“Miss Emily, my lady,” Bridget called. “Miss, he’s waking up,” she whispered in her ear. She gently tugged Emily’s long black hair. Emily sat up from her cot. She flew over to Tristan’s side and wiped his brow with a rag. She lifted the blanket to examine his wound. It had finally stopped bleeding. She had realized that the blade had been poisoned. Most skohls wouldn’t have survived. He swallowed and moved his head back and worth. Finally, he opened his eyes.           “Don’t worry, you’re safe,” Bridget whispered. She turned nervously to Emily. “No one knows you’re here. Do you know where you are? The king sent us,” Bridget said. Tristan swallowed and struggled to move. “Relax, you need your rest. We’ll explain later. For now, sleep,” she said. Tristan opened his mouth to say something but his eyelids quickly fell. “Why did I do that miss?” Bridget asked, her voice quavering.         

           “Because I didn’t want him to drop dead if he saw me. I needed to figure out if my father sent Cornell to do this to him. And apparently he did; you saw the way he panicked.”         

           “Aye, miss.”          

Emily walked into the hovel, dusting her breeches off. Another group of the king’s guard had tried to pass her bridge. Something was going on in the castle, she knew it. She was almost sure that someone had gone looking for her by now. She had run away almost three weeks ago.         

“My lady, Travis has reported on the other bridge. It is coming along nicely. He would like to meet with you to discuss a communications decree,” Bridget said. Emily was glad her lady-in-waiting had joined her on her quest. Otherwise, she would have no one to trust. “And Tristan is progressing nicely.”       

   “How is he?” She hadn’t been to see her lover in almost two days. She couldn’t bear to see him in such a weakened condition.          

 “He hasn’t woken yet but his bruises are healing.”          

 “Maybe I will go see him today.” She turned on her heel and headed for the tunnel leading to Tristan’s room. She nodded at the various guards surrounding the door. She opened the crooked slab of wood to see Tristan standing with a rock, aiming at her head. He was defending himself. That meant he remembered Bridget. Would he remember her?    

      “Emily,” he gasped. His legs gave out underneath him as he dropped the rock. Emily rushed forward to catch him. “I thought you were dead,” he whispered, tears in his eyes. She wasn’t sure whether they were from physical pain or seeing her. They fell, leaving black streaks down his cheeks. She wiped them away.          

“Dead?” she said. She helped him down onto the cot. He winced.       

    “The king sent out a message to me saying that you were dead,” he sighed. Emily took the bark sitting by the fireplace, and unwrapped his wound. She rubbed the oils from the bark on it and changed the bandage.      

    “I’m not. I’m right here,” she whispered. “Do you remember what happened?” she asked him. He stared at her, thinking. “The person who did this to you?”   

       “No, only you,” he whispered. He gently touched her cheek. She closed her eyes and smiled.          

 “My lady, the imperial guard has returned. He wishes to speak to the leader!” a guard said. Emily grabbed the hilt of her sword and ran with the guard out of the room. Tristan watched the last of her long black hair trail from the room after her. She was so beautiful and brave.

Keyword: The Necklace:Chapter 4

Report this story | Add to Favorites | Send to Friends | Author's Profile

No Comments posted

Comments

Post a comment

Post a comment