Medice Ceres

Chapter 10

A tap to his shoulder gained Horris' attention. Waithe pointed toward Ceres, who struggled in the grip of two dark-clothed men. He held up two fingers and then made a sweeping motion with his hand. Horris understood immediately: two enemies, and a request to flank and contain them. He ran off to the side into the darkness.

Waithe withdrew a short knife from his boot and sprinted toward Ceres, who continued to struggle against her captors. There was no time for stealth.

Rage boiled up from his core. He yelled. "Let her be!"

The attackers snapped their heads around toward Waithe. Their eyes glared with malicious intent from beneath dark hoods. One pulled a shiny long knife from his belt in a single motion and stepped forward to face Waithe, while the other held the terrified Ceres in a tight grip.

Waithe could tell by the way the attacker grasped his blade and his fighting stance that these were trained fighters. His small knife would not be much of a match against their long blades. He took a chance and threw his knife while looking directly into his opponent's eyes. If this did not work, he would have to face them with no weapon at all. The knife found its mark and buried itself in the attacker's neck. With a sickening gurgle of blood, the attacker fell to the ground.

Waithe bent down to pull his bloody knife from the dead man's neck and retrieved the dropped long knife. He pointed it at the remaining dark attacker and issued a silent challenge with his eyes.

The dark man put his blade to Ceres' throat and spat, "Back! Or I spill her blood."

"I think not. Your master would not want a corpse." Waithe slowly stepped forward as Ceres' eyes grew even wider and she shook her head.

The man lifted his shiny blade from her neck and pressed it against her cheek. "Perhaps so. But I can easily carve up this pretty face. Now you..."

Those were his last words. One of Horris' hands grabbed the attacker's knife hand and the other drew a knife across his throat. The attacker slumped to the ground, spilling his own blood on the woman he had threatened.

Ceres peered at the blood that now stained her dress and began to shake. The color drained from her face. Waithe came forward to remove the gag from her mouth and enclosed her in his arms. She began to sob.

He pulled her head to his shoulder. "It be over, dear Ceres. You be safe now."

One of the Captain's men dragged Cassio before them. Wraithe let go of Ceres and approached him, his eyes narrowed to a scowl and his hand tightly gripped a bloody knife. Cassio tried to back up, but the guard held him firm.

He pleaded. "Please, mercy sir! They said they just wanted to talk to the Lady. I did not know that they might hurt her. Please..."

Waithe stood before him, his mind unsure if he should give in to his rage or not. A thrown fist caught Cassio in the cheek and he fell to a knee, a fist from Lord Eudus, who now stood over him. "Take him away."

Waithe embraced Ceres again, her sobs now reduced to intermittent shudders. Lord Eudus stood before her and bowed. "My deepest apologies, my Lady. I am relieved that you be unhurt, but this should never have happened."

Sharm rushed out to the garden and dropped her jaw. Eudus said to her, "My dear, please take the Lady Ceres and her protector back to their rooms and see to their needs." He turned to Horris. "Captain, post additional guards and see to her safety."

*****

Ceres woke up to find Sharm bearing a tray of food. Waithe stood up from a nearby chair and rubbed his eyes, having slept there last night. The morning light streaming through the window seemed to wash away the previous evening's terror.