At His Mercies by Marline J (sneezy the snowman read aloud txt) 📖

a lady again. The dress, although it was slightly musky, smelt clean and it made me feel confident. I looked down and nearly took the dress off again when I saw how low cut it was. I could not wear this! And especially not with all those men around! It wasn’t ladylike and certainly not a good idea. I had seen the way they looked at me when I had worn my other dress and I didn’t like the thought of how they would gape now that I had put on this one. 

 “Ms. Patson, if you want your breakfast you better come outside.” Alex called.  I couldn’t stall any longer and walked towards the door in the tent. The skirts swished around my ankles and I was trying to think of a way to get the men’s attention away from the low-cut bodice. Keeping my hand there the entire time would be strange and I couldn’t possibly hold my old dress in front of my body. I loosened my hair from its pins and allowed my golden locks to flow freely, something that only my lady’s maid had seen over the past years. I had no choice, I had to walk out and endure what was to come. With my hair as a covering, I took a deep breath and pushed away the flap of the tent.  At first the men sitting around the dead campfire didn’t look up, they hadn’t heard me yet. They were rowdy and gruff as they devoured their breakfast. But when I walked over to the log where I usually sat to eat my breakfast, heads started turning. I wished the ground would swallow me up but since I had no such luck, I nearly ran over to the log so that I could sit and attempt at making myself invisible. Rude comments were being flung in my direction and vile sniggers escaped their lips. I felt my face turn a deep shade of red. After what seemed like meters and meters, I finally reached the log and sat down, relieved. I didn’t look up at anyone and waited until Alex gave me my breakfast. 

“Why so insecure? You look beautiful.” Somebody suddenly whispered in my ear. I immediately recognized the voice as Alex’s. I looked up into his dark eyes which were gleaming with desire. Annoyance flared up in the back of my mind but I couldn’t get myself to look away. He was so incredibly handsome and his eyes had momentarily captured mine.  A roguish grin appeared on his lips and I snapped my gaze away. He handed me a plate.  “Enjoy your breakfast.”

 

I was lying in bed and Alex had his arm around me, as had been the case for the past week. I was nearly asleep when I felt his breath on my neck. Then his lips touched me. I didn’t know how fast I had to get away from him, all I knew was that I had to move. I stood next to the bed in seconds and moved away from him, to the far end of the tent. He was looking at me, surprised. 

“Don’t touch me again.” I warned him. 

“I’m sorry Florence. I won’t do it again. Come back to sleep.”

“Don’t call me that. I am Ms. Patson to you.” I snapped.

“You forget.. that you are at my mercies Ms. Patson.” He said my name sarcastically but I was angry at the fact that he was right. He could do anything with me, anything he wanted. I stood in the corner for what seemed like forever. I noticed the cold and couldn’t help shivering. Eventually my legs gave way. I crawled over to the rug in front of the fireplace tucked in my legs, like a baby in the womb of its mother. At that moment, I wished I was a baby. Safe, warm, and without worries. With that thought I fell asleep. 

 

I woke up to find that I was comfortable. At first I didn’t know where I was and I lay lazily, enjoying the warmth, thinking I was at home. Then I suddenly remembered what had happened the night before. A blanket had been put over me and I stared at it, surprised. When the truth finally sank in, I quickly sat up. Where was Alex? What was he going to do to me now? Was he angry with me for defying his order and sleeping in front of the fireplace instead of on the improvised bed? Was he going to kiss me - or worse - like he had threatened? I stood up, so that I would feel less insecure and more ready to defend myself against what was to come.  I heard the hooves of the horses before I heard the shouts of the men. At first I was excited but fear soon overcame my excitement. Was someone here to save me? If so, what were Alex and his men going to do? Out of nowhere, Alex suddenly barged into the tent. 

“Stay here.” He ordered me, as he grabbed a sword and a knife from inside a chest in the corner of the room. I couldn’t believe that these weapons had been so close to me this entire time but I had never had enough courage to look in the chest, for fear of what I might find. 

“What’s happening?” I asked. 

