Escape from the Witch Hunters
Chapter 20

Gillian could hear the cupboard opening, bits of light started shining through. He quickly took the candle out of the stand, stood next to the dirt stairs, and held the candlestick up.

The officer came walking down, and as soon as he was on the ground Gillian whacked the first officer on the head.

“Hey!” Carl looked around for the culprit.

Gillian quickly whacked Carl on the head, making a satisfying thud.

“That works pretty well.” he said under his breath.

“Gillian? Ryia? Are you alright?” Maria called down to them.

“We’re alive.” he yelled back. “I’ll hand up the bodies.”

He turned to pick up the limp bodies and muttered to himself. “That sounded so bad.”

Ryia stood up and helped pick up the feet of Carl.

“Ah ah ah!” Gillian tisked. “You should strain yourself. You’re still sick.”

Ryia rolled her eyes, but dropped Carl’s boots anyway.

“I’m coming up!” Gillian walked backwards up the steps, dragging Carl behind himself.

After Carl was up in the main part of the house, he came back down for the other officer, then came back down for Ryia. “Are you coming?”

Ryia nodded. “I just need to rest another minute.”

Gillian raised his eyebrow. “I can carry-”

“No!” Ryia cut in and stood back up. “That’s alright. I’m okay now. I can walk upstairs by myself.”

Gillian furrowed his eyebrows. Did she not want me to carry her? he shook his head, almost disappointed. Not like I wanted to touch her lice infested self anyway, he scrunched up his nose.

He knew that was a lie, but he would continue to delude himself.

“There we go.” Gillian slapped the horses’ behind, sending them into the woods.

He had tied both of the officers to their horses, blindfolded them, and gagged them, making it incredibly hard for them to escape. They could only hope that someone would find them before they died from hunger, thirst, or hungry animals.

“I didn’t tie the ropes too tightly. So if they’ve got the willpower, they’ll escape. But let’s just hope the give up on our case.” he shrugged.

At least to his standards it wasn’t that tight.

“I’m going back to bed.” Ryia cringed. She hadn’t wanted to abandon the officers, despite the fact that they were after her head, but Gillian’s plan had won over her wishes.

“Okay.” Gillian watched the horses canter into the woods, their masters securely tied to their thick and brawny bodies.

“Supper’s ready! You’d best get in here before it gets cold!” Maria called out the window from their little cabin.

“Well I’m going to go eat.” Markus turned around and followed his nose towards the smell of food.

“No use watching the horses now that I can’t see them.” Gillian said to no one in particular and walked back inside the house.

“Smells good.” he sniffed. “What is it?”

“Food. What did you think it was?” Maria spooned some gravy onto the meat.

Gillian rolled his eyes.

“Here, this is for Ryia. Go take it to her.” Maria handed him a tray filled with warm biscuits, hot meat and steaming gravy.

“Fine.” he muttered and grabbed the tray from her hands, walked to the bedroom, and gently opened the door.

The sun had already gone down, and her small dark form could be seen, crumpled up on the bed. “Sleeping so soon?” Gillian whispered to himself and he set the tray down on the chair so she would see it when she woke up.

“Goodnight.” he said quietly, closed the door behind himself, and made his way back to the main table with food covering it.

Maria set a plate of food in front of him, and he quickly gobbled it all down.

“Slow down!” Maria scolded.

Gillian forced himself to chew before swallowing his bite. “Sorry, it just tastes so good.” he grinned mischievously and Maria shook her head. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Gillian.”

She stood up and took a kettle off of the fire and poured some hot water into three cups, setting them on the table. “There you go. Fresh tea leaves from my tea garden.”

“Thank you.” Markus and Gillian said in unison.

Gillian finished his food slowly, and set his plate aside, and grabbing his hot cup of tea.

“Ryia and I need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Gillian sipped his cup of steeping tea leaves. “If the officers make it without dying, which they probably will, more people will be after us. And quite likely after you too.”

Markus and Maria nodded sadly.

“If the officers come after you, tell them that I threatened to kill you if you didn’t help us.” he told them. “Make it sound like we pressured you into it.”

“Alright.” Markus and Maria nodded.

“And Ryia and I will be leaving as soon as she’s better.” he added.

While the officers were being tied to the horses, Maria had cut Ryia’s hair to her shoulder, her creepy-crawler friends were all gone, and Maria changed her nightdress and her bedding.

