Her limbs went numb. She ducked behind the trunk of a tree, praying it would shield her from view. Moonlight illuminated the small clearing with its silvery glaze as two men, one large and one small, came from behind the corner. Clutching the bark of her wooden shield, she couldn’t swallow, couldn’t blink.
The men moved toward the door, one holding a ring of keys, the other a large satchel. The bottom half of each of their faces was covered with a dark cloth, masking their identities. The smaller man looked around, tapping the empty bag against his leg, while the larger one fiddled with the lock until finally he shoved it open with a forceful heave. With his body half in and half out, he peered from left to right then ducked inside the blackness.
Kitty thrust her trembling hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. Another raid! She had to warn Thomas.
She pressed her quivering hands to her chest to try and clam her racing pulse. One deep breath. Two. She had to be wise. If she ran now, one of them would certainly see her and warn the other. If that happened... she couldn’t think of it.
Keeping her eyes nailed to the violated building, she gripped the rough bark of the tree and waited. Finally the small one disappeared inside with the other, and Kitty put fire in her feet.
The thump of Kitty’s pulse thundered in her ears as she ran. Halfway out the safety of the trees, her foot dashed against a fallen branch. The unforgiving earth came up to meet her before she even had time to brace for the fall. Her face smacked into the ground, driving dirt and bits of rock into her mouth. Sputtering, she struggled for her footing, but her skirts entangled her legs.
A mumbling came from the inside of the building and the two men scrambled out. Her heart leapt to her throat when their eyes landed on her.
“There!” The larger one pointed and sprinted toward her like a hungry wolf.
Kitty could hardly move, and yet her body reacted with animal-like fear. She scrambled to her feet, lungs heaving, as the man wrangled her from behind, covering her mouth. Kitty tried to scream but his hand was hot and hard, and pressed with such force Kitty feared she would faint.
The man yelled at his accomplice. “Keep a lookout. I’ll deal with this.”
Kitty’s vision blurred as frenzy stole strength from her limbs.
The man’s sturdy grip stiffened. He dragged her to a tree and spun her around jamming her back against the trunk. Instinctively, Kitty swung her arms and scratched at his face, trying desperately to find her voice that remained mute with horror. As her fingers made contact with the fabric around her attacker’s face, she pulled and instantly gasped.
“You!” Her voice was little more than a high-pitched whisper.
Cyprian’s face contorted and his fingers dug deeper into her arms, as if he intended to leave an imprint on her bones.
The milky light from the moon coated his warped features. “You little spy!”
“Nay! I wasn’t spying, I—”
“Liar! That’s why you were listening by the library door.” Cyprian’s gravelly tone grated against her like sand in a swift wind. “You were sent to watch and your accomplices thought you’d go unnoticed since you’re a senseless female.”
Kitty clu
tched the tree behind her. No words came to her defense. She could only focus on praying and holding back the tears that singed her eyes.
Cyprian’s dark glare turned a wicked black. “You will never tell anyone what you have seen here tonight. Do you understand me?”
Blinking, she could only shake her head. “But I didn’t see anything, you must believe me.” God would forgive her for lying, wouldn’t he? The words started flowing. “I left the party early and got lost on my way home. I was trying to find my bearings when I tripped and fell in the dark.” The more she talked the more her voice shook as much as her trembling frame until the words were almost too severed to be understood.
“You’re a terrible liar.” Again his grip tightened. He inched her higher until only her toes touched the ground. “What kind of Tory are you—if you are one at all? I am working to defend the king, and what do you do? You seek to over throw him. Just like the others.”
A knife-like pain gouged her middle as his words cut into her already wounded soul. Her throat ached. “Nay, ‘tis not true! I do support the king! You don’t understand—”
“Cyprian, who is it?” The other man ran forward. His voice was deep and hard when his gaze trailed over her. His eyes narrowed and he pulled his mask higher. “What are you doing here?” He didn’t wait for her answer before he turned to Cyprian. “This bodes ill. Very ill.”
Cyprian grunted without moving his eyes from Kitty. “That idiot doctor sent you, did he not?”
Trembling, Kitty sputtered, her knees buckling. “He did not! I left the party early and—”
“You’ve already said that much and though ‘tis a clever story, I know you lie.”
The other man stepped back and whipped around as if he expected someone to dart from the cover of the trees. “We must finish quickly.”
Cyprian’s heavy voice slammed against Kitty like a rolling boulder. “You will stay silent. Do. You. Understand?”
I cannot. I cannot stay silent—not about this.