Chapter 12

Rose stepped away from the burning storage room. The flames inside the room light up the outside, illuminating her face as it pointed to the people behind the damage. 

Rose turned away from Zayne and began to run. She had a small opening for when she could make it out of the brothel so she could not waste it standing around here with a man she did not know. 

Zayne watched as she took her chance to run. He was curious how far she could make it out of the brothel thanks to her plan. He had to applaud her for being so bold to get away from here. Everyone else seemed to accept their fate.

Zayne moved away from the storage before the flames could reach him. There was going to be a lot of trouble when all the bottles started to break and more alcohol was added to the already bad fire.

Away from him, Rose hid as the brothel servants took notice of the fire and ran to ring the bell to sound that there was trouble. 

Graham's guards were the first to go to see what trouble there was, then the customers exited the rooms they had paid for most likely thinking that the town guards were there. There were women screaming and men yelling as their night was disturbed.

Rose snuck by them, heading toward the other way out instead of the front gates. It was too dangerous to go there when everyone would be running there to get away from the fire. If one of the women, servants, or guards spotted her, they would call for Graham. 

Rose stopped at the gates used to go out to a pasture where Graham kept his beloved horse. Behind the pastures was a way for her to make it into the mountains and far away from the town. Rose squeezed herself through the small bars, her body aching as she wasn't as small as she was when she tried to escape in her younger days. 

She had gone from getting stale bread during the days she was to be sold to Graham once making her eat more than she needed.

"A little more," Rose groaned, twisting her body to get her right leg out. 

Ahead of Rose, she spotted a familiar face she wished she could forget. Their eyes met once more and instead of running to Mathias for help once more, Rose forced herself out of the bars and headed into the darkness. 

Mathias couldn't believe his eyes that he had caught Rose trying to run away. It was crazy that his guess had been right that she brought to this brothel years ago. "Shit," he cursed, running after Rose to catch her. 

Her escape meant that he could silence her without anyone knowing. Mathias didn't know this Rose so he didn't trust her to keep quiet. 

This was the only thing he could think of to hide his secret. 

Just as Mathias touched the metal gate to try pulling it open, the sound of something hitting against the gate startled him. He looked down to see a small knife and when he looked up, ready to fight the idiot who threw a knife his way, he was surprised to see Zayne Hamilton.

"Whoops," Zayne looked at his right hand. "My fingers are slippery."

Mathias knew right away from the blue eyes just who this man was and that this wasn't a mistake. The bastard was looking to injure him. "You're bold to pick a fight on our land," he said, his attention away from Rose now as he could not let the foreigner get away with this.

Zayne ignored the man before him and tried to spot how far she had gotten. The darkness had engulfed her so no one would see where she ran off to. He couldn't help seeing that she made it out. 

"What the fuck are you even doing here? Our women are not to be used by your kind," Mathias said, angered even more from thinking the enemy was lying with women from this town. 

"So, is it only the men here who should enjoy making use of women sold into this life? I am far ahead of you as I have not touched any. I was told that I could be entertained here, but I was let down. Do a flip," Zayne said, allowing Mathias to fix it. "Let us see if you can amuse me."

"You bastard!" Mathias yelled, reaching for Zayne's collar but instead found himself kicked to the side.

It was insulting for a man of his status in the king's men to be kicked by the enemy like this.

Mathias turned around, ready to fight but hesitated when more foreigners came to Zayne's side. Mathias looked around for the rest of the king's men he had come here with. They were either helping to put out the fire everyone was yelling about or looking for women to be with. 

"Scared?" Zayne asked, picking up on the soldier's hesitation to fight him now. He could order the men around him to stay down but even then the coward before him wouldn't want to fight.

Mathias wanted to get back at the foreigner but he had allowed Rose to get far away so it might be hard to find her. "I shall see you again," he said, leaving another day for the time he would get even.

Zayne watched as the soldier followed where Rose had run off. Amid a fire, why was this soldier so hellbent on going after her? Why did these men want this one woman?

"General, I think we should leave before the fire gets worse."

"I think so as well," Zayne agreed. 

There wasn't anything more for Zayne here and with the smoke from the fire filling the air, he wouldn't be getting any sleep if he stayed here. He only wished that he could see the reaction of the mouthy man over his brothel burning.

Zayne headed toward the front doors, followed closely by the three men he came here with. They entered the carriage they came in and set off to the mansion they were given by the king to use during their stay.

Zayne looked out the window at the fields behind the brothel. It was dark there so it would be hard for Rose to find her way around. 

Bennett, one of Zayne's followers, noticed Zayne's interest in the land and asked, "Is there somewhere you want to go?"

"What are the chances of a woman surviving the night in that forest and field over there?" Zayne questioned.

Bennett looked at where Zayne was gazing. "Unless she is familiar with the land, I would say that her chances are slim, but I haven't been hearing of wild animal attacks from the locals. Is there someone you want me to send out a search for?"

"No," Zayne answered. He had done enough by helping her break some of the bottles.

Zayne had his problems so he could not get involved with Rose's anymore than he already did. Seeing that she did not like to be near men, she would not be too pleased to see him now. 

She decided to set the storage room on fire so she should have a plan for what to do when she got out of the brothel. 

"That soldier before me just now. I have seen him before. Who is he?" Zayne asked, trying to place the connection between him and Rose.

"I don't know his name but we have seen him around their commander. Should I kill him in secret?"

"No, we are not to cause trouble," Zayne replied. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Bennett hesitated but then asked, "Weren't you the one to start the fire because of what he offered you?"

"No, someone else started it and I cannot take credit for her work," Zayne responded, looking back out at the fields where Rose had to be still running.