Happily Ever Afters

by Melanie Cellier

  I beamed at Miles, delighted at this evidence of his father’s trust.

  Miles still looked more confused than happy, but he accepted the missive.

  “Who is it from?” he asked.

  I wondered if he was reluctant to open it.

  “That, I couldn’t say, sir.” The servant hesitated for a moment as if debating whether to continue. “It was discovered on Lady Annabelle’s pillow. I believe we weren’t meant to find it until the morning as her ladyship retired earlier this afternoon and left instructions that she was not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening. However, Lord Adelmar left very specific orders regarding his daughter’s care. Her maid has just discovered the room empty and this communication in her place.”

  Nothing about the servant’s demeanour suggested that he had any particular opinions about the information he was imparting. I looked uneasily between the man and Miles. It almost sounded as if…

  “Are you suggesting that my sister has run away?” Miles sounded outraged.

  “Certainly not, my lord.”

  “I should hope not. You’ve known Annabelle her whole life and know that she would never dream of doing such a thing.”

  “As you say, my lord.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder what the servant was really thinking under his professional detachment.

  “Thank you, you can go.”

  The servant left without attempting any further communication, and Miles stared at the sealed parchment in his hand.

  “I don’t like this,” he muttered.

  “No, of course not. The whole thing seems very odd indeed. But you won’t learn anything more by staring at it.”

  Miles seemed startled by my words, and I wondered if he’d forgotten my presence. I was aware that the letter might contain something personal, but I didn’t offer to leave. I was far too curious for that.

  Nodding his head, Miles ripped open the seal and scanned the contents. His face paled.

  “What is it?” My voice came out sharper than I’d intended.

  “Someone has abducted my sister.” I thought I had seen Miles look angry before, but it was nothing to how he looked now.

  “What do you mean?” I was struggling to accept his words. They seemed too fantastic.

  “I mean that someone has taken my sister and means to hold her to ransom.” His words were as hard and cold as the seat I was sitting on.

  “But…who? Do they sign it?” I tried to peer over his shoulder at the words.

  “Of course not, but there can’t be any doubt, can there?”

  “Anhalt.” I had to agree with him – the count seemed the only likely option.

  “He’s miscalculated though.” Miles leapt to his feet and a feral smile spread across his face. “The servants weren’t supposed to find this until tomorrow and then they were supposed to send it on to my father at our estates. They must think they have a big head start. They may even still be in the castle.”

  He strode quickly out of the courtyard, and I rushed to follow him. I wasn’t quite as sure as he seemed about the likelihood, or wisdom, of trying to locate the kidnappers within the castle.

  “We need to report this to Ava and Hans,” I said, having to take two steps for every one of his.

  “There’s no time.” Miles didn’t break his determined pace.

  I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

  “Where are you even going?” I let my exasperation show in my voice.

  “To Anhalt’s rooms. He has a large suite with easy access to one of the side courtyards and smaller gates. He’s probably planning to smuggle Annabelle out as soon as it gets dark.”

  He pulled his arm out of my grip and turned to continue walking before suddenly pausing. He looked back at me, and I hoped he was starting to see sense.

  “You’re right, though,” he said.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Confronting Anhalt could be dangerous. You shouldn’t come with me.”

  “Miles!” This was not what I had intended.

  “Yes,” he seemed increasingly pleased with the idea. “It’s far better if you don’t come. I don’t want to lose any time but we might need back up. You should go and inform the queen what has happened. Ask for a squad of soldiers to be sent to Anhalt’s rooms.”

  I hesitated, hating to let him go on alone but also seeing the necessity of informing Ava what was happening. He used my hesitation to break away and start back down the corridor.

  “Hurry,” he said over his shoulder and after one last concerned look at his retreating back, I set off running towards the royal suites.

  Chapter 12 - Evelyn

  I exited my room and wandered towards Sarah’s suite. She had been looking unusually pale ever since the fight yesterday, and I decided to join her for dinner. Brooding wouldn’t do her any good.

