Bandit Bride

“You jumped out of a moving carriage?”

The little boy, Jack, looked mildly awed by this account of her harrowing journey, and Elisa tried not to smile as she stirred a carrot around in her bowl.

“Well it was the only way, you see. If I’d made it all the way to the chapel there would’ve been no way to escape without someone seeing. My mother would’ve dragged me back through the sheer strength of her will.” Elisa sighed. “She probably had a heart attack when the carriage arrived empty. Or she was so distraught that my father had to kill her to put her out of her misery. Either way I’m fairly certain I killed my mother.”

“Why didn’t you want to marry him?” Jack asked. “Is he a bad man?” His ears turned pink and he lowered his voice. “Is it because of the wedding night stuff?”

Elisa choked back a laugh. “No, no. He’s a nice man, I suppose. Lots of other girls wanted to marry him. I just...wasn’t one of them, apparently.”

“Then why’d he ask you and not one of those other girls?”

“I don’t know why,” Elisa shrugged. “My parents put a lot of work into making all us girls upstanding society ladies so that men would want to marry us. Clearly they dropped the ball a little bit when it came to me.”

“But what-“

“Jack,” one of the other men interrupted. “Stop asking so many questions.”

Jack lapsed into silence, looking a bit sullen. Elisa stared into the fire, thinking. Her father was a wealthy man, but not quite so wealthy that he could afford to comfortably raise six girls and leave them a large enough inheritance to take care of them. Getting all the girls married off to fine, upstanding men had always been their goal; that way they didn’t need to worry about what would become of their daughters. All the others had done it. They’d done it gladly. Elisa didn’t know why she couldn’t just be as dutiful and content as the rest of them. She’d always been torn between wanting her parents’ approval and wanting to go her own way.

Well. She’d definitely gone her own way this time. She’d gone so far her own way she was lost in the woods with a troop of criminals. It still seemed like a better situation to her than being the new Mrs. Bramfield. She still felt a bit sick over how worried and angry her family must have been though. The events of today seemed like they’d happened to someone else. Maybe this was all a dream and when she woke up tomorrow she’d really be married to Thurston.

The thought made her dizzy and she stuffed a carrot in her mouth to settle her stomach.

“This is quite the ring.” One of the men was studying it closely, trying to ascertain just how much it was worth. “Just how rich is this fiancé of yours?”

“Rich enough. Hardly has good taste though; that ring is so gaudy.” It was a gold band with a diamond in the center so large it had made her hand slightly harder to lift, and the rest of the band was covered in assorted gems; the most expensive ones, she assumed. The money spent on that ring could probably feed a family of five for two years but Elisa found it to be an eyesore and was glad to have it off her finger.

“It’s time to turn in,” Felix said, snatching the ring back.

“The girl can sleep in my tent,” Jack said hurriedly and Elisa smiled sweetly at him.

“Well, what a gentleman. But I don’t mind sleeping out here; I couldn’t impose on you. A growing boy needs a proper nights sleep.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I think I’m all done with growing,” Elisa laughed. Jack considered for a moment, then darted into his tent and returned with a blanket, which Elisa graciously accepted. She laid it out on the ground as the men disappeared into their tents. Felix remained behind, trying to usher Jack off to bed.

“Thank you, by the way,” she called as he turned away. He glanced back at her, annoyed.

“I didn’t do this as a favor to you,” he replied tersely.

“I know.” Elisa yawned. “You were robbing me. But thank you anyway.” She rolled over and fell asleep. Jack woke her in the morning with some gentle but insistent shaking.

“We’re going to leave soon,” he said as she cracked one eye open. She sat up and stretched her back.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Langdale.”

“Is that the closest town from here?”

“Yeah. It’s east of here; that way.” He pointed.

“Jack, let’s go,” Felix said impatiently. Elisa stood and handed Jack his blanket. He scurried off to join the others and Felix shot Elisa a dark look as she began walking in the same direction.

“I said you were on your own after last night,” he reminded her.

“But I’m going to the next town. I have to go in this direction. It’s hardly my fault you’re going the same way.”

He drew in a long breath like he was trying to calm himself down. Elisa just blinked innocently back at him, like a baby owl.

“You could let me walk ahead of you, but you’d probably just catch up to me again. You don’t have to think of it as me going with you; I’m just another person who happens to be on the road going the same way as you. People travel, after all. You can just pretend I’m not even there.”

“I think that would be utterly impossible,” Felix muttered.

“You could just let me go with you then,” Elisa pointed out. He stared at her stonily, unimpressed.

“Listen, all your clothes could use some mending and I know how to sew. And no offense to whoever made the stew; it wasn’t terrible or anything; but I also know how to cook so I could make things that are...well, better. You’re getting all my fancy stuff plus free labor out of the deal.”

Felix let out an aggressive huff. “This is not a leisure trip,” he snapped. “I’m in charge, so you’re going to do what I say like everyone else and if you can’t keep up you get left behind.”

Elisa grinned and hugged him again. He made a disgruntled noise and pushed her off.

“And you have to stop hugging me.”

She clasped her hands behind her back and beamed. “I accept your terms. No lagging, no hugging. Got it.”

Felix rolled his eyes and turned away. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”