Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 24

They began to walk along the well groomed path.  Ildri felt distinctly uneasy in the silence.  She just wanted to go back to her room and wait for Lord Wildwood to be ready to begin their journey.

They followed the path into a denser thicket of trees which completely blocked out the city lights and she could only see by the lantern that Charles held in his hand.  Ildri felt nervous but she stayed close to dependable Charles because he seemed to know where he was going.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Not far," he said and Ildri felt an uncertain shiver go through her.  Why was he being so mysterious?  What did she really know about Charles?  She thought that he was dependable and a good man.  Yet she had been wrong about Saul who she had thought she had loved and known so much longer.

What if she was wrong again? 

Saul had manipulated her thoroughly.  She had not even seen his duplicity coming.  What had possessed her to go with a man that she barely knew?

Maybe that was the real reason that he had not been worried about the threat of city streets.  Perhaps he was the threat.

Ildri could feel her heart speed up and her palms felt sweaty.  She wanted to run but she had no idea where to go.  Surely she was being silly.

"I want to go back, Charles," she said in as calm a voice as she could manage.

He turned and looked at her.  His brow furrowed in concern and his brown eyes looked a bit confused.  "What's wrong, Ildri?" he asked.

Ildri breathed a shaky sigh at her own imagination.  He seemed totally innocent and her imagination had clearly been playing tricks on her.  She smiled wryly.  "It's really dark."

"We're almost there," Charles said and it sounded like a plea.

"I guess I can keep going," Ildri agreed still not feeling completely certain that she wanted to go.  Something in her still screamed to flee, but perhaps it was entirely her imagination.

They continued walking and finally they reached a place where the trees parted into a clearing.  Ildri was almost glad that she had not turned back.  Even though it was dark there was a view of the water and the stars, while not as bright as they appeared at Wildwood, were readily visible.  The river was quite calm.

"What do you think?" asked Charles, and he sounded like an eager schoolboy asking the teacher to look at his answers.

Ildri took another breath.  If she looked up at the sky she could almost imagine that she was looking out the window from her room at Wildwood.  She smiled at the thought.  "It's beautiful."

She imagined that Charles was smiling when he replied.  "I'm glad."

They stood in silence for a while.  The hair was prickling on the back of her neck but at the same time she felt more at peace than she had in a long time.  Perhaps it had not been a bad idea to come here with Charles.  Everything was very quiet.

"Ildri?" Charles said tentatively, breaking the stillness.

"Yes Charles?" she responded automatically.

"I...  I wonder if I might ask you something."

Ildri's trepidation rose sharply.  She doubted that she wanted to hear anything Charles would be nervous to say.

"Oh?" she asked, hoping that she did not know what was coming.

"I don't really know how to say...  But... er... I... have rather come to admire you, Ildri."