Chapter 7

“What are you doing here?” Aquila did not like the way he looked at her, as if he was trying to weigh how difficult it would be to...was—was this it? Had Trouble somehow found, in one of his inspections, her cross pendant and spilled the beans as soon as he got into town? There was something about that pendant that put a death sentence on the one holding it. But for Trouble to have found it would have been practically impossible, for she kept it on her at all times...it would be inconceivable that Trouble could have found it on her without her having discovered him. But if he had, it would have certainly spread, and whoever wanted it would be looking for her.
The man came toward her and Aquila backed up until she hit the wall. “What do you want?”
He was not near as big as Trouble. In fact, she would place him smaller than any of her brothers. But men were built differently than girls and she did not put it past him, at the moment, the ability to tear her head off.
“Where is she?” the man asked.
“Who?” Aquila squeaked.
“The Woman! Where is she?”
Aquila had heard of the Woman. She was the most notorious head hunter alive. If you wanted assurance that someone would be eliminated, you called on the Woman's services. As the story goes, many have tried to eliminate her and each one who tried to eliminate her was never heard from again. There was only one job she could not take out. Both had managed to escape with their lives intact.
“I have not seen or heard from the Woman my whole life! How would I know where she is?” Aquila spat. He was not here for her.
“She was sent here to take you out one year ago today, actually. She obviously did not do it and now her client wants her dead. Where is she?”
Aquila thought hard and fast what she had been doing one year ago. She was waking up from the nap she had had after spending the whole night dragging Trouble up the mountain. She had not seen a woman since her last trip into town and would not see another woman until her following trip into town. No one had tried to kill her.
“How did you find me?” Aquila changed the subject.
“I know the town you frequent, so I waited for you to show up, then I followed you here.”
“No one told you where I was? Do you know who I am?”
“Your name is of no consequence to me, but what you have that my employer wants is. The Woman was sent to carry this duty out but unfortunately the Woman's reputation is slipping and now I have two to take—” his voice trailed off.
Aquila sighed. She could try and run for it, but she still did not stand much of a chance. She would just have to face the facts: her life was ending.
“Before I do anything, I would like to look at your work. I saw you working on it earlier and I must say, you are very good.”
“I had a better teacher.”
“It is a family trade, am I correct?” He motioned for her to lead.
Aquila ignored the question but obeyed and led him to her room. He looked over the little animal figures, weaponry, tables, and rocker before he examined the arrows on the wall with her family's names.
Aquila slowly moved around the room. She was hoping he would not see the intricately carved bow with matching arrows she was specifically moving towards. “You would not happen to know what the Woman looks like, would you?”
“No. It seems no one does.”
“Hm.” Aquila now stopped in front of her intended location and slowly moved her hands to the bow and arrows. “If I am to die anyway, can I not know my killer's identity?”
“I guess so. Salazaar. And if you think you will be able to pull a shot off with that bow, do not even try. I have got a knife ready to plunge through your heart the second you pick it up.”
Aquila's heart plummeted. He had noticed.
Aquila moved away from the bow and took one last look at the arrows hanging on the wall. Will they hear of my death? She turned around and just as soon as she did, she gasped. A tall dark figure stood in the doorway behind Salazaar.
Salazaar's brow furrowed. “What–”
He stopped mid-sentence when the shiny blade of a sword rested on his shoulder. Salazaaar slowly turned. “Who are you?”
“Word in town says you have been looking for me,” came a familiarly deep voice.
Aquila's heart skipped a beat. Trouble had come back! Why?
“You?” Salazaar stood there for a couple of minutes dumbfounded. “Are you the–”
“Yes!” Trouble cut him off. “And you have messed with the wrong woman.”
Something flashed in the dim light and Salazaar fell to the floor. Trouble stepped over him and took her small chin in his big hand.
She opened her mouth but could not find the words to speak. Finally she managed to ask, “Why did you come back?”
Trouble's free hand had now come to the back of her head and was slowly but surely unpinning her braid. “I could not get you out of my head. I had to come back,” he explained. Trouble had now accomplished the feat of unbraiding her hair and now ran his fingers through the tangled masses. “Why do you keep your hair braided and wrapped around your head?”
“Because...because when it is down it makes me look smaller than I am and I feel–I feel–”
“Vulnerable?”
Aquila winced with the word that had described her life before being banished. “Yes.”
“You do not have to any more. I am never going to let anyone hurt you ever. I am here to stay.”
“Is that a proposal?” Aquila giggled. “Because I do not do it otherwise.”
Trouble grinned. “I guess it is.”
Aquila could not believe how it had come to this. She had despised men for so long, having been ruled over for so much of her life by one domineering figure. Now she had forgotten it all for this man?
“Let us go,” Trouble was pulling her to the door.
“Trouble, not yet,” Aquila protested.
“What is there to wait for?” Trouble questioned, taking her hands in his and softly kissing them.
“Trouble, we only just became engaged. There is a dress to see to, the priest to talk to, a few friends at least, and we must have time to adjust. I must have time to adjust. This is all too soon for me, my...darling,” Aquila barely breathed the last word.
Trouble sighed. “Of course, how foolish of me. I was not thinking of you, I apologize.”
Aquila stared at him for a moment completely taken aback for a moment at how fast things had gone. He was back. She was in love with him. They were going to be married.
Aquila's stomach growled at that moment and Trouble laughed. “For a moment there I thought you had left this world but I can see you're just as much here as you ever were.”
Cheeks growing red, Aquila moved for the door. “It seems he was cooking something when I discovered him. Shall we see what he was making?”

