Three years ago...

Although she was in love with her ball gown, Alex was growing increasingly uncomfortable. She was feeling quite hot, beyond warm. It must be the bloody breeches she chose to wear underneath her heavy skirts.

Or perhaps it was the fact that Ralph Everard, the Lord of Beechworth, the Town Guard amongst the Everards, was slowly inching toward her.

She did manage to escape him, but it seemed that this time it would prove to be impossible. She was trapped in a corner. There were at least three groups keeping her away from the nearest escape route.

Her friends were in the middle of the ballroom, dancing an odd dance they called a quadrille.

And where were Barto and Ned?

She craned her neck and found her cousins enjoying the refreshment table across the ballroom. They must have loosened their initial anxiety and thought the wedding ball was actually safer than the three of them.

Alex looked about. She could see from the corner of her eye that Ralph Everard was on his way toward her.

Bloody hell!

*****

Ralph looked at her for a long time before he scoffed, shaking his head in both disbelief and hidden awe. "Of course. You lot would know every inch of the Dark Forest."

Alex merely shrugged.

His eyes did not leave her as he considered her offer. He blinked. No, he could not let her be involved in this as much as she already was. There had been too many casualties in this fight against Osegod. "No."

"Why the bleedin' hell not?" she exclaimed. "I said I'd take ye, guv. Ye would'na survive the forest alone, see. Bandits are everywhere in that place."

He reconsidered it. Bloody hell, he was a Town Guard! He could take care of bandits.

But not alone. Not when there would be a herd of them.

"I'll take ye if ye pay me, of 'cors," Alex said.

Ralph closed his eyes and sighed. He still wondered how the woman standing before him was the same as the one who enchanted him three years ago. If he were to close his eyes and not see her face, he would never think that Alex was Lady in Blue.

"I've never robbed an Everard, guv, but 'tis time I demand a pay."

Ah, bloody hell, but her voice was still the same. She may not be speaking the way she did in that party, but it was the same voice that awakened him many nights three years ago.

Ralph shook his head. She was a bandit and he was a Town Guard. He must remember those two important details for now.

When he opened his eyes, her dark gray ones were keenly staring at him, brows fused with impatience. "Bad men are chasin' me 'cos of ye, Guard. Ye can't leave me te die in this bleedin' place."

Ralph slowly drew in a breath and slowly let it out, his mind reeling. "If I were to pay you, that will mean you will be under my orders."

Alex shook her head. "Nae, guv. That'll mean I'll do whatever I believe te be covered by me pay."

He scowled.

"Ye could bleedin' order me te water yer horse, guv. I would'na do it. Or ye could tell me te strip me clothes off and lay with ye in bed. I would'na do it. D'ye see what I mean, guv? I'll do only what I believe will be covered by me pay."

Ralph's jaw dropped open in disbelief. Not that he would not consider bedding her—as a matter of fact he had already dreamed of her covered by naught but his body—but to actually hear her speak of it in such an easy fashion, without her face growing scarlet, was quite fascinating and incredible.

He raised his hands and rubbed his face with them, hoping the act would clear his mind.

"Well?" Alex asked, tone still obviously impatient.

Ralph sighed and nodded. And then he saw her stand and walk up to him.

"Shake on it," Alex ordered, extending her hand to his.

Ralph reluctantly took it. Her palm was rough on the surface, but soft as he closed his around it. But her grip grew stronger that he almost yelped in pain as she shook his hand with a satisfied look on her face. "Hope te do good business with ye, guv." She turned on her heels and said over her shoulder, "Ye gather yer horse, guv, while I take me things."

"We are leaving now?" he asked, surprised.

She stopped and looked at him, the smile on her face still visible. "'Cors! We need te go somewhere else first, see. Check with someone I know before venturin' into the Dark Forest."

Ralph blinked away what he thought was a radiant glow about her. His eyes must be playing tricks on him and he reminded himself that he was not facing an angel. "Somewhere where?"

"Just some place I know, guv," she said with a wave of her hand.

