Tomas could not seem to catch his breath, falling to the feet of the stranger in the helmet and grasping at his throat which was surely bruised.
“Th…thank you,” Tomas huffed, grateful to be free from his father’s clutches.
That was the closest he had ever gotten to nearly killing Tomas, and he knew it.
Tomas looked up at the figure standing over him. His teary eyes adjusted to the dark, and eventually he made out the facial features.
It was Rilan, wearing his father’s old helmet. He was tall for his age; Tomas’s father must have assumed it was a grown man watching them.
Rilan knelt down and patted Tomas on the back, wanting to offer help but not knowing what else to say or do in such a circumstance.
“Rilan? How… how did you…?” Tomas began. He was amazed that Rilan had been there to save him, let alone that his father was scared off by him.
“I heard screaming,” Rilan said. “Grabbed my pa’s helmet and came looking.”
Tomas, through his pumping heartbeat, was impressed at Rilan’s bravery. Wearing his father’s helmet and standing in the shadows down the street had somehow worked. It had scared off his father. The man was a coward; he would never do anything incriminating in front of anyone in Brittlepeak, lest it ruin him.
“I…I can’t believe it worked.”
“Me too, Tommy. Got my nerves all shaken, I did.”
“He… I…” Tomas could only gasp, still finding it hard to calm down.
“You’re alright, Tommy.”
Despite being children, despite being about the same age, Rilan had managed to save him. Tomas was overwhelmed with both fear and relief at the same time.
“He wanted me to kill the lambs,” Tomas uttered, tearing up again as their frightened faces and harrowing screams began to flash back into his mind. “He gave me a cleaver.”
Rilan did not say anything in reply. What could he say? He took Tomas by the arm and helped him back to his family’s house only a short walk from Tomas’s house.
“Let’s get out of this cold.”
“I… I stabbed him,” Tomas said, realising what he had done.
He had taken the blade and he had plunged it into his father’s flesh. His stomach twisted at the memory, recalling the resistance his father’s thigh had given as he had hacked it and the wet blood spraying onto his hands.
“I stabbed him straight in the leg.”
“It’s alright. You had to defend yourself.”
Rilan held on to Tomas to try and comfort him and make him feel protected. Tomas was still shaking like a leaf in the breeze, and the cold night was doing nothing to helping.
Rilan quietly got Tomas inside the cottage to prevent waking his parents. The hearth was low, illuminating the living space in a deep orange glow.
They sat before the glowing coals, trying to fight the cold away. Rilan threw a blanket over Tomas’s small shoulders.
Tomas wiped the tears from his face, thankful that the surge of energy coursing through his body was beginning to settle. Yet, the fear still lingered.
“He’s going to hurt me again tomorrow,” Tomas said, shuddering. “He won’t let me get away with this.”
Rilan patted his shoulder. “We’ll sort something out, don’t worry. Let’s just rest.”
Tomas rested his face in his open hands, clenching his teeth with dread. He knew he would not be getting away from this unscathed. His father was not one to forgive and forget.
Yet somehow, he also felt a bit of strength he had never experienced before. He had never fought back in the past when similar things had happened. Normally, he would allow his father to beat him without putting up a fight.
But seeing those helpless lambs had somehow spurred Tomas into action. He had defended himself, and that gave him an ever-so-small comfort within.
Despite Rilan being by his side throughout the night, Tomas could not rest. Every noise from outside made him jump.
He pictured his father, the butcher. He imagined those lambs. Helpless, afraid to die.
All the while, Tomas could do nothing. That was what ached the most. Not the bruised neck, or being dragged from bed, or the fear of his father.
Being unable to help those small lambs was what hurt Tomas the most that night.
Chapter 34 - The Stable Boy
Katryna Bower waited anxiously behind a pillar near the stables where she had first met Sniff the day she had arrived back in Ravenrock. She did not want to draw attention to herself, so she had gone into Trish’s clothes chest and taken a dress for herself.
She did not ask her handmaiden for permission, as she did not want to catch any suspicions from anyone else in the castle. If what the stable boy had said was true, then both he and Katryna could be in danger.
Trish would not mind that she had borrowed a dress anyway, Katryna knew.
She snuck out after ordering the High Sword to have the guards stationed at the gatehouse allow her and her brother Finn through.
“Let no one else out. Not yet. Not until we have some answers,” Katryna said. Ser Arthus had nodded and bowed to the princess before setting off on his duties.
Katryna could pull off being a lowborn rather well after living amongst them for half her life in Redwatch, without her family’s money or support. In some ways, she considered herself more of an average person than a princess.
She pulled a jacket on top of her dress and covered her head in a hood to remain inconspicuous to those going about their business around them.
Finn had come with her this time, despite her eagerness to investigate by herself. She did not want to endanger anyone else, but Finn was insistent,