********

It was all so right when the day came six months later that Trouble and Aquila were to exchange vows. Although both were a bit nervous, they knew it was all just perfect. Since Trouble had made no appearance in the Lucian village during his stay and Aquila kept her presence discreet, they chose to hold a small ceremony at the front of the church with only the priest, Michelle and her husband, and the proprietor of the store where Aquila took all of her business.
Aquila had successfully acquired a dress that fit the occasion but was yet simple, inexpensive, and still beautiful in Trouble's eyes. It was held by thin straps and boasted long sheer sleeves that attached to the corner of the heart-shaped bodice. As the priest droned on with the rituals, Aquila only had thoughts for the man who had his hands resting on the dropped waistline of her ivory silk dress. The skirt softly draped from side to side as it fell to the ground to create a bell shaped look that the woman who sold her on it said would give the illusion of height.
Trouble said something which brought Aquila back to the present. The priest instructed her to say something and somehow she coherently repeated it before allowing her mind to wander back to the man before her. She would never understand how she could have gotten a man so big that only one of his hands could fully encircle her waist.
The prospect of submitting to this man, who was much bigger than Duard, somehow didn't seem as daunting a prospect. Yes, Trouble could very well be more of a threat to her than Duard just by his size, but he would not even think of it.
He loves me and would not push his authority over me like Duard might. Aquila thought in relief. There was something in the back of her mind that told her over the years that she would probably wind up marrying a man just as oppressive and domineering as Duard. Relief flooded her soul as she thought of the bright future that stood in front of her.
Trouble suddenly shifted and Aquila could feel him grow tense. His hands tightened their grasp on her waist almost to the point where she could not breath and when she looked up into his face, he was looking towards the back of the cathedral. She followed his gaze and watched as a man not much smaller than Trouble, made his way down the aisle towards them.
Aquila looked from one to the other a few times before noticing the stark resemblance between the two men. The difference between the two could only have been twenty years. But Aquila was having more difficulty breathing and she tapped his arm. “Trouble!” she managed.
Suddenly his hold released and he looked down at her. “Yes?”
He had not even noticed how tight he had been holding her. “Is that your father?”
Something akin to hatred flared in his eyes as he muttered, “He is.”
Aquila was confused. How could he hate his father so? If only her father were still alive. Maybe there was just a simple misunderstanding between the two that could be worked out with time. “Is it not nice that he came for the wedding? He may be late but we should still invite him to the festivities later on.”
“No!” Trouble growled.
The priest had ended the ceremony at that point and announced them man and wife. It was the moment for the first kiss that Aquila had always imagined as the perfect moment but Trouble's contempt for the man who had just walked in changed everything. Instead of the soft, tender, and passionate moment she had dreamed of, it was hard, forced, and painful as he pulled her to him and kissed her with such force that it drove her teeth into the inside of her mouth and leaving what would no doubt turn into a bruise by the next morning. His hands tightened, squeezing the breath from her and pinning her helplessly to someone she thought she had known, as he straightened to a standing position.
Michelle watched in horror before shrieking, “Trouble!”
Suddenly Trouble dropped her, realizing what he had just done. Aquila fell to the the floor, the taste of blood on her tongue and tears stinging her eyes. Any remorse Trouble might have had was overclouded by anger for the new visitor and he disappeared out the side door as Michelle flew to Aquila's side. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Michelle asked with heavy concern, “Aquila, are you all right?”
Aquila watched as the man she assumed to be his father follow him before daring to rise. She managed to nod before rising and running out the front entrance. She picked up her skirt and ran for the mountains where her home sat. Unfortunately she had forgotten about the time of the year and was ankle deep in snow and shivering from head to toe.
Three hours later the bruised and forlorn bride was trudging up to the river that had not quite frozen over, hair disheveled, her veil having been lost an hour earlier to a low branch. There was no crossing it due to the swelling of the sides from rain and snow further north and the weather, but there was no way she would survive through the night left to the elements.
Forgetting her dress, she fell the ground in a heap and sobbed. Her wedding day had been ruined: the man she loved had turned practically savage and now she would die from her own rash actions. Why did she have such an urgent need to go home?
Only moment later, suffering from the cold, disillusionment, and weariness, she did not notice the shadow that fell over her small crumpled up figure. Instead, she passed out into a deep sleep.

