"What is it?" he asked, grabbing her to steady them both. Then he came to her side and peered over the cliff edge where she had halted. A curse slid from his lips as he gazed down at the water bubbling far below. He turned away at once and Willa could see his eyes frantically searching for a hiding place in the moonlight. Now that they were out of the trees, it was much lighter. Light enough to see features and expressions. Light enough to be a good target.
"The trees," he said at last and took her arm to drag her back the way they had come. "We will climb one and hope he does not see us."
"But what if he does?" Willa protested, dragging at his hold. "We shall be plump pigeons for him to shoot down with his arrows."
Hugh paused and turned to his wife, frustration boiling within him. He could hear their pursuer crashing closer through the woods. The man was not far behind them. This was no time for Willa to be questioning his decisions. Why could she not just obey him? "Wife - "
"Husband," she countered quickly. "The trees are the first place he will look. He will not expect you to make me jump with you. And look." She held her arms out, drawing his gaze to the white shift she wore. "I dressed in the dark. I thought I had donned my gown, but nay, 'tis my shift."
Hugh swallowed as he felt alarm crawl through him. Her white shift was very visible in the night.
"Let us jump," she urged. "I am a strong swimmer. I spent many summer days swimming once we moved to the cottage."
The sounds their pursuer made as he ran after them were becoming alarmingly close, but still Hugh hesitated. He considered their chances; hers, then his, then theirs. Finally, he nodded and urged her back to the cliff edge. He peered down and almost changed his mind again. It was an awfully long way down, the jump risky. Unfortunately it was too late to change his mind. He turned and pulled Willa against him for a quick kiss, then instructed, "Swim down river as far as you dare. I would suggest you try to make your way back to the camp, but 'tis too risky. You might run into our pursuer. Instead, follow the river to the next castle and try to get help there."
Even in the night he could see her frown. "Are you not coming? Will you send me off on my own?"
Hugh's expression was tortured. "Willa... I do not swim."
"You told me that at the river, my lord. But do you not think this might be the time to make an exception?"
"Nay. You do not understand. I do not swim."
"Do not?" She was silent for a moment, and then her eyes widened in comprehension. "Do you mean you cannot? You do not know how?"
Hugh winced. He preferred the "do not" to the "cannot." He'd always forsaken such frivolous pursuits as poetry writing and swimming for the more lauded skills of battle. The skills he'd chosen to hone had served him well. Until he'd encountered Willa. Only lately had these less lauded skills seemed almost necessary. Much to his relief, Willa did not force him to admit to this lack in his abilities. Instead, she asked, "What will you do?"
"I will climb a tree."
"You cannot!" she cried. "There is no time now. He is almost upon us."
"All the more reason for you to go. Now." He urged her closer to the edge.
"Husband. Prithee, come with me. I shall swim for both of us."
Hugh started to shake his head, but she caught his face with her hands. Her gaze burned into his in the darkness. "You must trust me, husband. I shall not let you drown. I love you."
Hugh froze at this revelation. This was the absolute worst time she could reveal such a thing, and the absolute best. But did he dare allow her to try to carry them both to safety? He believed he had no chance if he did not jump. He also believed he had no chance on his own in the water. But Willa... Hugh was sure she had a chance on her own, but that he would be a burden that would much diminish her chances.
"Trust in me," Willa pleaded.
Torn, Hugh closed his eyes. Suddenly, the witch's words ran through his head as if she were whispering them in his ear. "What I see is that you will be perched on a precipice. If you choose one way, all will be well. Do you choose the other... death."
A rustling sound drew his attention and he opened his eyes to see that she'd removed her shift so it would not hamper her. Willa stepped nak*d before him and held out her hand.
Hugh hesitated briefly, then took it. In the next moment they had jumped and were sailing toward the water below.
