Page 69 of If The Crown Fits
“You brute,” she muttered, but she was grinning all the same.
I remained quiet and observant as the hunting party gathered and we left camp. Drawing attention to myself would lead people to ask questions. This part of the forest was dense and humid and I wondered how these bandits didn’t more often get lost. Though I supposed it was different having grown up in such an environment. Same as I knew every corner and nook of my palace back home. We stepped quietly, causing us to move forwards more slowly, quite different to the horseback hunting I was used to.
Our group consisted of about ten, spreading out further the deeper we went into the forest. Apart from the sound of chirping birds, it was quiet enough that I heard my own breathing, and I suddenly found myself feeling sort of inexperienced, though I’d been hunting with my father since I was a child.
It wasn’t long before I felt the skin of a somewhat delicate hand, pressing the back of its palm against my own.
I met Lara’s eyes and she nodded left, gesturing for us to move that way. I frowned, but followed her nonetheless and we moved away from the group. Ray joined us as Lara pulled me further and further away.
“Where are we going?” I whispered.
“You’ll see.” She gave me a devious smile, suggesting that I wasn’t going to like any of what was about to happen. I followed her and Ray away from the hunting trail, stepping over roots and ducking small branches. I glanced at Lara in confusion when we were about to step out into a road but she pressed a hand to my chest.
The three of us were dead quiet and I realised she and Ray were listening for something. “They’re coming,” Ray said, and I sent a frown Lara’s way.
“Who’s coming?”
Ray started climbing one of the nearby trees and a sickening feeling developed in my stomach. Lara pulled me towards another tree trunk and I let out a gasp as my ribs protested at the movement.
“Ray caught news at a nearby village that the Earl of Pearson would travel the road this morning. I have to admit, however, that our timing is impeccable.”
“Impeccable for what?”
Ray had disappeared into the overgrown branches above the road.
“For robbing him, of course.” She reached out for the tree trunk and I pulled her back.
“You cannot be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious.” Lara pulled out a large bag from the satchel she had been carrying. “Here, hold this and hide in the bushes.”
“I’m not helping you commit a crime.”
She turned to face me, her eyes lit like fire, and I thought, perhaps for the first time, I was truly seeing the real her. The person who hid under her skin. The bandit who was whispered about, like a breeze through tall grass, standing in front of me, with her dark hair and devious smile.
“I’m not asking you to commit a crime. I’m asking you to hold the bag.”
“This is wrong, Lara.”
“So is the money the earl carries for selling orphans into slavery. An eye for an eye, right?” She wouldn’t say anything else and pulled herself up into the tree. I watched her squirm as her injured leg didn’t appreciate the action. I cursed internally,knowing full well I could do nothing to stop her and somehow angry with myself that I had so quickly forgotten the truth — forgotten who and what she really was.
After taking a few steps back, I was safely covered by the brush next to the road, though my eyes didn’t waver from Lara as she perched on a tree branch in her black cloak with her hood over her head. I heard the hoofbeats from a distance as the carriage wheels rolled all the closer.
Just as the carriage was about to pass, Ray dropped from the trees in front of it. The horses caught fright and stopped abruptly, letting out wild cries. The carriage driver himself looked flabbergasted as Ray held up a bow and arrow towards him. “Move and I shoot.” Needless to say he didn’t move. Lara swung herself down until she was on top of the carriage and gave me a wink between the leaves, before she put on her mask and swung herself inside.
I heard people scream — my gut twisted. There was nothing I could do — I was too injured to stop them. The carriage door flew open and Lara jumped out. Ray moved out of the way and Lara slapped the rear of one of the horses, sending him running off down the road, and the carriage along with him.
She emerged from behind the trees, taking off her mask and cloak, grinning in a way that made me slightly uncomfortable. “You should have seen their faces.” She tossed me a bag, which I barely caught. But to my surprise it wasn’t filled with any coins or jewellery. Instead, it was full of food... bread and fruit. I looked up at Lara in confusion.
“I thought it was money?”
“No, I said he stole money, which is why I didn’t feel bad for taking his lunch. One thing the earl is very famous for is his love for overindulging in eating.”
I didn’t know what to reply, though I hated the smug look on Ray’s face for some reason.
“Come on.” Lara put everything in the bag I was holding and I wordlessly followed the two of them back to camp. Upon our arrival, we found out that the hunters had in fact caught something for tonight’s feast. One of the children noticed Lara and ran up to her.
Lara bent down to the small boy’s height and told him to close his eyes, which he did obediently, a smile evident on his dirty little face. I watched Lara pull out an apple and hold it before the boy, telling him to open his eyes again, which lit up upon seeing the apple. He greedily grabbed it with a mumbledthank youand ran away.
