At His Mercies by Marline J (famous ebook reader .txt) 📕

“I will not!” I nearly yelled at him.  A slight amused smile spread over his face and it made me want to walk up to him and slap him but also kiss him at the same time.

“What are you going to do to stop me?” He copied my question.  I didn’t bother to grace him with an answer and turned around to walk out the tent. At that moment I felt a strong hand encircle my arm. 

“You are staying right here where I can keep and eye on you so you don’t do any rash actions.” He told me sternly. His touch had sent sparks through my body and I felt my cheeks heat up. 

“Jack can keep me safe.” I said, though I knew that I didn’t sound very convincing. I tried to pull my arm from his grasp but I knew that I wasn’t trying my best. I wanted him to touch me and more than anything I wanted to stay in this tent. 

 “You don’t seem as eager to go as you claim.” Alex noticed with a spark of amusement in his eyes. I tugged my arm loose from his grasp. 

“Don’t flatter yourself.” A smirk appeared on Alex’s face and I grew more annoyed by the minute. 

“You really are in love with me, aren’t you?” He commented smugly. 

“Not anymore I’m not.” I spat. I just lied twice in five minutes! That was a record for me. But Alex deserved it. What was going on with him? Why was he acting like such a rogue? It seemed like Alex was enjoying the fact that he found out I had truly fallen for him. 

 “You’re not a very good liar.” He stated. 

 “I’m not lying.” I shot back. For a moment, so short that I wonder if it even happened, I thought I saw pain flicker across Alex’s dark eyes. But then it was gone and the smirk reappeared on his face. I was seething inside and stood there, with clenched hands, not able to say anything because I was so angry. At the same time, my heart was telling me that I still loved him. I felt like I was being torn in half. 

“Florence, I think you better go to sleep now.” Alex said.

“You have a long trip home tomorrow. Come to think of it, I think I might join you.”  I couldn’t help the flicker of hope that sprung in my heart at his mention of joining me. 

“Perhaps I can use you to blackmail your parents into giving me some money for the good care you got here.”  I stared at him, mouth agape. How had I ever been interested in him? How was that possible? Yet even now, when I knew that he had not like me all along and only wanted to use me to get my money, I still loved him. Something had to be terribly wrong with me and I knew I had to get out of Alex’s presence as soon as possible. 

“Don’t you dare come with me.” I hissed. 

“I’m afraid that that’s not for you to decide.” A malicious grin spread over his face and I couldn’t resist walking up to him and slapping him on his cheek. Hard.  He looked at me with an expressionless mask on his face. 

“Go to sleep, Florence.” He said as if I was a little girl, and then walked out of the tent.  I was far too upset and angry to sleep. Besides, all I wanted to do was curl up on the bed and cry but I refused to show a sign of weakness. I would go home, go back to my normal life and forget all about this nightmare. I would never think of Alex again and I would marry a nice suitable rich man who would support me and take care of me. But what about love? A voice inside my head asked. I don’t care about love. I snapped back. Love is not worth the pain.

And with that thought I went to lie on the bed and let the tears fall freely. I cried in silence, afraid that somebody would hear me. I pictured Alex sitting outside with his men, laughing about how I really fell for him and how stupid I was. I buried my head in the pillow and smelt Alex’s scent which caused me to cry even harder. After what felt like hours I finally fell asleep. 

I heard her cry, though I know she didn’t want me to hear. I put my head in my hands and felt like crying myself. Crying was a sign of weakness though, and I hadn’t cried in 17 years, the last time was when I was 5 and I had fallen and hurt my knee. I promised myself then that I would never cry again, and certainly not over a woman. 

“Captain?” I looked up to see Jack standing in front of me. Despite the fact that he didn’t ask me anything, I knew what he wanted to say. Though it was Jack who had told her that I loved her and had brought her back, I could not be angry with him. He was my most trusted and loyal friend and though one part of me hated the fact that she was back and that I had to hurt her, another part of me loved the fact that she was lying in my tent, in my bed, so close to me. No, I could definitely not be angry with Jack for bringing her back.  Without a word Jack sat down next to me. 

“You love her.” He stated, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 

“I do.” I had to admit. I couldn’t lie to my best friend. 

“Then tell her.” 

“I cannot. She deserves so much better than me. I will not keep her here. I love her too much.” I looked into Jack’s soft grey eyes and found something there that I had not seen in a long time: compassion.

Jack was silent for a few moments and then he mumbled, so softly that I could hardly hear him: “You really do love her.” 

My heart was yearning for me to go to the tent, to take her into my arms and kiss her silly but my mind was preventing me from doing so. I couldn’t be selfish, she would go back home, marry a suitable man and live the life she deserved. I could never make her happy, this was just a passing interest she had in me and soon she would hate me for taking her life away from her. Most men had gone to sleep now and the few that were still awake were laughing in their drunken state. The moment I had kidnapped Florence and brought her to camp, I started hating the vile liquor. I tried drinking it to drown my sorrows when she had left but after one long swig I spat it out. I didn’t remember it ever having tasted so bad. It was probably because that blasted woman once said that she hated alcohol and what it did to people. How was it possible that this woman affected me so? It was only once before that I had seen true love: my parents truly loved each other. But they died when I was 6 and I only had a vague memory of them.  I got up, refusing to drown in memories of my past and deliberated sleeping outside tonight. But my body was making its own decisions and was pulling me towards the tent.  One night with her won’t hurt. ‘You deserve just one more night with her. ’A voice was saying inside my head and I gladly agreed with it. I pushed the flap aside, entered my tent, and my eyes were immediately drawn to the beauty sleeping on my bed. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and her eyes red and puffy from crying and I hated the fact that I had caused this. I softly walked over to her and pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. The thought that she would be leaving in the morning nearly brought tears to my eyes again and I felt so weak, weaker than I had ever felt before.  I turned away, took off my boots and paced through the tent. I didn’t want to go to sleep because I didn’t want to waste a moment I had with her. I would cherish this night forever.  Florence moaned and I suddenly heard something that made my heart stop beating and then start again at an incredible pace. She said my name. I looked over at her and saw that she was still asleep but twisting and turning on the bed. Without thinking further about it, I walked to the bed, lay down next to her and took her in my arms. She immediately quieted down and snuggled into my chest, her hands tightening around my shirt. Letting her leave in the morning was getting more impossible every moment I spent with her and I contemplated keeping her here longer.  ‘Don’t be selfish.’ I chastised myself. I looked down at the sleeping beauty in my arms and then softly placed my lips on her forehead. No, I could never keep her here. She deserved a life that I could never give her and that was why she had to go home.

 I couldn’t decide whether I was having a nightmare or the best dream I had ever had. It started off terrible, Alex was telling me that he didn’t love me, that I had to get out of his life and go home. I started crying and ran away, having no idea where I was going but not caring either. It was getting dark by the time I finally stopped running. I was so tired that I fell to the floor, wrapped my arms around myself and cried. 

“Alex.” I moaned into the darkness. I heard footsteps approaching and then Alex appeared in my field of vision. He lay down next to me and took me in his arms. Without a word he kissed my forehead and I snuggled into him, grabbing onto him so that he would never leave me. I sighed contentedly and fell asleep. 

 In the morning, I knew that it had all been a dream. I woke up to an empty bed and Alex was nowhere to be seen. My first reaction was to