The Untold Forest by Elisa Menz (web ebook reader txt) 📗

when she fainted and ran away from the patio. She locked herself in her room, where she stayed the rest of the night.

Kieran’s unforgivable carelessness had caused the castle to fall into a silent vigil. Before midnight, one of the kitchen maids brought Maeve a frugal dinner.  There were no traces of lady Callum or her ladies.

“No one has gone down to dinner.” The maid informed her. “Lord Callum, his son, and the other nobles are busy preparing the defense of the castle. Many servant families escaped. The fools left almost all their stuff behind.”

Unfazed, the maid chuckled at Maeve’s puzzled expression. “I’m not one to believe in superstitions, my lady. I pity the half-breed man, but he should have been smarter.”

Perhaps she was right, and no danger loomed over them. But those poor families left their lives behind, fearing a deadly punishment.

Maeve couldn’t blame them. There were rumors about the fate of the few who dared to hunt a half-breed. Half man, half beast, the half-breeds were guardians of the Forest and their most fearsome dwellers.

They protected the creatures living within their borders. It was said they also prevented the ancestral spirits from leaving to roam the world of men. Described as powerful and cunning beings, who knew the Forest like the palm of their hand, they traveled through the trees like ghosts. They lived in communities, and their habits resembled more like those of a pack of wolves than of a human settlement.

Absurd stories ran about them, but Maeve only believed half of them. She didn’t believe the tales about cannibalism or human sacrifices. It also sounded unlikely they would hunt down other creatures only to eat their brains.

But she remembered the tales of travelers who visited her father, and at least some sounded plausible. Half-breeds did not have family ties. They were not protective or affectionate with their children and maintained several partners. Beasts, men called them. How could they know all these strange details about them? It was beyond her understanding. Men and half-breed broke all ties long ago.

Regardless of their truthfulness, everyone listened to the stories. Told at night, in the gloom, to scare young children and keep them away from the Forest. Maeve kept thinking about the fate that awaited everyone in the castle. Would the rumors be true? Would the half-breed pack attack them? Lord Callum believed fervently in the possibility of an attack since he did his best to prepare the castle’s defenses, with Kieran waddling by his side.

Despite all the rumors and gossip, Maeve could not recall a recent case of a man killed by a half-breed. Much less a large-scale attack against a castle full of soldiers. But she was restless anyway. She couldn’t forget the excitement she felt when she saw the caged man, and she couldn’t understand it.

Absolute terror seized her body when he laughed—a terrifying and fascinating sensation.

She learned from the maid lord Callum gave orders to lock him in the dungeon. Maeve frowned through the windowpane, her gaze lost in the absolute darkness of the night. She bit a nail while her mind boiled.

“What the hell am I thinking?”

CHAPTER VIII

HELPING HAND

Maeve

In her eyes, the Callums exaggerated the possibility of an attack, although Maeve considered they deserved the punishment. She went to bed, knowing sleep would never come. An idea kept stalking her mind.

If they were to be attacked by half-breeds in the next few days, she would not survive. No matter how prepared lord Callum planned to be, defending the castle from such menacing force promised to be impossible.

Her thoughts came back over and over to the imprisoned half-breed. His wound looked serious, and they threw him into the dungeon with no food, with the trap still piercing his leg.

“What the hell am I thinking?” she repeated. It was unlikely anyone would keep guard since their primary concern was to protect the castle walls. She would only need a lamp and a knife to disassemble the trap mechanism. She had done something like this before, with smaller traps. Her father’s overseer taught her to open locks with one of her hairpins.

Maeve waited until the dead of night, so she wouldn’t have to worry about finding someone in the halls. The plan included disarming the trap, bandaging his wound, and convincing him to stay one more night in the dungeon. He needed time to heal before she helped him escape.

Maeve writhed under the covers. She couldn’t believe her thoughts! The half-breed would tear her to pieces as soon as he had her within reach. Would he understand she tried to help? Would he understand her language at all?

Why did she even think about helping him? The wiser thing to do was to stay put and obey lord Callum’s instructions. Pray with lady Callum, begging no evil should fall on her home.

“Home...” Maeve chewed the word. This was not her home. She didn’t have a home anymore. There she only lived with selfish and ignorant people. She would become the wife of an arrogant idiot who murdered innocent creatures for sport.

This might be the reason that drove her to help the half-breed and made her feel rebellious.

Still second-guessing herself, she put on her boots and covered her delicate nightgown with a thick, long coat. The doubts hounded her while she took some bandages, fruit, and a knife she hid in the pockets of her coat.

Maeve glided through the halls, her mind plagued with awful outcomes. As expected, most of the castle guards were watching the walls and surrounding grounds. No one bothered her while she descended to the dungeons.

A shiver crawled down her spine as she climbed down the cold stairs, sensing the acrid smell of dampness and rot. She didn’t know the location of the cells, but the underground floor was narrow. After a brief inspection, she discovered the cells wrapped in gloom.

The torches in the hallway quivered, casting disturbing shadows over the silhouette of the iron bars. Maeve carried with her a