Chapter 12

- Elly -

Elly grabbed a pot with the thick vegetable soup from the understaffed kitchen and went a round to refill the bowls of the guests for the night.

The church provided shelter and food for less fortunate souls or travellers. On cold nights like this one the benches at the long tables in the arched dinner hall were always filled. The air was thick with smoke from the fire giving warmth and full of chatter.

Elly wrinkled her nose at the smell of the brew in the pot. It was clearly lacking spices, but she supposed that couldn't be helped with the convents little means to give to the poor.

"Need help with that?" Sarah asked.

"Thanks, I can manage," Elly gave back.

Sarah shrugged and grinned her loveliest tooth-gap smile. "See you later then."

Elly nodded and hoped her discomfort wasn't visible on her face. She did like the girl, truly, but the way Sarah never left her side was unnerving, no matter how much Elly disliked being alone these days.

Maybe because the girl wasn't who Elly longed to have at her side. Her brother David would have been nice. He had always known how to make her smile, even in the worst situations. Or her mother, to give her a warm hug.

Elly steered for the first table in the hall to give out the soup. Happy grunts and thanks grumbled with full mouths were her answers.

"Pretty as always," one of the regulars said. Elly had noticed he was one of the many people without his own roof who came in the same clothes every night. "Your face is really wasted in a place like this."

Elly smiled and walked on to the next table. "Seconds?" she asked.

Few men and women raised their bowls as an answer.

Elly's attention caught on a hooded figure that seemed to wish to disappear below the table. Next to it sat a tall man with a nasty scar all over his face that eyed Elly with a silent attention that gave her goosebumps.

"Seconds?" she asked anyway and forced a smile on her lips. She had become good at that lately, with all the practice she'd had in Castermere. And also at patience. Her mother might have been proud of her, hadn't Elly been so entirely disgraced.

The tall man shook his head, the hooded one gave no response at all. He held his head low and shoulders high.

"Very well." Elly went on to complete her rounds, until there was nothing left in the pot, then she brought it back to the kitchen to collect the empty bowls next.

And there she caught him staring.

The hooded man who wouldn't dare look at her up close before, watched her every move from afar. The moment their eyes met, both of them froze.

It was those crystal clear blue eyes, that had haunted Elly every day and every night ever since she had first seen them.

For a second all the world slipped away from her. Therewas no sound but her hectic heartbeat. The bowl almost rattled out of her hands and the black hole in her stomach threatened to swallow her whole, like in her nightmares. At the same time her heart ached with hopes she refused to acknowledge.

"Are you alright, pretty? You seen a ghost?" the homeless man asked.

Elly needed a second to respond. Then she smiled at him. "Even worse."

A demon.

She meant to run away crying, all the horrible memories and emotions coming back to her. The pain of loss. Loneliness. Shame. Wild anger over the injustice thathad happened to her. She didn't want to begin to imagine what terrors waited now for her. And there had to be some.

The Count always brought trouble with him.

Instead, she fixed her eyes at the man and walked straight at him. When she stood right in front of him, she faked her best smile so far. "A word?" she said. "In private."

The Count's face was stone. He nodded once and swiftly rose to his feet. Elly led him out a side door into the poorly lit yard, she had spent the better part of the day cleaning.

"Do I even want to know what you are doing here?" she snapped without any greetings. Politeness was truly beyond her at that point.

"Yes, I am quite well, thank you for asking," he gave back just as rude.

They stood in thick silence for a long while, just staring at each other, equally upset.

He looked nothing like a Count. He was dressed in rags and smeared in dirt like other travellers. Thick brown coat over a woollen shirt and high leather boots. His face was hard, but his eyes were tangled in all kinds of emotions Elly couldn't place.

"Can't you just leave me alone already?" Elly finally said. Her voice hitched despite the determination she meant to have.

"If you think of this as anything but mere coincidence you are a fool."

"Well, thank you then," Elly snapped.

