CHAPTER FIVE-ROSEMARY

"Just ahead through the clearing." The quick hoof steps against the forest floor beat out a rhythm like a drummer going to war as Nicholas and his sons closed in on the gentle king's lands.

Daniel's heart slapped against the inside of his chest knowing he'd finally lay his eyes on the woman he'd been dreaming of all this time. He'd memorized every soft curve of her face by now and he'd fallen more and more down into the abyss caused by her absence in the world. Only when he was in her presence would Daniel ever be satisfied.

He'd come to think of them all as family, the only one he'd ever wanted to be part of, and it would never be complete until she was safely in their fold.

Nicholas told his sons little about the attack on Rosemary. What's done is done and there was no point in torturing them with the details of something they couldn't change. 

Deep inside, Daniel was torn between his anger at Nicholas for his failure as a father and his loyalty to a man who treated him like his own son. Ultimately, though, he cursed himself for not knowing how to save her and he'd barely slept a wink since he got the news. 

Daniel never felt much guilt in all his life, even for the most terrible things he did, but his lacking as a man right now when it came to Rosemary tore him up inside. Until the severed head of whoever did this to her was perched upon the gates of the city for all to see, Daniel would never forgive himself.

As he clutched the reigns of his horse, Daniel's hands buzzed and his heart fluttered the closer he came to the castle. He could feel Rosemary everywhere, all his body called out to her.

Seeing the tall stone fortress before them, Daniel heeled his horse and nearly took the lead as his need to be near her overcame him.

Finally making it to the steps of the castle, the men climbed down from their horses. Nicholas glanced back at his sons as he got to the top step and the doors started to open before him. "Go water the horses. I'll not be long." 

Daniel shook his head and rolled his eyes away as he turned back to his horse. Agamori put his hand on Daniel's shoulder and nodded towards the stream. "This way." As they walked side by side behind Mage and Uzzi, Agamori took a deep breath of the clean air and glanced at Daniel. "There is nothing anyone could have done to stop this. Least of all you."

His lips pulled down into a disgusted sneer and he shook his head. "I knew something awful was going to happen."

Agamori sighed to himself because he understood the frustration. "She is home now and that's is all that matters anymore. Whatever she's going through now, she needs our love and support. Blaming yourself for something you couldn't control does her no good. Leave it in the past where it belongs."

While Nicholas walked the long hall to the guest rooms with Eliphas, the wise old king explained her condition. "She's more or less healed, but still having a great deal of pain. Nothing that her family and the comfort of her own bed can't take care of." Stopping before her room, Eliphas licked his lips as his long white hair fell around his shoulders. "Her mind, she's quite fragile right now. She blames herself and she's just racked with guilt."

Wiping his hand across his mouth, Nicholas nodded his head before he patted the old king on his chest. "Thank you, old friend."

Walking across the threshold quietly, Nicholas saw Rosemary staring out the window. Seeing his reflection, Rosemary gasped back a breath and started to cry. Nicholas clicked his tongue as he went to her and turned her around in his arms. "Shh!" Nicholas pulled Rosemary into his chest and rested his cheek against her soft hair. "It's alright now."

Too ashamed to look in her fathers eyes, Rosemary panted against his chest as the sobs overcame her. "I'm so sorry father. I should have listened to you, I'm so stupid. Why did I go there?"

Softly running his fingers through her hair, Nicholas rocked her back and forth. "It isn't your fault. It isn't your karma or Fate. Don't ever believe that it was. It was only the evil in that mans heart that caused this and there is nothing you can do against such wickedness. We've been fighting it since the beginning of all things and even the strongest and wisest are claimed by it sometimes. What matters now is that you are back and you are alive. Everything else, we will deal with as a family as we always have. You are not alone in this, my dearest one."

Looking down into Rosemary's still very bruised face, Nicholas gently wiped her tears off her cheeks then kissed her forehead. "We should be going soon. It's a very long way."

