Her name was Raven

Chapter 14

Raven woke to something itchy scratching her face and something hard under her back. When she pried her eyes open and squinted she realised she was lying in a straw-covered stone cell. She tried to remember where she'd been. She wore a white linen dress. It felt like a nightgown almost. She couldn't remember putting it on. Her feet were bare. Again.

She'd been abducted. They'd found her, finally.

Never mind. Raven thought to herself. She was tired of running. It had been terrible and lonely and she'd met kind people and been terrified of getting them hurt. Unbidden, Duran popped into her head and she moaned and banished him from her thoughts. It didn't work. He'd been the first person to love her, to give her unqualified love. Of course, she'd met Katherine and Robert and Clara, and Bill had been kind to her, and there were others, but Duran was who she regretted leaving most. She'd barely met him, yet she felt so... safe in his presence, and she'd left before they'd gotten a chance to get to know each other more.

She moaned again and rolled onto her back, throwing her arm across her face. Duran...

Raven jerked up when she heard footsteps approaching on the echoing stone floor. A set of keys jangled and a pair of well-kept expensive leather boots stopped in front of her.

"Look up," the voice commanded. Raven looked up. He was menacing, slick, well groomed, and struck fear deep into Raven. She remembered her nightmare, the one from childhood, a memory.

Kill her. We should kill the girl now, before she grows into a threat.

She's not one now!

But she will be! You know what the gypsies said. She'll be the damnation of all of us. Don't try and be holier now, you've done just as much as the rest of us.

I'm not going to murder an innocent child in cold blood!

Its self-defence, you know it, and I know it.

If we could interrogate another gypsy,

You let the last one starve, remember? The gypsies are gone, their time is over. This is our world, we are the kings. I will not lose that.

Raven was brought back by the man's sneer.

"It's her."

"What are your wishes, my liege?" one of the guards flanking him asked. The Lord took one last condescending look at Raven, as if she was a piece of mud stuck to his shoe, and walked away. He tossed his answer over his shoulder before he vanished from Raven's view.

"Finish it."

****

It had taken time; too much time, but no matter; now it would be over. Lord Hinchmere wasn't taking chances. This time he would remove the threat. None of the others form the order were stoping him, and he knew why. They were terrified of losing their power, but they didn't want to openly strike and remove the threat. Hinchmere was not a coward. They would be glad once the problem was handled, and he might just secure his position as head of the order.

The girl had caused enough trouble just in tracking her down. Who knew what else she'd done while she'd been on the run. It was luck that he'd found the yappy stable lad, luck when the drunk had tattled everything. Hinchmere hated yappy men. You could never trust them, especially with a bottle. But then, Hinchmere didn't trust anyone anyway. Expect to be stabbed in the back and you might just catch the blade.

He left the cells feeling satisfied for the first time in a long time. The dismal little stone cells gave him a savage thrill, especially as he held the keys. He contemplated whistling, and then dismissed the idea. What a ridiculous notion whistling was, making a sound when one was happy? He walked past the block in the little courtyard, and outside, his steps clacking on the tiles. The gate was shut by a guard behind him. He caught it before it locked.

"Double the guards. I want two by the doors and two by her cell. Make sure she keeps her appointment." Hinchmere barked at the small man.

He just needed four more days. In four days the order would control everything. Not openly, of course, but they would own every port in the country, every trader and every ship. And Hinchmere would be the puppeteer in the shadows, controlling everything.

In two days the girl would cease to be a problem. In three days he would be in the Glostershire Lord's office putting his seal to papers. In four days the announcements would begin, starting with his new port in Glostershire.

Hinchmere smiled. He really loved yappy men. They were so easy to manipulate.