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There was a moment of freefall before Elizabeth hit the water. Then the impact yanked her hand out of Jason's and her speed forced her deep under water.

Silty brown water flooded her nostrils and filled her mouth. Opening her eyes, she could barely see inches in front of her face in the muddy sluice of river water. Kicking furiously, she struggled to rise against the weight of her sword and backpack.

Breaking the surface, Elizabeth coughed up water and then gasped a lungful of air. She'd come up facing the bridge and was shocked at how far downstream she'd been carried. The people on the bridge were too small to distinguish, so she couldn't tell which one was Alcazar, but she hoped he was choking on his fury.

Then twisting in the water, she looked for Jason and found him floating several feet ahead.

He was facing away from her and she gasped, there was an arrow in his back close to his right shoulder.

"Jason!" She kicked toward him yelling his name.

"Wait!" He half turned toward her and waved her away as an arrow sliced into the water between them. "Don't get close. We're still in range. They're aiming for me." With that warning, he reached over his head with his left arm, grabbed the arrow and with a grunt of pain, yanked it out. Then he sucked in a deep breath of air and dove under water as another arrow hit near him.

Elizabeth gaped in shock at the spot where he'd been. Watching him remove the arrow from his shoulder had seemed unreal. Part of her didn't want to believe what she'd seen, but there was no way to deny it.

Another arrow sliced into the water close to her and she swung around to see the bridge. Again she was further away than she expected. The current was sweeping her downstream faster than she realized. She was now near the outer limits of the archers range. That comforting thought was displaced quickly as a group of men on horses rounded the end of the bridge and turned to follow them.

She and Jason were a long way from being safe.

Struggling to stay above water against the weight of her sword and gear, she turned to watch for Jason. She didn't know where he would resurface, but she wanted to be ready when he did.

Then she spotted a log. Ahead and to the left, caught in the shallows, she kicked and stroked through the water, just managing to reach it before the water swept her by.

Heaving an arm over the log, she pulled and kicked to bring it into the middle of the river where the current was faster - and closer to where she hoped Jason would be.

She craned her neck to look for him and started to get anxious when she didn't see him. He'd been under a long time now. A thousand different things that could have happened flew through head and she felt herself teetering on the cusp of panic when Jason suddenly surfaced next to her.

"Jason!" The wave of relief she felt at seeing him took her by surprise and in her joy she very nearly threw her arms around him.

Cringing as he threw his left arm over the log, Jason inhaled deep draughts of air. His eyes met hers, and then his gaze dropped to her neck and he scowled.

"He hurt you."

Elizabeth reached up and touched her neck where Alcazar had cut her. She'd honestly forgotten about it. Under her fingers she felt the slice, long but shallow, no more than a flesh wound. "It's not bad."

How he could worry about her when he was the one who'd taken an arrow to the back was beyond her. "What about you?

He visibly winced but refused to admit to being hurt. "I'll be fine." Then he swiveled to look back toward the city.

"Riders just went out." Elizabeth pointed to where the men on horseback could be seen galloping in the clearing beyond the bridge.

Trees began lining the bank and the river took a long slow bend to the left. In a moment, they lost sight of the city.

Even though he could no longer see them, Jason's gaze hadn't wavered from the place where the horsemen were riding. "They won't be able to easily follow us. The forest will slow them down. If we stay in the current, we'll be stones ahead of them by nightfall."

"Nightfall?" Only then did she realize that Jason had no intention of returning to Sonny. Then just as quickly she realized there was no way they could. They would lead Alcazar straight to Brenda. Still the thought of leaving them behind was painful. Her duty was to protect Brenda. Her eyes filled with tears but she set her jaw, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

Her frustration and guilt must have been plain on her face because Jason's tone softened. "There was no way we could have known Alcazar was there. You didn't do anything wrong." His lip hitched into a small grin. "You kept us from being captured. Alcazar seriously underestimated you."

It was ridiculous how amazing Jason's words of praise made her feel. She thought she probably looked the fool, grinning and blushing like a schoolgirl, but she couldn't help herself.

"The best thing we can do for Sonny and Brenda now is to lead Alcazar as far away from them as possible." Jason pointed ahead to where the river took a sharp bend and between the two of them, they kicked and steered the log smoothly through the turn.

Elizabeth flicked a glance up and down the bank. The trees now filled both sides of the riverbank and beyond them was thick forest. The men on horseback would indeed have to slow their pace to follow them.

Jason cast a glance at the sun overhead. "Sonny won't leave for another few hours, but with the two of them riding single, they can make it to the safe house in three days. Which gives us six days to meet them there."

Elizabeth's stomach growled and she ignored it. It would be a while before they could eat. She turned her attention elsewhere to distract herself and caught sight of Jason cringing as he lifted his right arm out of the water to drape it over the log.

Then her heart skipped a beat as a trickle of blood escaped the armhole of his tunic and reddened the water at his side.

"You're bleeding!" Elizabeth's eyes were wide and she berated herself for not checking his wound sooner. Of course he would be bleeding. She shouldn't have taken his word that he was fine. "We have to stop. Your shoulder needs to tended to before you bleed to death."

"I'm fine."

If he expected her to drop the issue, then he was the one who was now seriously underestimating her. She wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. "No, you won't be and you won't be doing anyone any good if you let yourself die."

