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I barely get the words out when, there is a cry of alarm outside the shop. Clashing swords ring out as a fight ensues. I am shaken by the scream of a dying man and stunned by the thud of bodies hitting the ground. I drop my sister, bolting the door as the knob turns. The woman is terrified, but not of whatever is outside. She is terrified of me. As she should be. I draw the jeweled dagger Ramsay gave me. Her scream fades into a wet gargle when I slit her wrinkled throat. I now realize one of the shop girls is missing. The two remaining women are screaming for help that cannot save them. I stab one through the heart, and the other in the gut, so that she suffers before she dies. My face is a mask of anger when I throw the parcels over my shoulder, grab my sister’s hands, and drag her through the shop to the rear door. Whoever is outside will eventually break down the door in front and find us.
I take a chance when I kick it open and drag Beth-Ann into the unknown. The smell hits me in the face like a stone. The stench is overpowering, and I pause to adjust my senses. I shudder as I drag her through the slime of human and animal excrement into the crowded street. I drag her through rubbish and past dead bodies. We pass a man with his cock out-pissing where he stands holding a bag of wine to his lips. No one notices me dragging my unconscious sister. Or maybe they do not care. I stoop low to go unnoticed by whatever is after me. I move as quickly as I can, but the air is too tainted to breathe, and her dead weight is heavy. Damn, is she heavy. But I continue on because I will die with her before I leave her behind. The crowd is a medley of riffraff and whores. Murderers and drunkards. Orphans pawing through heaps of the rotting food dumped by the vendors calling out to noblemen on the other side. This is hell on earth. An arm comes around my waist and a hand covers my mouth as I am pushed to the disgusting ground. A man covers my body with his and moves his hips as if he were tupping me.
“Be still, or they will see you.” A voice hisses in my ear when I struggle. “Do as I say and you both will live.”
I lay still and allow him to fuck me with our clothing on. I try to disregard the filth caked on his jacket. I turn my face away from the rancid smell of his body. I try not to scream at the sight of the lice crawling all over him. I bite my lip and go along. Several pairs of feet run past us before he stands dragging me to my feet. His eyes meet mine and my breath catches. My hearts stops. It begins to beat again, when he bends over and lifts Beth-Ann easily, tossing her over his shoulder. I do not protest when he takes my hand and leads me in the opposite direction of the running men. He navigates the crowd with ease. His steps are so quick that I run to keep up with him. I am itchy and smell like an old chamber pot, but I am alive.
“Unhand the woman.”
A voice says from behind us. We both turn to see who speaks. It is a woman. She is not very large, and neither is her voice, but the sword that she wields is almost as long as she. My eyes leave her covered face to observe her hands. Her small, brown hands. My heart lurches. I know this woman. I recognize her. She is the nun watching the execution so intently. She is also the woman in the white gloves at Beaumont palace. She covered me with a rug when Sebastian shamed me. Who is she?
“This woman belongs to my brother and I am in the midst of rescuing her.” The man hisses at her. “You can either kill me, or help me, but I am walking away.”
The woman emits a very un-ladylike swear before sheathing her sword and hurrying to keep up with my rescuer. She claps her hands together. I think nothing of it until the blue sky opens up and rain pours down on us. Lightning flashes and dark clouds blow in overhead. Thunder rolls over the rotten alley, and through my soul. I am dizzy with shock. She made it rain.
Our rescuer turns so many times, that I am lost when he finally shoves me into a tavern. He walks past sailors and local drunks to the rear of the establishment. A key opens a door and he pushes me inside when my feet refuse to move. The woman follows us. He dumps Beth-Ann on the bed, before turning to me and pulling down the scarf covering his face.
“Ezra!” I sob, throwing myself in his filthy arms. “Oh, Ezra.”
“You are safe now.” He promises rubbing my back. “You are safe.”
I have no words to speak. No way of thanking him properly. And so, I cry.
“Who are you here with?” Ezra holds me away from him because he has questions.
