"Kill you? And waste such a beautiful girl. No, I have far better things in store for us." Hans laughed.
His laugh made her sick. Was the promise he made earlier just for show? Her hands were still being restrained by the two ruffians beside her. Was it her fate to be used and thrown away?
How many times had she looked towards the future and only seen good possibilities. She honestly thought that everything would work out with a little effort from her.
Even with all of the trouble she had with her mother and father, she did not wish to see them dead, to have them murdered before her very eyes. Who could be so cruel?
She doubted she would even get to honor their dead bodies. Her father's voice would never echo in the halls as she ran away. Her mother would never sit across from her at dinner.
Her knees became weak and she fell forward. The restraining hands on her wrist let her go. Eva didn't even feel the relief that the release gave her. Her arms hung limp at her side.
Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she let the first sob break through. Everything had been ruined. The life she had dreamt for herself, and the lives of her parents.
This was an ending she could have never imagined.
'Mom. Dad. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you,' she thought.
The crunch of gravel echoed in her ears as her chin was roughly pulled up. She was forced to look into Hans' face. He wouldn't even let her grieve for her parents.
His grin sickened her, but she had no strength left to fight back. There was no way to escape, not with this despicable man's men surrounding her.
"I quite like this expression on your face. You will understand one day why it had to be this way," Hans spoke.
She understood perfectly clearly what his intentions were. His intentions were to destroy her entire family and make her live her life by his side. All so he could watch her suffer.
She wanted to run away from this place and get as far away as possible. His grip tightened on her chin. If she was to keep on living she needed to find a way to make him pay for everything that he took from her.
"I see there is still some defiance in your eyes. Fine. I will give you a choice. You may stay at my side as my concubine or I will let the wolves hunt you down in the woods," he sneered at her.
"Before you decide, let me at least tell you this. Your father signed away his title to me this morning. There is no way you can regain your family's pride. To think that he didn't even wait for the marriage to be official." Hans laughed.
'How could my father be so stupid!' Eva thought.
"I still see the value of keeping you as a second wife. I would think carefully about your future. You are too much of a tomboy to find another noble husband."
"I may even let our children have a piece of this land someday." Hans released her chin. "What is your answer?"
His eyes were cold. She could tell that even if she chose the safer option, her life would be filled with sadness and no love.
"Ahhh…"
An explosion was set off near them, causing chaos to ensue. Eva quickly stood up amongst the men that had fallen around her. Even Hans had been knocked from his feet.
"Miss, come quickly!" a familiar soldier called out to her.
Eva rushed over to the waiting soldier. "You are wounded!" She tried assisting the soldier.
"Don't worry about me. Here, take this horse and escape. He should be able to get you a few miles from here before he succumbs to its injuries."
The soldier coughed and Eva noticed a line of blood trickle from his mouth.
"Get her!"
Eva quickly mounted the horse and turned around to look at the soldier. The soldier was already fighting off the first round of men trying to capture her. She bit her lip and urged the horse into a gallop.
"Burn the whole place down! We could have spent a life together Eva! I will burn everything that you own for refusing me!" Hans' voice carried over the wind as she broke through the tree line.
She only stopped briefly to look at the rising smoke as her family's estate was consumed by the flames. Not having the chance to save anything broke her heart.
All of the gifts from her father were in that house. All of her memories were being burned away along with the flames. She didn't even have a proper outfit to protect herself from the cold.
With tears in her eyes, she urged the horse forward again. It was dark when the horse finally stopped. She quickly dismounted. The stallion slowly knelt down and laid on his side. She rubbed her hands soothingly along his neck until he took his last breath.
Hours went by as she sat quietly next to the dead horse. It wasn't until the dawn broke over the trees that she allowed herself to remember her situation. She searched the saddlebags that were still on the horse.
"This must have been a hunter's horse."
There was no one to talk to, but saying her thoughts aloud seemed to comfort her.
She found a dismantled hunting bow and a quiver of arrows that she had not noticed before. The remainder of the items were one day's worth of dry rations, a hunting knife, and an identification insignia that belonged to her family.
She hugged the small piece of metal to her chest. It was the last thing she had of her family. A tiny pouch of coins was also found in the bags inside a concealed pocket.
The only thing she had to do now was find a town where she could find a cheap set of clothes. She was thankful that she had worn leather boots under her wedding dress.
They had wanted to put her in a set of ridiculous shoes, but this was the one thing she put her foot down for. She had never learned to walk in those shoes and no one was able to see her feet with the length of her wedding gown.
So she had a hunting knife and a small knife on her hip. She was really glad the ruffians had not searched her. Not many brides carried knives under their dresses.
She pulled out her earrings and took off her necklace and other jewels. She carefully placed them all in the small pouch of coins to sell.
"There should be a town a day's walk from here."
Looking up at the sky she found the rising sun and gauged where north was. It would make sense for her to head to the nearest town. However, she knew that he would most likely come after her.
So she picked the town that was two days walk away.
"I will have to make use of the river that is there as well," she mumbled. Then she stepped over to the horse that had gotten her safely here. "Thank you dear friend for getting me this far."
Eva strapped the items she'd pilfered from the saddlebags to her body before she began her journey towards the town of Ainsberg. She walked until her feet hurt.
The forest was quiet today. It was as if even the forest mourned the loss of her parents.
Cough. Cough.
Sitting all night in the cold forest with a dress clearly not meant for warmth had earned her a cold.
The chills made her clutch her arms. Her face felt hot and each step became harder to take as each second ticked by.
'Am I even walking in the correct direction anymore?'
She heard the rush of the river and that helped her perk up a bit.
'I finally…'
Her thought was cut short as she fell unconscious to the ground.
A lone figure crept up to her body. He had been watching her walk for a few hours now from the trees. The man brushed back her long light blue hair in interest.
'Why is a human wearing this ridiculous outfit this deep in the woods?' he thought.
Normally, he would not reveal himself to the Humans. They were a hostile race after all. Cutting down all the trees in the forest with no regard to the balance of nature.
He was going to leave again when he saw the dried tears on her face and the deep rips in her dress. There was something else about her that made him follow her for hours. He knew now that if he didn't help her, she might die in these woods.
He knew something terrible must have happened to her. She wasn't properly dressed and looked to be barely able to walk at this point. He set the back of his hand against her forehead.
'She has a fever.'
This realization made his decision for him. He could not let her die here.
Lucas took off his heavy cloak, which he used to hide his pointed ears. He draped it across her and started gathering firewood. He might regret his decision later, but right now all he saw was a helpless girl who needed his help.
******
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