Into Another Time

Nice to see you again...not

Everybody's collective gasps of horror was the only sound as absolute silence filled the fields. The loudest came from beside me. Eyes bulged out of their sockets. I couldn't believe what this man just accused of me, a WELSH spy??. What the fuck??. Where the absolute fuck did that come from?. Castle court?. What was going on??. The guards rolled their eyes as Amelia's mum's mouth hung open like the rest of us, no comebacks firing back. The former guard's eyes snapped to me and he spoke sternly," So are you going to cooperate and come with us, Miss Emma?"

I was in no position to reply, defend myself or run from here. I still couldn't process the fact that this big of an accusation was thrown at me from nowhere. I was absolutely thrown. Eloise shook me and whispered to me,

" Emma what's going on?. What are these men and Mrs Roth saying? You and Amelia told me you were from Durkin and her cousin!."

As much as I would have been rattled by Eloise finding out the semi truth about me, I had bigger problems. Like being tried for TREASON. Mrs Roth finally found her voice and asked the guard, struggling to speak,

"I- uh, what?. How can you even say such things!. Do you have any proof to back up from your absurd claims!?"

" Do you have any evidence to the contrary? Do you know anything about this girl which tells you she comes from a decent English family?", the guard snickered," No. A strange girl appeared out of nowhere and told you a sob story about her family drowning and you take her in-without knowing who she is"

Mrs Roth had no answer to this and she became flustered and embarrassed, it was humiliating for her to be shown up like this in front of her entire village for doing what she thought was a honorable and good deed. Mr Roth came to the front now, standing infront of his wife, taking charge of the questioning.

" It doesn't matter, it was the right thing to do", he said," Tell me, sirs, if a young girl came to you and told you the same story, would you toss her out on the streets or take her in?. My wife did the right thing"

It was a logical argument, no doubts there, but instead of backing down the guards became more frustrated," Agreed, but did you bring the matter up with anyone after this incident occurred?. No. We have information from Lord Canterbury himself that this girl has been staying with you for the past-what?- one month and a half. We got to know when she came along with Amelia Roth and registered herself as Emma Roth from Norman village, that's when we got suspicious. And she has no family history, no roots, no!. It's almost as if she created that identity out of thin air", the guard turned his piercing gaze to me. I looked away.

The murmurs among the crowd grew louder hearing Lord Canterbury's name.

" We were arranging her marriage!", Mrs Roth protested," With Father Thomas, our priest's blessing, we told him!.He agreed"

Father Thomas definitely did not want to involved in this. His stoic expression shifted to give away to mild uncomfortableness. The guards didn't question him, only sending a brief respectful, acknowledging nod his way.

" However acceptable that seemed, it doesn't excuse the fact that a strange girl who has no connection to you or anyone as a matter of fact, is living with you without any questioning. Sorry but this is about national security, she has to come with us. We have orders", the guard shrugged, the second guard nodding in agreement. Mr & Mrs Roth stared at me as did Eloise, Mille, Reinfed and everybody else. I was going to have to go with them, to a trial that might result in my execution. Fuck.

The first guard stepped forward," Now again miss, are you going to cooperate?", he asked," or do we have to make this unpleasant?". When I didn't move or respond, he reached out his hand to grab my arm which made me flinch. I snatched my arm back, taking a step back.