The Raven (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"I can't reach them on my own," Henry explained. "They're always with nurses. But I can get help once you're out. The Ghis are here trying to release you." But when a lantern light shone from the stairway, Henry had to dart away to hide. A tall soldier came down with keys in hand, and opened Emma's cell. "Come along, lass," he said in a grave, quiet tone.

 

[heartofcourage]

She heard that her family was there to save her and then Henry darted off to hide as a lantern lit up the darkness. She watched as a soldier came, opening her cell and telling her to come along in a somber tone.

"Where am I going?" She asked him, her heart racing in her chest.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Heaven, I hope," he told her with a rather heartbroken tone. He drew her from the cell in shackles and escorted her up to face the verdict of the church council.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma was numb as the man pulled her from the cell with shackles on her wrists and ankles. This was the end, she thought to herself. She would die in front of her family and her boys would never know her. It had once been her wish that all of this happen, but she wanted to love those boys with her entire heart and soul.

 

[KieranSoares]

Before they could reach the top of the stairs, Henry had darted out to try to stop the guard, but he was quickly subdued by other soldiers and dragged away yelling that Emma was innocent, that he'd lied. But no one listened. Emma was brought before the council of grave and serious men, and the looks on their faces already spelled her death. "Emma Ghis. You stand accused of witchcraft before this council of the Church of Scotland. You have pleaded not guilty. Mounting evidence has driven this council to decide that you are false. Therefore, we find you guilty of all charges, and sentence you to death. You will burn at the stake immediately." They were killing her quickly so that her family would miss her at dawn, the original intended time of the verdict.

 

[heartofcourage]

The verdict was passed quickly and Emma felt icy fear course down her spine. She didn't want to show weakness, but her eyes did close against the pain that was rising in her throat. It nearly choked her as she took in a deep breath to center herself.

"May I ask for one last request? May I see my boys?" She asked, needing to hold those two babies so tightly. "Please."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm afraid that's not possible. Your family took them forcefully," the leading priest told her. That was what the uproar had been in those halls above her cell.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma let that news sink in. The Ghis had the boys. That made her feel better about her fate but sad that she wouldn't see her boys again. They would be raised by a happy family who hopefully had happy memories of her to share with them.

"Then so be it." She said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Take her outside," the priest ordered her guard. "And keep close watch. We don't need interruptions." So Emma was led away to her fate, passed off to another man whose face she couldn't see under a helmet. She was escorted to a courtyard where a high platform stood with a tall stake, surrounded by kindling and straw. Another man waited aside with a torch ready. Sarah's chains were changed out for rope as she was secured to the stake by two armored men. It was as if they feared an attack.

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma remained as calm as she could, her head leaned back against the stake as the final preparations were made. The rope around her wrists was coarse, chafing her skin. She supposed in a few moments, a rope burn on her wrists wouldn't matter as the flames did their job.

"My babies...I'm so sorry." She whispered softly, tears finally appearing on her cheeks as she thought about the husband and the sons that she was leaving behind. "Mummy loves you both."

 

[KieranSoares]

The man still on the platform heard her, leaning in close to whisper behind his helmet visor, "An' they love you. You be sure t'tell 'em soon." That voice was so familiar, and in the dark slit of the visor, she caught the flash of dark Ghis eyes. He stepped away from her and off the platform. The man with the torch approached as the council came outside too, and all fell silent as he stepped up on the platform to set the kindling alight. Just as the fire caught, one of the armored men suddenly drew his sword and rushed the platform, knocking the man off. It was the signal for two other men to draw their blades too, and for a woman on the walls armed with a bow to nock an arrow aimed directly at the head priest. The warrior on the platform tried to stamp out the flames, but chose instead to cut Emma loose and scoop her up and get her off the stake before the heat grew too intense. The last thing Emma saw of the council was the old men calling for their guards and a fight breaking out, the head priest falling to an arrow in his shoulder.

Emma was rushed out to safety, past a battalion of Invernessians who charged in to help in the fight. She was set on the back of a wagon and the man carrying her finally threw his helmet aside and hugged her close. It was none other than Durban. "I'm sorry it took us so long, love," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

The voice of the man behind the visor startled her. She turned her head to look at him, catching the familiar flash of dark eyes. Her family was there to help. The flash of hope that she felt in her chest made her weak at the knees. She watched as the man with the torch came and set light to the kindling. As the flame started to lick around her slippers, all hell broke loose. She struggled against her ropes, whimpering as her skirts were singed before the warrior came for her.

