‘Get him! Don’t let him get away!’
‘Long live the King!’
‘Hang him! Chop off his head for treason!’
Oh, Ilovethis.
I climb back onto Ada, and she takes me around the crowd and towards some more guards. I spot Bernie talking to three of them. Ada stops near him and neighs loudly, catching his attention. Bernie spots me and his eyes go wide. He quickly dismisses his guards and looks around before coming up to me.
“You’re here!” he exclaims.
I nod, tilting my head to the crowd. “Bernie, what's going on?” Both our eyes scan the crowd.
“The fella fighting my guards tried to kill the King. He’s as good as dead now. The King personally requested for him to be hung, drawn and quartered.” My eyebrows raise up in shock, my heart pounding hard enough against my ribs that it might just explode. We haven't had one of these in years; no one has done anything to warrant it.
Until now.
“When is he to die?”
“Today.” I shift on Ada, I’m so excited. I feel like I'm going to burst. “I need you to be ready. You’re already dressed up ready for work, and because of all these changes and witch trials, I'm going to let you have this one. Especially since you have your horse.”
The crow circling above caws and settles down onto a nearby rooftop.
Watching. Waiting.
“What must I do?” Ada chuffs and whinnies, restless, and I struggle to keep her still. The crowd parts, the crow caws, the guards drag over the guilty man, his hands and legs bound. It’s the drunk from yesterday. Such a scrawny man, nothing to him but bone and flesh, no hair and no shirt. He wriggles his body, trying to get out the guards hold and the other surrounding guards push back the crowd to give us more space.
“You are going to drag this filth back to the Tower. Make it hurt. Make him bleed. Donotkill him. We’ll meet you there and sort out the rest.” My heart… I can’t take much more of this. It feels like a dream.
A tease.
Agift.
The guards hear Bernie’s instructions as I wander off into my own thoughts and before I know it, the man has been tied to Ada's tail and is pulling on her. I look behind me at the man tiedup to us. He’s angry, spitting and shouting and trying to break free.
He ismine.
A pair of eyes meet mine, so close and belonging to the last person I want to see. Richard. He comes to check the bindings from the man to my horse, slowly walking around me and Ada, inspecting closely. Too close.
I don't like this.
Richard goes to stroke Ada, and I pull her away slightly from his touch. He smirks, giving a soft laugh, and his arms loop behind his back as he continues to walk around us. Ada is itching to ride and I'm itching to leave.
“Masked man, what is your name?” Richard asks me.
“He’s a mute!” Bernie steps in between us and speaks for me. Richard raises a brow. “Lost his tongue in a knife fight.”
“What… is hisname?” Richard steps closer to Bernie. Bernie's eyes widen and he stumbles on his words, fiddling his hands together.Get it together, Bernie, for god's sake.The man tied up to us is screaming and still trying to get loose, yelling profanities towards Richard, spitting at him and all over Ada’s tail.
He will pay for that.
Richard quickly gets his baton out of the holder, whacks this man's head and it gets him quiet for a little while. Richard then points the end of the baton towards Bernie. “Don’t make me ask a third time, Bernard.”
A threat.
“Frankie! His name is Frankie!” Bernie holds his arms up in the air in surrender. Richard looks me in my eyes with a tight-lipped frown on his face, his head cocked. I need to get out of here. The guards around us are struggling to keep the growing crowd from getting closer to us and the man tied up to us is regaining consciousness.
“Bernard, we need a chat. I’ll meet you back in your office.” Richard turns on his heel towards his own horse and rides off. Bernie blows out a breath and runs his hands through his hair.
