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Chapter One
In the forest, it’s reached that point of perfect darkness The tree branches no longer provide a visible tracery against the gathering gloo canopy aboveinto a bra, to crawl into my bivouac and wrap myself in my blankets, I know I can’t The steady dry crunch of distant leaves tellsfollowed
I hear it now and then, soht, or my rear or ahead, never in the same place twice I know I can’t elude the stalker because my own feet, tiptoed as they are, inevitably disturb the brushwood forest floor Tiny snaps and crackles accompany every hesitant step North, south, east or west? It doesn’t matter He, she or it will be on my tail
I crouch against a tree and everything goes quiet I concentrate on training le piece of information that they can, but all they process is thatfrom one of thedark shapes that don’t help me one little bit
Once I can no longer holdme in a north-easterly direction, further into the depths There is a sudden, sharp crack of twigs and a heat, a huh the piny forest scent, and I am lost Taken
Of course, I put up a fight, but he is er than I am, spare-framed but steely My stupid dress doesn’t help either If only I’d had tianise my escape from the palace I’d have sourced buckskins and stout boots, but circu on me and I had to flee in what I stood in Stained, torn satin slippers don’t pack much of a kick
Although there is nobody to hear us, his hand claht away over my mouth
‘Easy,’ he says, and his voice is incongruously soft and gentle ‘You know you can’t fight me Hold still and I won’t hurt you’
He is right I y
I let hiemy lower face, forwards to some unspecified location
When I hear the sound of a zip, I have to bite my cheeks to squash down the smile Of course, it would have been too much to expect him to construct an authentic woodsman’s hut out of branches and tree roots and whatnot just for the sake of one night’s entertainment, but a tent will have to substitute At least it’ll be much more comfortable Less risk of creepy-crawlies in the nooks and crannies
With his hands on my shoulders, he pushes s and attends to tying ether above my head
‘That’s a good girl, Princess, nice and quietly,’ he says, approving ofto drink You rab any provisions, by all accounts’
I let him manoeuvre s a hip flask to my lips and water trickles around my mouth and, occasionally, into it Yes, I hadn’t realised it, but I am thirsty, my throat parched by panic and exertion I probably couldn’t have screamed much even if I’d been allowed to
The air thens out beside me, propped on one elbow I candown at ht and I squint and turn away from it for a moment, but he steers the back of my head round to face him
There he is,in pleasurable triumph
How dare he smile at me?
‘When my father hears about this,’ I tell him, ‘he’ll have your head on a pike’
He puts a long finger on
‘Princess, your father is paying me for this’