“Ramsay Antonov.” I babble. “He left us in a dress shop. The shopkeeper sent for whoever was after us when she heard Beth-Ann mention who I was.”
“What happened to her?”
“They gave her a sleeping potion in her tea. I declined any refreshment.”
“Smart woman.” He turns to the woman with brown hands. “Who in the hell are you?”
She too, uncovers her face, and I gasp in shock. The first thing that strikes me are her gray eyes. Eyes set into a dark face, so much like mine that I feel as though I am seeing myself. Even Ezra is speechless for once. I do not know what to say. So, I touch her to be sure she is real. Her fingers trace my face as mine trace hers.
“And I ask again. Who in the hell are you?”
“Our mother named me Marionna.”
“Our mother? But how?”
“We are sisters.” She explains. “Twins.”
“Mother never mentioned a twin. Neither did she.” I nod to our snoring sister on the bed. “How can this be?”
“I was sent away after our birth in case you did not live. I am the spare.”
“My sister?” I cry throwing my arms around her. “I have another sister.”
We hold onto each other like two dying women holding on to life. I have a sister! A twin. I pull back to see her face again. Her head is shaved but we are one and the same.
“You are a spy.” Ezra accuses. “I have seen you somewhere before.”
“I am no spy, Beaumont.” She refutes his claim. “I have been following my sister, since I saw her at the execution. I knew she would need my help.”
“I saw you there.” I tell her. “I had no idea who you were.”
“You were not supposed to know who I am. Nor is anyone else. I should kill this Beaumont before he outs me with his wagging tongue.” She draws her sword again.
“No.” I step between them. “Ezra is family. He would never turn us over to the church. I trust him.”
“It is more than the church that you should fear, sister. These Beaumonts are undeserving of your trust. Allow me to kill him and we can be on our way.”
“What makes you think you can kill me, wit—”
Ezra is on his back with her blade to his throat before he finishes his question.
“Holy shit.” I mumble in awe.
“Marry me.” He flashes her a smile that makes her blush. “Please?”
Marionna removes her sword and backs away from him. Only I notice her blush.
“You are not worthy.” She tells him.
“Maybe not, but I intend to have you anyway.”
“You set your sights too high, Ezra Beaumont.” My sister is crazy arrogant. “I would be marrying down. The way my sister did.”
“Who raised you?” He demands laughing. “I want to kiss them.”
“I was fostered out.”
“Mother sent you away also.” I muse. “Were you treated well?”
“I was treated very well, but I am a woman grown and on my own now.”
“Not on your own.” I take her hand. “Not anymore.”
“We need to wake this one and leave as soon as we are able.”
“Mae wants to return to my brother. She has no interest in running off with you.”
“Is this true, Maeve?” A frown graces her lovely face. “Are you chasing after his brother?”
Why did she have to say it that way? I am indeed chasing after him but damn, is she brash.
“I want to be with my husband. We have a child together.”
“And that is your reason for chasing a man who left you to be used by others?”
“That is not what happened.” I do not know if I am more embarrassed, or furious that she would mention it. “I was not used.”
“It is exactly what happened. You are a fool to deny it. They treated you like rubbish.”
“Ramsay Antonov was good to me.”
“He took you to his bed knowing you were with child. That is not honorable. If he truly cared about you, or your good name, he would have waited. He does not respect you.”
“How many men have you had to know what respect looks like?”
“I am not wed.” She says sensibly. “Why would I lay down with a man?”
Her words sting. Why did I lay down either? Because I was lonely and sad? Because I was foolish is what it all comes to. I was foolish.
“If the two of you are finished bickering over men.” Ezra cuts in. “We need to put as much distance between you, and this town, as possible. The church will toss every ale house and shack to find you. We have a home in the country where I can hide you.”
“Ezra, is it true what I hear?” I swallow hard. “Did Christian marry another?”
He frowns. “Where did you hear that?”
“Is it true?”
“Yes, it is.”
I sit down on the bed and bury my face in my hands. I cannot go on knowing some other woman has taken my place. My new sister sits beside me and wraps her arm around me.