 “It’s none of your concern. Stay here.” Alex ordered, and marched out. I sunk down onto the bed and closed my eyes.  Shouts and screams of mercy came from outside and I could only guess what cruelties were going on. I didn’t want to believe that Alex could do such terrible things but I had to face the truth: Alex and his men were murdering innocent people, people like me who had just rode past on their way to some family member or some relative, or so I imagined. I had slumped down next to the chest and curled up, trying to make myself as small as possible. I didn’t want to think too much about how unsafe the tent was, it was just a piece of cloth and a knife could easily cut through it. I closed my eyes and wished that I could either faint or go to sleep. Then I heard a piercing scream. I snapped my head up and listened intently if I could hear it again. And there it was, a high pitched hopeless scream. The scream was a woman’s scream. I got up, ran to the chest and flung it open, to check if there were any more weapons. There was a knife in the chest and I grabbed it, holding on to it so tight that my knuckles whitened. Then I ran out of the tent, towards the place where I thought the scream had come from. The campsite looked like a battlefield, swords were clanking all around me and now and again I had to duck or jump aside to avoid getting hit. But I was determined to get to the place where I had heard the scream come from and I was going to get there, no matter what. I had to focus on my goal because if I permitted myself even a second to look around, I would be tempted to stop, to cry, to help the wounded men. Finally, after what seemed like hours, though it couldn’t have been more than a minute, I saw a man, holding a woman in a way that he should not be holding her. The woman’s blue gown was torn and her undergarments were visible. I could see that she was of nobility which explained why she had so many men escort her to wherever she was going. The man’s back was turned towards me which gave me the perfect opportunity to stab him with my knife. I knew though, that I could not do this. I could never take a life. I ran towards the man and put the knife against his back, putting enough pressure on the handle to let the man feel that I was serious. 

“Let her go.” I commanded. I had attempted not to let the man hear the fear in my voice but even to myself I sounded pitiful. The man started laughing. I pushed the knife further into his back and felt it pierce his skin.

“I mean it.” I said. A droplet of blood appeared on his shirt.  The man made a movement which I had not foreseen and in just a few seconds, he had turned around and had grabbed me around the neck. I couldn’t get any air and instinctively dropped the knife so that I could claw at his hands around my neck. The man had let the other woman go and she sat on the ground, wailing. For a few moments I was annoyed at her, rather than scared, because I had risked my life to save hers and now she wasn’t even trying to help me. My annoyance didn’t last long because I was being deprived of oxygen and in a futile attempt to free myself, I kneed him in the groin. He didn’t double over like I expected him to, apparently these men were used to pain, instead he just gritted his teeth and slapped me in the face. I was about to lose consciousness. At least I died trying to save someone’s life, my brain tried to cheer me up. Just before I blacked out, I heard a familiar voice. 

“Let go of her.” Alex growled. I felt the grip around my neck loosen and when he completely let me go, I fell to the ground. My oxygen deprived body could no longer keep me standing. Then I heard a movement going through the air and half a second later it sounded like a bone was breaking. 

 “Don’t you dare touch her again.” Alex snarled. I forced myself to sit up a little and could see that Alex was beating up the man. He had a murderous gleam in his eye and this frightened me. At first the man tried to fight back but now he was barely moving at all. I knew that I could not let Alex kill this man and crawled over to him. I put a hand on his arm. 

“Alex, stop.” I whispered. Either he didn’t hear me or he chose not to because he didn’t react. 

“Stop!” I shouted, with the last of my energy.  Alex stopped beating the man and looked at me. 

“Thank you.” I whispered before I lost consciousness. 

Sparks and Heartaches

 

 “Florence, come with me. It’s a beautiful evening and I want to go out riding.. With you.” Alex said as he walked into the tent the day after the attack. I hadn’t seen him all day and frankly, I was worried but the guards hadn’t let me out to go look for him and wouldn’t answer any of my questions. It wasn’t an order Alex gave, more a request. I could say no if I wanted to. But I didn’t want to. Relieved to see that he was all right I stood up and walked towards him. He walked further into the tent and took my hand. Then he led me outside to the horses. One of the horses, a beautiful light brown