"Where?"

"Why d'ye ask?"

"Because I will be payin' ye fer yer services, bandit," he mockingly said.

"Meriwether, guv."

The name sounded familiar. He was certain he had heard of it somewhere. "Meriwether?"

"Aye," Alex said with a nod.

"I do not think—"

"I'm not suicidal, guv. If ye wanna go te the Dark Forest te investigate, we need te be certain we'll be goin' te the right place. The bleedin' forest is too vast fer us te venture on our own. It's too bleedin' dangerous if we dinna know where we must go, see."

"You told me you will survive the Dark Forest," he pointed out.

"Nae, I said a bandit will. I dinna say 'twas me, did I?" As he prepared to rant, opening his mouth, Alex raised her hand to stop him. "Oi, we already shook on it, guv. Ye can't back off yer word. Now, go and get ready, mate. And prepare me pay as ye do."

Ralph remained in his chair, gaping after her as she left the dining room.

*****

Ralph thought that it would be best that they take the carriage with them to which Alex readily agreed on after insisting that Siege be harnessed as one of the pair of horses to draw them to their destination.

"I was expecting you would insist on horseback," Ralph commented moments after they left Beechworth.

"I dinna want yer friends te see me with ye, guv," she said.

"My friends?"

"Aye. Those bleedin' Guard friends of yers, guv. They went after me and they killed the prisoner."

Ralph looked out into the dire scenery, brows furrowed. "We are driving south."

"As ye heard me instructions to yer driver, 'cors we're drivin' south."

"And where exactly are we going? Where is this Meriwether you speak of?"

He veered his eyes to look across the carriage at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and slid lower into a more comfortable position, her legs spread wide in front of her, her dirty and worn-out boots almost touching his legs. "Blucksley," she said.

Ralph blinked in surprise. Alex saw it and a slow smile crept up her face. "Three years 'go, ye dinna believe me when I said I live in Blucksley, did'ya?"

His jaw tightened. "I might have."

She scoffed. "Sure ye did, guv." She yawned loudly and slid even lower in her seat. "Have ye ever been te Blucksley, guv?"

"Of course," he immediately answered.

"What fer?"

"To rest. It is amongst the known stops during a long travel."

"Aye, it is." She looked out the window as well and quickly lost interest. "What else?" she asked.

"What else what?"

"What else did'ye went to Blucksley fer?"

His jaw tightened. "None," he lied. He cleared his throat and lightly kicked her other leg to the side as he adjusted in his seat as well, extending his legs. "But now I might have more reasons to go there as I now know I will find more bandits there."

He saw the alarm register in her face and Ralph chuckled.

"Meriwether is in Blucksley then?" he asked after a while.

"Aye," she said, a frown still on her face, obviously still bothered by his last comment. "Ye can't enter Meriwether alive without a bandit te guide ye, guv, just so ye know."

Ralph merely shrugged. Wherever this bloody Meriwether was, he was quite certain he might not wish to go there again after this visit. But he might in the future—with tons of Guards in tow.

"And who do we expect to meet in Meriwether?"

Alex lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "An old bloke who might know someone."

"Someone who can tell us more about the Dark Forest's secret?"

A grin broke into her face and Ralph was once more taken in by the glitter in her eyes. "Yer not as daft as yer sisters said ye are, guv."

Reality snapped him back to the present as quickly as it drew him out and he scowled. "I was hoping that you would by now remember our time in the garden, bandit, to also remember I am very different from what my sisters might paint me to be."

He got the reaction he wanted when he saw a look of familiarity in her eyes, a flashing glint that told him she did remember three years ago. And the reassurance that he was not the only one affected by it.

With a contented sigh, Ralph leaned back against his seat and rested his head. He closed his eyes and murmured, "You wake me up once we arrive. Do something very naughty, bandit, and you will not have a single townsend."

"I'm already countin' me townsends, guv. I would'na do anythin' te be kept from 'em."

Ralph's lips flickered into a small smile before he allowed himself some sleep.

