The Hibernian Runaway

Chapter 31

Lilly grunted as she was flung into the dresser at the side of the bedroom. Josephine was toying with her, purposefully taking her time to make sure she could inflict the maximum amount of pain before either one of them ceded. Blood stained the white thread of her shirt red from where Josephine's knife had slashed her. Even though the woman was clearly mad, she was accurate with the knife. Or insanely lucky.

But Lilly wasn't the only one injured; she had gotten in some hits too. The Queen had a crooked and bloody nose where Lilly had smacked her with her elbow, and blood lined the spaces between her teeth. The Queen's eyes were erratic and wide, almost oblivious to the pain dealt to her body. And that made her even more dangerous.

Lilly turned her head as she caught her breath, and saw the tall iron candlestick sitting on top of the dresser. She grabbed the burning candle from its perch and turned to face Josephine, inching her way to hide her weapon.

"You're harder to kill than I expected, sweet Lilly," Josephine said with a smile, her voice unusually light. "I now understand why Gregory failed to make your capture a quick one." She looked over at the crumpled body of her lover on the ground, then turned back to Lilly, her expression now a polar opposite. "It's your fault that he's dead," she snarled, literally baring her teeth. "I'll make you hurt so much that you'll wish you were dead." The mad queen charged at Lilly, brandishing the knife over her head. Thinking quickly, Lilly flung the burning candle at the queen, grabbed the candlestick, and turned to meet her attacker.

Will was running back up the stairs that he had just came down, with Halt, Erak, Nial, and a couple more men on his heels. He knew that the stone that was sitting in the bottom of his stomach was also in everyone else's. Will got to the top of the stairs and drew his saxe knife, expecting Josephine to be armed and dangerous. But when he got to the bedroom he stopped short, confused with what he was seeing.

Josephine wobbled on her feet as she moved towards Lilly, obviously delirious with pain. She stumbled almost blindly, hands outstretched, not menacing, but almost pleading. One half of her face and neck was splotched red and swollen, covered with wax. She fell to her knees and crawled to Lilly's feet where she tried to pull herself up by grabbing onto her pants. Will saw the candlestick in the princess's hand and the candle, now put out, lying in the corner.

Will exchanged a look with Lilly, who seemed to be just as puzzled as he did. Lilly had her composure, but she still seemed shaken; somewhat pale and her arm dripping blood. She motioned at him to stay there, probably so he wouldn't startle Josephine. Halt appeared silent as a shadow behind him, while Erak was louder, but Will motioned for them to keep quiet.

"Lilly," Josephine wheezed through half-swollen lips. "Lilly, it hurts so much. Why does it hurt?" She gently moved her hand between her broken nose and her burned neck, with the motion of a child experiencing something for the first time.

Lilly took a deep breath before responding to the woman at her feet. Will could tell that every ounce of her being was telling her to not show compassion towards the woman who ruined her life, but she couldn't help it. She slowly knelt down to Josephine's level. "Josephine," Lilly began, "you attacked me and my father. You seized control of Clonmel for almost a year."

"No-no-no-no. No." Josephine seemed to be assuring herself instead of responding to Lilly. She looked at her hands, and seemed intent on playing with the dried blood and burns on them. Then her eyes focused and met Lilly's. "I-I did that? But that's not possible." Josephine trailed off, and began playing with one of the many stray strands of her hair.

Will realized that Josephine had finally reached, and surpassed, her breaking point. She could no longer function except for basic speech and actions; she had essentially become a child. If a child could be considered responsible for the deposition of the royalty of Clonmel, deaths of dozens of innocent people, and the wrecking of the lives of everyone under Clonmel's authority.

"Josephine," Lilly began, "do you think you could stand up?" She made eye contact with Will, trying to convey the words that she couldn't physically say. Luckily, he understood, and he started to slowly move towards Lilly and Josephine.

The dark-haired woman took Lilly's outstretched hands and began to get to her feet. She looked down, seemingly interested in the blood stains soaked into the fabric of her dress. Will stopped at Lilly's side and waited for Lilly to lead him. "Josephine, this is Will. He's gonna help you walk, okay?" She passed off her hands to his own and he was uncomfortably holding hands with a mad murderess.

Will took a slow step backwards, leading Josephine like an awkward dance partner. She was looking down, watching where she was stepping like a child taking her first steps. One agonizing step after the other, slowly making their way over to the servant's stairs. Then out of nowhere, Josephine let go of his hands and took a step back.

Will looked up at Josephine, and froze. She was staring at the crumpled body of Gregory with a look of horror on her face. And here eyes were perfectly clear. In slow motion, her hand clapped itself over her mouth, muffling her scream of agony. Will dropped a hand to the saxe knife in his belt, expecting the worst.

"I-I. I did that," Josephine whispered more or less to herself. "I remember that. Why did I do that?"

"Josephine," Lilly began, "just come with us. Everything will be alright."

Josephine began backing away from them, and Will took a step forward, sliding the saxe partly out of the sheath. She looked around the room, suddenly realizing the amount of people in it with her. "Lilly, tell me, if I go with you, I'll go to Stonewall, won't I?"

Lilly shook her head. "No, you'll get the help that you need." She held out a hand for her, beckoning Josephine to come to her, "let us help you."

Will saw what was going to happen before it actually did, but there was no way he could stop it from happening. Josephine tensed up, preparing her body to spring into motion. He sprang for Lilly, holding her back as Josephine moved. She ran for the balcony, throwing the door open. In two steps she was on the balustrade, and then she was gone.

Lilly screamed as Josephine disappeared from view, despite the horrors that the woman had done to the princess. "Lilly." Will said. "Lilly, it's over." She fell to her knees, sobbing. "It's over." Will repeated, trying to comfort her. He looked up at Halt, who had moved silently to his side. He was slightly pale, but that was the only apparent evidence of his shock. Halt placed a hand on Lilly's shoulder, "there's someone waiting for you downstairs. Let's go. It's over"