The Promises We Make- Uhtred of Bebbanburg

Chapter Sixteen

"Such a shame." Lord Maurice expressed before grabbing me by the waist with force and pulling my body into his. He began to stroke my bare neck with his rough, dry hands and whispered close to my ear.

"The things I would do to you." And kissed my neck.

My eyes suddenly opened, wide and alert, searching ahead as far as I could see. My body was too stiff to move as my heart gallops, sending my chest to rise and fall at an unnatural speed. I felt stuck, trapped in my own mind. The feeling of lord Maurice's lingering presence around my waist brought a small tears to my eyes. Looking down my body, I caught an arm wrapped around the lower half of my waist. The limb lied comfortable in its place. Bile rose, burning my stomach and throat, threatening to leave my mouth at any moment. I had to go.

In an instant, I rushed off the floor and ran. I kept running, as fast as my legs were capable. I had no idea where I was going, but I could not stay here any longer.

The snow was too thick for any sort of travel, making running harder than usual. Without concentrating on the path ahead, I met the ground, falling hard on my stomach. I was lucky my head was saved by the thick snow. I coughed, deep and fast, trying to re-catch the air that had escaped my lungs.

I felt hot, sick and angry that I did not make it far enough.

The snow slowly melted against my skin, soaking my clothes through and making them too heavy to run as I continued to lay. I rolled my spine, sitting on my knees and taking much needed breathes.

An unreleased cry was building up, ready to be teared down as soon as I open my mouth. A cry I have held in since witnessing the death of my family and my best friend Celine. A cry that I was clearly holding on too for far too long.

I felt the power, the anger and the force of which my pain was ready to be free.

I screamed.

I screamed as loud as my body could as another raw cry ripped my throat soon after. Heavy tears, warm and salty, flowed against my cheeks. A sudden feel pressure, pounding in my head pushed away the haunting images of lord Maurice. I clutched my hair with both of my hands, pulling loose strands through my fingers, trying to stop the flow of emotions I was releasing.

A female voice called from a far. It was getting closer, reaching out to me with a soft gentleness. The same gentleness my mother carried.

"Mother." I called out, desperately hoping that she had been with me all along. That this was just a nightmare she was trying to wake me up from. That I was currently sleeping off the worry and fear of leaving my home to travel to Wessex.

"Miss!" The voice rang again, but I knew deep down, that it was not my mother. I forced myself to remember that my mother was now in Gods kingdom, along with Leon and my unborn sibling. My heart went out to Marie and her unborn child, before I cursed my mind with thoughts of my father rotting in hell.

Tears now streamed down, refusing to stop. My eyes felt sore as I began to feel dizzy, compelling my own mind to breathe slowly.

"Miss!" Mary called out as she reached me, breathless and exhausted from the speed she had ran to catch up. I had not expected anyone to see me. It was still early by looks of the low rising sun. She fell to her knees, ignoring her lack of clothes to protect her against the cold and a placed a light hand on my shoulder.

"Miss, are you alright?" Concern covered her face. Her eyes quickly wonder over me, possibly inspecting any sort of noticeable injury that may be present.

"I-I'm fine." I managed to muster. Though that simple response took more energy then I realised.

"Running and screaming is not what I would call fine." She breathed, continuing to catch her breath while still sounding worried. I couldn't face her. Not just yet. Mary would want to know why, but I could not tell her. They can't know who we are. She would either show sympathy and compassion, something I was not prepared to receive at this moment or worse.