Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 17

The minutes slipped along slowly, but finally they began to join together to form hours.  By the time several hours had passed Ildri was even more heartedly sick of horseback riding.  She hoped that however she made her way back to Wildwood it would not be on the back of an animal.   Sarabella was a nice enough horse as far as horses went, but a nice seat in a carriage would be a definite improvement.

Ildri looked at the horse she was riding on.  Sarabella was varying shades of brown and her mane and tail were slightly darker than the rest of her body.  Ildri had limited knowledge about horses, really only the small amount that Saul had taught her, but even she could see that the animals they were riding were well tended quality mounts.

Just who were Ty's family?  They were obviously not one's average farmers.  Perhaps they were merchants or horse breeders.  They also had hunting dogs, so it was safe to assume that they likely held land in their own right.

Ildri wondered if she would have even cared if he had not been reluctant to tell her.  Probably not, she thought with a small grin.  There was nothing more interesting than discovering secrets.

She wondered where they were at.  She had long since lost track of time.  She urged Sarabella forward and the horse reluctantly obeyed.  Ty looked at her questioningly.

"How much longer now, do you think?" Ildri asked, hoping he would not be irritated with her.

"We should be there very soon.  This part of the road is quite familiar to me."  He looked happy about arriving and Ildri wondered if it was the shelter and bed that appealed to him or Maxine herself.

"Have you been here often?" she asked more to make polite conversation than for any other reason.

Ty nodded his head.  "I actually lived with Maxine for a time when I was younger."

"Oh," she said and wondered all the more about who the mysterious Maxine was to Ty.

It was only a couple more minutes when Ty turned down a well concealed road.  Ildri probably would not have even noticed it had he not been with her.

A few more minutes elapsed before she saw a building rising before them in the distance.  It was a small cottage and she could see light coming from the window even though it was barely dark yet.

Ty pulled Dark Demon to a stop and handed Ildri the reins.  "Just wait here a moment while I go and talk with Maxine."

Ildri nodded although she felt a bit put out at being forced to wait again.  She supposed it was only natural that he let Maxine know that he had brought a stranger to her home.  But...

Ty returned very quickly.  "I'll take the horses out back to the shed.  You can go inside," he told Ildri.

The last thing Ildri wanted to do was to enter a random stranger's house alone, but even less did she want Ty to think that she somehow felt safer around him.  She forced herself to walk straight to the door and she knocked on it.

The door opened immediately.  Whatever Ildri had been expecting, it was not what she saw.

"Ildri?" the woman who must have been Maxine asked even though the answer was obviously clear to her.

"Yes, I'm Ildri," she responded nicely.

"I'm Maxine.  It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Ildri intoned, feeling very thrown by the whole encounter.

The simple fact of the matter was that Maxine was the most beautiful person Ildri had ever seen.  Glorious ladies had passed through Wildwood in the years that she had been there and Lady Wildwood and her younger sister were both very attractive in their own right.  The traitorous Anya was annoyingly pretty.