Chapter 13

Rose stumbled as she could not see much of what was before her in the dark forest. The trees blocked any light the moon could offer her so she had to be slow with her steps until there would be light again.

Rose never once looked back since she saw Mathias and ran toward the fields. She didn't hear the sounds of anyone chasing her so she was safe for now. She would keep moving all night even when her feet grew tired so there would be some distance between her and anyone who would look for her.

"Where is the next town?" Rose wondered, trying to plan her next move. 

She was without any of the money she had saved as her escape happened in the spur of the moment. Rose was without extra clothes, food, or water, but she would rather do without all of those things than turn back and apologise to Graham for running.

"Just keep going," Rose pushed herself. 

Somewhere out there had to be a place for her to stay. Somewhere to start anew and forget about everything else. If she was lucky for once, she might find the field that kept appearing in her dreams. 

There wasn't a relative that came to mind when Rose thought of where to go. Not a single face appeared as her memories were all gone. There was nothing in her head to give her an idea of which way to go to find the field so she could get the answers to why it kept showing up from time to time.

Rose stopped to catch her breath, touching a tree to help hold herself up. For the first time, she looked back to see how far away she had gotten and far down below the mountain, Rose saw the brothel. 

She had been so focused on running that Rose had not realised how she could not hear the music anymore. 

Rose laughed, not knowing what for since there wasn't anything funny. For the first time in a long time, she just wanted to laugh. 

"Rose!"

Rose flinched, startled by the faint sound of someone calling for her somewhere on the mountain. It wasn't a voice that she recognised and before she could see the face of who it was, Rose continued to run.

As the hours passed, Rose's movement slowed down as she needed to rest. She needed water to quench her thirst and something to eat, but she kept moving no matter how slow she was going. Moving meant she was staying ahead of who was calling her name.

Rose had hope when she looked at the sky and saw it was getting brighter as a new day came. With the light, she could find a home or trees that could provide her with food. 

"Oh!" Rose gasped as she slipped on a rock and fell. "What is…" she trailed off, searching her pockets after she heard a noise. 

Rose pulled up the small bag of money she had taken to the market. She didn't know it was still there after she had rested in Graham's room. He had not searched her. 

She sighed in relief. It wasn't enough for her to live off of forever, but it could buy what she needed until she reached somewhere she could figure out what to do next.

"Intruder!"

Rose's moment of hope was interrupted by a man yelling. She looked where she heard the yell and found a man standing clad in armour and a sword in his hands. Rose did not recognise him to be one of the king's men. She didn't know if their uniform had changed and did not want to stop to ask so she got up and ran. 

"Intruder!"

Rose didn't have much strength to keep running to outrun the man chasing her as she had been moving all night, but she tried her best. 

Her hand was soon caught as the man was faster than her.

"I am not an intruder. I was only passing through the mountain," Rose tried to explain herself. Her hand felt hot when he touched her but she knew if she tried to push him, he might kill her.

"Then you shouldn't have run. Your fate is with the general," the soldier answered as he dragged Rose back to the camp. 

There were too many spies coming close for him to take pity on her and let her go back to wherever she came from. 

Rose tried not to cry as her escape from Graham led to her being captured by a man she did not know. It might be better if he would just kill her for being an intruder. She didn't have anyone waiting for her or anyone who cared for her to miss her if she were to die now.

Rose accepted her fate as she was too tired to put up a fight. She was pulled like she was an animal down the mountain she had almost made it off of toward a grassy area where there were few tents. From the flag Rose saw waving in the air, she knew now that these were not the king's men. It was a camp for foreigners. 

"I found her sitting around. I am taking her to the general," the soldier explained to the others he passed.

Rose was taken away from the tents toward a large house. She stared in awe at how big it was since she was only used to the brothel and the small shops she saw when she walked through the town. 

Never before had she thought she would ever be in a place like this. The foreigners had come to where she spent all her life and got to experience more grand things than she did.

"General."

Rose lowered her head as she entered a room full of men. 'My knife,' she thought, wanting it to end herself. She had finally escaped Graham and was not going to become a woman belonging to any of the men here.

"I said not to disturb me until I was done here," Zayne said and then he looked up at the intruder. He tilted his head, trying to get a better look at the woman he recognised right away. She survived the night in the mountains. She had to have travelled all night to reach here.

"I found her wandering close by. What should I do with her?"

"Prepare a room and a warm bath. She must almost be hungry," Zayne answered then turned his attention back to the map laid out on the table. She had made it quite far so she was deserving of a reward. 

Rose impressed him. He didn't think she would make it through the night and he half expected her to just return to the brothel. 

"Yes- What?" The soldier questioned, not understanding the order.

Rose was confused as well as to why she was to be treated as a guest when she was called an intruder. She slowly looked up to see who the general was and to her surprise, it was the same man from last night. She should have placed that it was him but she was too tired to connect everything. 

Rose saw him smile when he looked at her. How was it that out of all the people who lived nearby she had run to where he was?