William clenched the letter in his hand and immediately turned back to their cabin. Doris followed him with Patrick and Enzo on her heel. They closed the door and William ripped open the letter to read it quickly. Her heart pounded roughly in her chest, who had sent William a letter all the way out here?
` There had never been a silence so loud to her own ears. When he finished, he looked up at all of them with a distant expression. She hated when he looked like that. She feared she could never reach him.
"Something happened at the palace. There's some sort of plague that has broken out while we've been gone." William said, clearly in shock. That was truly the last thing she had expected to hear.
"Is everyone okay? Has any of your family been affected?" Or Beth! Doris felt the dread sink in her stomach. She silently prayed to the moon goddess that her friend was okay. How could this have happened? They'd been gone for some time, but not that long.
"It doesn't say much about if anyone had gotten sick." William stared at the paper again as if hoped it would have more. "It just requests that I come back before it gets worse."
"That's all?" Patrick asked. He stepped forward to peer at the letter.
"That, and my idiot brother Martin had decided to get married the second we were gone." William tossed the letter to the side. Patrick immediately went to grab it and read it over for himself.
Doris watched William carefully. Did he feel jealous that his brother had just married his ex lover? He shifted a little and refused to meet her eyes and she didn't know why that hurt more than anything else. It was all the confirmation she needed. Clearly, a part of him had not gotten over her just yet.
"I can have you all packed and on the road within the hour." Enzo offered. He looked at each of them. "I can come with you if you need me to convince your father of our blood promise."
"I think it would be best if you did come with us. You can bring your own guards with you if you need." William crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the fire. Tears started to burn the back of her throat, she swallowed them down before anyone could catch a hint of them.
"Very well. I will have it all prepared." He nodded his head and threw a small wink at Doris before he left the cabin. At least he would be there with them, that mended her pain a little.
"If we take the main roads, we'll get there much quicker than it took to get here." Patrick said. He still had the golden letter in his grasp but Doris didn't want to see it. A new ache in her chest had already formed from worry and a touch of jealousy. Why did it still bother him?
"Enzo will know the quickest route back to the palace. I need you to make sure all our our men are gathered and that we have enough horses to get back. We won't need a carriage, I want to get there as quickly as possible." William said without looking up.
Patrick bowed his head and left as well. Closing her in with William. Already she could feel his title start to form again, she already could imagine a crown on his head and the stiff shoulders he always wore at the palace. The dark look in his eyes.
What would they become once they were back? Would they sneak around until she was released? Would he try to prevent her from getting any sort of freedom?
Would he be ashamed for people to know she was his lover?
And-what about Melody?
"What about Melody?" Doris blurted out the second the question had hit her mind. William slowly turned his distracted gaze to her.
For a moment, it looked as if he didn't know who she was referring to. "She'll be moved out of the ladies ward the second we get there." He said absentmindedly. Clearly Melody was the very last thing on his mind at the moment-or ever.
"Just like that?"
"What did you want me to say? I'll throw a sad parade in her honor and have her carried out the door?" He moved through the room like a force, starting to gather their things.
"She was your lady-"
"She lied to me and made a fake mark. I don't like liars and she's lucky I don't ban her from the kingdom."
Doris thought back to the day she was poisoned, when William barely cared and everyone told her how little he seemed concerned. How long had he known she was lying? Did he know the second they made love, or after?
Her wolf felt at home every time he touched her-did his own scream at him that he had the wrong woman? Or did he just not care?
A sour taste burned her mouth. She went to help him pack and for the first time, she really started to consider what would happen. Her heart didn't want to break before they even left, but she couldn't help but wonder what was about to happen.
She saw it all in her mind. They'd get back to the palace, he would treat her like a maid again, invite her to his room when no one was around, and ignore her during the days. It filled her with misery. She also dreaded the idea that he would try to offer her to be his lady.
Once their bags were full, they went out to find the rest of the guards. People raced around the camp frantically-Enzo must have set a fire under them to help the prince. Doris went right to the stables and handed her bag to the nearest guard. He tied it to their horse and a second later, Enzo was entering the stables.
"I had enough food packed to last us all a few days. I expect us to get there sooner, but if a storm hits us we might be stuck out there." Enzo pulled himself up on his horse, a few of his guards filed in to join him.
William didn't even look at her before he lifted her on his horse and pulled himself up in front of her. Did he think the same thing she was? Was he dreading the thought of popping their small bubble of bliss?
Out here, they were different. He wasn't a prince, she wasn't a maid. There was no palace to force them into their roles and make them realize they were wrong for each other. She day dreamed about the idea that he was just a normal man that she could love.
But she knew it could never be so.
Enzo led them out onto the main road and kicked his horse off into a steady gallop. William was close behind and the guards followed. Doris closed her eyes and rested her head against his back as she tried to imagine a bit longer that they weren't about to be torn apart.
Even if it took weeks or months for her to be finally freed, it was inevitable. Unless he tried to stop it, but how could she ever love someone that did that to her?
After a while, their horses slowed to a lighter walk to gain a bit of their breath back. The sun was quickly fading in the sky and she dreaded the night air. It was even more unbearably cold than during the day. Her hair felt frozen on her head even though it hadn't been wet, she could barely feel her toes and she desperately wanted to feel a warm bed and hot meal.
Their group stopped for the night when many of them couldn't stand another minute. William ate next to Doris and held her when they slept, but he didn't say much else to her. Perhaps he was dreading it, too. They weren't ready to go back to how it was.
As soon as the sun broke the darkness, they were fed and on the road again. They rode hard and fast and then gave their horses breaks whenever they needed it. Her legs started to burn and ache from the pounding of the horse. She was barely able to walk every time William helped her off the horse for a break.
Another day passed of travel and thick fires. William grumbled his responses even though he stuck to her side the whole way through. Enzo hadn't been very talkative himself, but she thought that was due to the mood of the rest of them. They all had their terrible silences.
Enzo came up to them as they tore through their meals. "We should be there within a few hours."