Author's Note: This scene was originally the first scene of Chapter 7 of Spark & Fire, but I later, stupidly, now that I think of it, took out. Probably should have kept it in there. Oh well. What's done is done. Maybe I'll put it back in during the polishing run. Opinions?

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DELETED SCENE 1: ESCAPE

Riza opened her eyes when the cart stopped and saw that the bare branches of the trees against the darkening sky were still swaying. She closed her eyes again, but the dizziness remained as did the nausea and headache. She didn't know if those were symptoms of a concussion or the after effects of the ether she'd inhaled.

The cart rocked as her kidnappers climbed off and she heard a new voice. It wasn't accented like the two Rivièriens who had ambushed her, but one similar to Roy's Central accent but with much softer 'r's.

Unable to see where the men were from her position inside the small cart, Riza tried to sit up and a wave of nausea struck her. With effort, she managed to keep her gorge down. But only just. She had to find a way to get rid of the gag because she wasn't sure she would be able to keep it down every time.

"You gave her—?"

The man with the Central accent cut himself short and she heard snow crunch as someone—presumably the man from Central—rushed to the cart.

"Bitch iz not dead," the man who tackled her said just as a face looked into the cart. Riza stared at the man, her gag still between her teeth. He shone a light over her face and Riza turned away from the unexpected light.

"See?" Tackler said from behind the man with the flashlight. "Not dead."

"She's bleeding."

"It's just an 'ead wound. Sharp rock."

It was at that moment when another wave of nausea hit. The man with the light climbed into the cart behind Riza and cut away the gag before moving her over to the edge of the cart where she promptly threw up over the side.

"Why in the bloody blazes did you gag her after using ether?" The light flickered and died, but the man didn't seem to notice. "Are you trying to kill her, you idiots? Did you forget he wants this one alive? Don't answer that. Take her inside. Don't give her anything else. I'm going to send a message."

The cart rocked and he said something else to the men as he climbed out, but Riza couldn't hear it. Without waiting for their response, the man with the flashlight stalked off into the trees. A moment later and Riza heard the sound of hooves hitting the frozen earth. Tackler spat on the ground, muttered few curses and called the remaining man—the one whose nose she had broken—over in rivièrais.

Too disoriented and weak from the anesthetic, the men had no trouble carrying Riza up the steps and into the old, dilapidated, and very likely, abandoned home.

They deposited her in a small room and locked the door behind them. Fat snowflakes fell through the gaping hole in the roof to land in a growing pile near her bound ankles. She could make out a window across from where she lay, but it was too small and too high for her to escape. She lay there in the silence, and listened. The wind whistled past the cracks in the wall. What sounded like the outer door opened and closed a couple times before all she heard on the other side of the door was the sound of bottles clinking and relaxed voices. It would have to do. Time to proceed with step one.

Riza twisted and contorted her body within the confines of her bindings until she could reach the top of her right boot. When her fingers brushed the smooth, wooden handle of the penknife the twins had given her, Riza felt her lips peel back in what most would have called a predatory grin. Step one complete. Proceed to step two.

Slowly, she managed to draw the knife out of her boot and unfolded it without slicing her hands to ribbons.

After what felt like an eternity, she cut through the rope and freed her hands. Her arms were tired, but there was no time to rest; time is of the essence. She sat up and took stock of herself as she cut through the ropes tying her ankles together. She no longer suffered from double vision and the nausea had died down, but her head still hurt. She probed the area that throbbed and winced when her fingers brushed the wound just above the hairline. She felt dried blood on her skin and hair, but the area was, thankfully, no longer bleeding. Riza's stomach grumbled and that gave her an idea for the next step three.

She unfastened her coat and pulled it off to give her arms a greater range of motion. But before she had a chance to demand her kidnappers to give her something to eat, she swayed and bumped into what felt like a shelf. She winced as something fell to the ground with a dull pop. Well, she thought, her eyes glued to the door as footsteps approached, skipping step three and four. Moving on to step five.

The bolt slid back and the door opened.

Uploaded: DEC 20, 2015
Updated: JAN 28, 2016