by C. J. Archer
"I'll stay in Mull until the village is safe and I can be sure the Deerhorns won't trouble you again," he added. "Only then will I leave."
"And how are you going to ever be sure of that?"
The corner of his mouth flicked up. "Trust me."
The impish look on his face was almost my undoing. I wanted to throw my arms around him and beg him to take me with him. The thought of being separated for weeks, possibly months or years, was unthinkable.
But I knew tears wouldn't sway him. When he thought he was doing something for a good reason, he wouldn't be diverted from his path.
I snatched my pack off him and walked away before I changed my mind and begged to go with him.
"Are you sure it's what you want to do?" Meg asked. We sat on her bed, side by side, our legs outstretched. It was the only room where we had any privacy. We didn't have long to be alone. Mistress Diver would soon ask for our assistance in preparing the evening meal.
"It is," I told her. "If the captain leaves, I'm going with him." I'd made my decision to ignore Dane's wishes the moment the palace carriage in which I rode turned into my street. Mistress Ashmole stood on the porch of what had once been my house, and I entered a house which was not mine to be with people who, while kind, were not my family.
"But your life is here," Meg said. "Everyone you know is in Mull."
"You're the only reason I want to stay, and as much as I love you, it's not a good enough reason." I took her hand. "You'll be fine without me. But the captain needs me. He won't admit it, but he's worried he'll learn something about himself that he won't like. I want to be there for him if he does."
Meg blinked rapidly. "I can't believe you're going to leave. Mull won't be the same without you."
"Mull has already changed beyond recognition."
She wiped her damp eyes. "Sad but true."
The door burst open and Mistress Diver poked her head through the gap. "Riccard is here. The baby's coming, and Posey's in a bad way."
I snatched up my pack and met Riccard at the front door where he paced back and forth, clutching his cap in both hands.
"She's in a lot of pain," he said. "More than the last two times. And her breathing is bad again."
The pain was causing her to panic, just as the riots in the village had, and panic constricted her chest and throat. I checked my pack for the jar of Mother's Milk. "I'll give her something to ease the pain," I told him. "That should calm her enough for her breathing to return to normal." Once Posey was stable, I could concentrate on the baby. It was possible she was experiencing false contractions again, or the baby might really be on its way this time.
He slapped on his cap and strode down the street. I didn't immediately follow, however.
"I need to speak to someone first," I said.
I pounded on the Ashmoles' door until Mistress Ashmole opened it. She frowned at me, taking in my pack and Riccard, standing in the middle of the street, looking stricken.
"You're still here?" she asked, her frown deepening.
"Of course I am." I dismissed her odd remark. There was no time to ask what she meant. "I'd like you to be the village's new midwife. There's a baby on the way. Come with me and I'll show you what to do."
Her lips parted with her silent gasp. "Why? What trick is this?"
"No tricks. I might be leaving Mull soon, and the village will need a midwife. It's customary for the women in the doctor's family to take on the duty."
Mistress Ashmole stared at me then her attention was diverted to a commotion at the end of the street. Her spine stiffened. "I'll get my shawl."
"Josie!" Riccard barked. "Come, please."
"Wait for Mistress Ashmole. She'll act as my apprentice." I joined him just as three riders rode up, led by Lord Xavier. Behind him was the sheriff and one of his constables.
They headed straight for me. Lord Xavier's smile and Sheriff Neerim's furrowed brow told me everything I needed to know. I hugged my pack to my chest and tried not to show my fear.
"Miss Cully!" Lord Xavier called. "You are under arrest for performing medical tasks without a license."
"That is not how we agreed to do this," the sheriff growled.
"When did I perform medical tasks?" I spat, all defiance. Anything else would be taken as an admission of guilt.
"The night of the fire," Lord Xavier said. "You were seen. The sheriff was informed but his failure to act meant the witness came to my father instead. My father sent me to remind the sheriff that your second offence is to be taken seriously."
"I've had more important things to do than arrest a girl for helping the injured in a time of crisis," Sheriff Neerim snapped.
