The Marechal Chronicles: Volume V, The Tower of the Alchemist Read Free Page A

Heloise.
    “They simply did what we're doing right now, that's all.  Our parents would never let us be together, let alone marry one day.  Instead, we'll find somewhere where we can start our lives together without our families to decide what they think is best.”
    She could not deny what he said.  Despite the apparent turn for the worse in her own family's fortune, they had not yet lost all of their pride and still considered themselves bourgeois when compared to much of the rest of the village.
    Jacq's own family had been farmers for generations and made no secret of their disdain for folk they considered as nouveau riche , such as the innkeepers who had sprouted up like so many mushrooms back when porters flowed through Urrune to the strange tower not far away.
    Old money, new money.  All of it was meaningless to two young people who only knew that they belonged together and would allow nothing to come between them.
    Catherine sighed.  They had been over it at least one hundred times before.
    “I just don't want them to worry.  Or think something stupid like the Boar took me away.”
    Jacq released her hand to cup one side of her face as she looked into his deep brown eyes.
    “They won't.  I'll be gone, too.  The rest will be obvious once they realize that we both left at the same time.”
    She nodded, then Jacq took her hand in his own once more to lead the way to their future together.
     The trees grew thicker around them and the brief glimpses of night sky overhead grew more infrequent the further along they went.
    Catherine had time to think that there should have been more stars that night.  But instead of cloudless skies that would guide them as they began their journey, an ominous darkness grew rapidly overhead.
    Then she heard something moving in the woods just behind them.
    Something big.
    She froze, and Jacq nearly pulled her arm out of its socket as he was forced to a halt.
    “Catherine,” he hissed, “What's the matter?”
    She hesitated.
    “I'm not sure,” she looked back over her shoulder and listened, then said, “I thought I heard someone following us.”
    “No, no.  You're imagining things, darling.  No one knows we left.”
    Of course, he was right.  They had been as careful as they could possibly be, taking every precaution so as to avoid arousing suspicion.
    The only hint Catherine had allowed herself that evening was to kiss each of her surprised parents upon the cheek and tell them that she loved them both before going to bed.
    “I don't know, but I'm sure I heard something,” she said.
    “Okay, but if anything, it was probably just a deer that startled as we went by.”
    He shrugged.
    “Come on.  We've leagues to go after we collect our food and clothes.”
    She nodded, and they set off once again.
    There was nothing more as they moved quickly to their destination.  Soon enough, even Catherine began to recognize the familiar turnings of the dim path they walked and she was reassured that the meadow was very close.
    Then there was the sound of something breaking behind them.  There was a terrible creaking sound that grew and grew until it came to a sudden crashing end.
    It was as if something had pushed a tree over on the path just behind them followed by an abrupt silence that not even the wind dared break to rustle the leaves overhead.
    Catherine flashed a look of alarm toward her lover, and Jacq nodded then pressed a finger to his lips, indicating that she should remain quiet.
    Neither of them moved, as frozen into place as the imagined deer might have been, then they both heard something else.
    It was the sound of snuffling, but it was not the sort of slight and whispery noise of the small beasts of the forest.
    No, this was the sound of something far larger than anything either of the young people could even begin to imagine as something that actually existed anywhere in the world.
    The snuffling continued, then stopped.
    Catherine could see the cords standing out on