  Of course, I was struggling to follow my own advice. All afternoon my mind had returned to the question of Jake. My heart wanted to trust him, but my head wasn’t ready to give up the fight.

  Despite my distraction, I was still instantly aware of the sound of running feet. I turned, curious to see who was in such a hurry. It was Sarah. It took her several moments longer to recognise me, and when she did she tried to stop but only succeeded in running into me.

  “Oof.” I grabbed her arms and just managed to keep us both on our feet. “What in the kingdoms are you doing?”

  “Evelyn, oh thank goodness.” She paused for a moment to regain her breath. “It’s Miles! Or rather, it’s Annabelle. I need to speak to Ava.”

  I was used to Sarah’s dramatic ways, but something in her tone told me this was serious.

  “She isn’t in her suite. She and Hans have gone for a quiet meal somewhere. One of the smaller dining rooms, I suppose. I’m not sure which one.”

  “Oh dear.” Sarah wrung her hands together, looking as if she was about to be sick.

  My concern increased.

  “I’m sure we can find her. What’s happened?”

  “It’s Anhalt,” she said. “Or at least, we think it is. Adelmar’s been called back to his estates and someone has kidnapped Annabelle.”

  “Kidnapped Annabelle?” I stared at her. “When?”

  “Sometime earlier this afternoon. They left a note in her room.”

  “Impossible!”

  Sarah shook her head, a distracted expression on her face. “It’s not at all impossible, I assure you. I saw the message myself.”

  “And I saw Annabelle. Not half an hour ago. She was walking down the corridor with those other two attendants from the wedding. She looked perfectly calm too.”

  “But, but…I don’t understand. Are you completely sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure!” I crossed my arms.

  Sarah gasped and grabbed my arm.

  “Miles!” Her eyes were wide. “It must be a trap. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Anhalt must have been hoping that Miles would do exactly what he’s done and head straight to Anhalt’s rooms to confront him.”

  I was a little less sure of her conclusion. “It hardly seems like a sure plan. What if Miles had gone to Ava instead?”

  “The message wasn’t signed. He could have simply denied any involvement. But he must have known that Miles would react that way if his sister was threatened.” She was already pulling me back down the corridor. “If we hurry, we might be able to catch him before he gets there.”

  That, at least, sounded like a sensible plan. I shook off Sarah’s hand and began to run in earnest. Sarah was soon trailing several steps behind me, her breathing laboured.

  When I turned into Anhalt’s corridor without any sign of Miles, I stopped. Sarah once again crashed into me; this time into my back.

  “Oh no.” She moaned. “We’re too late.”

  I looked at the closed door warily. “Are you sure he’s in there?”

  “Yes, yes, he must be. He was coming straight here when he left me.”

  “We need to
find Ava then,” I said. “Only she has the authority to demand an immediate search of Anhalt’s rooms.”

  I turned to retrace our steps, but Sarah started down the corridor towards Anhalt’s door instead. I hurried after her.

  When she reached it, she leaned forward and placed her ear against the wood. After a moment she pulled back and shook her head.

  “I can’t hear any voices or movement,” she whispered. “They might have already left.” Her eyes flew to the external door located at the opposite end of the corridor from where we had entered.

  Before I could protest, she had started for it. She had just touched the handle, presumably meaning to open it a crack and peer out, when the door was pulled open from the other side.

  “Hey!” There was a startled exclamation from the soldier standing in the now open doorway.

  Sarah gave a small scream and fell backwards, but the man reached forwards and grabbed her by the arms. He looked almost as surprised as she did, his reaction clearly instinctive. Now that he had a firm grasp on her, however, he didn’t look inclined to let go.

  He called over his shoulder, presumably looking for instruction from whoever was in the courtyard, and I began to run towards them. Before I could reach the doorway, he yanked her forward, into the open air. I yelled and rushed out after them, wishing I was wearing my sword.

