only be done inside the walls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInside? We\u2019ll be noticed. Even in peasants\u2019 clothing, we stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrecisely. I aim for the boys to cause a stir. Although they\u2019ll not be dressed as peasants this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A grin tipped the side of Darrek\u2019s mouth. He and Manning had discussed another plan one night while the others had slept. The perfect distraction\u2014and means of sourcing information\u2014should they require it. Apparently, that time had come. \u201cSpencer is going to hate it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAye,\u201d Manning said with a slight smile of his own. \u201cBut it\u2019ll work.\u201d He nodded toward the sleeping knights. \u201cGet some sleep. Lord only knows what we\u2019ll face come daylight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou think the maid will talk?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no doubt. But will she report you to Cavendish? Only the Almighty knows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n