Mistress Ashmole emerged from her house, shawl in hand. She met my gaze, her chin jutting forward, her gaze sharp. She had been the witness.
"For Merdu's sake," the sheriff went on. "How many would have suffered if Josie hadn't helped? She should be commended, not condemned."
Lord Xavier looked as though he wanted to draw his sword on the sheriff for his insolent tone.
"My husband would have helped them," Mistress Ashmole declared.
"Only those who could pay," the sheriff shot back.
"Miss Cully saw patients who were able to pay. Those payments could have come to us."
"I wasn't paid," I told them. "Doesn't that make me innocent? I was simply a concerned citizen helping out."
Lord Xavier's mouth twitched from side to side as he tried to think of a counter argument.
"You robbed my husband of those payments," Mistress Ashmole said. "Theft is a crime, is it not?"
My heart sank. She had thought of everything.
"My lord, don't do this," Riccard begged. "Josie's needed at my house. My wife's having a baby but there are problems."
The sheriff swore under his breath. "My lord, let Miss Cully deliver the baby first."
"And give her a chance to escape?" Lord Xavier's nostrils flared. "Absolutely not. She's slippery."
"She's not a danger to anyone."
"She most certainly is! Constable, tie her hands together." Lord Xavier tossed the end of a rope to the constable. The other end was tied to his saddle.
"I'll stay with her while she attends Posey," Sheriff Neerim said quickly. "I'll make sure she doesn't escape."
Lord Xavier ignored him. A slick smile stretched his lips as the constable approached me.
I inched backward. "My lord, have compassion. I'm needed. I promise to present myself to the jailhouse when I'm finished."
"You're not going to the jailhouse. You're going somewhere you can never escape. Somewhere the jailors can't be bought."
"Where?"
His smile widened. "Get on with it, Constable."
Riccard grabbed Lord Xavier's reins. "My wife and child need her! Have mercy, please."
Lord Xavier kicked him in the stomach. Riccard grunted and doubled over.
"You there!" Lord Xavier said to Mistress Ashmole. "You're the doctor's wife. You attend to the mother and her brat."
"She has no experience!" I cried.
"She can take her husband."
Mistress Ashmole threw her shawl around her shoulders. "My husband has been called away to a patient on one of the ships in the harbor."
"Her husband also doesn't have specialized knowledge of midwifery," I said. "They don't teach it in the medical colleges."
Mistress Ashmole held her hand out. "Give me your equipment, Miss Cully. I'll attend to Posey alone."
Riccard eyed her up and down. "Have you delivered babies before?"
"Babies are born all the time, often without a midwife in attendance. You're worrying unnecessarily. It's no wonder your wife has gone into early labor if you fuss like this."
He stared at her, speechless.
I closed my eyes and prayed to Hailia that Posey would be all right. I opened them again when the constable removed my pack from my hands and passed it to Mistress Ashmole. She snatched it from him and held it away from her body as if it
had been dragged through the mud.
"Sorry," the young constable said to me. "I've got no choice."
I allowed him to tie my hands together and waited for Lord Xavier to untie the other end of the rope from his saddle. He did not.
Riccard lunged at me and scrabbled at the knot. "Let her go!"
Across the road, the Divers' front door opened. Meg and her mother spilled out and rushed over.
"What is this?" Mistress Diver commanded. "What are you doing with Josie?"
"She's under arrest for performing medical tasks," the sheriff told her. "You should return inside, Mistress Diver. Please. I don't want anyone else arrested."
His warning was clear. He knew they'd aided me that night of the fire, but so far, I was the only one in trouble for it. That could change.
"Do as he said," I told her. "Go inside. I'll be fine."
Meg's face crumpled. Her mother slipped her arm around her daughter's shoulders and hugged her.
Lord Xavier turned his horse around, jerking me with it. I stumbled, as the rope tightened, but caught my balance before falling.
Riccard grabbed at the rope near the saddle. "Let her go! You can't do this!"
Lord Xavier struck him across the head, sending him tumbling to the ground.