  I only had a moment to take in the scene in the courtyard. There was no sign of the guard who should have been on the side gate, but the courtyard seemed full of soldiers. They looked like mercenaries.

  The gate was open and two of the men were about to leave the castle, dragging Miles between them. His head hung limply, and a trickle of blood ran down from a small cut above his eye.

  Closer to me, two more soldiers were attempting to restrain a struggling Sarah. I started towards them but didn’t make it more than two steps before at least five men charged towards me. I took out the first one with a solid punch to the jaw followed up by a knee in the groin. He fell to the ground groaning, but our brief fight had given the others time to draw their swords and surround me. Unarmed, I had no chance. I stilled.

  “Ah, a sensible girl.” The smooth voice of Anhalt made me grit my teeth. He emerged from the shadows and stood in front of me.

  “I’m surprised you dare to show your face.” I spat on the ground. “You must be mad to think you’ll get away with this.”

  “You’d be surprised what I can get away with.” The smile didn’t leave his face, and I uneasily remembered Ava’s talk of bewitchment. “And this is all your fault, really. I might not have had to resort to such drastic measures if you hadn’t interfered yesterday.

  “It’s all turned out for the best, though. I never dreamed I’d get the two of you as well. With the queen’s two closest friends gone and her Chief Advisor otherwise engaged, she’ll truly have no one left to turn to.”

  I glared at him, all the time watching for any sign of weakness in the circle surrounding me and keeping half an eye on Sarah. While I had been talking with Anhalt, his men had bound and gagged her, but she looked unhurt.

  If he intended to do the same to me, that would be my chance to fight. Unfortunately he signalled one of the men to throw a length of rope at my feet instead.

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you to tie yourself up,” he said, his tone of voice genial. “And I suggest that you don’t try anything untoward. Not unless you want to see harm come to that lovely cousin of yours.” His eyes flicked over towards Sarah, and I ground my teeth.

  Sarah looked at me apologetically, and I knew that, if she could, she would have told me to ignore Anhalt and fight anyway. I would have done it, too, if I stood any chance at all. But there were simply too many of them.

  I secured my hands as slowly as possible, hoping some castle guards might stumble into the courtyard. No one came.

  I tried to tie the rope so that I could pull it loose later, but one of the watching soldiers cleared his throat loudly, and Anhalt shook his head at me.

  “Now, now, Evelyn, no tricks, please.” His eyes once again darted towards Sarah, and I sighed silently and tied the knots properly. The best I could do was leave myself a little bit of slack.

  When I’d finished, Anhalt had me step through my own bound arms so that my hands were behind me. A sword tip at my back prodded me forward, and both Sarah and I were hustled out through the side gate.

  Waiting on the other side was an open wagon. Rough hands lifted us into the back of it. A heavy tarpaulin was thrown over us, effectively cutting off any visibility and pinning us both flat against the floor of the wagon. I could hear the soldiers mounting horses and then the wagon jerked forward, causing me to slide into Sarah.

  “Sorry,” I whispered, but there was no response. I remembered that she was gagged.

  Wriggling around, I managed to grab a handful of her clothing. It felt like a sleeve, but it wasn’t the right material for Sarah’s dress. I frowned and then realised it must be the semi-conscious Miles.

  “Sarah?” I kept my voice low and hoped she could hear me.

  It was hard to hear movement over the sound of the wheels on the road beneath us, but after a moment a foot kicked me in the shoulder.

  “Ow!” I grumbled to myself as I carefully rolled over and slid forward until I could feel Sarah’s shoulder. It was hard work with my hands behind my back, but I had managed to leave myself just enough slack that I was able to untie the gag from her mouth.

  “Oh, thank goodness, that tasted horrible!”

  I chuckled. Classic Sarah.

