Underestimate Me

Rowen’s lips found the crook of her neck, tasting her quickening pulse that was far from catching up to his own. He waited an eternity for this, and he would’ve waited longer if she wished it. Her hands kneaded the muscles in his upper back. She pushed his shirt to the floor long ago just after she freed herself from her dress. Nothing but her bodice clung to her skin as she sighed his name.

Sweet ecstasy filled his heart, his mind, his body. Rowen didn’t want this moment to end. He wanted to feel her creamy skin beneath his fingertips forever; he longed to keep her hands on his bare skin for as long as he could. Each time her fingers caressed him he felt a shiver of complete pleasure crawl up and down his spine. However, the moment had to end. It was just a beautiful moment in time that he could not keep, so Rowen savored each touch, each taste.

“I’m so glad you walked through my door tonight, Love,” Rowen whispered in her ear. Josselyn smiled as she snuggled into him. The warmth of her bare skin against his made flames soar in his chest. He would never be happier than he was in this moment…

The sweltering sun rose. He returned to his chambers. Josselyn was not where he left her. She was not curled in his white sheets snuggling into the scent of the pillow he’d left behind. “Joss…?”

In her place, a man laid. Short wavy brown hair with dark hazel eyes and long legs filled Rowen’s vision. He was hideous compared to the beauty Rowen held just hours before. William’s grin filled the room with terror while Henry’s, his brother, coppery hair looked like the blood that swarmed Rowen’s veins, attacking his heart.

“Joss!” His voice grew louder. Had they found her? Had she escaped? Please, dear Balor, save her!

Henry shook his head as the malicious smile filled his face. Will puckered his lips and blew Rowen a kiss. “Lover boy is missing something, don’t you think?” He asked his younger brother. Henry nodded his head.

Rowen started forward. He poised himself to leap on the treacherous snake that coiled in his bed. Before he had the chance to pummel Will, Sir Uwen latched onto his arm. Rowen turned to see the disappointment in his mentor’s eyes. That disappointment did not compare to the venom in Elrik’s eyes. Neither the venom nor the disappointment held a candle to Merek’s face. Betrayal covered his younger brother’s features.

“How could you?” Merek stated.

Those words knocked the fight out of Rowen in one blow. They knocked the breath from his chest. Merek’s eyes poured hatred into his brother’s core. Rowen knew at that moment, by the look in his brother’s eyes, that he made a huge mistake. He also knew that he would make it over and over again if he had the chance.

~~~

“What have you done, Son?” Elrik’s eyes burned like hellfire as he watched his oldest

Rowen kept his mouth sealed. His back still seeped blood though Merek cleaned some of it off. Betrayal vanished from his little brother’s eyes, and was replaced by something that looked like guilt. Elrik sent the boy away; afraid Merek would intervene in his rage against Rowen.

“Do you not have words to speak? Have you nothing to say on your crimes?” Elrik growled.

“I said nothing in your false trial,” Rowen stated. His eyes met his father’s, almost challenging the man before him as he spoke. “I shall say nothing now.”

“Tell me what you have done to ruin this family!” Elrik’s hand flew across his eldest son’s face.

Rowen spat, blood spewing from his lips before he shook his head. “I have done nothing wrong, nor did Josselyn.”

“You killed her.” Elrik leaned down to his son’s eyes. “You are the reason that girl was locked in a cell, and you are the reason she escaped. You, Rowen, are the reason your lover fled into the forest. Her death is on your hands!”

“NO!” Rowen growled. He forced himself off his knees, onto his feet.

“Joss!”

He shook the word from his head. Rowen could not lose himself. Not to his father. Not to the woman with Josselyn’s face. The shivers still rocked his body as beads of sweat swelled on his skin. The sun skirted the horizon, preparing to fill the morning sky. He felt like he hadn’t slept in days.

Evelyn’s eyes locked onto his for a moment before he tears try to relieve the dryness in his pupils. “Please?” He choked. “Please tell me I have not spoken.”

“I cannot say such things,” Evelyn replied. She poured a bit of water into a mug crafted from a piece of bark and offered it to him. Rowen’s fingers twitched as he accepted the makeshift cup in his shaking hands.

He drank the water in one gulp. The cool liquid did nothing to quench his thirst or the burning in his chest. Evelyn poured a bit more. “Drink slowly. We are preserving water; I will not be able to give you more after this until we arrive.”

“Where?” Rowen croaked. He was too tired to speak full sentences.

“You will find out when we get there.” Evelyn stood and stretched her limbs. “It’s time to wake the others.”

Rowen followed her feet to her leader. Josselyn’s hair, dark as night, spread out and mixed with Meredith’s bright blonde locks the color of the morning sun. He saw the two women tangled together. Bile rose in his stomach. Elrik’s voice echoed through his head.

‘You, Rowen, are the reason your lover fled into the forest!’

Rowen couldn’t help but think himself the reason for Josselyn and Meredith’s love. Joss’s happiness still mattered too much, and the smile on her face that glowed with the rise sun and Meredith’s long hair was all that mattered. While the sight of them brought bile to his throat, it also brought an emotion he hadn’t felt in two years to his heart. He felt joy while he stared at their blasphemy.

“It’s time to wake. The sun has risen, and he has awakened.” Evelyn called over Meredith’s and Josselyn’s bodies. They disentangled themselves slowly with disappointed moans as Evelyn shook Emma from her deep sleep. The innocent little girl awoke looking like an angel. Rowen resented her ability to rest almost as much as he resented Meredith’s relationship with her leader.

“Speak no more,“ Evelyn instructed him. “If you lose your strength and slip into unconsciousness I fear your nightmares will worsen, and I am sure you can deal with the monsters of your past as my sisters have dealt with theirs.”

Evelyn pulled him onto his feet and pushed him onto the donkey. She handed his chain to Emma, who still rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Stay close to him, Little Sister. His presence will protect you better than any weapon ever could.” Emma nodded taking his leash in her hands.

“I promise...” Rowen whispered as her gaze met his for a moment. “I promise not to hurt you, or take that chain from your hands again.”

Evelyn glared at him before she fixed the arrows she carved with the arrows she picked out of the dead men in her quiver. Meredith touched her blade as her cold eyes bore into Rowen’s fading presence of mind. Josselyn didn’t bother to look at him. She simply checked her leather bodice, secured her own blade, and kept her precious eyes locked onto Meredith.