The morning light found Ildri farther from Wildwood than she had been since the day that the old Lord Wildwood had rescued her.  She tried not to think about it, because every time she did she could feel the fear crashing in like it would suffocate her in its bulk.

She could not let it.  She needed to survive.  Because then she could go home.

Finally, the stranger stopped pulling her along.  "We'll rest here," he told her curtly.  "Sleep."

Ildri sank down against a tree.  How was she supposed to sleep in these conditions?  It was cold and she was without even her cloak for warmth.  She wrapped her arms about herself and tried not to think about what had happened.

But the thoughts came, unbidden though they might be.  She could feel tears for Saul forming at the corner of her eyes, and she wiped them away.  As her tears dried they stole the warmth from her face, and the ground was damp.  She shivered.

"Here," he said.  A blanket flopped down on the ground in front of her.  "Get some sleep.  We'll be going far today."

The man sat against a tree not far from Ildri.  The large animal, the wolf creature curled up against him.  She shivered and wrapped the blanket around herself.  It smelled like the forest.

Ildri was tired but her mind circled restlessly.  She did not know what to do.  All she wanted was to retreat home where she belonged.  But he would not let her.

By the increasing light of the morning she could see that his chest was rising and falling steadily. His monstrous wolf was also breathing evenly and deeply.  If they truly slept...

Did she dare to run?  She looked at the man's sleeping form, and saw that his face was beginning to show in the light of the morning.  Curiosity overwhelmed her.  She crept closer, not sure why she needed to see his face.  He was the man who had ripped her dreams of a happy future from her.  Yet she wanted to see if he was truly human, not some horrible creature from the depths of the world.

She looked, and she wished that she had not.  She gasped, even though she had meant to stay silent.

His face was deeply lined and cut like a gargoyle's.  There was a terrible scar running from the side of his right cheek down his neck.  For a second Ildri felt certain that the evil murderer inside had somehow burst forth to spread onto his face.  But that was nonsense.  She moved back as quietly as she could manage, not wanting to wake him.  Yet she could not remove his horrid visage from behind her eyes.  She could not forget what she had seen.

She had never imagined him to be so old.  His face clearly spoke of his great years, but his strength was that of a younger man.  There was something very wrong.  He must be doing something awful to retain the workings of his youth.  She did not know what it was, but she was certain it was some sort of dark magic.  Normal people could not defeat the workings of time no matter how hard they fought it.

And it hurt so badly to know that her young and handsome Saul had been killed by such a wretch.  She did not care what this lying monster said.  Saul had been a wonderful man, and he had been snuffed out forever by this creature.  She could not stay here.  She had to run, for her sake, and for the memory of Saul.

Ildri lifted herself slowly to her feet.  She took one slow step and then another, moving ever farther from where the killer lay asleep.

"Ildri of Wildwood.  What do you believe that you are doing?"

Ildri's body stiffened in shock.  "I'm just, you know, seeking a bit of privacy," she lied in a shaky voice.

"Privacy?  You were attempting to escape."  It was not a question.

"No," she protested.

"Run if you wish but you'll merely waste energy and Farrel will find you easily.  Now return, and sleep.  I will not warn you again."  He sounded without pity.  Ildri felt her eyes tear up again.  She would never return to Wildwood if things continued such as this.  He could not really mean to take her to the king.  No, he had just killed a man, and he was attempting to win her cooperation probably for some sinister purpose that she could not quite imagine.  Defeated, she lay down again.  Somehow sleep claimed her.

* * * * *

"Wake up, Ildri of Wildwood.  They have not lost our trail."

Ildri opened her eyes to the fearsome visage of Saul's killer standing above her.  She gasped slightly at the reminder of everything that had happened.  "Did you hear me?  We must be off without delay.  Come."  His voice was harsh and brisk and completely without sympathy for all she had been through.  Of course, what did she expect?  Sympathy from a murderer?

Ildri obediently rose and wrapped the blanket around her, but inside she resented him terribly.  There was a deep ache in her chest where she had once felt hopefulness.  Yet she followed the stranger, because she did not know what else to do.  If she ran he would catch her, or his monstrous wolf would sniff her out as it had the night before.  She could only hope that someone would come and save her when once they discovered her missing at Wildwood. 

Ildri tried not to look at the stranger as she walked in his wake.  "Who is following us?" she asked instead.

"I don't know for certain, but I know whom they serve, and that if they catch us nothing good will come of it.  They're close.  Hurry," he ordered, and he fixed her with his fearsome gaze before moving on.

Ildri shivered.  His words scared her, but she wondered why she should believe him.  For all she knew, the people following them might just rescue her from this villain and his monstrous beast.  He could be lying about everything.  She knew he was a murderer; why would lying prick his conscious?  If he even had one.  What reason did she have to trust him?

But if he was not lying and he was really taking her to the king, would she not be safer with him, horrible though he may be?  If she got to the king, she would surely be safely returned home at the end of the journey.

But why would he have done that to her Saul?  He had accused Saul of terrible things that she knew were not true, but could he have somehow made a mistake?  A mistake that cost Saul his life?

