"But what if she runs into scoundrels?"

"Scoundrels? What if she meets a man?!"

"Oh, please, Alice, our dear sister won't know what to do if she meets a worthy male."

Katherine Bennett rubbed her temples before she looked, yet again, down the long stretch of snow for the mail coach. As nervous as she was to start this new chapter in her life, she believed space from her two sisters was needed. As well as her mother...

"Now, Katherine, do you remember everything I told you about your new job?"

"Yes, Mother," Katherine answered in a tired voice. Her mother taught her all about the joys of being a maid. The constant dusting of the shutters, paintings, and wall hangings. Not to mention, preparing the stoves, fireplaces, and cleaning the hearths. There was also the cleaning of the bedrooms, including the-

"Do you think you'll get to meet the Duke?" Her sister Mary asked.

"I don't know, Mary. I haven't gotten there yet," Katherine quipped. You love your sisters, you love your sisters, she reminded herself.

Alice scoffed at Mary's question. "Come now, Mary. You know the lower class, such as ourselves, don't get to have lunch and chat with the Duke."

Mary rolled her eyes. "I didn't ask if she was having lunch with him. I asked if she was going to meet him."

"Oh, look," Katherine said with excitement and relief, "there's the mail coach. Looks like I better be off now."

Katherine said her goodbyes to her sisters before she turned to her mother.

"I am so proud of you, my darling girl. Please, take care of yourself and make sure to write me."

Katherine may have been dying to leave, but now that it was officially time to board the mail coach, she was feeling anxious. She hugged her mother tightly and said with a shaky voice, "I will write you every day, Mother. I love you."

Katherine boarded the mail coach with her small trunk that had her only dress, a book, and bread and fruit. She looked out the window and waved goodbye to the only home she's ever known. When she could no longer see them, she sat back in the coach with disbelief. She couldn't believe it. She was actually on her way to be a maid in the Duke of Kent's estate.

When her mother got wind that they were looking for another maid, she suggested Katherine. It took them some time and a lot of favors to afford this mail coach to get her there. Katherine was ecstatic at the news. Finally, something she could do for herself. She could be on her own for the first time.

She remembered her sister's reaction to the news clearly:

"Katherine, you have the chance to do something real," Alice had said.

"You may meet someone there. You can get wed and start a family. Maybe he will even be titled," Mary had added. She was always the optimist.

"My lovely sisters, you know I cannot marry someone titled. It's not the way of things."

Mary smiled and glanced from Alice back to Katherine. "But imagine if you did! Imagine if you wed a man, a real man. Then you know..."

The three sisters giggled at the implied remark.

Katherine smiled to herself in the mail coach. It was a lovely memory that filled her heart with warmth. Katherine noticed it had started snowing and it seemed to be picking up speed. "Sir, how long until we arrive at the castle?" She asked the driver.

She heard the horse neighing before he answered. "We should be arriving just at night fall, madam."

"Thank you," Katherine said as she cast a worried look outside. If the snow continued to pick up speed, they may not make it to the castle.

"Stop right there!" Someone yelled from outside the carriage.

"Please, let us pass. We don't want any trouble," her driver said with a shaky voice.

Katherine wrapped her arms around herself. Too scared to even look outside to see who it was. But then again, she didn't need to. Highwaymen, she thought to herself. They were here to rob them.

''We don't care what you want. Dismount your carriage."

The carriage rocked back and forth as the driver got off and Katherine closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer. This could go very bad. Since hiring a mail coach was expensive, they probably thought the rider, her, would be rich or have valuables. Once they find out she didn't have what they wanted...well, she didn't want to think about that.

The voices were muffled now, and she couldn't hear what was being said. She slid closer to her window and pressed her ear up against it. Just as soon as her ear touched the window, her carriage door opened.

A very large man was standing at her carriage door. He had a menacing appearance and Katherine's heart went into overdrive.

"Please, don't hurt me," she begged, hoping this male would show her mercy.

The man glared at her before retrieving her trunk and laying it out in the snow. "Well that depends on what's in here," he said as he unlocked her trunk.

She saw his disappointed expression before he looked up at her in anger. "There's nothing in here. Just a dress, a book, and food."

He threw the trunk behind him and leaned into the carriage. He grabbed Katherine by the arm and dragged her out. Ignoring her panicked pleas to be let go, he grabbed her throat and pushed her up against the carriage.

"You got nothing we want," he basically spat the words at her.

Her eyes widened with panic before the sound of a horse approaching drew her and her attacker's attention. They both looked to the right. There was a man riding up on a large white horse. He's with them, she thought. If this was another highwayman, she was in even more trouble.

Elijah was riding through the woods when he heard a female scream. It was pure terror and he pulled on the horse's reins, ordering the horse to go in that direction. From a distance he could see a stopped carriage. There were three men, one seemed unconscious in the snow. Two were checking his pockets. The third made Elijah's blood boil. He pulled a woman out of the carriage and threw her against the coach. There was terror in her eyes and it only made stoked his fury more.

As Elijah got closer, he knew he got their attention. The man and woman looked in his direction. Dismounting his horse, he pulled out the blade he always carried with him. "Step aside and let the lady go."

The three men circled him now, all threatening his life. "Who the hell do you think you are? This is none of your business."

Elijah smirked at them. "It doesn't matter who I am. If you want to die by hanging, I suggest you leave here. Now." If Elijah told them who he was, there's the risk of a kidnapping. Not to mention, he was trying to protect the woman at all costs.

As he noticed the men get into fighting stance, he braced himself. They flew at him with blades drawn. Elijah was a fair fighter since he'd gotten into it a few times with other young lords at Eton growing up. But today, he was terribly outnumbered. Arms came around him from behind and he threw his head back, breaking the nose of one man. The other two came at him again, one taking a swipe at him with a knife.

Elijah jumped back, the knife narrowly missing him. He thrust his arm forward, stabbing the man in the heart. His lifeless body fell to the ground as the other man yelled obscenities at him.

"Give me all you got," Elijah said with confidence.

The man jumped at him and tackled Elijah to the ground. They rolled around in the snow as they fought. Elijah nearly took a blade to the face. The man punched Elijah in the face, knocking him on his back.

The man jumped on Elijah then, swinging his arm down as he tried to kill him off. Elijah grabbed his wrists, trying to keep the man from completing his deadly arc. Elijah looked to the right. His blade was three feet in the other direction.

He turned to look back at the man above him. In an instant, his expression was fierce and instantly changed to shock. Elijah frowned as the man started bleeding from his chest and slumped down. Elijah pushed the man off of him and got to his feet.

The woman who was attached was standing in front of him. Blood coated her white dress as she stared down at the knife in her hand with horror.

"What have I done?" She asked him in disbelief.

Elijah looked to the right and noticed the attacker with the broken nose had fled. Good riddance, he thought.

"Are you alright?" He asked the unknown woman.

She looked at him and her eyes widened with panic, yet again.

Elijah frowned as he looked behind him but didn't see anyone. The snow had started to pick up now and they needed to leave this place.

"We need to get out of here," he said in a rough voice. Damn, he must have pulled something in the fight.

"But, you're..."

When she trailed off, he asked, "What?"

She pointed to his side. "You've been...stabbed."

Elijah looked down at his left side. Sure enough, blood was dripping down his leg onto the white snow. He looked back at the woman and he felt his adrenaline wearing off. In its place came a rush of pain and fatigue. Before he knew what had happened, his world went black.