Page 69 of Lost with a Scot
Aiden spotted his brothers among the men who’d been hiding in the crowd. They shot him quick nods that he should go, and then they dove into the fray with war cries born of their Highland blood. The battle broke out between the contingent of guards Yuri had with him and Alexei’s men. With a breath of relief, Aiden knew that he could leave and go after Anna.
Aiden left Yuri on the ground. The man was screaming for his guards, but none came to his aid since they were all fighting Alexei’s soldiers.
A farmer in the crowd grasped Aiden’s arm. “You, Englishman!” Aiden didn’t bother to correct him. “I have a good horse, a fast horse. Go! Rescue our princess.” The man pulled Aiden with him out of the courtyard. Aiden glanced back once to see Alexei had leapt off the platform, now wielding a sword. As he advanced on his uncle, the people of Ruritania closed in around them.
“Here, this way.” The farmer led Aiden to a small stable outside the castle courtyard and quickly brought out a horse. The beast only wore a bridle with reins, no saddle.
“I saddle him for you,” the man said in broken English.
“No time.” Aiden clicked his tongue, and the horse stood still as he swung himself up onto the horse’s back by gripping the base of the horse’s mane. Aiden nodded at the stunned farmer, then dug his boots into the horse’s sides when it stood. He prayed the horse was as swift as the man claimed. He thundered down the road, praying he would not lose the trail of the coach on the path.
* * *
“Where are we going?”Anna asked. The coach had just passed by the fields beyond the castle. She knew they were going north toward the Summer Palace, but they couldn’t be going there.
Fain unbuttoned his military coat and tossed it to the side. “I have a small home waiting for us. We will spend two nights there before I must return to the castle.”
She stared at the coat that he had removed. Next, he took his sword off his belt and set it on the seat across from them as well. “What are you doing?” she asked, though she already suspected she knew the answer.
“I am taking no chances. You will learn who your master is, and I will break you like any good horse until you can be ridden without a fight.”
He reached to grab her, and she doubled over, gagging and retching. Nothing came from her but dry heaves, but still he drew back in clear revulsion. He opened the coach window and shouted for the driver to stop.
The moment the vehicle stopped moving, Anna opened the door and stumbled outside, still gagging, but it was all a ruse. The coach had stopped. Now all she had to do was wait for the right moment. She continued to pretend to be sick while she fussed with her skirts as if overheated from the nausea, and in so doing she freed the dagger that was strapped to her thigh.
“That’s enough.” Fain was on her, grabbing her left arm. She spun around and plunged the dagger into him. But the pain from her bullet wound weakened her strike, and he was able to knock her hand aside before she could plunge the blade into his heart. Her dagger sank only a few inches into his shoulder instead, staining his white shirt crimson with blood.
“So that’s where it went,” Fain snarled as he gripped her wrist and squeezed until at last she released the dagger.
She was shocked by how unaffected he was by the wound she’d inflicted.
“You disappoint me, Anna. It’s clear you don’t know when you have been beaten.” Fain leered at her with cold violence in his eyes. In his gaze, she saw the bodies of her parents and the blood of her people and the burning of her home.
“You haven’t beaten me,” she said. “Even my death will be a victory over you.” She flung her head forward, striking him in just the right spot. He grunted at the unexpected impact and let go of her wrist. She ran. It was the only choice she had left. He was too large and too strong compared to her, and with an injured arm she could not use any of the protective moves she had learned from her brother and William.
Straight ahead of her was a forest... the dark forest of her nightmares. Too late, she realized that the visions she had seen at the fairy pools might yet come to pass. She bunched up her skirts to run faster, cursing all the while.
Fain charged through the undergrowth, shouting her name. The sound echoed around her, booming off the trees and confusing her as to where he was. She stopped twice, listening to his howls of rage, before continuing on in the direction she hoped was the safest path away from him. The trees seemed to all look alike, and she quickly became lost in the dense foliage. She stopped again to catch her breath as she leaned against a gnarled old tree. In the distance, she saw a shape that filled her with dread. A wishing well.Thewishing well...
“It can’t be...” She spun to run in the opposite direction, but Fain broke through the trees ahead of her, and in his hand was his sword. Fain must’ve gone back to the coach for his sword. Fate had caught up with her, it seemed, but she would not make it easy for Fain to kill her.
“Give up, princess!” Fain shouted as he spotted her. She broke away from the tree she’d been hiding behind and sprinted toward the well. She had no choice but to run past it, but she would not dare stop there.
A hand grabbed her hair, and she screamed as Fain yanked and threw her to the ground. She landed on her stomach, the dark rich soil like black dust beneath her fingers as she braced herself against the fall. Flashes of her visions from her dreams and what she’d seen within the fairy pools blurred with the reality of what she knew would be her final moments.
“Kneel, princess.” Fain forced her to her knees by gripping her hair again. “If you will not yield, you can join the rest of your family.” Just as he lifted the blade up in the air, a voice cried out, filling the forest around them.
“Anna!” It was Aiden!
Fain spun as Aiden broke through the clearing on horseback. He slid off and charged at Fain with a short sword in his hand.
“Aiden... no!” She struggled to her feet and threw herself at Fain as he raised his sword to strike at Aiden.
Fain struck Anna’s face with the back of his hand, and she fell like a stone. She didn’t pass out, but the pain was so fierce that her head felt as if it had been split open. She panted and blinked hard as she tried to banish the black dots clouding her vision.
Aiden and Fain were grappling, their swords abandoned on the ground. Anna crawled toward it, her fingers digging into the earth to propel her to move faster. Every second was agony. She couldn’t lift the sword, but she could drag it away, hide it, so that Aiden had a fair chance. The second her fingers curled around the hard leather-bound grip, she heard a shout of triumph.
She turned and saw Fain had Aiden pinned against the wall of the well. The hilt of a blade jutted out of Aiden’s stomach. Fain sneered as he stepped back and pulled the dagger out. It was the dagger she had stolen, the one she had tried to kill Fain with. Horror began to suffocate her. She couldn’t breathe. Aiden had been hurt by the bladeshehad stolen. She had tried to deny fate, and fate was proving its point that it would not be denied.