Rosemary nodded as Eliphas brought a cloak that the nuns had made her and gently wrapped it over her back. Nicholas clasped the cloak pin and straightened Rosemary's hair then smiled. "Are you ready?"

Pulling the hood over hear head, Rosemary put up an invisible wall to shield her from the sympathetic eyes of her brothers that were surely to come. She'd been warned by nearly everyone to stay in the Woods, that Earth was no place for her, but she didn't listen. "Yes, father."

Nicholas took Rosemary's hand and led her through the hall then waited for the doors to open.

Daniel took a deep breath to calm his nerves as the tall glass doors slowly opened then when he saw her face beneath the hood as her eyes met his, his knees buckled underneath him causing him to grab at his saddle to steady himself.

Even knowing what happened to her, nothing prepared Daniel for the horror of actually seeing it.

The pale skin and blue eyes from his dreams were swollen and bruised still. Her plump pink lips were split down the center and in the corner. The healing purple and green bruises around her neck made Daniel ball his fists in anger and look away. 

Nicholas whispered in Rosemary's ear while Mage and Uzzi bowed their heads to her as she walked by. Rosemary was the youngest child in her family and bowing to her wasn't protocol, Daniel realized it was an offering of love and respect so he joined them as he bowed to her. He swore he'd never bow before another master, but in that instant, he knew he lied. From that moment on, Rosemary would rule him.

Agamori mounted his horse and held his hand down to Rosemary as her father helped her up onto the animal's back. Hissing back in pain, Rosemary settled onto the saddle behind Agamori then whimpered quietly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. 

Gritting his teeth at her distressed sounds, Daniel climbed up on his horse and took his place beside Agamori as the horses started off.

As Agamori slid his hand over Rosemary's, her other brothers fell in to surround her as they followed Nicholas, keeping Rosemary safely inside the formation.

Rosemary kept her eyes closed but Daniel watched her face from beside her. He took every bruise and laceration into memory as he had the lovely features in his dreams. Wherever the man who did that to her was, Daniel swore that someday he would tear him apart.

When they stopped for camp as the sun started to set between the trees in the forest, Agamori wrapped his arms around Rosemary's waist and gently lifted her from the saddle. He kissed the top of her head once she was on the ground then his eyes fell on Daniel. 

Climbing down from his horse, Daniel crossed his arms and waited. Whispering into her ear, Agamori told Rosemary of their new city dweller. "This is Daniel Darke."

As she hesitantly turned towards Daniel, Rosemary nodded her head at him. "My Lord."

Huffing out through his nose, Daniel shook his head as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. "No, I'm...I'm no one. Just Daniel, my Lady."

The touch of Daniel's hand moved through Rosemary like the warm sunlight across her face on a cold morning as it rose in the sky and she held on for just a moment before she let go of his fingers. "I don't believe that's true at all Daniel."

While Agamori ushered her to the campsite, Daniel finally exhaled the breath he'd been holding onto since she touched him. He'd been with hundreds of women in his lifetime probably, but nothing ever came close to whatever just happened between them. Just like her voice ignited the mystical flame in him, her hand lit another deep in his chest.

When darkness fInally came through the forest, Rosemary laid down on the ground with her head resting on her fathers leg. He combed his fingers through her hair and spoke to her in the old language. Sensing the tension on the air around them, Daniel pulled his legs in close to his chest and rested his chin on his knees as he kept watch over her through the firelight.

Rolling over once she was asleep, Daniel finally got to see her face again and even through the discolored skin and swelling, he saw her beauty. As he accidentally reached out to her sleeping mind, Daniel spoke to her. "I wish you would look at me just once Rosemary."

When her eyes snapped open, Daniel blinked and jerked back while their minds connected. Unable to break the link he had with her, Daniel apologized in his mind for waking Rosemary as he slid his hand to his chest.

A sweet smile curled up on her battered lips as she returned the gesture and her eyes closed once again.