He got right back up and stabbed his finger at Lord Xavier. "This isn't right! You can't just take her! We won't stand for it!"
Lord Xavier struck him again. He gave a snarl of satisfaction as Riccard fell to the ground, bleeding from the temple. "Shut up or I will go to your house and rip the baby from your wife's belly myself."
He rode off at a trot, and I had to sprint to keep up. With my hands tied, running was awkward and I was quickly out of breath. I stumbled but thankfully did not fall. I couldn't keep this up for long, however.
Where was he taking me?
Sheriff Neerim rode up alongside me. With one arm, he scooped me up and positioned me on the saddle in front of him, facing sideways. I slumped forward, sucking in huge breaths.
The sheriff sliced through the rope connecting me to Lord Xavier's horse with a knife.
Lord Xavier turned in the saddle, teeth bared. "You had no right to do that!"
"Do you want another riot?" the sheriff growled. "The villagers won't stand to see her paraded through the streets like a dog."
Lord Xavier's jaw hardened, his nostrils flared, and I thought he would overrule the sheriff. But he faced forward again and rode ahead.
"Thank you," I whispered to the sheriff.
His haunted gaze shifted away from mine. "Don't thank me," he said bleakly. "I can't help you where you're going. No one can."
"Where am I going?"
"The dungeon in Deerhorn Castle."
Chapter 10
The dungeon beneath Deerhorn Castle felt too small, the walls too close, despite the enormity of the castle itself. Lord Xavier seemed to fill the cell, and he wasn't a big man.
He shoved me in the back so hard that I fell to my knees. With my hands still tied, I couldn't catch myself, and I slammed onto the stone floor with a bruising thud. The arm that sported grazes burned with fresh pain. I groaned as I rolled over, only to be faced with his descending boot.
I screamed and scrambled away until my back hit the wall.
He chuckled, the brittle sound echoing off the bare stone walls. "Screaming will do you no good down here. These walls are thick. And nobody here cares about you, anyway."
I bit my tongue. I would not rise to his bait, would not put myself in further jeopardy by lashing out. He wanted a reason to hit me, but I wouldn't give him one.
Then again, Lord Xavier required no reason. He could hit me if he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. I was at his mercy.
He crouched before me, just far enough that he was out of range of my foot. I wouldn't kick him. Not unless I could be sure of hitting him hard in the head and rendering him unconscious.
I curled my legs up, partly in readiness to strike out if the opportunity arose, partly to get as far away from him as possible.
"You're afraid of me." His tongue darted out and moistened his lip. "That will make it more enjoyable." When I didn't respond, he edged closer. "Come now, Miss Cully. Josie. You always have something to say. Don't you want to tell me how cruel I am? How beastly I'm being to you?"
I clamped my mouth shut.
"Since you no longer like to speak, perhaps I'll cut out that tongue of yours." His eyes brightened. "I'll send it to your lover in a box, tied with a pretty bow made from a lock of your hair. Isn't that what captors do to torment their enemies? My mother used to tell me stories about an ancestor doing something similar to a priest who betrayed him. It would be rather a fitting punishment for the girl who's arrogant enough to talk back to her betters."
My scalp prickled and I shivered.
"Don't fret, Josie. I won't cut out your tongue yet. My mother needs you to use it. The thing is, I don't think you'll do what she wants without an incentive. Now, what could I possibly do to you that would make you do as she asks?" He pursed his lips and tapped his chin in mock thought. "It would have to be something I enjoy, or what's the point." His hand whipped out and caught my ankle. "Don't you agree?"
I swallowed but my fear remained, lodged in my throat with my heart.
His hand squeezed my leg and I bucked in response. His fingers pinched hard and I cried out. "Stay still, Josie. I can't say that you'll enjoy this, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it less if I have to leave you black and blue."
His other hand pushed up my skirt above my knee while the one on my leg continued to press and squeeze my flesh. His gaze dipped to my leg as he pushed my skirt higher, exposing my thigh. His hand followed, cold and hard as a blade. His breath quickened as more of my flesh was bared, and he shifted his weight.
