Guinevere's Grail | ✓ [BOOK 2]

~ 4 ~

EURION WASN'T SMALL BY any means, but she'd learned how to tuck herself into the tightest crevices she could find. When she heard the call and noticed Kit ducking for cover, she found the quickest place to hide.

She rushed into the house where Morgana used to be, sliding up beneath his bed and curling up into the furthest corner, pulling the extra linens stored there in front of her and on her feet.

She didn't know where everyone else went, but she had to trust that they were hidden.

It took a minute before the real panic started. She heard dozens of voices and the clicking of hooves as the men made their way into the village.

"Where are they?" the men bellowed. There were crashes and screams from outside and Eurion clapped her hand over her mouth. She wished she could be there to help, but she couldn't.

"You're violating the treaty," a druid said.

"We are not here for you, King Connor believes you are harboring fugitives," the intruder replied. "If you turn them in, we will leave you alone."

"We haven't had any visitors in decades," the druid lied with a shaky voice. "Please, we don't have any idea what you're talking about."

The druid yelped, followed by the man's rough voice. "Don't lie to me. Today is not a good day for me and you don't want to make it worse."

"I'm not lying!" the druid cried. "I swear!"

"Search the place up and down, we're not leaving until we've checked every crevice."

Eurion gulped.

It felt like an eternity, waiting there under the bed. The air was getting stale, but she couldn't afford to do anything about it. She just had to pray they wouldn't find her and leave before the air runs out.

She jumped when the door swung open and her heart started thundering in her chest, loud enough to make her hope they couldn't hear it. She kept her hand over her mouth, and took small, quiet breaths through her nose.

"Look everywhere," they said. She could hear their footsteps only a few feet away from her head, boots clunking against the creaky wooden floors. One of them started stomping.

"No one is gonna fit under the floorboards, you idiot," the other said. "Their houses are one level."

"It was worth a try," he murmured.

There was a lot of rustling and stomping and crashing while the men turned the place upside down, and it was only a matter of time before--

"Have you looked under the bed?"

"No one is small enough to fit under there."

"They have a child."

A beat. "Right."

She gulped when she heard the floors creak next to her, and she squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the voice like it was right in here ears.

"Just a bunch of blankets."

"Look under the blankets."

Shit. She had to think fast. There was a sack folded up near her. She was as silent as a mouse when tossed it over her face and froze.

The linens in front of her moved back. She could feel the man staring at her, inches away. She thought he might stare forever.

It was getting hard not to breathe.

"Just a bag," he said, and Eurion almost let out a breath of relief.

"Dammit," the other man said. "I got nothing, either."