Landing in the river was like leaping into a hill of snow. Willa gasped at the shock, then closed her mouth as the water covered her head. She shot downward and hit the river bottom with a jolt. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pushed upward. Her hand tightened on her husband's, dragging him with her. Relief coursed through her as she broke the surface, but then Hugh began trying to free his hand. Gulping in air, she turned in the water, he didn't know how to stay afloat and was panicking. Willa quickly moved closer and wrapped her arm under his chin, pulling him back against her chest to keep his head above water.
"Do not fight," she panted, tightening her hold on him as he instinctively struggled. Fortunately, he ignored his instincts and obeyed almost at once. Willa felt relief course through her again. They could do this. She could do this. Her gaze slid up the cliff and she spotted the dark shadow of a man standing there. He was surveying the river, but she didn't think he could see them. If he could, she was sure he would be pointing his bow at them. Still, Willa immediately stopped fighting the current, allowing it to carry them down river and away from him.
They traveled a good distance like that before Willa judged that they had gone far enough; then she cut toward shore at a wide angle so she would waste as little energy as possible struggling against the current. It was still a wearying battle as she dragged him inch by inch toward the riverside. Hugh was trying to assist by kicking his legs, but he was less than helpful, especially since he was kicking her with every other move. She nearly ordered him to stop, but decided against it. This would be hard enough on him without taking away any small illusion he might have of aiding their escape. Willa was very aware that her husband felt he'd failed her several times since their marriage. His male pride needed no further battering.
"Are you alright? If you are tiring, let me go. Save yourself," Hugh said, and suddenly Willa realized that she was tiring. Her muscles were beginning to ache and she'd unconsciously slowed her efforts. She was not going to let him go, however.
Willa twisted her head around to see that they had covered perhaps half the distance to the riverside. They should have gotten farther than that, but then she realized that the current had grown swifter. The river must be shallower here. She let one foot drop, hoping to find the riverbed, but it hadn't gotten that shallow. Gritting her teeth, Willa renewed her efforts, grateful for the weeks of training that had strengthened her muscles and taught her to continue through the pain. She did the same thing she'd learned to do on the practice field; Willa ignored the pain and counted her strokes to distract herself. The trick worked. Still, when her heel suddenly brushed solid ground an eternity later, she could have sobbed with relief.
Willa immediately let both legs drop and floundered briefly as she tried to gain her footing. Apparently thinking her strength had given out, Hugh began to struggle, trying to catch at her and hold her above water even as he was sinking. Then his own feet hit the riverbed and she heard him mutter, "Thank God," as he stood and helped her to her feet in the water. The current was strong here and Willa was so exhausted, she needed his assistance in stumbling to shore.
The moment they were out of the grasping water, Willa collapsed to her knees on the ground. Hugh knelt beside her, concern on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked, hugging her close as she began to shiver. She felt his hands begin to chafe her skin, trying to warm her. Hugh rubbed her arms vigorously, then her legs, then started on her back and sides. Willa's muscles began to relax and some of the chill left her. They were safe. They had escaped their pursuer and the river. Nothing else mattered. Not her exhaustion, not the cold, not her nak*dness -
She pulled away from him and sat upright with a squawk.
"What is it?" Hugh asked, glancing swiftly around with alarm.
"I am nak*d!" Willa cried.
Hugh relaxed, a grin covering his face as his chafing slowed to a more caressing movement. "Aye. That you are, my lady wife. I rather like you this way."
Willa rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue impatiently as she struggled to her feet. Leave it to a man to see this calamity as a benefit. He was not the one who had to return to camp nak*d as the day he was born!
Hugh stood beside her, his lascivious expression fading to concern. "Mayhap you should rest awhile longer. You strained yourself to save us."
"We saved us," Willa told him firmly and struck out in the general direction she thought would lead them back to camp.
"You saved us," Hugh corrected, not sounding too pleased to say so.
"Nay," Willa insisted, batting at the branches that tried to scrape her tender flesh as she struggled through them. "We saved us. You saved us first, then I saved us. We saved us."
"How did I save us?" he asked with amazement, reaching past her to grab at a branch and push it out of her way.