My stomach rolled, revolted by his touch, by the cruel desire in his eyes. It was all I could do not to throw up.
Then realization struck. He was drunk with the power he had over me and with the desire to hurt me, to have me. A drunken man was a stupid man, slow and vulnerable. It was a weakness I could exploit. Maybe.
The higher his hand crept, the closer his face drew to mine. I watched him from beneath lowered lashes, my own breaths quickening as I saw my opportunity draw ever nearer.
I balled my bound hands into fists. I tensed.
"Lady Deerhorn has requested you, my lord." The voice at the dungeon grill startled me as much as it did Lord Xavier.
He stood and whipped around. "Now?" he bellowed.
The guard, the one with the scar who'd captured me in the lane, held Lord Xavier's gaze. "Aye, my lord."
"Have you told her I have the midwife?"
"Aye, my lord."
"She doesn't want to see her for herself? To question her?"
"She has requested your company in the southern salon, my lord. Immediately."
With a growl, Lord Xavier strode out. The guard locked the grill behind him and walked off.
I listened to their footsteps recede. Once the dungeon was silent, I lowered my skirt and breathed again. I got to my feet and checked the grill, but it was definitely locked. I checked all the bars but they held firm. There were no windows, and the only light came from flickering wall torches outside my cell.
"Is anyone there?" I said. When no one answered, I tried again, louder. There was no response.
Hailia, help me.
I inspected every inch of my cell for a way out. I kicked the stones on the floor to see if any were loose. I scrabbled at the stones on the walls and hammered them with my bound fists. There was nothing to use as a weapon, not even a spoon or bowl to throw at Lord Xavier. They hadn't even given me a pan to relieve myself in. The cell was relatively clean and smelled as though it had been closed up for a long time. I must be the first prisoner to be thrown into the dungeon in years.
I sat on the floor and tried to untie the rope around my wrists but it was no use. I couldn't even bend my fingers enough to touch the knot.
&nbs
p; I tipped my head back against the wall and allowed fear and hopelessness to overwhelm me.
But just for a moment. Then I gathered my nerve and thought about what I'd say to the Deerhorns when they asked for the gem.
I waited. It felt like an age, but in truth, I couldn't tell how long they left me there. Without a view of the sky, I couldn't even see if it had gone dark outside. The waiting was almost as horrible as Lord Xavier's touch. Perhaps that was the entire point of Lady Deerhorn summoning her son away. The longer I waited, the more desperate I became, the more afraid and lonely. The more likely to tell her what she wanted.
The echoing footsteps set my heart racing. I stood, my back to the wall, my bound hands in front of me, and kept my gaze steady. I refused to show the fear that Lord Xavier craved, even though it seized my bones.
The guard with the scar unlocked the grill and my cell suddenly became full with Lord and Lady Deerhorn and Lord Xavier. My interactions with the head of the family were almost non-existent, although he probably remembered me from the village meeting where I'd spoken against his plan for The Row. He was not a potential ally.
"This is what all the fuss is about?" he said, eyeing me up and down. "Hardly seems worth it."
Lord Xavier smiled. "She will be, I'm sure of it."
Lady Deerhorn's hard gaze chilled the room. "You'll have to wait, Xavier. That's your punishment for bringing this to our door."
Waiting gave me more time to escape or for help to arrive. My heart lifted a little with hope.
"It's not all bad," Lord Xavier muttered. "We have her, don't we? If we can get the gem—"
"Quiet," she snapped. "You've done and said enough already."
"Xavier did the right thing." Lord Deerhorn's praise saw his son's face brighten, but his gaze remained wary.
A muscle in Lady Deerhorn's jaw bunched as she clenched her teeth. She whipped around to face me. Even though her anger seemed directed at Lord Xavier, I suspected I would be the one to bear the brunt of it.
I steeled myself for the first blow.
It did not come.
"You have one last chance to tell me where to find the gem," she said, teeth still clenched. "Or my son will break you in."