"I apologize. That's not what I meant to say," the Count rushed to speak. "Listen, I –"

"Stay away from me!" Elly said. Anger and desperation almost drove tears to her eyes. She gulped them down.

"You approached me."

"Only to tell you off! I want nothing to do with you anymore." She couldn't lose her life again because of him. She wouldn't be able to bear any more pain. Any more crushed hopes anddreams.

"I wasn't trying –"

"I mean it! Stay the hell away from me!" Elly yelled in his face, when she couldn't hold her composure anymore.

Then she turned and fled without looking back.

She went straight to her chambers, ran as fast as she could, ignoring evening chores and her rebelling heart, and was thankful Sarah was not there yet.

Elly opened the window to air the dusty room and sat down on the windowsill to look at the sky. It was a clear night, the moon slim, countless stars, it would be cold that night. When she shivered, she pulled a blanket over herself, instead of closing the window.

She needed to cool her head. And her heart, it was burning with anger and something else she couldn't name. In erratic gasps she forced the cold air down her throat.

When she had finally calmed down enough, she noticed two shadows moving slightly in the dark below. She held her breath. Until she heard the noises.

Horses. Saddled, like someone had just left them. How odd for them to be there. There were stables to host the traveller's horses.

Eventually she closed the window and curled herself up in her bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and hugged the pillow tightly toher chest.

Tomorrow the Count would be gone again. Tomorrow it all would be gone again. And Elly could go back to the life she had now for herself. A stable life. Free of danger and worries. And free of him. She would never have to see him again, whether it was in fine garmentsin a ballroom or in odd coats in places he didn't belong.

At once Elly sat straight in her bed.

A hooded figure in a church.

She had seen him like that before. At her almost-wedding. But she hadn't thought much of it back then.

The lost goods the priests of Burgate had been so eager to blame her for. Her mother had written in the letter they had most likely been stolen.

The two horses at the back entrance. Saddled and ready. Maybe they had not been just left, put placed there in anticipation of a quick departure.

What if the one who had robbed the church in Burgate had been the Count?

What if the reason for his presence in the convent was no coincidence at all?

He was up to something.

Before she knew it, Elly was on her feet. She was about to slip into her shoes and coat when the bell rang alarm. She rushed down the stairs, and then against the flood of nuns and apprentices running the other direction.

"The stables are on fire!" Elly heard them yell. "Quick, get water!"

Elly sped up. Tears prickled in her eyes, scared she might be too late already. What for exactly, she didn't know. Her mind was all over the place. But if there was even the smallest chance, she had to know.

Shesped up. She hasted into the priest guard's empty chamber and found the rusty old key still hanging there on the wall. At once she grabbed it and ran for the back door where the horses were waiting.

It was closed. She was alone. Besides her gasps for air only silence. Not even the noise of alarm bell reached. Elly leaned on her knees to catch a breath. Then she straightened up and waited.

Not for long, before two shadows appeared in front of her in the dark. They rushed down the empty hallway on silent steps.

When they came closer the tall man with the scar reached for a dagger fastened to his hip. The other man – the Count – stopped his companion with a gesture and stepped in front.

Elly had been rightwith her suspicion. Her heart clenched. "Stealing from a church? Again? Don't you have any decency?" Elly spat at the Count.

He audibly took a deep breath. His face was grim even in the darkness. Hard and haunted. "I am no Count and no Lord to anyone," he said with a voice twisted with emotion. "My name is Jake." Hetook another deep breath. "And I seek to overthrow the King. If you choose to stand in my way – well – just don't choose to."

Elly grabbed the key in her pocket tight.

"The King? Have you lost your mind?"sShe said.

Had she lost her mind? She must have misheard. He couldn't have possible really just said that. His words didn't make any sense.

"Quite possibly so," he said. He stared Elly down in the darkness with an intensity that had hertrembling. "Well? What are you going to do? I haven't got all day."

