Through the Looking Glass

by Rebecca Lorino Pond

  She stopped for a brief moment to organize her thoughts and wipe her face. She watched as the people move about the grounds of the inner castle walls. The guards were attentive and scanning the crowd as it moved to and from the castle. Four guards stood near the gate conversing as people streamed by them. Their eyes, though, searched every face that went by. Crap! She was in a lot of trouble. They all knew who she was, so she didn’t stand a chance on getting by undetected.

  The sound of a crash and horses whinnying drew the guards’ attention to the outer gate. The people trying to get out of the castle began to build up until the flow out came to a standstill. Could she possibly slip through with the crowd? It could be her only chance, she thought.

  She pushed away from the wall she had been standing against and walked to the gate with the crowd. Soon she was surrounded by people and animals until she felt like she was being squished. A few steps at a time brought her closer to the gate. As she neared the gate, she could see the two carts had run into each other with one having overturned. Only half of the street was accessible for the time being but this worked to her advantage.

  Slowly, she and the people surrounding her pushed through the gate and nearer to the guards who were assisting the owner of the over turned cart. The commotion was almost chaos as they passed within feet of the guards who were no longer paying attention to who was coming and going. The woman behind her gave her a small nudge as she tried to pass another spectator who was stopped, watching those who instructed the cleanup.

  She didn’t need any encouragement to move quickly by and out of the walls of the castle. With a sigh of relief, she crossed the bridge she had come across on Jakar’s horse when he had found her on the battlefield. No one stopped or spoke to her as she walked across the bridge and to the road that lead to the forest. People broke off in different directions after crossing the bridge, heading to where ever they had come from.

  She had no idea where she was going but just kept walking. No sounds came from behind her calling out to her to stop or for someone else to stop her. The road began to empty after only a short ways into the forest and before long she was walking alone with only the sounds of the forest to keep her company.

  The ground she walked on was wet and mushy from all the recent rains. The slippers she wore were soon soaked through and her feet chilled. As she walked she tried to keep her dress up so that it wouldn’t drag on the wet ground. The light in the forest wasn’t the best but she could at least still see the road before her. A bend up ahead had the road bending out of her sight so that she couldn’t see if someone was coming her way. A tingling sensation went down her spine as if something was trying to warn her of impending danger ahead.

  Pushing the feeling aside, she trudged on. As she approached the bend two men stepped out from the side of the road and blocked her path. She went to turn around and head back in the direction she had just come from but found that another man blocked her from the rear. Fear clutched her throat as she stood there eyeing the men. She could almost hear her pulse beating in her ears as she waited for them to move.

  “Well, well, well! What do we have here boys?” One man said as he leered at her.

  Isobel took a step back as the bald man stepped closer to her. She backed into the one man who had come up behind her, stopping her from her retreat.

  “What is the lord’s wife doing out here all alone?” the man hissed at her.

  Something about the man made her blood run cold. The way he looked at her made her feel as if she knew him but she couldn’t possibly know this man.

  “What do you want?” she asked as she held her chin high. She wasn’t about to let on she was terrified out of her mind.

  “Aw. The little lady wants to know what we want.” He and his men laughed. “Should I tell her boys?”

  The one behind her spoke up and replied, “Please do. She held us up long enough!”

  She felt a hand run through her hair at the nape of her neck. “Leave me alone! My husband will be along soon.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I saw you come storming out of the castle and how you waited for a distraction to get through the gates. It was mighty nice of Trax here to step in front of that oncoming cart. Wasn’t it, Trax?”

  “Sure thing, boss. Anytime!” The one standing beside the man talking to her said with a mouth full of rotted teeth.

  The leader of the group stepped closer to her and reached out to finger a strand of hair that hung over her shoulder. “It was such a pity when you ran away from me. You have caused me a lot of trouble, Isobel.”

  Isobel was confused with the man’s statement. She didn’t know this man, or did she. She examined his face closely as he stood before her. Recognition hit her like a sledgehammer when she looked deep into the eyes of the man who had killed her parents.

  “Daniel,” she whispered as fear coursed through every vein in her body.

  “Ah, I see you finally recognize me. It’s so good to see you again, Isobel, but we have some unfinished business to take care.” He grabbed her upper arm roughly and jerked her to him. “Let’s go!”

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked as she stumbled along beside her ex. She tried to pull away from him but his grip was too tight. It was as if her arm had been slammed into a fist of iron as it pressed into her skin.

  “Where I was originally going to take you from the beginning of all this crap. You truly put a wrench in my plans when you showed up at your parents’ house. You said you were going out. You weren’t supposed to be there!” His voice rose in anger as he dragged her off the road and into the thick forest. “But, what’s done is done. I have you now and that’s all that matters. As soon as I am rid of you, I can go back to my life.”