***********

Aquila stretched and opened her eyes. Across from her was the small fireplace in the cook's quarters. A fire flickered and she could see her dress hanging beside it, wrinkled and slightly damp and dirty.
Suddenly she realized that she had not fallen asleep here but by the river that had blocked her path home. Aquila could feel her undergarments under the rough blanket with relief.
Aquila placed a finger to her no doubt bruised lips and winced. They were swollen, which was the only way she could feel them, but not as swollen as she first thought they would get. Her time spent face down in the snow probably helped keep it down some.
Just then the man that had disrupted their wedding appeared in her view. He was watching her curiously but otherwise unreadable. When she only looked back, he stepped forward with a cup of something hot. “Drink this.”
“What is it?” Aquila asked warily.
“Only herbal tea. It will be good for your health and also to help warm you up. You had quite a night.”
Aquila accepted the cup but cautiously investigated the contents. When she could smell the different herbs and nothing more, she took a sip and then turned to her visitor. “Who are you and where is Trouble?”
“I am Darther Woman, Trouble's father. Now where Trouble is...I have no idea. I was hoping you would be able to help me out on that,” the man replied, taking a seat on the edge of what had been Trouble's bed.
“You mean you did not follow him?” Aquila was confused.
“I did, or I tried really. But he was gone when I got outside of the church. When I returned the kind lady told me that you had run out the door and probably for home. So I followed you and found you by the river. You know, it is quite unhealthy for one to fall asleep in the snow. It is very detrimental to your life and you must promise me to never do such a thing again,” Darther reprimanded.
Just then the door to the kitchen flew open and slammed against the opposing wall. “Aquila—“
Darther stood. “Trouble, wait!”
Aquila sat up quickly but held the rough covers over her chest. Trouble stood motionless for a moment before venturing further into the room, watching Darther carefully. “What are you doing here?” Trouble questioned furiously.
“You should thank me. I rescued your bride from death's grip when you failed her as miserably as you did,” Darther spat in response.
“Thank you. Now get out!” Trouble ordered.
“Trouble! How could you treat your father so?” What Aquila really wanted to ask was how he could treat her like he did, but she would bring that up later.
“He may be my father by blood, but I refuse to call him such,” Trouble answered, his gaze never wavering from the older man.
“What happened that sent you two to such odds against each other?” Aquila questioned.
“He banished me from ever seeing my mother again and has held back every letter I tried sending her. Every effort I have made to see or contact my mother has returned fruitless because of him!” Trouble spat.
“He disgraced the family name!” Darther returned.
“What did he—“ suddenly Aquila stopped. The family name was Woman. What did Trouble do...realization dawned on her. Aquila scooted as far away from Trouble as she could on the bed and pulled the covers over her mouth and muffled her horrified scream.
“Yes, him!” Darther nodded.