"You are insane!" Elly yelled. Her desperate voice echoed from the walls. She took the key from her pocket and clenched it to her chest. Every instinct in her body told her to run with it. Fast and far.

He didn't waver. His eyes remained on Elly's. Stared her down like they were weapons. Silence fell and stretched. The uneasiness crawled over Elly's skin.

She would have wantedto scream for help.

Instead, she took the key and unlocked the door at her back. The lock's click echoed through the grim silence in the hallway.

A hysteric laughter escaped Elly's lips.

Poor choices, right? Why stop with them now? Whatdifference did it even make? Her life was long over. And his – was none of her business. If he sought to be punished fortreason, she would not stand in his way. She would let him run to his doom ashe pleased.

The men pushed by her and mounted their horses waiting for their escape. Elly watched them do so while tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't even tell why she was crying, no thought in her head made sense. No emotion in her heart either.

The Count rode in front of her and stared down at her for a long moment of silence. His eyes searched hers. Much softer than before. They dared her to say something, but she didn't know what.

Then he reached his arm out towards her.

"Will you come with me?" he asked.

Elly shook her head, first hesitantly, then eager. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. There were too many tears. "Now you suddenly care?" she pressed out.

"I haven't been honest before. Now I am," he almost whispered.

Elly couldn't possible say yes. He only ever brought her trouble. Who knew where she would end up next. He was a thief, a liar and insane. His association did her nothing good.Never had, never would.

She wanted to be as far away as possible from him.

She never wanted to see him again.

Never even think of him again.

There was nothing in the world she wanted more, than to take his hand.

From the moment they had first met his eyes had whispered promises to her. Right that moment they were pleading. Her heart hammered in her chest, pulled apart by reason.

Elly cursed three times. Herself, him and everything else.

Then she reached for his hand and he pulled her onto the horse.

***

- Jake -

They rode in silence. When Elly shivered from the cold, Jake grabbed her tight and wrapped his coat around both of them. She gave a squeaky noise of protest, but was eventually convinced by the warmth.

They had come prepared for a ride through the cold of the night, she had barely thrown a coat over what looked like her night garments.

He leaned against her back and let himself enjoy the odd sensation of peace that came with it. It wasn't many moments he felt like that these days.

None, actually.

About an hour late they arrived at the hut. There was still light behind the barren windows. Jake cursed below his breath. He would have very much liked to avoid Nathaniel's comments at least for the night.

"Will you take care of the horses?" Jake asked Rutger as he unmounted. The man grabbed for the reins as an answer.

Jake helped Elly down the horse as well. She looked drowsy and her movements were stiff.

"Let's get you warmed up," he mumbled.

She nodded lazily. Jake led her inside the hut and sat her down on the thick fur carpet in front of the fireplace.

"Look what the wind dragged in." Nathaniel stuck his head around the corner. Then he froze spotting Elly. He looked the girl up and down with sharp eyes. "Oh, my."

"Shut it," Jake snapped. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around Elly's trembling shoulders. She took hold of it and pulled it tighter, didn't give much of a response otherwise, however.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Nathaniel said.

"Just shut it anyway."

Nathaniel smirked, putting his pointy teeth to display. "At least let me tease you a little," the demon pouted. "After all, I have been telling you all along."

"Yes, you spout lots of pretty words, but hardly anything useful ever comes out of your mouth."

"Is that so? I guess then the message the Earl gave me for you matters not either," Nathaniel nearly sang.

Jake sighed in annoyance. "In the morning, you nasty beast, we'll talk in the morning." Even he could spare one night's time.

Nathaniel shrugged nonchalant and turned on the heel, not without a wink and a whisper of inappropriate comments.

Jake sighed again. He put off his boots and threw the gloves on the table, then poured two cups of steaming tea from the pot resting on the stove. Annabelle must have made it and Jake hoped it wasn't some experimental poison instead. Carefully he took a sip and awaited any immediate symptoms before he found it just tea and handed a cup to Elly.