  Isobel didn’t dare say anything else as Daniel pulled her roughly by the arm through the bushes and thorns of the forest. She did her best to push the limbs out of her way as she trailed behind Daniel but they still crawled and scratched her as she went through.

  Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she thought she was going to have a heart attack. Besides the night she had seen her parents die at the hands of the madman holding her, this was the most terrified she had ever been. Where was he taking her? Was he going to kill her? Rape her? The thoughts ran wild in her mind. She tried to imagine the worst he could do to her but it still wasn’t any comfort. There were way too many things Daniel could do to her.

  She realized now that her action of fleeing the castle had been a very foolish idea. No one would know where she had gone. The grounds would be searched long before anyone thought to go into the forest. She was a dead woman and she knew it. She needed to keep clam and figure out a plan to get away from Daniel and his goon crew. First thing first though, she needed to calm herself or she wouldn’t be any good to anyone including herself.

  ******

  Jakar stood staring at his wife’s back as she fled from the garden. His anger had gotten the best of him and he suddenly regretted it. Maybe he shouldn’t have been as hard on Isobel as he had been. Maybe he should have warned her himself and tell her never to come here again.

  He ran a hand through his tussled hair and exhaled. Well, she would just have to get over her anger and realize that this was a place that was sacred to him. It was the only thing left of his mother’s and he didn’t want anyone touching it. He rub his eyes with both of his hands then glanced around the garden.

  A lot of work had been done in the garden. Weeds and vines that had strangled the rose bushes were gone while the mud had been freshly turned and was awaiting new plants. He was glued to the spot as his gaze ran over his mother’s grave. A burn came to his throat as he stared at the clean grave site. Weeds had been cleared away and the stone encasing his mother had been scrubbed clean. A jolt went through him when he saw that all of the flower bouquets he had placed on the grave over the years were still there. He counted each one and found there still remained the same amounts of bouquets as years his mother was gone.


  A wave of anguish washed through him without warning. Not only was he now ashamed of his behavior towards his wife, his mother would have been appalled. Never in all of his life had he intentionally hurt someone the way he had hurt Isobel. She had been sent here for him and what does he do? He goes and treats her like a common thief.

  “What did you do?” a tiny voice called out to him from above his head.

  Nyla whizzed by his head nearly slamming into it. He had to duck several times as she continued to buzz around his head in fury. “Would you stop?” he shouted at her.

  Nyla halted right in front of him and got up in his face. “How could you do that? Isobel was only wanting to do something nice for you. She has been working in here for days and most of the time alone.”

  “Stay out of this, Nyla. She was warned not to come to this garden.”

  Nyla whirled around once then pointed a very tiny finger at his nose. “For your information, my lord,” she said sarcastically, “Isobel was not informed about this garden until I brought her here!” She stressed the “I” in her sentence.

  “What are you talking about? Betsy said she told Isobel about the garden and…” he was cut off by Nyla.

  “Lies! Betsy lies to you. If you had only stopped and listened to her you would have known this. But no, you are so caught up with the idea that Isobel is Tuloch’s spy that you never looked to anyone else. Betsy is the spy!”

  The color drained from his face as Nyla revealed that Betsy was one of Tuloch’s spies. How could he have been so blind? Betsy only came to the castle a few months ago and he had never questioned where she had come from.

  “I…” he was speechless. He had intentionally hurt his wife because of someone else’s lies. But why would Betsy lie about Isobel? He needed to find Isobel right now.

  “Nyla, do you know where Isobel went? She wasn’t in our room, so I came back here.”

  “I don’t know where she is, my lord.” Nyla’s wings were fluttering nervously as she spoke to him.

  “I need to find her. Will you help me?”

  “Of course.” Nyla took off without another word.

  Jakar cursed at himself then took off after Isobel. He had been such a fool. His stubborn pride and suspicious attitude had caused an innocent woman to be hurt. Nana and Nyla had never lied to him before, so why had he been so adamant about Isobel being a spy and not the one spoken of by his people for so long? When he had come across her that day on the battlefield, he should have known instantly that she wasn’t from Aslog. Her clothing alone should have been a clue. Now he probably made the biggest mistake of his life, but he was determined to make it right.

  Chapter 21

  After being roughly manhandled, Isobel had been unceremoniously tossed up on a rather large horse on which Daniel sat. The man Trax had tied her hands together in front of her then put her in front of Daniel. She struggled to get loose or to throw herself off the animal but Daniel had too tight of a hold on her.

  “Keep your ass still,” he hissed into her ear before he turned his horse in the direction she had been heading.

  His hot breath in her ear and on the side of her neck made her stomach roll and churn until she thought she was going to throw up right there on top of the horse. The hand that held her to him rubbed the underside of her breast as she bounced up and down with the horse’s movements. It sickened her to be touched by such a vile and evil man as Daniel. It was because of him that her life that turned into a living hell.

