Becoming Countess, page 8
They had been slowly ambling up one of the hills that surrounded the valley as Emma struggled with her thoughts. It all fled her mind, however, when they reached the crest and the moonlit landscape stretched out before them. She could see the rolling hills spreading in every direction and behind them Demmroch was small and distant.
"I used to come here a lot after my father died," he said. "Helped me get a little perspective, I guess. Although, I admit I've never been here at night. It's a nice change of pace."
"It's breathtaking," Emma sighed. She dismounted and slowly spun in a circle on top of the hill, taking everything in.
"On the other side of those hills," the earl pointed to the East, "is a pond where the sheep herds usually linger. And that way," he pointed North beyond the village, "Lies the king's capital city, though its twice as far as Montrellis is from here."
"You have sheep?" she asked, thinking of Vinny and his goats.
Oliver laughed. "Yes," he answered. "A prosperous herd, if I do say so myself. I'll take you there sometime," he offered.
"I'd like that," she grinned. "We don't have sheep—" she stopped, then rephrased her statement. "Montrellis doesn't have sheep, I mean," she corrected. "But we have a few goats. Gina, Mimi, and Henry. Vinny breeds them and makes cheese from their milk. It's a small profit for Montrellis, but he enjoys his work. He told me before I left he thinks one of the goats is pregnant. There's nothing cuter than a baby goat."
"Except maybe a little white lamb," Oliver contested.
Emma shot him a smirk and found he was grinning at her, too. It was only for a moment. He averted his eyes, a scowl replacing the flicker of amusement. Their easy conversation was over, replaced by the distant, cold disapproval he had been giving her all day. Emma sighed wearily. It was unlikely he'd be open to believing anything she had to say, especially when it marred his uncle's character.
"Will you at least listen to what I have to say?" she asked jadedly.
"It is why we're here," he replied, not really answering her.
Emma rolled her eyes, unseen by her husband in the dark. "I don't understand you," she muttered. "You were so congenial and friendly in the stable and during the ride, and now you're surly again. If you didn't want to really hear my side of the story, why bring me out here at all?" she scowled. "Just because your mother ordered you to?"
"I happen to love and respect my mother and her opinions," he replied with a sneer. "I do not have to give you the same deference."
"Oh, no!" she cried sarcastically. "I'm just your wife! Just the woman you're doomed to spend the rest of your life with!" She threw her hands in the air. How did it always happen this way with them? Easy conversation falling into angry roes. "Why would you want to be on civil terms with your wife? Of all the silly notions!"
"Beg your pardon for being a little surly after being duped into a marriage with a faithless, deceptive fraud!" he sneered cynically.
"I am not!" she hollered. Her palm itched to slap him across the face, but he was far too tall for her to reach his cheek, which only frustrated her more and a growl of indignation erupted from her throat. "You cad!" she cried. "You won't even attempt to consider another option!"
"I know what I saw!" he defended.
"You know nothing!" she shouted back. "You saw an innocent hug of gratitude between acquaintances! For heaven's sake, Oliver! Katy was standing right there, why would I make a move on her fiancé in front of her?"
The earl frowned. "I didn't see anyone else below the window," he muttered. "Don't try to cover a lie with a lie."
"I'm not lying to you!" she bellowed.
"You knew those people for a couple of hours at most. How is it you managed to learn so much about them, then?" he challenged. "You are making the whole thing up to cover your indiscretions!"
"You are impossible! You claim I hardly know them and yet continue to believe I was having an affair with one of them! You're such a hypocrite!"
"Then tell me how, exactly, in a matter of a few hours, you met and befriended a maid, learned of her engagement and ended up hugging the man in the dark behind an inn?" he spat. "How does that happen to any normal person?"
"I am far from normal," she said. "You know that."
"Then enlighten me," he growled.
"Fine. Here's the story," she spat.
She told him everything from the time they arrived in Vilkren to the time they left, even telling him that it was Lord Farley she saw, though she had thought to leave it out. But she was mad and so she threw the whole truth of it in his face, then waited with a grimace for his response.
