Hunted Queen

Chapter Thirty Four • Leaving

-Jade- 

"Are you sure?" Jade gasped in shock from hearing the news that Ulf was planning on storming her safe haven. "Surely they cannot storm the priory?" She let out a nervous laughter. 

"It appears as if they are going to try." The other monk answered her solemnly.

"But that-" 

"That makes things a bit tricky, and something has to be done." Brother Richard intervened and looked at his brother and then at Jade. "We need to find a way to sneak you out of here." He declared sternly while pointing his whole hand towards her. 

"What about our brothers and the pri-" The other monk started to object but was instantly silenced. 

"When she is gone, and safe, we will let them in. Hopefully before they have done any damage to our beloved sanctuary. Then we will show them around and they will discover that she is no longer here and that their siege was of no-" 

"That is absurd!" Jade snapped immediately. "You have no idea of what those men are capable of! They will kill you." She explained but the monks did not look like they understood or believed her. "If they have decided to break down the doors in order to get me, they will not hesitate to kill any of you if they believe you stand in their way, in the slightest way." She added and gave her little declaration a final touch  by nodding decisively. 

"We will not be in their way." Brother Richard stated calmly.  

You already are. She thought. And Ulf will probably want a moment of your time...

"If you tell them that I am no longer here and that I somehow deluded them... at least one of those men will take their frustration out on you." She said and gave the two monks a long stare each. "Not to mention that they will know that you helped me." 

Silence emerged between the three of them. 

-Ulf- 

As they walked out of the trees, and towards the main entrance of the priory, his body went tense all over. He had not sent word to the king, nor had he listened to those among his soldiers who were god fearing men. He would get that woman out of that priory and deliver her to his master, no matter how many men died or what God he would anger to accomplish this mission. 

That she had managed to evade him, his men and hounds for this long, was a statement of how weak and incompetent they were - and he did not appreciate it being flaunted in his face. He might not be inclined to the type of brutality Gorm had been, but he would certainly make sure that she suffered on their way back to the front. The only thing he had to make sure was that she was alive when they arrived, not in what state she would be in. Putting it simply, he did not care at all. He just wanted this to be over with so he never had to chase after that girl ever again. 

Cold and stiff he stood in the rain, studying the priory and its forms. Every corner, window and stone his eyes examined. Trying to find the best way in besides the front doors. 

His body felt numb from spending hours in the storm without sufficient protection against its temper, but it was nothing compared to what he would be put through if he came back emptyhanded to his king. He did not intend on coming back without his prey. A part of him knew that doing that was to be dead already.