  The group travelled swiftly through the forest then left the path and headed across an open field. Night was beginning to fall as they approached a dilapidated building of some sort. Isobel couldn’t tell what the building had been because it was in such poor condition.

  Daniel pulled the horse to a stop on side of the building then slid off to tie the reigns to a nearby tree. Isobel eyed his every move with the hopes of somehow being able to escape.

  “Move the horses into the stalls. We will wait here for Tuloch’s contact and if he doesn’t show up by morning we will head out.” Daniel walked back to the horse and roughly jerked Isobel down.

  She stumbled and fell to her knees when she lost her balance after Daniel let go of her arms. “I see you are still an ass,” she spit out at him. She moved to get back up but was stunned when she felt a hard slap hit the right side of her face.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Daniel stood over her with his fists clenched. “Say one more word and I will knock your teeth out!”

  Her head pounded and her vision blurred as she struggled to regain her footing. There was no doubt in her mind that Daniel would do exactly as he said. During their relationship he had never laid a hand on her but at times she had a feeling that he struggled to hold himself back. How could she have ever thought she loved this man?

  Daniel grabbed her by the upper arm and half dragged her to the crumbling building. Inside was dark and smelled of decay and it took several minutes for her eyes to first clear then adjust to the low light. The other two men that had been with Daniel tromped in a few moments later with the saddle bags, tossing them on the dirt floor.

  “Our contact should have been here by now. I say we make our way to the south.” Trax inserted his opinion.

  “And I said we will wait until morning. It will be too dark shortly to travel much farther.” Daniel shoved Isobel down to the ground and tied the loose end of the rope that bound her hands to a thick, round pole that held the roof up. “No fire tonight either. I’m sure our lord will be looking for his lady soon.” He turned and scowled at her.

  Isobel had no idea how long they waited in the hideout when the sound of something hitting the side of the building drew their attention. Daniel was the first to rise to his feet and put a finger to his lips to instruct them to be quiet. He pulled out a large dagger from the side of his dirty pants then quietly crept to the doorway.

  Another sound hit the side again then the sound of a low voice came floating in. “Tuloch’s man?” the voice asked tentatively.

  Jon and his partner slipped out the back of the building to come around the front to get the jump on whoever was out there. Daniel took a step closer to the door then leaned on the wall next to the door, tying to peer out into the darkness.

  “Tuloch’s man?” the voice called again.

  Daniel reached out the door frame then pulled back with all his might. A small figure stumbled into the building. “Who are you?”

  “Are you crazy man?” a woman’s voice said from underneath a brown, worn cloak. She righted herself then pushed the hood of her cloak back to reveal her face.

  Isobel sucked in a quick breath, stunned to see that it was Betsy standing there. “You! How could you?” she cried.

  Betsy’s head snapped to her at the sound of her voice. A cruel smile played across her lips as she sauntered over to where Isobel was tied to the pole. “Ah, Isobel! How nice to see you. Are you enjoying you time in our world? I hope you have because you won’t be enjoying it much longer I am afraid.” Betsy squatted down in front of her and gripped her chin. “Look at me when I am speaking to you!” Betsy forcefully turned her head to look her in the face.

  Isobel didn’t think she could muster up any more anger than she was already experiencing. “Go to hell, bitch!” she said then spit in the woman’s face. In return she received a blow to the head that made her see stars. She felt blood trickle from a split in her lip.

  “Don’t ever speak to me like that again! I will kill you if you do,” Betsy hissed out.

  “Come now, my lady, no one will be killing the prisoner this night. That is being left to Tuloch,” Jon chimed in.

  Isobel saw the look Betsy gave Jon and wished she could put a knife through the traitor’s heart. She knew that the woman didn’t like her but why she didn’t know. If she was ever to get out of this alive she would make sure that Betsy paid a high price for her betrayal.

  “We will leave in the morning, at first light.” Daniel spread out a blanket on the ground then
laid his body down on top of it. “Trax, you have first watch.” He put his hands behind his head then closed his eyes.

  Isobel’s face was throbbing like the devil. Twice she had been struck by these vile people. If she hadn’t had a headache from the first blow she surely had one now. She desperately wanted to lie down but the way she was tied to the pole she would have to sleep sitting up. Her mind drifted to Jakar as she tried to sleep.

  The anger she had seen in his face told her everything she needed to know. He would never accept her for who she was and for where she came from. He would always be suspicious of her, always watching for her to slip up in some kind of a way. She didn’t ask to come to this world and more than anything else in the world right now, she wanted to go home. She didn’t belong here among people she couldn’t understand. Life here was so different than her own and had wondered often if she would be able to adjust to it. Now though, she wasn’t too sure she would even live much longer in either world. A madman had been sent to hunt her down and bring her here to Aslog. Another madman was probably going to take some form of pleasure in killing her. She now realized how foolish and spontaneous her decision to leave the castle had been. All she could do now, was pray that Jakar might go looking for her and realize she was gone.