Escape from the Witch Hunters
Chapter 15

Ryia bit her lip. What did he mean that she could be taken advantage of with her niceness and naiveness? Are those even words?

She blinked hard, trying to keep the moisture out of her eyes. Am I really so naive?

She lay her head down on one of the soft pillows. She could never seem to say the right thing when she was around Gillian. One wrong word could set him off. And she said the wrong thing more often than not.

But the waiter thought we were brother and sister. We didn't have to get married after all. she sighed wistfully.

"And the waiter only thought that because he wanted us to be brother and sister! Can't you see?"

"No Gillian, I don't see." she shook her head and a single tear fell onto the feather pillow.

Gillian rushed up the stairs two at a time until he made it up to the newlywed room. He burst in the door. "Ryia?" he called. He saw her limp form on the bed. "Ryia!"

He hurried to her side of the bed and shook her. "Ryia! Wake up!"

She blinked a few times before bolting upright. "What's wrong?"

"The men from Castile, they're here." he panted.

Her eyes widened in horror. "No no no! Not again!" she shut her eyes, as if willing the situation to leave her.

"Hurry. They'll probably be checking here soon, knowing Bessie and all."

Ryia nodded and slid off the bed. "What if they see us while we're escaping?"

"We'll just hope and pray that they don't recognize us." he started to grab the few bundles and swung the over his shoulder.

"What if they do?" she hurried to his side.

"Make them uncomfortable so that they look away." he shrugged.

"How?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

He opened the window and tossed the bundles down onto the ground.

"Different ways. And if they're still after us, then we'll knock them out and make a run for it." he dug in his money bag and tossed a few coins on the bed.

"Right." she nodded, then frowned. "Did you just throw your belongings out the window?"

"Yep." Gillian nodded. "Less to carry. In case, you know, we have to make a run for it. I don't want to have a handful if I'm going to punch them cold. And we'll just swing by here and pick them up. There wasn't much breakable stuff in them anyway."

They started to walk quietly down the stairs, listening to every noise that might be an officer.

"A newlywed you say? And she had mis-matched eyes?" a loud voice inquired.

A low mumbled answered in reply.

"Yep, that's the girl we want." they paused. "She got married? Really?"

Another low rumble sounded.

"So up the stairs, and then down the hall, and up another set of stairs? Got it."

Ryia looked at Gillian with wide eyes.

Gillian looked at the stairs briefly before he pushed Ryia towards a dark corner in the hall, pushing her against the cool wall.

"Let's just hope we don't barge in on them." a loud voice sounded up the stairs.

"The innkeeper said that they had a fight, so I doubt we'll barge into an uncomfortable situation." a different voice reasoned.

The tips of their heads could be seen and the sound of their boots got closer.

Gillian turned back to Ryia. "I'm sorry." he murmured before his eyes closed, one hand on the wall, his other hand in her hair on the back of her head, and he leaned his face down towards hers.

Ryia's heartbeat got faster, not because the officers were getting close, but because Gillian's face did not stop getting closer until his lips met her face, barely a hair away from her own lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, almost by instinct.

So this is what you do to make people uncomfortable. she was sure Gillian could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest as she grabbed a handful of his shirt.

Gillian's frame was uncomfortably close to hers to make her less visible to the law officers.

The officers uncomfortably passed the young couple, muttering words about how "young couples could never learn to kiss in private".

Gillian pulled away, his cheeks tinged with pink. "Let's go." he whispered..

Ryia would have stood there all day if Gillian hadn't grabbed her arm and pulled her down the stairs, quickly bypassing the front desk and hurrying out the door.

Ryia tried to keep up with Gillian's face pace as they barged into the stables. "Red?" Gillian walked down into the stall where Red was.

He hopped on and helped Ryia in front of him.

Gillian tossed some sovereigns at the man in charge of the stables before cantering down the street.

Two men came barreling out of the inn, looking from left to right until they spotted Gillian and Ryia. "You!" one of them shouted.

Gillian kicked Red in the side and they galloped around the back of the inn and Gillian stopped for a bit to grab the bundles before they galloped into the woods.

A sound of pounding hoofbeats echoed through the trees, signally to Gillian that they were being followed.

All Ryia could do was sit awkwardly on Red, ducking her head so Gillian could see obstacles.

Gillian guided Red through the woods, jumping over fallen logs, going around swamps, and weaving through the trees, trying to outsmart the officers.

They continued until the moon started to light up, and the stars began to shine.

Gillian slowed Red down to a trot. "I think we lost them." he halted Red and hopped down. "I hope." he muttered under his breath and helped Ryia off of Red.

They had stopped in a dense part of the woods, trees cluttering the ground, leaving very little space for personal movement.

"Do you think they'll replace us?" Ryia held her arms to herself, trying to keep herself warm.

"I hope not." Gillian tied Red to a tree branch. "If they do, we'll kill them before they kill us."

Ryia's eyes went wide. "You'll what?"

Gillian rolled his eyes. "You want to live, right?"

Ryia nodded. "Of course I do."

"Then we can't let them capture us. And it'd be better to just kill them before they bother us.” he told her.

“You wouldn’t actually kill them, would you?” she asked hesitantly.

“It’d be better than them just trailing us all the way to Carenthia.” he muttered.

“But they’re just doing their job.” she appealed. “They don’t deserve to be killed.”

Gillian muttered something under his breath, apparently deciding that arguing with her wasn’t worth it.

“We’ll stay here for the night.” he flung a blanket out and set it on the ground.

“Alright.” she sat down on the ground.

“I’ll keep watch.” he wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and kept his bow in his hand, his arrows beside him.

She nodded and lay her head down on the blanket. This is sure more uncomfortable than those feather pillows. But it’s my own fault. If anyone should be complaining, it’s Gillian.

She looked at his back. He hasn’t complained very much at all. He risked his life for me, he left his own home, he became a criminal, he married me, he experienced so many discomforts just because of me. Ugh. He even had to kiss me. Sort of.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered almost soundlessly to his back. I know you don't like doing any of this, Gillian, and I'm sorry.

Her cheeks burned at the thought of Gillian's almost-kiss. She held her cold hand to her cheek, trying to cool her warm cheeks down. She wasn't supposed to think those thoughts even if she was married.

You're making it hard not to think those thoughts, she looked at Gillian.

Gillian looked out into the trees. You shouldn't have kissed her you dumb bunny! Idiot idiot idiot! he frowned. He knew he should have.

She would have been captured if I hadn't.

He couldn't complain about not liking it. In fact he had rather enjoyed it. Her soft skin against his lips. He could get used to it. It made him wonder what it would be like to actually give her a real kiss.

Gillian rolled his eyes. He was behaving like an eleven year old boy that recently had fallen for a girl. You sound stupid, Gillian. Really stupid.

I still liked it. he thought. Then he shook his head. I can’t like it. She can’t get used to it, and I can’t get used to it. I’m just going to be going back home after I get her to Carenthia. It’s better if we don’t touch at all.

He sighed. It was going to be a long journey together, and he wasn’t going to be enjoying it very much if he had to constantly be cold to her to keep their relationship at a less-than-friendship level.