20.
"Why should I believe you?" the earl murmured.
He fixed her with a hot, angry gaze that Emma felt down to her toes, even in the shadowy night. Part of her knew he wouldn't believe her, but part of her had hoped otherwise. Her chest tightened from his question; there would never be a way to truly prove herself to him. Marriage was misery.
"Because I'm your wife," she replied pathetically, knowing her defense was weak. "And I've never lied to you."
"You have no proof," he said.
"I know. It's my word against your uncle's. My word and Katy's," she said.
"Like I said," he muttered. "You have no proof."
"I'm tired of arguing about this," Emma sighed. "I told you what happened. It's on you if you don't believe it." She grabbed the reins of her horse and swung into the saddle, glowering down at him. "Thank you for indulging me and showing me your spot, but I'm ready to go back now," she said stiffly. She didn't wait for him to follow, turning Yvette toward Demmroch.
Trina and Mickal were nowhere to be found when Emma and Oliver returned to the stables in stony silence. Emma wasn't used to having a personal maid, but she would've liked to be able to share her frustrations with a friend, however new she may be.
Emma stomped away without waiting for the earl to escort her back. She took Trina's route back, cutting through the keep and the tower. She stopped just beyond the kitchen, however, hearing someone within. She hesitated, trying to decide if she should chance it or simply go through the front door, like a normal person. Then she heard a feminine cry of protest and she burst into the kitchen without thinking.
For the second time, Lord Farley's head snapped up to glare at her, his round body pressed against a distressed maid against a wall. The maid was slamming her fists against his shoulders, but he had his fat hands clutched tightly around her, keeping her from escaping him.
"Let go of her!" Emma shouted. Lord Farley glared at her and his fist tightened on the maid's hip, her face contorting in pain. "I said let go of her!" Emma repeated.
"Or what?" Lord Farley laughed wickedly. "You going to come over here and stop me?" he taunted.
He pressed closer to the maid, giving Emma a bawdy look that made a disgusted shiver shoot up her spine. She gritted her teeth and looked around quickly for a weapon, grabbing one of the iron frying pans that hung over the stove. Farley had the girl's skirt up to her waist and was groping between her thighs when Emma stepped closer, waving the pan at him, threatening with words as well as action.
"Let her go," Emma growled.
"You are a nosey wench," Farley scolded, throwing the girl aside. The maid collided against a table and stumbled out of the kitchen without looking back. Farley advanced on Emma with an evil gleam in his eyes.
Emma swung the heavy pan at his head, but Farley was quicker than she gave him credit for and caught her wrist, squeezing it painfully. They were interrupted by a loud, deep voice that cut through the room, both of them freezing and looking to the kitchen door in shock.
Earl Garrick stood there, a dangerous glare on his red face. Farley paled, then schooled his features again.
"Ollie!" Farley exclaimed. "You wife was—"
"Leave, Emma," the earl ordered. Emma hesitated for a moment. "Now!" he hollered, and she dropped the pan and scurried up the servants' stairs and into her bedroom, locking it and pushing one of the chairs in front of it for good measure. Farley would want revenge, and she wasn't going to let him have it.
She could only imagine the lies Lord Farley was weaving for the earl. If their argument on the hill was any indication, her husband would believe every word. He may have been able to look the other way the first time, but catching her with his uncle would be too much. He could publically accuse her of adultery, stand trial before the king and be sentenced to death! Emma's hand flew to her throat and her stomach twisted at the horrible thought of a public execution.
Emma refused to die for the lies of a cretin like Farley. She would have to run away. She'd take Yvette and disappear. Maybe to Harrish Lake. But she couldn't stay at Demmroch to be hanged and she couldn't go home to Montrellis either and put them all in danger as well. She ran to her closet, pulling a spare dress off the hanger and piled spare stockings, shoes, and a few coins as well as the jewel necklace she wore on her wedding day. She could sell it and use the money to start a new life. She didn't waste any more time, tying everything together inside the dress and escaping the same way Trina showed her before.