After the men were all tied up, Markus and Gillian tended to Red’s bug infection, ridding the poor beast of the lice.

“She’ll probably be ready to travel by tomorrow.” Gillian set down his cup of tea.

“So soon?” Maria’s face fell. “She’ll surely need more time than that. The poor girl has been through so much, she shouldn’t be torn from a home so soon.”

“We need to get there as soon as possible.” he sighed. He didn’t want to tell them. But it would help him escape their clutches earlier than next month.

“We were forced to get married.” he started, and lowered his voice a notch, just in case Ryia wasn’t sleeping.

Maria and Markus looked at him with curiosity, wondering where he was going with the conversation.

“An older couple wanted to , or so they thought, help us out. We had lied and pretended that we were a couple. We got caught in our own trap and were forced to be married.” he sighed. “We made a deal that once I took her to Carenthia and she was all settled I’d leave her.”

He didn’t say anything for a while and just looked down at the table with a regretful and sad look.

“I have a curse.” he spoke up again.

Maria gasped and Markus’s face went white from surprise.

“I got cursed, and so did my wife, whoever she was supposed to be. Turned out Ryia was it. But I’m hopping we can find a loophole.Or if we go our separate ways, maybe it won’t affect her as much, if at all.”

“That’s horrible.” Maria breathed. “How could anyone put a curse on you? A dear, sweet boy.”

Gillian ignored her question and continued. “I need to get to Carenthia as soon as I can, so I can leave her as soon as I can.”

He paused again.

“If I don’t let her go soon, I’m afraid I’ll never be able to let her go.” he spoke his next words so softly Maria and Markus could barely hear him. “I’m afraid I’m falling in love with her.”

Ryia had been awake when Gillian entered her bedroom, but didn’t feel like talking to him so she stayed quiet.

After he left she sat up and started eating the food that Maria had prepared for her. Thank you for Maria and Markus, Father. I’m so glad they helped us.

She sat quietly and tried to listen to their conversation outside her bedroom door.

She heard Maria scolding Gillian for eating too fast, she could pick up most of it for awhile, then their voices got mysteriously quiet.

Ryia desperately wanted to put her ear to the door, but was afraid of hearing something she wouldn’t like.

I’ve already heard enough unpleasant things this past day. I’d rather not hear anything else, she scrunched her nose, he’s probably telling them about how beautiful Chloe used to be, and how she was everything a man could ever dream of, and about when she break his heart-

“Stop it, Ryia.” she scolded herself. You’re behaving like a little baby that didn’t get a toy that it wanted. Or worse.

She shook her head. Jealous over someone who isn’t even significant anymore. She’s married and probably has a family of her own. And you’re jealous because he thought she was pretty, and never said anything about you. Pretty petty.

She stabbed her meat and forked it into her mouth, grinding it down to nothing with her teeth.

“Overemotional sick girl that can’t control her jealousy.” she muttered with her mouthful.

Just then Gillian barged into the room.

Ryia jumped in surprise, her eyes wide, and almost guilty looking.

“I’m tired and thought I’d get some sleep.” Gillian brought a candle with himself illuminating the room.

He grabbed a blanket from the side of the bed and spread it on the floor. “But if you’re still eating I’ll just wait.”

“Right.” she stuffed her face with some more food and studied him almost sheepishly.

He sat down on the hardwood floor and rested his head on his hand.

“Aren’t there any other beds?” Ryia asked him.

“Nope” he answered and plunked on his back so he was facing the ceiling. “But I don’t mind sleeping here. I’ve slept on the floor before. Remember back at my house?”

“Oh, uh-huh.” she nodded. She still felt bad that she occupied the only bed.

“I was hoping to leave tomorrow.” he turned and faced her again. “Think you’ll feel up to it?”

Honestly? No. She was exhausted from just standing. But if the officers could possibly get away, and then more people would be after them.

“I will probably be ready.” she nodded and stuck another bite of food in her mouth.

“Good.” he hesitated. “If we travel hard, we should make it to Carenthia in four or five days. And then we’ll try to get you a job, and a place to live.”

So much for promising to take care of me, she sighed. If only he would keep his marriage promises.

He needs to go back to his home. Don’t think like that. It’s your fault that you’re married. Carenthia isn’t his natural habitat. You can’t expect him to drop everything just because you’re uncomfortable being on your own. Toughen up, she finished her last bite. “I’m done.”

She collapsed back on the bed and Gillian snuffed the candle.

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