Page 17 of Lily of the Valley

So Lily pushed down all her misery and pushed the knot in the wood that opened the secret door. The was a short ladder that she swung down onto, and once on it, she saw there was a leather strap to pull the door shut again.

Locking her in complete darkness. She should have lit a lamp or something before closing the door, but oh well, too late now. Reaching the bottom, she used the weak light coming through the slits in the floor planks. Thankfully, that was just enough to keep her from tripping over herself, and she did indeed find a dusty lamp that proved easy enough to light with the box of matches right beside it.

There was a narrow bed, crates of preserved foods, even a small barrel that was probably filled with water. More exploring of the small space revealed a tiny room clearly meant as a rough sort of washroom.

Sighing softly, she sat on the bed—and then jumped right up at a hard, cracking sound, followed by a resounding thud. The door. They'd broken down the door. Oh, gods. If she hadn't retreated when she had…

Lily drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, trembling despite her efforts not to let fear get the better of her.

Until she heard the one sound she'd hope not to: claws clacking on the wooden floor. Wolves.

"I can smell her," said a voice. "She was here, and recently. Smell something else too, familiar, but I can't place it."

"Village rumor says an old knight lives here," another voice said. "Woman they call Scout. Woodcutter or some such."

"Certainly enough wood outside for that to be true," the first voice said with a snort. "I don't care about some washed-up knight probably getting drunk at the local pub. The princess was here…no…she is here."

Lily pulled herself into an even tighter ball. No, no, no, please no. She was supposed to be safe here. They wouldn't find her, they wouldn't.

The wolf growled, low and mean, the sound vibrating in her chest. She looked up as the sound of its steps drew closer, breath sticking in her throat as it stood right on the secret trapdoor. It let out a long, mean snarl, and the two men chuckled just as meanly in reply. "I see." The wolf moved out of the way, and then something heavy slammed down on the floor. A mallet. They had a damned mallet.

Getting up, Lily moved to the little washroom. Maybe if they didn't see her when they looked down, they'd decide she wasn't there and look elsewhere. Please, please, please.

The wood shattered just moments after she retreated, the pieces clattering down to land on the floor and the bed where she'd just been sitting. A man jumped down, landing deftly on his feet like a cat, eyes sweeping—and halting as he saw her, a grin that made her want to throw up overtaking his face.

He moved with a burst of speed that made her scream despite himself, grabbing her arm and yanking, then throwing her over his shoulder and leaping right out of the hidden room as though it was a jump of mere steps instead of more than his whole height.

The wolf and the other man made noises of amusement as they saw her. "Hiding away with a woodcutter, how very pathetic. Too bad your little woodcutter wasn't here for us to snack on first, little princess."

"I am queen," Lily replied coldly.

"Nah, you're just a little princess about to lose her head," the man holding her said, patting her ass as he did so. Oh, he was going to pay for that. "Let's go, boys. Our handsome reward awaits."

"Wouldn't mind if she was the reward," the other man said, and if he got any closer to her she would throw up right in his face.

The man holding her gave another mean laugh, and her blood turned to ice as he said, "You can always ask. Doubt he'll say no. But for now she remains unharmed; he wants her nice and pretty for her public execution."

Outside, she could hear horses waiting, but couldn't turn her head enough to see them. All she wanted to do was scream and cry, but that wouldn't help her right now. She needed to bide her time, wait for a chance to flee. Damn it, where was Scout when Lily needed her?

Except she wasn't really Scout's problem. Scout had kindly taken her on, was helping her, but once Lily was gone was there any reason to continue being troubled by something far beyond the life of a woodcutter? She'd probably be relieved this whole mess was out of her hair.

Why did that thought hurt so much? She didn't even like Scout, who was so bossy and always laughing at her and thought she was helpless. Who was also kind and gentle and a had a wry humor that Lily admired.

Instead of putting her down so she could mount one of the horses, the stupid bastard carrying her simply swung up into the saddle with her still draped over his shoulder, arm heavy and painfully tight around her legs. This ride was going to knock her teeth right out of her head, if it didn't simply snap her neck.

They'd just swung around to ride off toward presumably the palace when a roar like nothing Lily had ever heard filled the forest, echoing through it like a clap of thunder.

"What in the fuck was that?" demanded the second man, as the wolf with them growled, its hackles going up as it moved to stand in front of the other two. The second man drew his sword, though even Lily knew that using a straight sword from horseback wasn't nearly as effective as a curved blade like a saber or cutlass would be. A sharp edge was a sharp edge, though.

That roar came again, and then there was movement in the far tree line; wolf and men watched it closely, turning to face it head on and unfortunately ripping Lily's view of anything useful away.

Everything went still, quiet, fraught with a tension just waiting to snap—and then suddenly the wolf was down with a high-pitched yelp, taken from the side, and a second yelp cut off as it met what sounded like a grisly end. Lily went flying, landing awkwardly on the ground, pain shooting up her left arm, but she only scrambled to her feet, using a tree for support, and hobbled out of the way of the sudden violence.

Scout. It was Scout. As Lily gaped, she grabbed the man who'd been holding her by the leg and dragged him for his horse like he weighed nothing, like he was a rag doll made of cheap cloth and stuffed with straw.

She turned away as Scout removed his head. The second man was already fleeing, but Scout drew back her arm and threw something, and the man went tumbling from his horse into the underbrush, the horse never pausing as it kept going. Panting, Scout went after the man, and after a moment reappeared dragging him just as easily as she'd dragged the other one. She tied him to a tree, then wiped sweat from her brow and swept her angry gaze over the forest.

Some of the anger drained away, replaced by relief, as she saw Lily. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" Before Lily could reply, Scout closed the distance between them and swept her up into a tight embrace. The movement and pressure jarred her arm, but Lily didn't give a damn. She'd never felt safer in her life than she did right then, surrounded by Scout, her warm arms and the scent of the forest that always clung to her, the combination of strong and gentle as she held Lily close. "I'm so sorry you didn't stay safe."

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