  “Can you untie my hands?” She sounded hopeful.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I saw the knots they used, and there’s no way I could get them undone with my hands tied like this. I have a knife in my boot, but it’s too dangerous for me to get it out now. The way we’re jolting around like this, I might accidentally slit one of our wrists instead of the rope.”

  I could almost hear Sarah wince.

  “I think Miles is here with us.” Just as I said it, there was a loud groan.

  “Miles?” Sarah sounded worried.

  There was a long pause and then a groggy, “Sarah?”

  “Are you hurt? Do you have your hands free?” He’d been untied when I last saw him.

  There was another long pause.

  “My head’s pounding, but the rest of me seems fine. They’ve tied my hands, though. I can barely move them.”

  I sighed. It had only been a slim chance.

  “Someone must have cracked me over the head as soon as I got through the door,” he continued. “It was like they were expecting me. Is Annabelle here too?”

  “What? Oh, right, you don’t know.” Sarah sighed.

  “Don’t know what?”

  “Annabelle was never kidnapped,” I told him. “I saw her myself back at the castle. She was with friends.”

  “I…I don’t understand.” I could hear the frown in Miles’ voice.

  “It was a trap,” said Sarah. “It’s the only explanation. It was you they were after.”

  “Me?” There was a thoughtful pause. “Then I guess it was a good thing I sent you for help. Otherwise no one would have any idea what’s happened to us.”

  There was a pause. I assumed Sarah was as reluctant to disillusion him as I was.

  “Yes, about that,” she said at last, her voice guilty.

  “Hey!” said Miles suddenly, cutting her off. “What are you even doing here? How did Anhalt get you too?” His tone changed to one of foreboding. “You did go for help, right? Someone is coming after us?”

  “Well, I did go for help, yes,” said Sarah. “I found Evelyn.” She paused again.

  “And then…”

  “And then Evelyn told me it must be a trap, and we tried to catch you before you walked into it.”

  There was yet another long pause and then a loud groan from Miles. “So all three of us have walked into a trap, and no one else has any idea what’s going on.”

  “That
about sums it up, yes,” I said, keeping my tone even.

  Chapter 13 - Sarah

  There was silence for a long time after my admission. I kept going over and over it in my mind, and wishing I had just left that courtyard door alone.

  It wasn’t making me feel very cheerful, but at least it was better than focusing on how much it hurt every time the wagon went over a bump. And there were a lot of bumps on this particular road.

  I’ll have to have a word with Ava about it when we get back, I thought. She really should keep the roads in better condition.

  Somehow the thought made me feel instantly more optimistic. Of course, we would get back. And I would be far better off looking for opportunities to escape than moping.

  I tried to guess where we were going. One of Anhalt’s properties seemed like the most logical option, but I didn’t know anything about his lands. I hoped wherever it was, it wasn’t too far away. My hip was already one big bruise.

  “Do either of you know where Anhalt’s lands are?” It was Evelyn, voicing my own question.

  “They’re close,” said Miles. “Maybe three hours west from the capital.”

  “That must be where we’re going then,” she said. “We came out the west gate.”

  “What do you think Anhalt plans to do with us?” I tried to keep the fear out of my voice.

  “I’m sure he doesn’t want to harm us.” Miles was a little too quick with his response. Perhaps my fear had been evident after all.

  “I think you’re right,” said Evelyn slowly. “He certainly seems to want Miles as some sort of bargaining chip against Adelmar. And he clearly planned the whole thing with great care. He won’t want to throw away any advantage we might give him. Not until he’s had a chance to think through all the different eventualities anyway.”

  It made sense, and I should have thought of it myself.

  “Anhalt must have been behind the message to Adelmar. It’s just too convenient otherwise,” I said.

  “Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” said Miles. “And about the message that was delivered to me. Clearly my father’s body servant must have been working with Anhalt, but it doesn’t make any sense. Before this, I would have trusted my life to his loyalty without hesitation.”