Blades of Men (on hold - sorry!)

Chapter Four: Athalia

Chapter Four: Athalia

   I woke up to the smouldering steel eyes of Conrad. It felt strange to know his name, for him to be more than a hazy persona I had recollected. He had an identity, and a shocking one at that.

   It was even stranger still for me to be lying on the ground looking up at him.

   Him. The infamous rogue, stories of his doings reaching miles around. I remembered the tales – a murder here, stolen jewels there. To think I had gone with this man willingly! There were other whisperings, darker secrets that pledged love found and love lost, and everything in between.

   Now, with every sense screaming at me to run, and with his hair dishevelled and his eyes wide –filled with what must have been false concern – the man in front of me looked every bit the names his reputation had tacked to the end of his title. Yes, he could be no one the infamous marquis, born a gentleman yet content to live as a rogue.

   Murderer. The thought made my blood run cold. Terror must have flashed through my eyes, an unbidden instinct beyond my control. I had let the wolf taste blood, shown it in my fear, and the feral animal that thrived inside of him would chase not just the scent but the sight of cowardice. With that, his eyes turned to ice and he leaned away slightly.

   “My reputation has preceded me, I am quite sure. It has sent many a man swooning in fear, but you were one whom I thought was built for braver things,” I wondered why I felt so crushed by his distinct disapproval. “Nevertheless, I am curious as to whether this is the sight of a lady who has suddenly figured that she might have a chance to seduce a wealthy marquis, or fear at much more unpleasant thoughts...”

   I scrambled away from him, stumbling slightly, and with searing embarrassment I realised that I was on the brink of succumbing to unconsciousness once more. I steadied myself with a hand against a nearby tree.

   “I have no interests in you except for getting as far away from that cursed town as possible. However, doing so as the captive of a murdering marquis is not exactly an event I had foreseen,” I said, somehow managing to find the strength to speak with a voice even and steady, and a little more than a hint of impertinence evident in my tone. Something wet hit my cheek. I refused to acknowledge that it might have been a tear.

   A strange mixture of emotions flashed across his face, gone before I could make any sense of his expression. Eventually, he settled on a kind of amused irritation. The man was infuriating, if not in words then by the sheer mystery of his being.

   I recoiled immediately from any further thoughts that pandered to that line of reasoning. I shouldn’t find him mysterious. I should find him frightening, and be doing my very best to get as far away as possible from him.

   “I believe that I will have take the wind out of your sails, so to speak. I have not killed anything more than a rabbit or a bird. Stealing I can admit to, but life is far more precious a commodity than jewels.”

   I looked at him. I could feel the disbelief plain on my face.

   “I am to believe, then, that I am to trust the word of a man who has just confirmed his sordid reputation as if he were talking about the weather. I am, so to speak,” I mocked his earlier turn of phrase, “to blindly trust that any honest murderer would simply admit that he had killed someone, and go happily on his merry, murderous way. It is simply out of the question to think that a slaughterer of innocents would simply tell lies as well!” I delivered the speech in amazed outrage and with a healthy dollop of cynicism.

   He grinned, and in such a genuinely amused manner that it had me seriously contemplating the crimes I had just accused him of.

   “Yes, I’m afraid. I could coax you into listening to some pretty tale that explains away rumours, but in reality, I would lose a great deal of respect for you if I thought it might work. You are not a child; and even though you may look as delicate as one, I am at loathe to treat you as if I am your governess or your misunderstood knight in shining armour. It is much simpler to play the villain.” His voice was smooth and melodic, tripping lightly over the infuriating words like liquid silk. I opened my mouth to protest but he ignored me, continuing with such brutal logic I couldn’t help but feel like the infant he proclaimed I wasn’t.

    “In the meantime, however, I can get you as far away from here as you like, and hopefully extract a good deal of money while I’m about it. We will both get what we want, and I promise you; I will try my very best not murder you while you sleep.”

   There was no use behaving like the petulant child I felt like – even if my heart was still hammering with fear and I felt like I was about to faint. I mentally scolded myself. I wasn’t normally so weak, so much like the prim debutantes who proclaimed they needed vapours if their coaches were late and who were always snapping a fan out every few seconds. I had despised them, even as I mingled and pretended that the silent wall between us was nonexistent. 

   I looked at him. There was an aura of desperate urgency that surrounded him like a cloak, as if he needed someone – anyone – to believe him. I didn’t much care about that; what lady in her right mind decided to travel with (and be ransomed by) a potentially dangerous stranger just because she felt she could heal him?

   Yet I could feel an alarming stirring in my chest, tugging at my heartstrings. He could bring me far away from this place, even though it might be for the express purpose of murdering me in some remote wood. Of course, I had to admit that I wasn’t completely immune to his charms, either.   

   I had a horrible feeling I would regret this.

   “Alright. I will come with you.” He looked at me, emotionless. I glared at him, feeling a rage rise within me that had been present for our entire exchange. He had spent the past few minutes talking me into going with him, and persuading me he was not to be feared. He could at least seem pleased.  

   “I have only just decided to be willingly kidnapped by a suspected murderer, one who not only has a reputation as a rake, but also a grand estate at his disposal. Please, don’t look so shocked! What do I have to lose?”

   He just smirked in reply.