"You saved us in the woods by detecting the presence of our attacker and then shielding me with your body as we ran."
Hugh snorted at that and reached past her to remove another branch from her path. "That was hardly saving us. You could have run through the woods alone."
"But I did not. I did not even realize there was a problem and would not have on my own. I would have sat there all unsuspecting, like a fat pheasant for him to shoot." She grimaced at the idea. "I can imagine my epitaph now. 'Here lies Willa Dulonget, shot through the heart whilst draining the dragon.' Dear God, the mourners would be giggling into their sleeves."
She heard what sounded suspiciously like a snort of laughter from Hugh; then he cleared his throat and asked, "Er... where did you hear that term?"
"Baldulf," Willa told him, then cursed and paused to rub her foot. She'd stepped on something sharp. Releasing her foot as the pain eased, she started to walk again and explained, "He used it all the time. When I was young, I thought he was really going to drain a dragon, though I was not sure how you would drain one, and of what, exactly. I was curious to find out though, but Eada caught me sneaking out to try to see the dragon and had to explain that 'twas not what I thought."
"Hmm." He pushed another branch out of her way. "Apparently, she did not do a very good job in the explaining."
"What do you mean?" she asked indignantly. "Of course she did."
"Nay. She didn't. Else you would not have just used it."
Willa stopped walking to turn on him, hands on hips. "Why?"
"You haven't a dragon to drain."
She blinked in confusion at his words, then her gaze dropped to his braies and her eyes went wide as she understood. "Oh."
"Aye. Oh." Hugh laughed then scooped her up into his arms when she stepped on something else and paused to rub her foot again. Willa began to protest, but he merely shook his head. "Hush. You got us out of the water. I shall get us back to camp. Just rest."
After hesitating, Willa leaned her head against his chest and gave in. She was warmer in his arms and she did not have the trouble of stepping on things. Why fuss?
They fell into a companionable silence as he carried her. Willa would have spoken but did not wish to tax him by making him talk while carting her. Eventually, her eyes began to droop and she yawned. Before she was even aware of it creeping up on her, sleep had claimed her.
Willa wasn't sure how long she'd slept when she next open her eyes. Hugh was still walking with her in his arms, but the night seemed lighter. Morning was coming.
"How far - " she began, but he hushed her and suddenly slowed. Willa tensed in his arms.
After several moments of silence had passed, she could stand it no longer and asked in an anxious whisper, "What is it? Did you hear or see something?"
"Aye. I think the men are coming. The guard must have heard my shout. They have sent a search party." He frowned down at her, then around at the surrounding bushes. He started toward the bushes on their right, then paused. He was obviously hesitant to leave her there, but equally displeased by the idea of the men seeing her nak*d as she was.
"Cover yourself with your hair," he suggested at last. Willa immediately began pulling her damp hair around and arranging it over her br**sts and stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn't as long as it used to be. The fire at the cottage had singed a good length of it and Eada had had to cut it off at waist level. It left her bare from the waist down, but Hugh shifted his hold so that his right arm was under her bottom. He tilted her up so that her front was toward him. All that would be seen was some of her derriere. That was mortifying enough.
"Could you not leave me here and fetch me back a gown?" she asked hopefully, but wasn't surprised when he shook his head.
"Our attacker failed. He has proven persistent. I will not leave you unprotected."
Willa's shoulders sagged with resignation. She buried her face against his chest as a call rang out through the trees and Hugh shouted back. There was an immediate flurry of activity and Willa guessed the men had broken into a run. She then heard what sounded like several people crashing into the clearing. The men must have stopped dead at the sight of them, for there was an abrupt silence and Willa could almost feel several pairs of eyes on her. She was suddenly grateful that it wasn't full light, for she was sure she was blushing all the way down to her bare toes.
"Jesu!" She thought that was Lucan. The barely breathed expletive seemed to act as a cue to everyone. Suddenly, there was rustling all around them, and the snapping of twigs as the men drew near.