the heavy basket the maid had brought for collecting branches. She hit her maid in the side of the head, sending Cecily slamming to the ground. Murie did not stick around to see how the maid fared, but took off at once, crashing into the woods rather than risk the path. She was younger and stronger, but her body had taken a beating today, and she'd had nothing but the bowl of soup Clement had brought. She feared in a race to the death, she would lose. She needed to use intellect - if she had any left after the blow she'd taken. Murie ran as quickly as she could, heading in the direction she thought the castle must be. When she broke out of the trees and suddenly found herself on the edge of the village, she didn't hesitate, but made for the small group of buildings. It was a long, unprotected run to the castle from where she'd come out of the woods, and at this point she would not put it past Cecily to chase after her and stab her at the foot of the drawbridge, even in front of the men on the wall. The maid was not in her right mind, and the village was much closer; there would be places to hide while she sorted out how to get back to the castle and help.
If Murie were extremely lucky, one of the men on the wall might even see her and send someone down to be sure all was well, she thought optimistically.
The smell of smoke was heavy in the air as she drew close to the buildings. Balan had not judged it necessary to put out the fire in the blacksmith's cottage. The building itself had already been beyond repair, and so long as the fire did not spread he'd claimed he was content to let it burn.
The fire had not spread, Murie saw as she hurried into the village. But it was not yet completely out, either. The building had collapsed in on itself and was now a heap of blackened, smoldering wood and debris. Skirting it, Murie made her way to a cottage two doors down and glanced quickly around to be sure she was not seen before slipping inside.
The cottage she'd chosen was small and dark and dank with disuse. Moving to the window beside the door, Murie peered toward the woods and worried her lip, waiting to see if Cecily followed. If she were extremely lucky, the woman was presently lying unconscious in the woods, easy for Balan's men to find and capture. Murie might be standing here hiding for naught!
That thought had barely run through her mind when Cecily appeared at the edge of the woods. The maid's head turned toward the castle, then to the village. She ... headed for the village. Murie turned immediately to peer around, relieved when she spotted a door at the back of the cottage, leading - she hoped
- outside. At least she would not be trapped if Cecily found her. She might even be able to slip out and run to the castle. Murie's eyebrows drew together as she noted that Cecily was walking straight for the cottage she was in, as if Cecily had seen where she'd gone. And probably she had, Murie realized. Just because she had not come out of the woods right away did not preclude her from lurking just out of sight.
Cursing under her breath as the woman drew closer, Murie hurried to the back of the cottage and tried the door. Relieved, she found it opened. She slipped outside and pulled the door closed, then eased to the corner of the building, ears straining for some tell-tale sound that might inform her as to whether Cecily had yet entered. She was about to risk running behind the next cottage when Cecily stepped around the corner in front of her, knife at the ready.
A startled cry slipped from her lips, and Murie whirled and ran the other way, uncaring where she went as long as it was away from Cecily's slashing knife. She managed to get past the cottage she'd been hiding in and out behind the blacksmith's burnt ruins before Cecily caught her by the hair. The maid tried to jerk her to a stop and back around.
Knowing death awaited her, Murie threw herself to the side, breaking the hold the woman had on her but landing on her stomach on the ground,