“He is not worthy of these tears. You are too good for him. It is best if you leave him where he is and find someone better.”
I stare at her unsure of how to feel. Should I be angry? Should I laugh?
“It was you.” I realize. “You were the one in my head who sounded like me.”
“That was me trying to save you from men who meant you no good.”
“What will you have me do?” I ask her tearfully. “I want to be with Christian.”
“Do not worry so, sister. I will kill the woman he married, and you shall have him again, if it is what you want. Do not cry, Maeve.”
I am in love with Marionna already. This connection that we feel is one that I do not share with anyone else. I never knew a part of me was missing until I found her, and I never want to lose her again.
“He hated her.” Ezra says. “Christian married her to appease the church, and they still hunt you and your child anyway.” He walks over and lifts my chin. “My brother has not been the same since you were stolen from him.”
Hearing he is miserable makes me feel better. I am not suffering alone.
“Why did he not come for me?”
“Because he vowed to let you go if the Cardinal ceased to hunt you.”
“I saw him today.”
“You did?” Ezra’s dark eyebrows raise in surprise. “Where was this?”
“Our ships passed in the harbor. Your brother did not acknowledge me.”
“I am sure he had his reasons.” He drops his belongings near my feet. “Wait here and be quiet. I need to find horses and a safe road out of here.”
“Please, do not leave us here alone.”
“This is my place, Maeve. No one will bother you.”
He winks and slips outside. I hear a key turning in the lock before his footsteps retreat down the hall. What will happen now? Did the Antonovs turn on me too? Did they know what would happen when they left us in that shop? Marionna checks on our sister.
“Do you suppose the poison will kill her?” She asks me with concern.
Elizabeth-Ann’s loud snore is her answer. Marionna laughs.
“She will be fine.” She says studying her as she sleeps. “This one has the looks of our mother. She is quite beautiful is she not?”
“Yes, she is.”
“I pity her for being the ugly sister.” Marionna is sympathetic. “How hard it must be for her to have sisters as magnificent as us. We take after our father.”
Her gray eyes shine like silver, in her dark face. She is indeed stunning. How did I ever think myself unpretty if I look like her? She carries herself head high, with the grace of a queen. This could be me, if I stop comparing myself to the women around me and love myself as I am. A nose that I once thought wide and flat is prominent and proud. Lips I thought too large; are plump and delectable. And my eyes will make anyone look twice. I am beautiful.
I pace the small room nervously. It seems like hours before Ezra returns. The sun has set, and Elizabeth-Ann is still fast asleep. He is not alone when he arrives.
“I have been worried sick.” Ramsay hugs Marionna tightly.
She shoves him away and draws her sword yet again. We are more alike than I could imagine. I grab her arm before she can maim him. The confused man looks between us as he is unable to tell us apart with our hair covered. I push my hood back.
“What manner of witchcraft is this?”
“This is our sister, Marionna. She is helping us.” I explain.
“You never mentioned a sister.” Ramsay smiles wickedly, as his eyes travel from one twin to the other. “You are the same person.”
“I never knew I had a twin until today. She has been following me.”
“Is she married?” He asks with interest.
“You are a scoundrel, Ramsay Antonov. I am disgusted, by you.” Marionna frowns.
“Why are you here, Ramsay?”
His flirtation with my sister makes me think about what she said. He has no respect for me.
“I was worried.” His face turns serious again. “When I returned and found the shop burned to the ground, I thought the worst.”
“I burned it.” Ezra admits. “After I dragged two female corpses inside.”
“And the bounty hunters?”
“Dead.”
“My ship is ready to sail.” Ramsay tells him. “Thank you for your assistance. Come, Maeve. It is time to go. Your sister can come with us, if she wants.”
“She is not going anywhere with you, Antonov.” Ezra says lifting Beth-Ann into his arms. “I am taking her home with me.”
“If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with me.” Marionna says hatefully.
