A LORD'S WEAKNESS

7. BETRAYAL

On the following day, they'd left the village early and traveled through the seemingly endless forest.

No one spoke and the only one in a good mood was Alec, once more. His positivity always seemed to surprise Mariann.

Although she was bruised with dark purple spots by the hips she could keep up with the others and if she didn't turn her torso she felt almost no pain while walking.

Watching her master's broad shoulders sway as he walked in front of the group she couldn't help but think about if Lord Rowan even knew where he was going. He seemed to be following the afternoon sun.

Suddenly during their travels, Lord Rowan stopped in his tracks, raising his arm, and held his hand back signaling everyone to stop moving.

He saw something.

Everyone froze.
Mariann scanned their surroundings carefully and tried listening closely.

As silently as the Lord could he removed the cork of his canteen and pulled the water out of it, making it dance around his hand. Was he arming himself? Marianns eyes shot to the speed to his belt. He hadn't unsheathed his sword.

He waved his hand forwards, commanding the water to strike behind a bush.

A high-pitched squeaking sound erupted from behind the leaves. Probably that of an animal, Mariann thought relaxing again with the rest of them.

"Anyone hungry?" Lord Rowan casually asked looking over his shoulder.

"You scared me to death," Laria exhaled thinking out loud.

Ignoring her he went to the bushes pulling a  large rabbit out on two ears.

Putting it down he ordered everyone to gather supplies for a fire.

It was close to dark when they'd all shared pieces of the skinned, cooked rabbit.

Mariann wasn't sure when she'd last had rabbit let alone meat.

Telling his slaves to catch some rest the hours passed and during this cold night, Mariann was thankful for the warm clothes, a full stomach, and a warm fire that they were actually allowed to be closer too. The circumstances have been far worse before.

Even so, she couldn't sleep, her thoughts were all revolving around the new master. A master who had hurt her and distrusted her but who was still kind in his own way. She wasn't sure if kindness was the right word to describe what he was showing, after all, he'd only explained himself and shown her transparency, but she was still thankful for the little things.

She would not forget the pain and fear he'd caused her either though.

Laying is in his long cloak the Lord rested with his back towards the fire. It had grown significantly smaller and was painting the darknesses of the forest in a malicious red.

The silent sounds of shuffling through their small camp caught Marianns attention. A large silhouette of a man slowly crept around the fireplace towards her Lord.

Her eyes shot to the side where Monor had been resting, and it was empty, leaving her to conclude that it was him.

He took another almost silent step towards the sleeping Lord. Studying his figure she recognized him holding around a fairly large object in his right hand.