Ildri wanted to go back to Wildwood more than anything.  She was certain that they could not be that far away as of yet.  If she could just convince him to let her go, she could somehow make her way back, no matter how terrifying it might be.

"How far away is Wildwood?" she dared to ask.

His voice was a hiss.  "Did I not just tell you that we are being pursued?"

"I just want to know where I am."

"We're nearing Valance."

Ildri gasped.  Valance was a small town between Wildwood and Waldwick.  She did not know much of the country, but she was certain that it was not the way to the capital.

"Did I not tell you to be silent?" he hissed.

Ildri wanted to challenge him about where he was taking her, but she held her tongue.  Was it not better that he was not aware that she knew he was misleading her?  She had to escape.  If he believed that he had her cooperation, might he not let down his guard?

His voice was a hiss.  "Farrel, flee.  They are nearly upon us."  The wolf monster turned and slipped into the trees and out of Ildri's sight.  Ildri felt her hopes of escape rise.

The man pushed Ildri none to gently into a copse of thick trees.  "Move," he said.  "We'll hide and hope that they miss us."

Ildri did as he instructed, but her mind was working feverishly.  "That hurt," she muttered under her breath.  He moved in behind her and Ildri sat in an uncomfortable position so as not to touch any part of him.  How she hated him.

It would only be a matter of time before someone rescued her, she reminded herself.  They must have discovered that she and Saul were missing at Wildwood already and efforts would be made to find out what happened to them.  They would find poor Saul, and surmise what had happened to Ildri.  Soon enough, someone would be following them.  Who was to say that those who pursued her captor were not soldiers of Wildwood or soldiers of the king?

There was the noise of a great number of men and horses moving through the forest ever closer to their hiding spot.  Ildri held her breath as they moved closer.  She half hoped that they would realize that they were there.

Ildri could see just a bit, and there were clearly at least a dozen men.  She did not think that there were that many men at arms that could be spared for a search at Wildwood, but had she ever paid attention to such matters before?  She had always just trusted Lord Wildwood to keep her safe, as she still would be had she simply stayed within Wildwood's thick walls the previous night.

The men were walking around the copse of trees, and Ildri wondered how they did not see them.  The trees were thick, but surely these men were paying attention if they were looking for them.  Was her abductor a wizard of some sort that could make their hiding spot more concealed?

But it hardly mattered.  Ildri wavered in indecision.  Would she be better off with these strangers?

She knew that the scarred man at her back was a murderer.  He might be lying to her about taking her to the king.  She did not know what he had planned for her but she had little doubt that nothing good would come of it.  A monster like him could have no good inside him.  He could not have killed Saul if he was a good man.

But who were these men?  Were they friends or more enemies of Lord Wildwood?

Then Ildri's heart nearly stopped.  One of the last riders came clearly into view.  She could tell that he was the leader of the men by the way he held himself upon his horse.  He looked huge upon the horse and he was one of the most attractive men she had ever seen.  He even looked a bit like Saul.

Ildri felt a twinge of guilt for her unfaithful thoughts, but she made her decision.  She was not going to stay with the scarred freak for a moment longer.

Ildri screamed and jumped to her feet in one motion.  Everything happened so fast that she had little idea what was going on.  She somehow heard her abductor mutter, "Fool," under his breath.  Ildri ignored him as the entire company of men surrounded the copse of trees.

"Who are you?" asked the man who she had instinctively known was the leader.

"Ildri of Wildwood," she said, her voice shaking a bit under his regard.

"Come out from there," he commanded, and Ildri obeyed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with a suspicious expression on his handsome face.

Ildri swallowed.  "This old scarred man killed my boyfriend, Saul, and then dragged me away because I saw what he had done."

"What old scarred man?"

Ildri looked behind her.  The murderer was nowhere to be seen.  "He was here with me.  He must have run when I screamed."  She should have realized that he would do something when she acted.

The leader looked unimpressed by her explanation.  "Take her up," he ordered briskly.  "We'll take her with us for questioning."

"Captain."

Ildri was pulled up onto the back of a horse by a large, foul smelling soldier.  She did not like the height and was forced to hold on to the man in front of her so that she would not fall.  The leader barked more orders and the company split.  Most moved to continue in the direction that they were going and several turned with the leader and Ildri back the way they had come.

Ildri tried to speak to the man carrying her.  "Where are we going?"

He ignored her as if she had not spoken.

She looked towards the leader of the party.  "Captain?  Sir?  Where are we going?"

"We will determine that once we reach the campsite," he said in a no nonsense tone.

Ildri was tired of being dragged about.  She missed Wildwood and she hurt for Saul.  Saul was nothing like any of these brutish men.  He was always kind and patient with her.  How she missed him, and how had everything gone so miserably wrong?

The answer was really quite obvious.  It was that murdering stranger who had ruined everything.  Tears started rolling down Ildri's cheeks.  She was scared, and miserable, and the soldier in front of her smelled awful.  The horse was no better, it was sweaty and with every step Ildri was swayed in a way that made her stomach lurch unpleasantly.