Page 36 of Charmed

They made it to the other side of the small lake and had just climbed up the rocks and slipped behind the waterfall when King Sethor and his army of men rode up. They stopped for a moment, looking around.

“They must have gone this way,” said Sethor. “Where in the world are they? Look everywhere.”

“They’re probably hiding,” said Rancor.

“Then check behind every tree and bush. Hurry!” commanded Sethor.

Shaking from being wet and cold, Stone wrapped his arms around her. They were safe and protected behind the falling water, standing in a small cave in the rocks.

“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered directly into her ear, following his words with a small kiss.

She was afraid to even breathe, thinking somehow it would alert Sethor and his men to their presence. They were searching the area, but thankfully none of them had thought to look behind the waterfall.

“We are wasting too much time,” called out Sethor. “They must be up ahead. Let’s go.”

In a puff of dust, the men atop their horses charged toward Kasculbough, leaving them and their hiding place undetected.

“It worked,” she said as soon as she was sure they had all left. She was so cold that she couldn’t stop her body from shaking or her teeth from chattering together. “They didn’t see us. You are a life saver, Stone.”

“Just a little trick I picked up in my profession.”

“So, can we go now?”

“Not yet. And when we do, we’re still going to have to be careful. We don’t want them to spot us on their return trip to Macada Castle.”

“How long do you think we should stay here?” she asked.

“However long, it wouldn’t be long enough,” he told her, once again leaning over to kiss her.

“The others will be worried about us,” she told him. “We don’t want them to send an army to Sethor’s door looking for us.”

“Nay. Of course, we don’t want that.” Stone looked out from the waterfall, and up to the sky. “It’s clouding over and looks like it’s going to storm. I think we’d better go.”

“Aye, we wouldn’t want to get wet, would we?”

He stopped and looked back at her and she started giggling. They both laughed at her jest, and it felt good. Persimmon liked having someone to share a jest with. Being with Stone Nightstalker felt like the first thing in her life that was right.

“Stone, how will we be able to avoid the soldiers?” she asked him. “Since Rancor is with him and he’s a thief, he might figure out what we’re doing.”

“Leave that to me, sweetheart.” He held her hand as they walked. “Remember, I am a tracker. We’ll be able to tell which way they took and be sure to go far around their route.”

“Thank you,” she said. He stopped and looked back at her.

“For what?” he asked. “You were the one who saw to our escape. I should be the one thanking you instead.”

“That’s not what I mean,” she told him. “Thank you for being kind to me. I haven’t had a lot of kindness in my life and it feels nice.”

“I promise you, Persimmon, that I will always treat you with love and respect. I will also do everything in my power to make sure that no one is ever mean to you again.”