*****

Very much later, Ralph awoke and found Alex frowning as she gazed outside the window. She seemed to have not noticed he was now conscious.

With eyes still halfway closed, he studied her nearly perfect feature sitting across from him.

She had drawn her legs up, crossed under her, her arms comfortably folded over her chest. Her bushy dark mane was drawn to the side, now gathered into a thick braid. She must have been awake for quite a while now.

Her teeth played with her bottom lip as she was deep in thought.

Why had he not recognized her at first glance?

Was the image of Lady in Blue too far from the lady who rode, atop a horse, into his brother's estate that day?

She had changed her speech at Ysabella's wedding. She was perfect, in fact, that for three years he had not considered the possibility that she was anything but a well-bred lady. She had been graceful, she had been gentle. Lady in blue was not strong, nor had she ever given Ralph a hint that she could knock him out of his senses with one single blow.

Yet she was. She was strong and she was wise.

How naïve she must have thought of him that night!

But could she also be the same woman he met three years ago? Was it possible? If that were so, Ralph knew he would be in utter trouble.

Finally she turned her head and she caught him looking at her. Ralph quickly blinked and straightened in his seat, clearing his throat. "You did not take a nap?" he asked, glancing out the window. They were nearing Blucksley.

"Nae," she said, uncurling her legs from under her to sit straight. "Do tell yer driver to stop at the red stone formations, guv."

"The stone formations?"

"Aye," she nodded. "And then tell him te stay in the tavern."

Ralph leaned his head out the window and gave the instruction to the driver. As they neared Blucksley, Alex seemed prepared for something, her hand already on the handle of the door. "We jump out, guv."

"What?"

"We dinna have time to let anyone see us cross the street," she pointed out.

"Bloody hell," he said, preparing for the act.

As the carriage slowed down, Alex pushed the carriage door open and before Ralph realized it, she was gone. He did not have time to process how she did it as it quickly became apparent that it was his turn and he did not want to miss it, not if he wanted to hear her mock him about it later. "Go straight to the tavern and wait for us there!" he shouted to the driver as he stepped out of the slowing carriage and closed the door.

When he turned around, he found Alex already across the street, waving for him to hurry. He looked about and spotted no one.

He crossed the street. Alex turned and walked into the darkness behind her. Ralph went to a stop, looking at the direction she was going into.

They were entering a zone that blazed alarm inside him.

He remembered now. He now remembered where he heard of Meriwether.

He heard Guards talk about the place.

Impenetrable, was the word they would often describe it.

"Oi! Faster, guv!" hissed Alex. She walked back to grab his hand and pulled him into the darkness.

Ralph blinked, adjusting to the lack of light, reminding himself that he had a gun inside his coat and a dagger at the side of both boots.

"Alex, we are entering the Meriwether," he hissed at her.

"'Cors, we are," she proudly said.

"You live in Meriwether!" he hissed with disbelief.

"Shh!" she hissed back.

"You did not want to be tracked down by the men who were following you and yet you took us here?"

"I had te, guv. Ye wanna solve go to the Dark Forest, aye?"

"But—"

"No one saw us," she reassured. "I was awake the entire time, guv. No one was followin'. But we must hurry." Suddenly she was beside him and whispering in his ear, her breath touching his skin, "but ye don't say yer a Guard, aye? Ye tell 'em yer an Everard and they'll not question ye. Remember, yer not a Guard."

Ralph almost groaned. Bloody hell. Why had he allowed this woman to drag him here? He tried to search for her face in the darkness. "And what happens if they find out?" he asked.

"We tie ye up, guv, and then we kill ye," answered an angry voice behind them.

Ralph instinctively whirled around and came face to face with two familiar men.

They were not wearing the smart attire Ralph saw them wear in the wedding. No, those were gone, replaced by large, dirty coats and newsboy hats.

"Fancy seein' ye again, guv," said the taller one, flashing his teeth at him as he spun an end of a rope in the air.

Bloody hell, the cousins!