Reaching into her pack, she rummaged through it to find her bandana. It was nothing more than a square of cloth she used to cover her head in the sun or clean up with when they stopped. However, it would work equally as well as a pressure bandage.

Bringing it out of her water logged pack; she hooked both arms over the log and did her best to balance herself as she squeezed it dry.

"Undo your tunic." She didn't look at Jason when she issued the order; she was busy folding the damp cloth into a small square. When she did turn to him, she found him scowling at her.

"It won't do any good to argue with me. Open your tunic and let me put this over the wound. It will stem the bleeding until I can dress it properly." Then she stared hard at him. She wasn't about to back down now. If it was a test of wills he wanted he was about to discover she didn't give up so easily.

He didn't move. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to do it or am I?"

His lips thinned, but his look wasn't exactly angry. Then raising a finger at her in warning, he slowly began undoing his vest.

Elizabeth didn't move to help him even though she thought he looked like he needed it. Since he was cooperating; she gave him some latitude.

They continued to float downriver, the current easing them around several long slow turns. Occasionally a wave broke over the log but none had enough strength to splash them.

Once his tunic was undone, Jason pulled it open so that it gaped over his shoulders and around his arms. Elizabeth gently lifted the leather so that she could see the wound. It didn't look as bad as she thought it'd be. It was a clean hit, in and out. Only a smallish puncture showed where the arrow had entered his flesh.

Tucking the square of cloth over the injury, she held it in place while Jason pulled his vest closed. Carefully sliding her hand out so not to dislodge the makeshift bandage, she smiled at him as he cast her a sideways look and began refastening his vest.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Basking in the glow of victory, she couldn't help ribbing him.

He snorted.

For some reason the sound made her laugh.

Jason turned to her, his eyes darkening to storm cloud gray and the look on his face made her pause. She couldn't place it. It wasn't quite angry or frustrated. Yet it was not at all happy or irritated. It was deadly serious and focused and she sobered under his gaze.

Then he turned sharply and stared at the shoreline. "We are going to need to find transportation."

And whatever it was that had passed between them was gone and Elizabeth was left breathless and off balance. Unsure of what had just happened, she pressed her lips together and focused on the task at hand.

"What kind of transportation are we looking for?"

He didn't turn to look at her. Instead as the river straightened, he pointed to the bank on the left where a cart drawn by two horses stood waiting for a ferry to return across the river. "That kind."

~*~*~

Sonny glanced at the sky.

The sun was overhead and there was no sign of Jason or Elizabeth.

He scowled.

This wasn't good.

Brenda sidled up next to him, her arms crossed over her chest. "What?"

He saw no reason to lie to her. "Something's wrong. We need to leave."

"But…" Brenda's shock rendered her speechless. "Elizabeth…"

Sonny simply shook his head. "They aren't back. That means something has gone wrong. We need to get moving before we're found."

"Shouldn't we give them a little more time?"

"I've already given them more time." Sonny paced to the horses and untied their reins. He held out the reins of Jason and Elizabeth's mount for Brenda to take. "If Elizabeth was recognized, they are either captured or leading Alcazar's men away from us. We have to get on the move because it isn't safe here anymore."

Brenda frowned at him, stubbornly holding her ground.

"If you get caught then everything Elizabeth is doing will be for naught." Sonny shoved the reins at her and with a huff Brenda took them.

He helped her into the saddle, and then shoving a foot into his stirrup he mounted his horse. "We are going to pick up the pace. Can you keep up?"

The corners of Brenda's mouth lifted. She expertly guided her mount next to Sonny's. "Don't worry about me. You just make sure you stay in the saddle." Then with a wink, she kicked her horse and galloped away.

Sonny grinned and with a kick, set his horse galloping after her.

~*~*~

Alcazar sat in his rooms while his personal physician attended to his arm. He was furious at himself and his men for letting Morgan slip out of their hands.

He'd been so close to having the means to get Brenda back. In his rage, he balled up his fist and slammed it against the table, making everything on it jump.

His physician only scowled at him and returned to stitching up the stab wound in his bicep.

Curse Morgan.

Morgan was the one who had taken Brenda from him. Had stolen her right out of his very own castle. It was infuriating. The man would die for his insolence.

Alcazar's black eyes caught sight of the dagger lying on the table. It was the dagger that had been driven so forcefully into his arm that his physician had had to brace a foot against his shoulder in order to yank it out of his bone.

It was the dagger that belonged to the woman who'd wanted to buy lingonberry cream tarts, Brenda's favorite desert. She had been his only possibly lead in finding Brenda and he'd been fruitlessly searching the countryside for her for days only to have her walk right into his hands.

She was beautiful. He hadn't believed the baker when he'd described her, but she had been all he'd said and more.

In many ways she reminded him of Brenda - slender, petite, dark hair - only her beauty was more delicate than Brenda's, less exotic and more refined. He frowned. It was that delicateness that had fooled him. She may have looked fragile and innocent, but she had proved to be a little spitfire.

His lip curled into a grin. The paradox was intriguing.

He picked up her dagger and slowly turned it, watching the light glance off its curves and edges. It was sized and weighted for a woman's hand and engraved on the gently rounded handle was an ornately scripted 'E'.

His thumb caressed the monogram.

He would meet this 'E' again and the next time he would be prepared for her.