She blinked once before she could tear her gaze from the fire to take the tea into her still trembling hands and to her blueish lips.

"I am not quite sure what to say," Jake started and sat down next to Elly in front of the fire. He could hardly make any sense of his actions himself. Just that something had snapped in him, the moment he had seen her in the convent. And when she had cried, all he had wanted to do was dry her tears.

"Then let it be," she mumbled. "As my mother used to say: Better be quiet than to speak nonsense."

"What a thoughtful woman," Jake said sarcastically.

"She is," Elly said with a soft voice instead of a witty comment and that shut him up for good.

Rutger came in with a breeze of cold air. He nodded once and disappeared into his chamber.

Then they just sat there, in quiet, sipping their tea. And Jake welcomed that odd sensation of peace back to settle. It warmed his bones much more than the fire ever could have. His heartbeat easier with it.

"Your hair grew," he said eventually, tugging at a golden strand before he could think better of it.

Elly glanced at him with a face about to claw his eyes out.

"I apologize," he hurried to say and pulled his arm back. "I apologize. For everything, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"No, I do. I am sorry." Terribly sorry. For too many things.

Elly emptied her cup, placed it in front of her on the floor, then curled herself into the blanket on the fur carpet, to sleep probably.

Jake sighed. He let himself fall back alongside her on the floor and crossed his arms behind his head.

"If you dare try touch me, I'll cut your arms off. Don't think I won't, I nearly killed a man once who didn't know where his hands belonged," Elly snapped.

Jake blinked, taken aback by the girl's harsh words, then chuckled. "Good thing you are not entirely innocent, otherwise I might have needed to have a guilty conscience about stealing you away."

"Go to hell."

At that Jake had to laugh. "Careful what you wish for," he said then, more grim than he would have wanted to be.

She gave no more answer, tucked the blanket tighter and shivered.

Jake stared at the ceiling. For a long while. Thinking. Categorizing the emotions swirling inside him. Regret and hope, guilt and excitement, fear and longing. He found nothingbut conflicts waging a war in his heart.

When Elly wouldn't stop trembling from the cold even after her breath had calmed in sleep, he supposed, he moved closer and threw another blanket over the both of them.

"I said no touching!" she hissed.

Jake froze at the ice in her voice. "I am not touching, I am warming," he tried. Well prepared for taking a punch or worse he tested his chances and moved still closer, carefully placing an arm around her waist. "Now I am touching," he breathed in her ear, tensed in expectation of her reaction to the tease. And chuckled upon the staggering breath that came.

Just because he tended to refrain from advancing on women, it didn't mean he'd never done so before or he didn't know how his charms worked.

"I'll hurt you."

"You are very welcome to try."

At that she indeed struggled enough to push her elbow in his stomach.

"Ah. Oh, no. I am dying," he teased.

"Don't make fun of me."

"Don't be so easy to tease then."

"You are awful."

"And you are adorable."

Again, a struggling gasp sounded and Jake chuckled.

He probably shouldn't have enjoyed that sound so much. He most definitely shouldn't have felt such attraction towards a girl he barely knew. "Fine. If you really hate the warmth I provide you so much, I'll move. But be honest about it."

Almost eager he waited the longest moment to her response.

"I honestly wish you'd leave me alone," she whispered.

And couldn't help but sigh in disappointment about it. He took his arm back and moved to turn his back towards hers. "You are a horrible liar," he grumbled.

He meant to sleep then, but couldn't. He meant to wonder what kind of message the Earl had sent, he meant to think of ways to get himself the money he needed or how to convince Sir Evermount to reduce his terms, he meant to plan out anything really, but couldn't either.

His full attention was on the sound of breathing behind his back and all the ways he would have wanted to upset it.

"You were right, you know," he mumbled eventually. "I should have known better. I still should. But it seems my head is losing the fight."

***