“Home?” Ramsay ignores my sister’s threat. “Where she will be another wench to warm your brother’s bed? The Butcher does not want her, but I do.”
Ezra shakes his head. “You would resort to speaking ill of my brother when he is not here to defend himself? How do you know how he feels about his wife? He barely speaks two words to you, Ramsay. She is coming home with me.”
“His wife said more than two words to me, Beaumont.” Ramsay boasts.
“Ramsay!” I flush with embarrassment. “You gave me your word.” I blink back tears. “How could you?”
Ramsay swears, when blood stains his vest where Marionna’s sword sliced through it.
“The next one will spill your chatty guts.” She warns. “This is my sister you insult.”
“I like her.” Ezra smiles. “I like her a lot.”
“Come with me, Mae.” Ramsay clutches his cut belly. “I can love you better than he does.”
I sigh wearily. “I have no doubt that you can.” I agree. “But he is who I want. I would rather be close to him, than be safe with you.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Ramsay’s blue eyes water over. I am drowning in his unshed tears. “Tell me to let you go, and I will.”
My heart is in a struggle. I reach up and bury my fingers in his tousled curls to bring his lips down on mine. I will never come this close to loving another man. But he needs to let me go. It does not matter what we could be, or what should have been. I must let go of him as well. It is our last kiss and we make it count. When we pull away from each other, my heart tears a little more. He leans over and whispers in my ear.
“For always.”
I am broken when I watch him walk away. I am making a mistake. I know I am. But the mistake is mine to make.
“Are you okay?” Ezra asks me.
“No.” I whisper. “I am not.”
“You can go with him if you want. I will not stop you.”
“I know.” I say sadly. “My husband is coming, and I want to be here.”
“I am not getting in there.” Marionna sniffs. “It smells, and I have my dignity to consider.”
“This is the only way to get your sisters out of the city safely.” Ezra explains calmly. “You are welcome to walk, and risk being taken in.”
“I lived in the palace right under your nose, you, dim-witted man.” She laughs at him. “You have to be smarter than a Christian, or a leech to take me, Beaumont Princess.”
Ezra’s eyebrows raise in surprise. As do mine. Oh, she is bold, this sister of mine. She gives not a single damn about rules, or etiquette. Marionna cut Ramsay, and now she cut Ezra’s pride. Look at him. He does not know how to respond to that.
“The only reason I am getting in this thing is for her.”
Marionna climbs in and lays beside Elizabeth-Ann. She sniffs and makes a face.
“It smells like Christians in here.”
Ezra’s jaw ticks. It is not with laughter. Her insults are not cute anymore and his silence says everything. This is not the time to fight with a crazy witch with a sword as big as hers.
I find myself in the back of a cart covered with hay and two dead bodies. At least they are fresh and not rotting as of yet. I think about Ramsay as I rumble away from him. The rocky motion on the bumpy road is uncomfortable at first, and Marionna does not let it go unsaid. Ezra tells her to hush her nagging five times before she falls silent. After a few hours of bumping along, my eyes fight to stay open. The call to sleep is far too strong to go unsatisfied. Sleep that I have avoided for far too many nights. I join my sister in slumber praying it will be peaceful.
It is not.
“How could you?” Bash’s fist is locked in my hair. “How could you run back to the enemies of our people?”
My hands and feet are bound. How can this be? His restraints prevent me from fighting him back, and it terrifies me.
“You fucked your way back to them with a babe in your belly. I am ashamed of you.”
My head swims when he hits me. I am still reeling, when he hits me again and again. He draws a knife and pokes my throat.
“I will kill you, before I let him have you again.” His face changes and he smiles evilly. “Or maybe I will kill this thing, and let you live.”
I scream when he presses the blade to my middle. “No!” I wiggle, but I do not move. “Please? Not my baby. I will do anything.”
“You find a way to escape them, Mae. If you do not come back, I will carve this bastard out of your belly and bleed it dry. I will force you to watch me do it.”
“I will do as you ask.” I swear. “As soon as I can.”
“You had better, bitch.”