She clung to him as he cut her loose and scooped her up from the stake. She was never so happy as she was when she was rushed to the back of a wagon and saw Durban tear his helmet aside. She hugged him tightly, sobbing out her pain and fear.

"Where's Lynndon?" She murmured between her sobs.

 

[KieranSoares]

"At 'ome, 'long with yer boys," Durban assured her. "Those bastards hurt 'im pretty bad, so Val kept 'im home. Selena, Cole, Brogan an' I came in 'is place. Val came too, jus' t'get th'boys, so she's already back. Ye'll be there before y'know it." He climbed into the cart and got her settled inside. Taking up a bugle, he blew the horn twice and Emma's saviors came rushing out, jumping onto their horses before they all took off into the night to get to the safety of Aberdeen castle. It turned out that the King of Aberdeen had offered his help too, so he offered a safe haven for the remainder of the night and would secure their route home.

 

[heartofcourage]

Once Emma was safely inside the castle at Aberdeen, she let herself relax. Her brother-in-law had refused to leave her side and she was shaken enough that she couldn't sleep. Instead, she sat up and talked to Durban late into the night.

"They knew that everything was made up, but they still got people to tell them that I had done horrible things to them." She murmured softly. "Perhaps I don't belong in Inverness."

 

[KieranSoares]

"The people tha' spoke against you weren' Invernessians," Durban told her. "All those reports... Lies an' made up stories by spies an' people paid t'condemn you. Inverness had nothin' t'do with it," he assured her quietly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"They told me..." Emma said, letting that information sink in. "They knew about Brogan and Julia. They knew about the poisoning. How could they know all of that if they didn't speak to someone from Inverness?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Durban took in that information, and murmured, "What about tha' man you'd employed? The one tha' escaped after Brogan drank the poison." He was the only missing link aside from a couple guards loyal to the Ghis.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I assumed he went to Wick." Emma said, completely and utterly crushed that her past was having such a harsh effect on her future. "I don't know anymore."

"Emma Campbell was a miserable woman who only wanted to be loved by someone. She found that love and she still did terrible things to hold on to it. Now...well, I suppose I'll have to pay for those sins for a very long time." Emma murmured softly, unable to look Durban in the eye. "My own family didn't even want me. My mother use to call me "the girl". I don't remember her calling me by name. How could I compete with a brother that was well loved and vibrant? I don't think either of them would have shed a tear if I had really been burned at the stake."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can' help you with tha' part of yer life, Em," Durban told her quietly. "But what I can yell ya is tha' this family would've been devastated. Ma cried 'er heart out when Boar came runnin' to the keep. I ain' seen Brogan so angry in a long time. Our wives wanted t'come too, but we got them t'look after Cole an' Selena's children so they could come."

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma glanced up at Durban, knowing that the Ghis would give her as much love and support as they possibly could. She let out a soft sigh and nodded at those words as he told her that they had all had a reaction to her abduction.

"I'm happy with Lynndon." She said softly, afraid to admit that to anyone. "He makes me very happy."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You make him happy too, love. An' tha' means the world to us." Emma didn't quite know as of yet the angry and hurt little boy Boar had once been. Finding love had done wonders for his temper though he'd always had a soft heart. He was finally smiling all the time like his brothers did with their families. It probably meant the most to Selena and Durban and Kitty who'd been unable to protect him from his father as he grew older.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, considering that I don't work, keeping he and the boys happy is my job." Emma said, giving Durban a small smile. "He talks about building a new house. He wants to make sure that we're comfortable no matter what. I tell him that I don't need a new house or fancy things. He doesn't ever seem to take no for an answer."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He's always been a little odd. He just wants 'is family t'have a place all their own. Somethin' he made with his own hands. But I can' really call it odd when I did th' same. We'd all be livin' at th' keep an' still 'ave room t'spare if no' fer that."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We have a lot to discuss when I get back to Inverness. Perhaps some changes that need to be made for our future together." Emma said, knowing that she and Boar had a lot to sort through if they were going to continue their little life.

 

[KieranSoares]

"He'll do what needs to be done, once he's back on his feet too." Durban kissed her cheek and rose. "Get some sleep, love. It's a long road back to home."