Once in the outer bailey, it was harder to sneak out without being seen by the guards. She saddled Yvette once again. Trina was still distracting Mickal somewhere and so she wasn't noticed in the stables. Her problem would be the drawbridge. She lingered just out of sight as she thought of a solution.
"Messenger!" someone cried from the top of the wall. The drawbridge was lowered and a single rider rode across. Emma didn't waste any more time, swinging into the saddle and galloping across before anyone could stop her and before they could raise the bridge again.
She galloped down the road the same way they'd come earlier that same day, not slowing down until there were many miles and many rolling hills between herself and Demmroch.
21.
The road led Emma to Vilkren by sunrise and she went directly to Leeker's Inn where she hoped to find Katy. The owner, Jon Leeker, didn't recognize her as the Countess Garrick, for which Emma was incredibly relieved. It would be hard to explain her presence and present condition, dirty and road-weary. He scoffed at her request for the maid, but pointed her in the direction of her house.
The town of Vilkren was larger than Emma initially imagined it to be and soon she became lost trying to find Katy's house. Still being early morning, there weren't many people about to ask for directions, and those who were did not want to speak to a ragged vagabond woman, which was how Emma looked after her furiously quick night ride of escape.
Tired, dirty, and lost, Emma stopped her horse and dismounted, sinking to the ground against a building and started to cry. Yvette nuzzled her shoulder with concern and hunger then found a patch of grass a few feet away to munch.
Emma began to wonder if she'd made a horrible mistake running away from Demmroch and her husband. But she couldn't stand it, knowing Lord Farley was spreading lies and everyone would believe him! If she was sent to trial, Lord Farley would tell the same lies to the entire court, and the earl would tell everyone he'd seen her in the arms of another man – a damning piece of evidence! There was no hope. The king would sentence her to death for adultery.
But even her escape from death had gone horribly wrong. She wasn't sure which was the road or in which direction was Demmroch or Montrellis or Harrish Lake. She was afraid if she picked a direction she would only find herself on her husband's doorstep once again, so she sat in indecision and cried.
"Miss? Are you alright?" someone asked. Emma raised her head with a sniffle and found Ronny standing there, frowning down at her in concern. "Your grace!" he cried.
"Ronny!" she shouted, feeling suddenly saved. She shot to her feet. "Oh, I'm so lost! I've been looking for Katy."
"What are you doing back in Vilkern?" he asked. "And dressed like that? Are you alright, your grace? Has something terrible happened?"
"It has," she sniffed, wiping the wet tears from her face. "I can't stay for very long, but I thought –" she hesitated, unsure if she should be putting Katy and Ronny into danger as well. Harboring a fugitive was a punishable offense.
"Katy is this way," Ronny said. "We better go at once." He started steering her and her horse away before Emma could protest any.
Katy was as surprised to see her as Ronny was, and fussed over Emma awhile, insisting she stay and rest before travelling again. If not for her own sake, Katy argued, then for Yvette's. Despite Emma's eagerness to be as far from Demmroch as possible, she agreed and fell asleep in Katy's own bed shortly after the girl left for her shift at Leeker's Inn.
Emma only intended to sleep a few hours at most, but her weariness got the better of her and it was late afternoon before she woke. Panicked, she quickly ate some of the bread and cheese Katy laid out for her earlier. What she didn't eat she tucked into her bundle and went out to find Yvette, who was tied to a post in front of the little house, being admired by several little boys.
"This your horse?" one of the bolder boys asked her curiously.
"Yes," Emma replied.
"I told you Katy didn't steal her!" another boy grumbled at him.
"How was I supposed to know she had company?" the boy grumbled back.
"Excuse me, boys, do any of you know of Harrish Lake?" she asked. There was a pause before one of them stepped forward.
"My ma talked about it once," he said. "She said it was mighty close to the kingdom's western border."
"Western border?" Emma frowned. "Which way is that?" she asked.
