Underestimate Me

The falcon had returned. Meredith had feared that after he did not get fed when finding the group of male subjects, he reconsidered his part in their mission. Josselyn had trained the bird well, but it was still a living animal. She had gained its trust with pieces of bread and little bits of meat, and Meredith had feared his love was just as fleeting as the feeling of hunger. However; against her ill feelings, the creature was once again perched on Josselyn's shoulder, accepting the pieces of bread and giving her leader beloved nods with its head. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe the bird was loyal after all.

She had not been wrong about that man though. Her instant decision to break his skull and cut him down had been an intuition she should have listened to. His presence changed everything. It changed the balance that had given their sisterhood ground. No men had disturbed their peace, but now only one was tilting what they had built in harmony, by just a look in his eyes.

On some level Meredith could understand the effect this young man had on her sisters. She was not blind and she was not feeble minded. She noticed his well-built body, broad shoulders and his strong jawline. She had seen the look in his robust dark eyes and felt their power. His boyish charm, that he unknowingly used, had not been subjected on her. Yet she saw how it influenced her sisters that were tending to him. Meredith had never truly understood the draw her sisters had towards the other sex. She had not felt it and she had not wanted it. To her men were good for one sole purpose; killing.

“You bright little fellow,” She heard Josselyn say to the bird on her shoulder. She was so pleased that he had taken it upon himself to save and defend her honor. She had stopped Meredith when she tried to kill this man for her leader, but she was praising this little bird for attacking him. It seemed to Meredith she wanted him to truly suffer badly. She had not wanted a clean quick death when she had shouted towards her sister to stop. She had not cried the words ‘Spare him’ to really do the man a favor. She had kept him alive and not solely for the consequences of his father’s wrath. She kept him alive to kill him off little by little. The way he had ordered to have her massacred. Meredith had never heard her stories in full detail, but Josselyn had made clear they kept her in that one stone room for two days, slaughtering her piece by piece. Her soul had never truly recovered.

Rowen was taken care of by Evelyn and Laila. Aldith had even temporarily taken off his manacle. They spoke to him, words too soft and distant to reach Meredith’s ears, but body language too relaxed for them to be scolding him. As Rowen took Laila’s hand Meredith noticed Josselyn tensing up. She had not purely given Falcon all her attention, she had been watching her demon from the corner of her eyes and before Meredith could stop her, a knife was swinging through the air. It missed the shoulder of their captive, which had been bandaged and cleaned just moments ago, by a hair. The knife flung into the trunk of a tree behind him with great force.

“I said no communion with our guest,” her voice roared before she got ahold of herself again. Her sisters were stunned and silence fell across the forest. Great shocked eyes looked at Josselyn as she turned herself away from her sisters. Meredith quickly took over.

“What are you all gaping at, get back to whatever you thought useful!” her order was clear and controlled, something her leader could not be at this point. The sisters diverted their gaze and gradually returned to their business. Although Meredith was somewhat thrilled when Josselyn displayed her hatred towards the man. Her timing was off. She had not failed to notice that the knife had only swung through the air when Rowen seemed to connect with her sisters.

“I should have beheaded that monster,” Meredith told Josselyn. “I do not like the effect he has on you.” Josselyn’s eyes had turned a darker shade and she was shaking on her feet. She had removed herself from sight by dashing behind one of the horses as she tried to attain her composure again.

“He cannot be killed, for this man is the adversary himself.” The grave words left Josselyn’s full red lips and turned them a shade paler. She was clenching her fists and trying her best not to break. Out of sight and in the privacy provided by a single horse, Meredith moved closer and grabbed the hands that were turning white from pressure.

“This man is a mere mortal.” She whispered. “One that will endure a grave amount of pain before I am through with him.”

~~~

The rest had been shorter than planned as Josselyn wanted to move on eagerly. It was the middle of the day and the sun was high. They needed to travel long before they reached their destination, and she intensely hoped they would reach it before nightfall. Traveling this forest was dangerous, but traveling it by night was begging to get killed.

Of all the terrors these trees hid, they had already brought the worst of all in their midst. He might be traveling shackled and bound. He was the greatest threat to them all.

“Rowen told me you moaned at the kisses on your neck,” His voice was at her ear and his warm rotten breath hit her skin. She wanted to crawl, but she could not move at all. “Let’s see how you like that.” The cold blade touched the skin behind her ear. Its point was pricking her skin and steadily gaining pressure. Softly it broke her skin and she tried not to scream out. A muffled cry left her lips and he chuckled. He was behind her and she felt his hips pressing against her backside. The hand that was not holding the knife against her neck was exploring her thighs. It was dark, but Josselyn closed her eyes. She was not there. She could not be there.

She opened her eyes and the sun was shining. It was bright and she was blinded by it for a few moments. When she gained her vision she noticed Meredith’s eyes upon her.

“Where did you just go?” She asked, a crease of concern formed between her eyes and her blond hair waved in the air with a certain caution.

“Somewhere I wasn’t,” was Josselyn’s only explanation. If she told her confidant all that had truly happened in those two days of confinement, Rowen would not even see the blade coming. He would be dead in the flick of an eye and she would be robbed of her revenge. She had never truly told Meredith all that had happened, but her sister had known the gravity of it from her nightly tossing and turning. More than regularly she had been woken by Josselyn’s screams and her kicking and hitting while asleep.

Now that she was tortured in daylight as well, Josselyn was even more determent to make Rowen’s days a living nightmare.

One that he, just as she, could not escape from.