Dark shadows danced across the stone walls and Maric had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming. Laughter cackled loudly through the darkness. Something uncoiled behind him, snapping as it hit the floor.

A flash of pain and a scream was all Maric remembered before waking. He tumbled out of bed, his breathing labored.

“What’s wrong?” a voice asked, muffled with sleep. Maric stood, his naked body glistening with cold sweat despite the heat of the fire in the room. He shivered until the arm reached out and pulled him close. He looked down to see Fabienne, her blond tousled hair framing her face, her blue eyes wide with concern.

“What’s wrong, Maric?” she repeated.

“Nothing. A bad dream is all.” The same dream that had plagued for months after his accident years ago. He thought he was free of them. It had been years since he dreamt of them last.

Until tonight. He rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand until the ache began to dissipate.

Fabienne stood and the blanket that covered her fell to the floor. Maric discovered that she was naked as well. Fabienne was gifted with the body of a goddess. Her breasts were large and topped with rose-colored nipples. Her blond hair, her crowning glory, hung down in waves to her waist. A rush of memories of what they did only hours before replaced any traces of the nightmare.

“Come back to bed,” Fabienne said as she lightly traced her fingers across his chest and down lower between his legs until he gasped.

Maric smiled and fell into her.

***

It was nearly dawn when Maric woke again. Fabienne was deep asleep in the crook of his arm, her face nestled against his chest. Maric moved slowly under her until his arm was free. She murmured quietly but did not wake.

Silently, Maric began to dress. He poked the fire in the hearth until it was bright again before leaving Fabienne. He would see her in a few months time, but he knew she would not wait for him. Fabienne kept busy enough without him. Despite all the tender caresses and soft whispers, Maric knew that he wasn’t the only man to warm her bed. And, he didn’t hold it against her. She wasn’t the only one who warmed his either.

Maric opened the front door and slipped out into the cold morning. The sun had yet to rise and a deep fog covered the village. Maric smiled to himself. The boy would still be in bed at the inn and wouldn’t wake until Maric was long gone from the village. He pursed his lips and whistled softly to himself, but stopped abruptly when he realized that it was to the tune of the Sleeping Beauty ballad the boy sang the night before.

He pushed open the gate of Fabienne’s small garden and stepped onto the dirt covered street.

“Good morning.”

Maric jolted, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword. The boy stepped out of the fog like a ghost. Trailing behind him were two horses ladened with supplies.

“What are you doing here so early? I told you to meet me in front of the tavern at ten.”

“What are you doing up so early yourself?” the boy said, turning the question back on Maric. “You weren’t thinking about leaving me behind?”

Maric ground his teeth and frowned. It was precisely what he was thinking. “Well, now that you’re here, we might as well get an early start.” Maric’s stomach rumbled loudly. The boy shoved a packet into his hand and when Maric opened it he discovered a roll stuffed with ham and cheese inside. “You’re making me breakfast now too?” Maric said between bites.

“You are my muse. I need you to be healthy and fit for the adventure ahead.”

Maric growled and considered throwing the roll onto the ground but he was surprised to find it all gone. Instead, he crumpled the paper and threw it, but it didn’t have quite the effect he had hoped for as it got caught in the wind and flew away into the nearest tree. The boy scowled and went to retrieve it.

“You need not litter,” the boy said when he returned, tucking the paper away in one of the satchels on the horse.

“And, I am not your kept man, your pet. I can look after myself.”

The boy arched an eyebrow. “So you do not need my money?”

“No, I have survived long without it and I am sure I can continue to do so.” Maric watched the boy out of the corner of his eye. The boy looked thoughtful for a second before placing his boot into the stirrup and swung himself on top of one of the horses.

“Then, I will meet you at the farm.” The boy kicked and the horse galloped off, it’s mate following close behind. Maric cursed. It would be a long walk to the farm, one that he could have travelled comfortably on the back of a horse. Maric looked longingly into the fog where the boy disappeared. It had been months since he ridden a horse. Maric cursed again, loudly enough to scare a flock of chickens in a nearby coop.

***

Men are more stubborn than mules, Rose thought unkindly. Especially Maric. She laughed to herself when she thought back to the look on his face when she rode off. He had been about to reach for one of the horses himself before she took off with them both. Let him walk, she thought. Let him starve. He needed her money as much as she needed him. It was a day’s ride to the farm. Longer on foot.

Rose slowed the horse down to a trot when she knew she had put enough distance between them. Sighing loudly, Rose leaned forward to pet Daffodil on the nose. Rose had purchased both Daffodil and her mate, Clover, this morning from the stablemaster in town when she went to inquire about Maric’s horse. When she learned that he did not have one stabled there and that the stableboy said he had seen Maric walk into town the other day, Rose bought two horses for the journey. Even though it would only be a day’s walk to the farmhouse, Rose was hoping that she could use the horse as leverage so that Maric would allow her to join him after they figured out what happened at the farmhouse.

Rose slowed the horse to a stop.

Because she feared that Maric was right all along, that he wouldn’t need her money, and that would leave her with… what? Nothing, again. Just traveling aimlessly from one village to another. The feeling of being lost was unbearable.

Rose gritted her teeth. No, Maric would come back, crawling. Rose smiled at the image of Maric, a large man as he is, on hand and knees begging her for her forgiveness for his rudeness. Well, he would be too proud to crawl. But, he would be walking. She hoped his feet would be sore by the time he caught up with her.

***

Maric swore again as he pulled a pebble out of his boot. His leather boots, though old, were sturdy and nearly up to his knees, yet, defying all possibilities, he fished out pebbles every few steps. The boy would be able to afford new boots, Maric grumbled to himself.

