Betrayal

Chapter 11

The Cecilia of yore would have put up a fight being led away from an exciting incident but that Cecilia had never been nearly strangled to death. She was now content to have her hand held and be led off into the marshland. She briefly mourned all her belongings being left behind. Her clothes, her books, her trinkets were all replaceable but her possessive nature made the parting uneasy.

The redhead looked down at her hand being enclosed by a larger one and her feet came to a halt in the squelchy muck. The gentleman who never allowed a hint of impropriety to enter their interactions was holding her hand. The shock was enough to made her falter.

The man too stopped by the force of her pause and gave his companion a quizzical stare. The Lady just raised a shaped eyebrow and brought their fused hands up to eye level. She regretted giving attention to the anomaly because the man escaped from her touch as if being caressed by acid. He gave a baleful stare at his offending appendage and turned back to the path behind the town outskirts. They were hidden in the shadows by the uneven landscape and the shadows of the double story buildings.

"Holding hands with me is not so terrible. I am not infectious," The girl uttered lightly. The stigma that the plague left behind had made her sensitive.

"Such uncouth behaviour cannot be borne, especially from me," Was the man's predictable reply. His fists were clenched as he walked firmly with his head down.

"Why so? Who are you to have so many restrictions. Who are you? The Shah or the Noor?" The redhead asked curiously.

"Do not be preposterous! Shah means king. I have fallen deep indeed if that were the case for no crown balances atop my head nor a throne awaits for me," The dark haired man replied. He looked behind them cautiously as if expecting an errant arrow to embed itself in one of his companions at any moment.

"Then could you call yourself the Noor?" Cecilia lifted her skirts to cross over a particularly wet piece of land. Beth made a wheezing out of breath sound from behind them as she had to go over the same obstacle.

"Noor means light," Sir Russell injerected making Cecilia realize they no longer were in the safe confines of the inn where the two servants would unhear half her ridiculous musings.

"And my skin hardly signifies the paleness of any light," The dark haired man half jested. He gave the rest of their companions and wry smile.

"But it reflects the light of the moon quite well," Cecilia was complimentary in her words and she glanced up at the clear sky although there was wafts of smoke covering certain portions. The stranger made an appalled face at her observation while Simon nervously laughed.

"He asked for something back from me. He was hardly asking for me," The man snorted, seeing her transparent attempts at trying to name him.

"Still, I shall name you Shah? It is fitting," Cecilia's mind was made up. She stumbled over a rock as if the man's glare was potent enough to disturb her physically.

"In what way? It only adds danger to your cause. We have not had a frank discussion about your purpose in the camp but I have overheard enough to know it is vital for your country. Do not put yourself in peril for an adventure," The man lectured her like Cecilia's mother would every time they met.

"It not my fancy of adventure as you put it that leads me on this path. It is my insistence on doing what's right. Far too many people have no honour when it comes to promises and I shan't be one of them," Cecilia murmured remembering the promises made towards her that were broken. She remembered each and every one and vowed she would not do the same. She had in her heart made a promise she intended to keep.