Chapter 16

Naomi watched helplessly as she continued to out pace Yula and Dennis. She couldn’t turn the horse back, stop it, or even slow it down. All she could hope for was that it didn’t try to knock her off with a low tree branch.

An Umbrek caught up with Yula and Dennis and reached out to swipe at their horse. They dodged the swipe but just barely.

Naomi was so concerned with the two behind her that when an arrow whizzed past and hit the Umbrek that she jerked around so hard, she almost fell off the horse. Racing toward them was a group of armed men.

“You three keep going. We’ll take care of these monsters,” one soldier shouted.
Naomi grinned like a maniac as her horse raced through the armed and men. Reinforcements, finally. When she looked ahead, she saw the silhouette of towers. They had reached the castle.

The horses slowed the closer they got to the castle. They were spent. It was at a walk that they entered.

The castle was in utter pandemonium. People were racing everywhere. It reminded Naomi too much of her first moments in the Town of Harold’s Pass for comfort. She kept Yula in sight. She didn’t want to lose the only person she knew.

“Miss, are you all right?” a man asked.

“Oh, I might be in decade or two,” Naomi replied. The man flashed a grin at her and helped her down. Naomi wobbled a minute as she relearned to use her legs. A large man with a bushy beard stormed up to her.

“Were you with the last wagon?”

Naomi dumbly nodded as her eyes darted around at all of the confusion.

He pushed her toward the main building. “Go to the hall, the women will tend you.” Naomi balked. She didn’t want to go anywhere without Yula, who was marching over. At the man’s touch, a murderous look entered the serving woman's eyes.

“Are you all right, milady? I do hope you won’t let this awful reception be your first impression of your new home.” She shot a dirty look at the gruff man.
Naomi was quite taken aback by Yula’s demeanor. She didn’t want to give a bad first impression either, and demanding niceties during an emergency seemed like the making of one.

“I’m fine, Yula. I’m so glad the soldiers met us. It was such a relief.” She said this to the man to show him that she wasn’t upset with him. He seemed rather stiff and unsure, teetering between embarrassment and outrage.

“Let’s go inside. I’m sure the men will keep you apprised of your husband, LORD TAVIK’S status.”

Naomi smiled weakly to the man to soften Yula's combative tone, but the man still looked stiff. Yula led her into the hall where there were more people shouting and general commotion. Naomi was just starting to really realize that she was supposed to be royalty or something. She had no idea how she was supposed to act, but Yula seemed to know how everyone else was supposed to act and expected it. Naomi didn’t know if that was a good thing. She was so out of her element.

They were offered food and drink. Naomi didn’t feel well enough to partake of anything. A new worry had settled upon her. What would happen if Tavik were killed by the Umbreks? What would happen to her, and would people expect her to be in charge? Yula and others had referred to her as their lady. Did that mean she was the inheritor of whatever Tavik had? The dread increased every hour that passed with no news of the soldiers.

Yula picked up on her mounting apprehension. “Lord Tavik will be fine, don’t worry.”

But Naomi did worry. Her worry started to increase exponentially as she watched the man with the bushy beard enter the hall and approach. He wasn’t smiling. His hands were clenched at his sides. Naomi stood up, but she didn’t know what to do. She looked around her. Should she sit back down? It was better to be sitting when one received bad news. Why was she standing? Naomi looked back at the chair. It meant nothing to her. What was she doing? The bushy beard man was closer. She turned to leave because standing and sitting both seemed like stupid ideas, but Yula stood up and stopped her.

"I just want to stretch my legs."

"It will be all right, dear."

Naomi shook her head and tried to move away. Yula wrapped her arms around her.

The hall had grown quiet when the bushy beard man reached them. Everyone was watching. Naomi wondered what they saw. Did they know who she was? Did they care? What was she supposed to be doing? Why was she there? Why wasn’t the man saying anything?

“What is it?”

“Lord Tavik’s horse has returned.”

Naomi didn’t understand. “And?”

“The horse was riderless. The stead is badly injured. We fear Lord Tavik--” Naomi’s brain decided at that moment that she really didn't want to hear another word and calmly shut down.

Continue to Chapter 17