They rode until he felt that his army had put enough distance between them and the town. He had found a field that was large enough for his army, so they stopped there for the night. His men were eager to rest from the fight and the long ride set to work building small temporary fires for light and laying their horses blankets on the ground as makeshift pallets.
The Undertaker was confused about what to do with Lilly. He didn’t want to hurt her, but couldn’t show compassion in front of his men. He pulled her off of his horse and let her fall to his feet. She began to wake up and he was glad that his men hadn’t stalled when they settled down so they wouldn’t see her and the fight that was sure to happen. As he stood over her, his younger brother came up to him.
"My brother takes a captive?"
The Undertaker looked up at his brother, then back down at the girl.
"Her father was the man who owned me."
Both men looked at the girl who was attempting to awake. The Undertaker looked back at his brother.
"You had better leave Kane. She will not be happy when she finds out what has happened."
Nodding his goodnight, Kane turned and retired to his pallet.
The Undertaker again looked down at her. She had rolled onto her belly and trying to raise herself up from the ground, telling him that she was not fully awake yet. Bending down, his hands circled her waist and lifted her up off the ground. Her hands flew to his wrists, surprised to awaken in the presence of someone else. The fires had been extuingised so the field was blanketed in the darkness so she only saw a large shadow when she turned to see who was with her. Thinking that it was the man who had taken her from her home. Panicking, she backed away from the shadow until her backside hit his horse. She tried to scream, but found that she was still gagged., The person in front of her quickly pulled her to him removed the oily rag from her mouth but put his hand over her mouth she could scream.
"I will not hurt you Lilly. Screaming will only gain you an audience. Unless you do what I tell you, I will be forced to tie you to a tree for the night and I do not want to do that. Do you understand?"
She nodded quickly, not sure what kind of wild animals lived in this land. She wanted to know how he knew her name, but didn’t want to anger him. Her body was trembling with uncontrollable fear and coldness from the night. The edges of her nightgown fluttered as the wind icy chill picked up and she wrapped her arms around herself. She felt the shadows of hands reach out and wrap around her upper arms, drawing her to him. She came, deciding that the wisest decision would be not to fight him since she couldn’t see if he had his sword with him.
‘Why would he need his sword? This man is so big that he could snap me in two with his bare hands!’ she thought.
He led her away from his horse and to the pallet that he had prepared earlier. She felt the hard cold ground change to soft furs under her feet and realised that she was standing on his pallet.
"You do not mean to..." She whispered softly, hoping that he would not hurt her for speaking.
"Your gown is not enough to keep the night’s cold away and I do not trust that you will not try to run if I give you your own pallet. You either sleep with me, or I tie you to a tree."
She did not want to be tied all night to a tree and did not want to share this man’s bed, but she wasn’t given a choice before the shadow moved down to sit on the blankets and pull her down beside her. She might as well have been a rag doll. She didn’t dare move as he set her on one side of the thick blanket and he lay on the other side. She was shivering from the icy chill of the night and hoped that the man would show her compassion and give her a blanket. She got more than that. In one fluid motion, the man pulled a thick and heavy blanket over them both, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Her back was to him and felt him bend his knees into the bend of her own, as if they were two spoons in a kitchen drawer.
Lilly struggled only briefly in her fear at the embarrassing position, but it only made his hold on her waist tighter. She swallowed nervously. She had never been this close to a man before and she wondered how in the world she was to fall asleep. She could feel the man’s clothes and the heat from his body through her nightgown and the oddest feeling ran through her and she shuddered in response to it. Her heart seemed to want to beat out of her chest. The man behind her never moved, save for his breathing that she could feel by the rising and falling of his chest against her back. She sighed and tried to calm herself enough to at least try to go to sleep. If she was to escape, than she would need all the rest she would need. Her body had been busy absorbing the surrounding heat and warmth and caused her eyelids to grow heavy. After a few minutes, she was able to calm down enough to go to sleep, swearing that before she would escape from wherever this man was taking her, she would find out who these people were and who was the man that slept behind her. A question remained on her mind as her eyes closed.
How did he know her name?
Copyright 2000 by Lady Serria