He had walked all morning without a sign of the boy and he wondered if Jacques would be true to his word and meet him at the house. Maric hoped not for many reasons. The least of which was that his feet were getting tired and he was hungry. The sun was high in the sky burning off the fog hours ago. And, Maric neglected to fill his waterskin before he left Pine Hollow.

His throat was scratchy with thirst.

Maric cursed the boy again. He is going to be a problem, Maric thought. The boy was pampered. He had handled those knives nicely, enough to ward off the run-of-the-mill ruffians, but against a true monster, the boy wouldn’t stand a chance. Maric just hoped that Jacques would listen to him when the time came. He can’t watch both of their asses.

After rounding another corner on the path, Maric’s hopes fell. The boy wasn’t lying, he didn’t intend to wait for Maric. Maric looked up at the horizon. The sun burned high in the sky and there was still no sign of a windmill.

***

The sun was beginning to set when Maric reached the windmill. The barkeep was right, it would have been hard to miss. The windmill was constructed out of gray stone and rose high above the treeline. For the past mile, Maric walked towards it, a beacon in the setting sun.

“I was wondering when you would arrive,” Jacques said, putting his lute aside. Maric heard the faint strumming of the lute before exiting the woods, a reassuring sign that Jacques was safe. Maric grunted, not that the boy’s safety was any of his concern.

“How long have you been here?”

“Two hours at most.” Jacques looked towards the farmhouse. “I knocked on the door, but there was no answer.”

Maric followed Jacques’s gaze and saw the lone farmhouse sitting on top of a small hill. It was dark, as he had expected. Whatever lived in there now wasn’t alive anymore. “No there wouldn’t be,” Maric said. “We need to make camp. It’s too late to get started now. And, we need to get away from here. It’s not safe.”

Jacques sat up with alarm. “What do you mean? We just arrived. Shouldn’t we stay inside the farmhouse at least?”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Maric looked into the woods that he just stepped out of. It wouldn’t be any safer in the forest tonight either. There would be a full moon and strange things happened during a full moon.

He turned his attention to a barn standing alone across a field of wheat. “We can sleep in there tonight.”

“Why not the farmhouse?” Jacques repeated.

Maric ignored the boy and took the reins of the horse closest to him and began making his way to the barn. It was eerily quiet, no birds chirping in the air, no chickens clucking in the pen. Maric cast an eye around the farm and to his dismay he did not see one cow, goat, or horse. Nothing stirred amongst the fields.

He wasn’t surprised when he opened the barn doors to find it empty.

***

Rose pouted to herself. There was a warm farmhouse just across the field with what she would assume would have nice soft beds, food, and hot water for a bath. It didn’t help her mood that Maric ignored her as he methodically went from stall to stall checking every dark corner. The barn was empty, but clean and smelled of fresh hay.

“What are you afraid of finding?”

“Nothing.”

Rose snorted. Maric returned to where she sat in the middle of the barn. They had put Daffodil and Clover in two of the cleanest stalls and found fresh hay for them both. Maric went to fill their troughs with fresh water from the well, but told Rose to stay put. Night had fallen.

“Nothing is what I am afraid of. Have you ever been to a farm that had no animals? No horses, cows, goats, or chickens?”

Rose stilled, a prickle of fear crept up her back. “No… do you think something is wrong?”

“Yes.” They couldn’t start a fire in the barn. It would be unsafe with all the dry hay and wood, but Maric said they could not because it would draw the attention of someone or something else. When Maric would say no more, Rose went to the saddlebags and took out a loaf of bread, aged yellow cheese, and dried meat. They ate supper in silence before going to bed.

Maric fell asleep quickly, from what Rose could hear. She laid awake listening to the night. It was quiet, far too quiet. Not even a breath of wind could be heard rustling through the trees. Shivering, she found herself moving closer to Maric.

***

Maric woke with the faint light of dawn to find Jacques spooned down along the right side of his body. The boy’s right hand rested on Maric’s chest and one of his legs was thrown over his. Maric gently lifted Jacques’s arm and set it down to his side and did the same with his leg. He smiled wryly to himself at how embarrassed Jacques would be if he were awake.

Maric looked down at Jacques’s face. There was a smattering a light freckles across his pale skin, the only blemish if one would consider it a blemish. Maric did not and thought it only enhanced his beauty. His hair was short and curled naturally and was a bright red that reminded Maric of a rose in full bloom. And, his lips were pursed as if expecting a kiss.

Maric’s eyes fell to Jacques’s lips, as if they were unwillingly drawn there, when Jacques woke and screamed, slapping Maric across the face so loudly that it resounded through the empty barn.

***

Rose dreamt about dreaming, if there were such a thing. In her dream, she was laying in the tower in her father’s castle in a bed so warm and soft that it felt as if she was floating on a cloud. A cool spring breeze blew through the window. She felt a hand stroke her cheek and brush across her lips. And, then there was a kiss, so soft and light that she wished there was more of it. She felt a hunger in her awaken, a desperate desire that she did not know existed until that moment.

The kiss woke her and she opened her eyes to see him… her Philip.

Only, Rose woke and saw an ugly face hovering over hers, and she screamed.

***

“How dare you!”

“How dare I? You were the one wrapped around me this morning,” Maric said standing and gingerly touching his cheek. He felt a bruise forming. It had been a long time since he was slapped last and never by a male.

“I would never do such a thing,” Jacques said, standing himself and fiddling nervously with his tunic. Maric watched curiously as Jacques smoothed down the front of his tunic several times.

“Well, you did.”

Maric could feel Jacques glare through the back of his skull as he stuffed his bedroll into the saddlebag. “Since you’re awake, we might as well make an early start. You want your adventure or not?”

All Maric heard was Jacques noisily getting ready for the day ahead.