What had she done? Water slapped gently on the sides of Fairy Child. Morning sunshine filtered in through the skylight. This boat was all she had to show for the past four years. They couldn’t go back, not when she had aided and abetted Mordred’s escape. The boat money would be eaten by legal fees, and she knew there would be jail time. John would make sure of that. God, why had she ever hooked up with such a bastard? Why hadn’t she seen through him before now? Because you didn’t want to see the truth, a hard little voice whispered.
“Thee be too quiet.” Mordred slid off the seat to kneel in front of her. “I did come to your home, where a good meal was about to spoil for the want of eating. Thy raiments and other possessions were already packed. Thee willingly gave me the raiment of thy man and worked thy magic to give I the semblance of him. This was not asked of thee.” He reached over to wipe a fresh tear from her cheek. “Say why this man doth not deserve chastisement.”
“Because we are both free, and he isn’t worth the effort.” Four years of her life gone. Four years of love, total commitment and trust thrown away when the illusion shattered. A burning pit now resided in the place of her heart. No man would ever get close to her again. “I need to move forward. The devil catches the hindermost.”
Mordred flashed a wicked smile. “Aye, and he can be right in thy path.”
Yes, he could at that. Mordred wasn’t safe. Ella knew this. She had to ditch him as soon as she could, but she had to do so in a way that wasn’t going to get her caught. If she dropped him off in the Scilly Isles, he would be picked up immediately with all his strange thees and thous. Mad man, he might well be, but in John’s pay, no.
“Mordred, you need to learn to speak properly, or you will be caught the moment you open your mouth. Before we make land, you need to learn modern syntax.”
“What be that?”
“No, what is that?” The ocean was calm, and now there they had no pressing need to be elsewhere. What was pressing was her need not to think. Changing his speech was a way forward for both of them.