The Princess Edd
Chapter Nine

The duo ran along the trail until they came upon a knee-high boulder on which they could sit.

The man in black dropped Edd against the rock. "Catch your breath."

Edd looked around, scared and confused. "If you'll release me, whatever you want for ransom, you'll get it. I promise!"

The man in black laughed. "And what is that worth, the promise of a boy like you? You're very funny, Highness."

"I was giving you a chance." Edd's fear melted. "It doesn't matter where you take me; there's no greater hunter than Prince Kevin. He can track a falcon on a cloudy day; he can find you."

The man in black tightened his lip. "You think your dearest love will save you?"

"I never said he was my dearest love. And yes, he will save me; that I know."

The man in black raised an eyebrow. "You admit to me you do not love your fiancé."

"He knows I do not love him."

"Are not capable of love is what you mean."

Edd's anger rose with his physical body. "I have loved more deeply than a killer like yourself could ever dream!"

The man in black rose his hand in a karate chop pose, causing Edd to flinch.

The man in black lowered his hand. "That was a warning, Highness; the next time, my hand flies on its own, for where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies."

He grabbed Edd and ran down the trail with him in tow.

At the same time, Kevin was examining the picnic area where Jonny's dead body lay. It was clear from the hysterical smile on his face and the lack of visible injuries that the cause of death was poisoning. A poison that could kill in as little as 30 seconds.

The wine goblets presented the means by which the poison was administered. Because of Jonny's frozen smile, he could tell that the poison was tasteless. An empty paper vial between the goblets indicated that the poison was a powder. A finger in each goblet yielded no trace of powder in either goblet, an indication that the powder was highly soluble. A sniff of the paper vial was conclusive: no odor.

A powder that was odorless, tasteless, dissolves readily in liquid, and can kill a person in 30 seconds. It could only be one thing.

"Iocane. I bet my life on it." He looked in the soft dirt surrounding the flat boulder. "And there are the princess's footprints. He is alive. At least, he was an hour ago." He clambered back into the helicopter. "If he is otherwise when I find him, I shall be very put out."

The man in black led Edd to a ridge and sat down on the edge over a deep ravine. "Rest, highness."

Edd complied before he turned to the man in black. "I know who you are; your cruelty reveals everything!"

The man in black looked to Edd with a testing expression.

"You're the Dread Pilot Roberts! Admit it!"

"With pride." Roberts clapped his hands and folded them together. "What can I do for you?"

Edd's brow tightened. "You can die slowly cut into a thousand pieces."

Roberts tsked. "Hardly complementary, your Highness. Why loose your venom on me?"

"You killed my love."

Roberts shrugged. "It's possible; I kill a lot of people." He turned his gaze across the ravine. "Who was this love of yours? Another prince like this one? Ugly, rich, and scabby?"

"No!" Edd snapped. "A servant girl! Poor!" He let off a long breath. "Poor and perfect." Through the gap in Roberts's sunglasses offered by the side view of his face, Edd could see a familiar shade of green in his eyes. "With eyes like tree leaves after a storm." He snapped himself out of his trance. "Over the high seas, you brought her flight down into the ocean! And the Dread Pilot Roberts never takes prisoners!"

Roberts shrugged. "Well, I can't afford to make exceptions; once word leaks out that a crime boss has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and then it's nothing but work work work all the time."

Edd stood up. "You mock my pain!"

Roberts stood up. "Life is pain, Highness; anyone who says differently is selling something."

Edd glared at Roberts as he walked in circles around him. "I remember this servant girl of yours, I think. This would be what, five years ago? Does it bother you to hear?"

Edd didn't move. "Nothing you say could upset me."

"She died well; that should suit you. No bribe attempts or blubbering; she simply said 'please'. 'Please, I need to live.'. 'Twas her 'please' that caught my memory. I asked her what was so important, what she had in this life worth living for. 'True love,' she replied. And she spoke of a young man of surpassing godliness and faithfulness, I can only assume she meant you." Roberts stopped walking. "You should bless me for destroying her before she found out what you really are."

Edd turned to Roberts. "And what am I?"

"'Faithfulness,' she spoke of, sir. Your enduring faithfulness. Now tell me truly: when you found out she was dead, did you get engaged to your prince that same hour, or did you wait a whole week out of respect for the dead?"

Edd balled his hands into fists. "You mocked me once; never do it again! I died that day!" In his anger, he didn't hear the approaching helicopter. "And you can die, too, for all I care!"

A punch to his temple sent Roberts tumbling down into the ravine.

As Edd turned in the direction of the approaching helicopter, a more prominent sound reached his ears.

"As - OOF - you - OOF - wish!"

He couldn't have imagined that. It sounded just as real as when he first heard it.

"My sweet Marie. What have I done?"

Unable to make sense of what was going on, he fainted and tumbled down into the ravine.

At the same time, Kevin looked outside of the helicopter along the ridge. "They've disappeared. He must have seen us closing in, which may account for his panicking into error. Unless I'm wrong (and I'm never wrong), they're headed dead into the Fire Swamp."