The Black Raven (Prologue)[WARNING: a few mildly mature themes, but no descriptions; rated T]
 

If I get good reviews and get past my writer's block, I might type up the rest of the story, but reviews would be much appreciated. Many Thanks ;)

“Give up. You know you can’t beat me.”
Marcus stood poised blocking her retreat. It was more sensible than using the window anyway. She had to know he would catch up to her in a moment, his strides being much larger than hers.
She had always been a beautiful woman, but the time spent away from her didn’t lessen the impact she had on him when they had come face to face at last. She wore a black corseted gown with a black blouse underneath it, whose sleeves showed off the skin of her arms up until where her long leather gloves began at her elbows. Her hair, which had been neatly held up had fallen free of its bindings and now curled down to her waist and all around her waist, just like her remembered it…
But she was not the woman he remembered, not entirely. She wasn’t his Lia. This Lia was never to be underestimated. Her next words proved his point.
She smirked when she saw the door behind him. He was blocking one of her two escape routes. The other was the open window to her far left. It was the easiest decision she had made in the last four or so years.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked standing straight and pulling all her hair behind her to hold it out of her face. Then she turned to him and smiled sweetly. Her bright green eyes flashed with mischief as she suddenly ran straight towards him.
Granted the small cottage room didn’t give one much space to fight in, but she could manage. She had fought her way out of smaller spaces with much bigger men than Marcus. He was ready for her, of course, but he didn’t expect the kick that had him gasping for breath. When had she become so strong?
The bag in his hand fell and its contents clunked onto the wooden floor. Marcus made a grab for it, but she was faster and had him reeling in a matter of seconds. He was winded and down for the count in a few more.
Damn it all, she was too fast for him. On top of that, she had taken down two trained soldiers who had fought for almost twenty years in the king’s army. Gill’s bruised body in the corner was testament to that fact. At least he was coming to now, but she would be long gone by then. Who was it who had said that a woodcutter’s cottage in the woods would serve as a perfect hiding place for the king’s most valuable treasure?
King Andrew wouldn’t like this one little bit, especially since Queen Minerva didn’t approve of hunting down women.
“Thank you darling, I’ll have to be going now… We have company,” she said and vaulted out the open window, the skirt of her dress trailing after her. Marcus groaned as he sat up and saw Gill staring at him as if he was an apparition.
“Marcus? What happened?”
“Gill, old friend, we just had the fight of our lives and lost,” he said with a grin. Marcus held onto the door frame and hoisted himself up.
“Are you sure?” he asked. Marcus raised a brow wondering just how hard Gill was hit to miss the carnage in the room. There wasn’t a stick of furniture left standing. Even the seemingly solid oak bench that had been Marcus’ bed for the last few days was only good for kindling now.
“Who was that?” he asked looking incredulously at the bench.
“That was the Black Raven. The one and only criminal the King’s guards can’t seem to catch.”
“Sounds like you’ve had an experience with her. And she seemed to know you too, not to mention holding a grudge against you, so who is she really? A scorned mistress? An affair gone wrong?”
Marcus rubbed his throbbing temple and winced as his bruised arm twitched with the effort.
“I wish it was that simple Gill,” he sighed, “Lia is my wife.”