Fast Escape

‘December 26th, 1516’

‘London’

Angeline

“Come on, hurry,” Farrah whispered, ushering me down the dark staircase in Maynard Manor. She pushed the back door in the servants’ quarters open.

It was still early morning, and most of the manor hadn’t yet woken.

After I’d told Farrah what happened with the Alpha of the Millennium—how we’d spent the night together, and then he’d disappeared—she didn’t console me like I thought she would.

She didn’t wipe away my tears or tell me it would be okay.

Instead, she sprang into action.

“If Lord Maynard gets word that the Alpha’s gone, he’ll have his way with you. Worse than before,” she said, scurrying to help me into her heavy cloak.

“There’s no time for goodbyes. You’ll leave now, and you won’t stop running until you get to the house by the river on the other side of town. It has a red door. Ask for Honey,” she instructed.

“Honey?”

“That’s my aunt. A good woman. She’ll help you.”

“When will I see you?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

“Soon. As soon as I can come. Go now, Angeline. Go!”

I flung the door at the bottom of the staircase open, running into the harsh winter air.

I looked back to see Farrah’s face one last time, but the door had already closed.

By the time I got to the house with the red door, it was night. I knocked, and a homely woman with grey hair opened the door.

“Hello. I’m Angeline,” I said, looking at the floor. “I’m a ward of Farrah, at Maynard Manor. I… well… I have nowhere else to go.”

It was in that moment that it dawned on me. I was all alone. The Alpha of the Millennium… he had left me all alone.

I couldn’t go back to the manor, not now, not ever.

My old life was done.

Over.

“I’m Honey, dear,” the woman introduced, eyeing me up and down before she pulled me inside the house. “You’re welcome here. Let’s get you dry,” she said, but it hadn’t been raining.

“Pardon me?” I asked, confused.

She pointed to my cheeks, and I felt them.

It was like the tears had fallen without me knowing.

***

A few weeks later, I was cleaning the bedsheets when I heard Farrah’s voice at the door.

Immediately I dropped the sheets back into the water and ran to the front of the house, stepping past Honey and throwing my arms around my guardian.

“Oh, Farrah!” I exclaimed, burrowing myself in her hair.

“Angeline, sweet girl,” Farrah responded, rubbing my back.

These past weeks, all I’d been dreaming about was getting to see my guardian again. She was the only one who cared about me.

“Thank you,” Farrah said to Honey when we were done embracing. Honey grabbed one of Farrah’s hands and one of mine, looking from one to another.

“It’s no trouble,” she said earnestly. “She’s a good girl.”

I smiled, but at that moment, I felt a pang of unease deep in my stomach. Like everything I’d eaten for breakfast was about to come up.

I’d been feeling these pangs for two weeks now, and usually the food didn’t stay inside me. I ran to the waste bucket, dropping to the floor just in time as the food came out.

“Angeline!” Farrah said, following me into the washing station. “Are you ill?”

“It’s been happening for weeks,” Honey told her, appearing in the doorway. I wiped my face and looked up at the women, watched as they exchanged a glance.

“What?” I asked.

Farrah came closer to me, crouching down. “The reason I came today, my girl, is because I found out about your family. Your real family.”

“I don’t have any family,” I said, wringing my hands together. “Only you.”

“Hush, that’s not true,” Farrah pressed. “Your mother...”

“She sold me.”

“Yes, well, your father, he was a lord, Angeline. He traveled to your mother’s brothel two times. You were the result of the second time, but the first…” She trailed off.

“What is it?”

“You have a brother. An older brother,” she said, squeezing my hands.

My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never imagined I could have any siblings before. I was about to exclaim my joy when another pang hit me.

Harder than the first.

I threw my face back into the waste bucket, and more food came out. I felt Farrah rubbing my back. “There, there, sweet girl.”

When I was done, she handed me a handkerchief, and I wiped my mouth.

“You will go to him,” Farrah said gently. “It’s not safe for you here. Especially with…” she said, looking at my belly.

“What?” I asked, barely a whisper.

“You’re pregnant, Angeline.”

As soon as she said it, I knew it was true.

I knew that pregnant women fell ill often, and that was the only explanation for my constant sickness.

It killed me that the man who had gotten me to trust him, who had taken my virtue and left without so much as a goodbye, was the one who’d made me this way.

But there was also something else fluttering in my heart, something like hope. A baby meant a new future. And I wanted that.

“Where does he live? My brother?” I repeated the word.

“In South England,” Farrah replied. “I’ve arranged a carriage for you, as soon as the sun sets this evening.”

“This evening?!” I exclaimed. “That’s no time at all.

“It’s not safe, Angeline. Lord Maynard has been looking, has been ~scouring~ the town for you. And if he finds you like this…” she said, looking again at my belly.

She didn’t have to finish her sentence. I understood.

I was in danger.

But now it wasn’t just me; it was my baby too. And I would do anything to protect it.

***

The carriage was pulling up to a large manor that sat on the top of a hill.

We had been traveling for three days, the carriage driver and I, and I couldn’t wait to finally meet my brother.

