Chapter 13
Justina led the way through the darkness, through the thick brush of the forest. She moved at a quick pace, the branches scratching her arms and face. Her dress caught in a bush and she ripped it free, tearing off some of the material. She didn’t want to think. She just wanted to move. The faster she moved, the less she was able to think of her brother. She glanced back at Aurora. She was amazed that the noble woman was keeping up. “How much farther?”
“We have to cross a road and then maybe until daybreak.”
She was breathing heavily, and Justina knew she was pushing her. Her gaze swept Aurora. Her hair was tight in the braid, her dress was untorn. She looked like she was refreshed and ready for a day in the Great Hall. “Do you always look so... amazing?”
Aurora looked down at her dress. “I do not look amazing.”
Justina quirked her lips in disbelief. She turned and continued on.
“Do you have any other family members?” Aurora asked.
Justina stopped cold. “Just my Uncle. But the guard said the farm had been burned.” Silence spread through the forest and Justina clenched her jaw against the anguish that rose in her. She hadn’t thought of Uncle Bruce until this very moment. “I don’t think Uncle Bruce is alive.”
“I’m so very sorry, Justina,” Aurora whispered.
Justina shook her head and hardened her heart, pushing the sorrow down.
“If you had been at the farm, there’s a good chance you would have been killed, too. I’m glad you were in Acquitaine.”
Perhaps. But being in Acquitaine didn’t save Adam. She wished shehadbeen at the farm and she was dead.
“How did your mother die?”
“Mother died in childbirth with Adam. Your husband killed my father.”
Crickets chirped in the distance, and the moon slipped back behind the clouds.
“That’s why you looked at him the way you did at the square. The first time I saw you. You knew.”
Justina couldn’t answer. Yes, she knew. She knew he was a cold-blooded murderer. “He should be punished for what he’s done.”
Aurora rose up like a lioness to defend him. “Why? He was ordered to commit those crimes. He was a slave and his master commanded him. Should he be punished for following orders?”
“Yes!” Justina snarled. “Do you know what it’s like to have someone you love taken from you?”
Aurora lifted her chin. “I do. He killed my mother.”
Shocked, Justina’s mouth dropped open. “What?” She opened her mouth and then closed it. “How could you...?”
“I love him. He is not that killer anymore.”
“He will always be that killer.”
Aurora shook her head. “He is good and kind and a very wise ruler. He loves me. And I worry about him now. Alone, wondering where I am.”
“Good. I’m glad he will be worrying. He should be worrying.” She started forward again.
Aurora grabbed her arm. “Think on this, Justina. Damien is a dangerous man. But a good man. He will always do what is right.”
Justina yanked her arm free of Aurora’s hold. She didn’t want to think on anything. Not Damien, not Aurora. Not Adam. She turned and moved on through the brush. Just Gawyn. And even Gawyn was dangerous. But her mind continued to search him out, to dwell on him. The way his eyes twinkled when he smiled, the way his hand engulfed hers; his memory was the only thing keeping her sane amidst all the horror.
Aurora called, “Do you hear that?”
Justina glanced back at her. She had her head cocked to the side, listening. “I don’t hear anything.”
“It sounded like flutes.” Aurora began to make her way hurriedly through the forest.
