Cecily stared into the steadfast eyes of Lord Ronin. His face did not give away anything, he just simply watched her watching him.

"How do I begin?" she said aloud to him, but mostly herself.

"You do not need to at all, if you wish." he said pointedly.

"I must know."

"You are yet still very weak."

"I must know." Cecily replied in the loudest voice she could muster, which came out only a bit louder than her normal voice. Lord Ronin did not react to her outburst at all, he just simply took a swig of his ale and watched her.

"What is left of my h...home?"She asked.

Lord Ronin put his large hand upon hers and answered, "Only a few houses, but those are badly burned."

Cecily gasped and clutched her chest. Her heart was beating so hard that she almost refrained from asking more.

"How many survived?"

"Only a hand full, including yourself." Cecily's food pushed its way into her throat. She knew that Arlen did not make it, she had seen him die. She had seen him die. She had seen...

"Cecily." Lord Ronin said in an authoritative voice as he stood next to her. When did she get up, she could not remember? "You will return to your room this instant, Lady Serena, if you will take her to..." Lord Ronin shouted over to Serena.

"No! Did they...you bury him, Arlen?" She said as she clutched her chest. Everyone the room was staring at her with wide eyes.

"This is not the kind of conversation..."

"What happened to my cousin?"

"I buried him."

"Where?"

Lord Ronin wiped a hand down his face in frustration. "Near the pond."

"I will be returning home and will require a horse. If you will allow me to borrow..." Cecily said as she gathered her skirts and started to walk towards the exit of the dining hall.

"You will do not such thing." He said as Lady Serena came up and put two hands on her shoulders and tried to pull her away.

"I must see him. I must go back! You cannot keep me here! I am not a prisoner!" she yelled as Sir Lowe came and picked her up and carried her away from Lord Ronin. His eyes watched her with pain and she gritted her teeth.

"I am not your prisoner, you bastard!" Cecily thrashed and kicked and swore in a cold voice she had no idea she possessed.

"Calm down, My Lady." Sir Lowe said as he deposited her on the bed. He stood above her and held her arms down as she tried to get up. "Lord Ronin is only trying to do whats best for you. You are treating him most unkindly."

Cecily looked up into his eyes and growled a fierce growl.

"I will not be talked to as a child, Sir. Nor will I be treated as a prisoner. You will tell your master that I will not be kept here!" Sir Lowe left the room as Lady Serena rushed to the bed and tried to calm the frantic girl.

Cecily laid on the bed and let the chaos flow through her veins. She felt the soothing hands of her lady run across her arms, but it only served to fan the flames of wildness in her mind. She closed her eyes and steadied her breath.

"Serena, how does she fair?" said the deep voice she had chosen to detest. The gruff voice was laced with concern, but Cecily pushed that away from her rapidly beating heart.

"Now, now, My Lord, don't you be worrying about Lady Cecily. She will heal in time, just as I have. I am sorry she has spoken to you as she did. We say things in pain we do not mean, I assure you."

Lord Ronin did not answer and Cecily listened to their footsteps leave her room. When the door had clicked shut and the voices and become a mere whisper, she sat up in her bed and looked over her room for everything she would need. These people would not hold her back from going to Banwy to lay herself next to her cousin and mother.

--

The wind blew her cloak away from her face and Cecily pushed it down again. The heavy weight of the wool concealed her whole body and she was thankful it had hidden her as she crept through the extensive grounds of the castle.

Her body stood frigid against the walls of Halbreck. She could see the lighting flashing over the beautiful expanse of the sea and stood for a minute taking deep breaths of fragrant sea air. Her heart started to calm for a second.

A clap of thunder sounded overhead and Cecily jumped. She would need to find safety in the woods nearby before the sea storm set in. There had to be a cave in the vast expanse of cliffs that bordered the west side of the castle. Time was of the essence if she was going to get out of here without being noticed. Guards passed overhead and she listened carefully for their steps across the parapets.

She waited until it seemed no one would be watching and darted to the edge of some rocks. The rain began to drip softly onto her hands and knees as she knelt for a minute. Gathering her strength, she made a slow jog into the trees.

As soon as she felt hidden, she propped herself on the side of a large trunk and took deep breaths. Her body was not ready for this and she had not prepared herself for an kind of journey. She had brought little food and little extra supplies, save a dress and a scarf to hide her hair in the sheet she had pulled from her bed and tied around her body.

The thunder crashed closer and Cecily felt the full torrent of rain pour upon her. She needed to find a dry place to sleep before she was soaked and caught a cold.

Did she even care, she thought as she tried to find her way through the rocks and trees, using the lightning as her only source of light. Did she even care to live? Did she care if the rain washed her away or a fever burned her into the very arms of death?

She found a large rock leaning against another and carefully tucked herself into it. Water was running underneath her legs as she wrapped the cloak tightly around her arms and head. She would get back to Banwy.

--

During the deepest part of the night, Cecily awoke to voices in the distance. She tied her cloak around her neck as tightly as she could and sprinted off into the torrential downpour.

The crash of thunder hid the sound of her gasping breaths as she ran deeper into the forest. They would not catch her again. They would not keep her from Arlen and her mother.

Cecily's body was protesting as she sloshed in the mud. Her legs were burning and she wanted to just lay on the ground. Freedom was so close. She could almost see the walls of Banwy in her mind. A flash of lightning startled her from her visions and thorn bushes tore at her wrists and hands as she fled. The wetness was beginning to creep into the last piece of dry clothing she was wearing. Rain dripped off the hood of her cloak onto her face and she wiped it away with the sleeve of her dress.

The voices were gone. She was free.

Cecily slowed her run and willed herself to put one foot in front of the other. The boulders and trees were blurring into one black mess. She must continue to walk. Only in the warm walls of Banwy would she find comfort, only home gave true peace.

Home. The ducks would love some old bread to munch on. The nuns would be so worried that she had been gone.

They were dead. She wailed a loud wail and her legs buckled underneath her. She knelt in the rain and cried out.

Death had taken them from her. It had swept them away like an invader upon a black steed. She could almost see death coming upon her now. It was dressed in a cloak much like hers and riding like the wind upon a huge warhorse. It called her name.

"Cecily!"

She adjusted her eyes and realized death really was approaching her on its large horse. Death was truly coming for her, through the rain. It had found her in the very depths of this forest.

"Cecily!" It called again and Cecily stood. She was not ready. No, she must flee. She tried to make her feet move as she watched the smoke billowing from the steed's nostrils.

"No!" She yelled as a large arm picked her up and threw her on the shoulders of the warhorse. She had to cling to the cloak of death as the horse galloped through the trees in a breakneck speed. Death wrapped a large arm around her and she could feel its heat pulling her closer.

"I do not want to die. I want to live." She whimpered and buried her face into its cloak.

"Then you should have never ran out into a storm like this. God, woman, you were begging for death and I won't have your blood on my hands."

Cecily froze. The voice was speaking to her. It was angry and worried and Cecily wanted to wretch or call out to the voice to save her. She could not decide which.

"I don't want to go back with you." She said in the midst of her whimpering. "I want to go home."

"Your home is gone. Your people are dead. Do not make their lives meaningless with your unnecessary death." The voice told her with a bit of concern.

Cecily shivered and clung to the one person she'd have taken death over any day. She closed her eyes and let Ronin's heartbeat lull her to sleep.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to comment any time, I'll dance a jig for you!