I gazed up at the manor. It was far bigger than Lord Maynard’s, and as I squinted, I was sure I could make out another building beside the main one.

It was very late, but the moon was shining brightly. I knew this was my only option, so I took a deep breath and headed for the door, knocking gently.

I heard heavy footsteps nearing from the other side and held my breath. ~Oh, please let him be kind.~

The door opened, and an older man looked back at me. He was wearing a night robe and his grey hair was all tangled.

“Yes?” he asked, taking me in.

“Hello,” I said. “My name is Angeline. I’m here to see… Solomon Knox.”

“It’s late,” the man replied.

I nodded. “It’s really very important.”

He sighed. “Well, I can’t leave a lady outside. Come in, wait here. I’ll bring Lord Knox.”

“Thank you,” I said, and I watched as he disappeared down the hall.

When he returned a few minutes later, he was in a butler’s uniform, and there was a taller man walking behind him.

When they got closer, I saw more of the taller man’s face. He had big eyes, like me, and blond hair that fell over his forehead.

He was very handsome, that much I could tell right away. There was no question; we looked related.

“Hello,” I said, as soon as they were close enough.

“My butler, Jotham, said it was urgent?” Lord Knox asked.

“Yes. Well, you see. I’m… you’re my brother,” I stammered.

The lord was taken aback, but then he eyed me carefully, as if he were taking stock of my features the same way I’d looked at his. “I didn’t know I had a sibling,” he replied.

“Nor did I,” I said. “Not until three days ago, at least. But there was trouble where I’d been staying at the Maynard Manor, and my guardian, she tracked down my father, and then found you...”

“The Maynard Manor, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Not the same Maynard Manor that’s made news across the nation the day before last?”

“News? I don’t… I don’t know. I’ve been traveling...”

“Yes, a certain Lord Maynard hung his employee in the town’s square. Right in daylight.”

“H-hung?” I choked out.

I knew Lord Maynard was cruel, and I knew he was violent. But I never thought he’d kill someone. Especially someone who worked for him… someone like me.

Lord Knox nodded slowly. “Maybe it’s best I don’t say anymore. You’re clearly getting upset.”

“No, tell me. Please,” I whispered.

He sighed. “It was his master of household, I believe. Did you know her?”

The pit of unease in my stomach, the one that had been there for weeks, exploded. I could feel fragments of it run through every one of my veins.

I was overcome with sadness. Sadness and horror and disbelief.

And nausea.

Before I could ask for the waste bucket, I was keeling over and vomiting onto the hardwood floor.

“Oh my. Oh... Jotham, get the lady a towel.”

“I’m… sorry…” I managed to get out as tears streamed down my face.

“You knew the woman.”

I looked at my brother and nodded. “Farrah. She was my guardian,” I said, taking the towel from the butler’s hands and wiping my face. “She was the one who sent me to you.”

“A good woman?”

Again, I nodded. “She died because of me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Solomon declared.

But I knew it was. I knew that she’d risked everything to help me escape from the manor, to help me find my brother.

She’d risked everything so the baby inside me would live. This baby was as much Farrah’s as it was mine now.

I wasn’t just protecting the infant inside me. I was protecting Farrah’s legacy.

“Are you… all right, lady?” my brother asked, stepping closer to me now. “If you’re too tired to speak more now, we can continue in the morning.”

I shook my head. “Farrah found my birth father. My mother, she was a brothel lady. He visited her two times. The first time he visited her… you,” I said, pointing to Solomon.

“The second time he visited her… me,” I said, pointing to myself.

“How did you end up at Lord Maynard’s?”

“Our father… he didn’t want to keep a female child. So he left me with mother. She sold me to the manor as soon as she could,” I said softly.

Solomon nodded. “Tell me, sister, what is your name?”

“Angeline.”

“Angeline. I can see your situation is desperate. You’re welcome to stay here.”

I looked at the ground as a flood of relief washed through me. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Solomon.”

“The inn is next door. You can help run it in the daytime.”

I nodded, remembering the second building next to the manor. “Of course.”

“But for now, let’s sleep. It’s been a long night. Jotham, show the lady to her room,” Solomon ordered, turning on his heel to head back up the staircase.

The pit of unease returned to my belly. As if to remind me that I hadn’t told my brother the most important piece of information, the one that explained just why I’d left London in such a hurry.

My body was trembling, and my palms were sweating.

I didn’t know what he’d say if I told him the truth. But how could I lie to the man who’d welcomed me into his home?

“Solomon?” I called out to his retreating figure, my voice shaky.

He turned around. “What is it?”

“There’s something else…” I began as a tear fell down my cheek.

I knew that telling him the truth might make me homeless. Any respectable lord would shun a pregnant woman who was unmated.

But I couldn’t lie to him.

“Angeline, I am very tired,” Solomon said, and while I couldn’t see him clearly all the way down the hall, I knew he wore an impatient look.

I had to do it. I had to tell him.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I took a deep breath and put a hand on my belly, trying to calm myself down.

“I’m pregnant.”