“I fear, Princess, that your lies will only get you so far in this tangled web you’ve spun. Eventually, the captain of the guard will notice I’m missing. Because you were the last to see me, they will ask you where you saw me last.”
She shrugged. “Then I shall tell a fib again.”
“One fib will turn into another, and then another, until you cannot decipher the truth from lies.” Tsking, he shook his head. “Princess, I must say how disappointed I am in you. Never in my life would I have imagined you would turn out this way.”
Clarissa scowled and slapped her palm against the rock wall. “What way are you referring to, Sir?”
“Deceitful.”
The insult cut deep into her heart. She wasn’t normally like this, and sometimes she couldn’t understand her own mind, either. But to have him—the one person she’d trusted as a young girl and shared so much with—actually tell her that she was a bad person, made her heart ache. She’d tried to convince herself that he would eventually understand her actions of late. However, now she seriously doubted it. Would he hate her when this was over? She didn’t think her heart—or her conscience—would be able to bear such pain and guilt.
“What happened to the wonderful, exciting, andintelligentwoman I used to know?” he continued. “Tell me please, what could make you change so drastically, because I’ve been so confused these past couple of days. I fear my mind is going everywhere at once trying to figure you out.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t know what had caused the change, either. “Ryder, you must understand, I’m still the same girl you remember from school. It’s just that...uh, that...”
“Go on,” he urged, rising to his feet.
A pounding started in her forehead. She rubbed her temples as the pain grew. “You have been getting in the way of my plans lately. Don’t take it personally. I still consider you my friend. I pray you shall see my reasons behind my actions. If not now, then later.”
As he sauntered toward her, Clarissa’s first reaction was to move, but then she remembered the chain didn’t reach all the way. She’d be safe to stay at this spot.
“I’m happy to know you have confidence in the future, because at this moment, I can assure you, your actions of late have made me extremely irritable.”
“I’m sure you don’t see it now, but when everything is over, I’m certain you’ll look back on this moment and laugh.” She smiled brightly, even though it hurt her to pretend to be this joyful.
“I hope you’re right, Princess, because knowing you were the one who had brought me so much heartache, just might stay with me for a lifetime.”
She stared into his desolate brown eyes, trying to think of something to say that would cheer him up. But nothing came to mind. Once again, the small voice in her head tried to tell her how wrong this was. Ryder was her friend. She didn’t have many of them, and she especially didn’t have many friends who she felt so close to. Did she really want to ruin their relationship?
The pounding in her head became worse. Turning away from him, she rubbed her forehead. “Ryder, I’m going to find something for your water now,” she muttered before leaving him to rush down the stairs. By the time she reached the bottom level of the tower, tears had filled her eyes. Perhaps she hadn’t thought this through very well. She never figured guilt would eat inside of her until she couldn’t stand it.
She hurried out of the tower and toward her horse. As she reached the animal, she stopped and looked back at the tall structure looming over her. She frowned. If she couldn’t convince Ormond to have a quick wedding, she would have to figure out how to keep Ryder away from her, because she definitely couldn’t allow him to stay a prisoner for much longer. The ache in her heart would be the death of her, she just knew it!
Once she climbed on her horse, she rode around the area. There must be something out there where she could find a bucket to keep the water. What if she found nothing? Then for certain, she’d have to let him go. A person couldn’t survive without water.
Through the trees, something caught her attention. She narrowed her gaze on the object as she rode closer. Good fortune smiled upon her. It was an abandoned cottage!
She urged the horse faster until she reached the place, and then stopped. She swung down from the animal and hurried to the door. The door wasn’t locked but it wouldn’t open, either. She pressed her shoulder against the warped piece of wood and pushed. Her feet slipped on the dirty porch, but she kept trying.
Grumbling under her breath, she slammed her shoulder against it. Finally, the door opened, and she literally fell into the cottage. Not only did her shoulder ache, but now her knees hurt. Slowly, she stood as she ran her gaze around the room. From the thin dust coating everything, she gathered the people who owned this place hadn’t been gone very long. Little more than a few days perhaps? Perhaps a week? Yet, they left their furniture, so they must be returning soon.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” she called. All she heard was her voice echoing back at her.
Cautiously, she stepped into the next room. Just as the front room, the kitchen was coated with a thin layer of dust. But, at least there were buckets for her to use for Ryder’s water—along with a tin cup.
She snatched the items, and decided to continue her self-made tour. There was only one other room. The bedroom. Yet, the second she stepped inside, the hairs on the back of her neck rose as something eerie hung in the air. She didn’t know why she felt this way, but something evil had been here. The quilts on the bed were bunched together on the mattress. Two wooden chairs had been tipped over, one with a leg broken off, and even the small armoire was lying on the floor with one of the doors ripped off. The glass on the window was shattered.
Goose pimples ran amuck on her arms, and she rubbed them. Her stomach twisted from an unknown feeling. She wasn’t certain what had happened here, but it wasn’t good. Indeed, there had been some kind of a struggle, and yet she couldn’t see any blood.
She shivered. Her curious mind tried to piece things together, and yet, the odd feelings that something wasn’t right grew inside of her. Whatever had happened was in the past. Nobody was here now.
Something that was tangled in the quilts drew her attention, and she took cautious steps closer until she could see clearly what it was. A doll lay on its side. The pink dress was torn and frayed. The blonde hair was ratted, and on the face were smudges of dirt.
From the back recesses of her memory, she recalled having a doll just like that. She was very young, but she couldn’t remember the age. Soon, other memories tried breaking through, and she could picture herself in this room...crying.
Shivers ran up her arms as bile gathered in her throat. She closed her mind quickly, trying to forget the memories that made her so afraid.
A sound from the other room startled her. She sucked in a quick breath and swung toward the kitchen. Footsteps? Was that the sound she heard?