"That way," another boy said with a snicker, and pointed. "Beyond the king's city."
"Oh. Thank you," she grinned. She reached two fingers into her bundle and caught a couple of coins, pulling them out and tossing them down to the boys. They grinned widely and scurried off.
Emma rode off in the direction they indicated, coming across the main road after a few short minutes. She turned toward Leeker's Inn, thinking to say good-bye to Katy before she left. She left Yvette with one of the stable boys along with a coin, with a promise to return shortly after her brief farewell.
The two girls were saying their good-byes in the main foyer when a large party rode up. Katy and Emma peeked through the window to see who it was, and Emma gasped, seeing the familiar blue uniforms of the Demmroch men-at-arms. There were so many of them Emma started to cry again. Of course the earl was not going to let her slip away so easily.
Katy pulled Emma quickly away from the window and through the kitchen.
"You must hurry," her friend bade her. "Before they see you!"
"Yvette—" Emma protested. She wouldn't get very far without her horse.
"They'll see you!" she cried. "Hurry!" Katy pushed her out the back door.
So Emma ran, weaving aimlessly through the streets of Vilkren, hoping only to outwit the men-at-arms who could very well be on her tail and getting closer. She knew she could never outrun them, she on foot and they astride. She had to be clever.
When she cleared the edge of the town, she headed for the small woods that clustered a half mile away and quickened her already fast pace. Finally, she reached the shelter of the trees, weaving among the trunks and bushes as she had through the city. She found a creek and ran along its banks for a few minutes before crossing over. She couldn't run forever, however, so she found the tallest, sturdiest tree she could and climbed it, nestling herself close to the trunk behind a particularly dense branch of leaves. They wouldn't think to look in a tree for a countess, she reasoned, and eventually give up. Then, when night fell and they returned to Vilkren, she would climb down and continue on foot, although in what direction she fled she did not know.
22.
Night fell without sight of the earl's guards, and so Emma carefully climbed out of the tree and headed back toward the creek. It was as good a path as any, she figured. It wasn't far from the tree she chose, and she found it soon enough. It was what she found on the other side of it that stopped her in her tracks. Earl Garrick stood on the opposite bank, waiting for her. A moment later, a few dozen guards dropped out of the trees, surrounding her. She was caught.
Two of the guards grabbed her by the arms to keep her from trying to run again, though she knew even if she tried, she would have no success. Not without a horse and with two dozen determined men-at-arms on her tail. And her husband knowing all her tricks, it seemed.
"Clever," Emma muttered.
"I got the idea from a sneaky woman I know," the earl replied with a smirk. "Bring her back to Leeker's," he ordered the men. "Tie her to the bed or something. Make sure she doesn't get away again." Then the earl turned and marched off.
Emma wilted. She was her husband's prisoner, arrested and carted off to the king's city for trial. She wondered what Lord Farley told him about what happened in the kitchen. By the fierce look on the earl's face, it had to have been something truly terrible. The guards didn't loosen their hold, either, dragging her straight through the creek, the cold water splashing up to her waist, soaking her thoroughly.
Katy watched as the guards hauled her up the stairs to a bedroom, a sad, guilty look in the maid's eyes.
"I'm sorry," Katy called after her. "I tried to protect you, but they said—"
"It's alright," Emma said over her shoulder. She tripped on the stairs, and one of the men lifted her to her feet again with a strong pull of her arm.
Emma still wore the pendent Katy gave her, the simply jewelry depicting St. Michael lying cold against her chest. She prayed it would be enough to protect her from whatever was coming.
As ordered, Emma was tied to the bedpost. No one offered her food or an inviting bath as they did during her last visit, nor did she expect it. The guards made sure she knew they were right outside the door, then slammed the door firmly in their wake.
When it opened again, it was Lord Farley who strode through it confidently, sneering at her where she perched on the edge of the bed, her wrists stretched to one side and tied tightly. She wouldn't be able to fight him or escape him. Emma was terrified.
