Chapter 10
Pacing around her rooms Ali felt like a locked up cat. She would stop at the windows and peer out before continuing to pace. Waking up hours before and only seeing one serving maid that brought her breakfast Ali wanted some news. She wanted to be able to ask about Spen, why she had been brought here, and how she could leave. Lea hadn't returned since last night, which puzzled her. Finally around what she deemed to be lunch time there was a knock on the door and then Duke Anton walked in. Crossing her arms in front of her, Ali demanded, "Are you going to telling why you brought me here?"
Laughing he stopped about a foot in front of her, "Yes, I will tell you today. But first if you will come with me." He held out his elbow for her to grab.
Ali shook her head and commented, "No, I think I am fine walking on my own." She clasped her hands behind her and started walking towards the door.
Duke Anton grabbed her arm and pulled her by him, "You will come with me."
Glaring at him she replied, "I was going to come with you, I just didn't feel that I needed to hang on your elbow every step of the way."
His grip on her arm tightened as he said, "I am to be your husband, the sooner you get that, the happier you will be."
Wincing at the pain in her arm Ali tried to say calmly, "You are hurting my arm, and I still don't know why you think I will be your wife."
Slowly releasing his grip on her arm, he held out his elbow again, "I am going to show you why we are destined to be married."
Reluctantly Ali put her hand on the offered arm and walked with him out the door. They walked down to the main floor of the house and into a big room filled with books. Duke Anton widely gestured to the room and said, "This room was my father's pride and joy. He spent his whole life finding and buying the books that are here. What I want you to see if over there." He pointed to a display case on the far side of the room. They walked over there and Ali looked in. There was a single sheet of paper, with six short lines written on it.
A Middle Tercel Princess
Born in the dark of the moon
bringing light
To him who is lost and
Will be the next queen
After she marries, making him King.
Confused Ali looked up at the Duke and asked, "What exactly is this?"
"This, my dear princess, is a Sylvan prophesy of the highest degree. Seven lines, seven seers. Seven being a highly magical number."
"But there are only six lines." Ali interrupted.
Sighing he chided, "I am trying to explain, let me finish." He looked down at the paper, "When such a prophesy occurs, each of the seven seers are scattered across the kingdom. They are required by law to report their line to the king. You see each seer only receives one line. Therefore only when all seven lines are put together will you know the while prophesy. Only in this case One seer did not report. But there is enough here to be able to discern that you will become queen and I will be your King." He finished haughtily.
"How do you know that you will be King? Because I am certainly not going to marry you." Ali stated back to him.
Smiling down at her, he responded, "Because you are here, and I have all the time in the world to make you change your mind."
"Is that why I lost my memory?" Ali asked.
"Looks like you figured it out, I was hoping that after your memory had been wiped that I could come in as your savior and you would fall in love with me. And no matter what the present King or your father did, they couldn't annul the marriage because you did it willingly. I will have to come up with a new tactic, now that most of your memories have returned." He said the last part to himself as he looked at the window.
Ali stepped away from him in disgust and shouted at him, "You keep dreaming because I will never willingly marry you!" And she turned around and ran as fast as her layers of skirts would let her toward the door. She heard him say something but ignored it as she focused on the door. Suddenly she couldn't move anymore, she was frozen, with her hands holding her skirts off the floor and one foot off the ground in a running stride. Chuckling Duke Anton walked over to her, "I have to give you this, you definitely have spirit. I will be fun crushing that out of you." Making a gesture with his hand her leg that was off the ground came down to touch the floor. "Can't have you falling, now could we?" He asked as he slowly came closer, his eyes lustily traveling over her. "You are a beautiful one, has any one told you that? You should be in a pretty dress all the time, not those filthy traveling clothes that you were in yesterday." Tracing a finger down her face, Ali tried to move away from him but couldn't. He lightly traced the outside of her mouth before moving down her neck, "Yes indeed." He whispered, "I am definitely lucky for such a beautiful bride." He moved in and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Ali fighting her body to move, tried not to cry. She hated this man and his high-handed way of doing things. Who was he to decide who she should marry? Finally he moved away and smiled at her. Ali just glared back at him. Laughing at his response he commented, "You will come to like me, maybe even love me. For now we will just continue like this." He turned around and started to walk out the door, "I will have Lea retrieve you for lunch shortly." The Duke said before disappearing out the door leaving Ali frozen in the library to think.
First she was furious, How dare he treat her this way? She wasn't something he could just throw around. As her fury faded away, it was replaced with worry, how was she going to get out of this place? How was she going to find Spen and get him out? Was she ever going to get home? After a while she thrust those thoughts out and determination to escape filled her. She first needed to get out of this freezing spell. She had magic she knew that from the memories she had regained, she remembered getting into an argument with Spen because he wanted her to take her level three magic tests and she didn't want to work that hard to pass them, she was fine with being a level two. Which annoyed him more than ever because her younger sister Sophie was already a level three and Sophie was ten at the time.
Ali focused her thoughts inside her and tried to find that little shining ball of magic inside of her. When she finally found it, she used a little of it to poke her magic on her skin keeping her frozen. After a little poking and shoving, Ali noticed that it moved. She concentrated on her hands first, moving the spell farther and farther away until she could move her aching hands. As she became better at moving the spell it was easier to free herself. Finally she move her whole body and she quickly went out into the hallway where she almost bumped into Lea. Lea was surprised, "The Master said that you had a spell on you. How can you move?"
"My Magic." Ali stated, "It may not be very strong but at least I can get out of that spell. Were you able to find my friend?"
Lea motioned Ali to follow her. "I was." Lea whispered as they walked back to Ali's rooms. "He is not doing very well, they have him in one of the dungeons. They did have a healer come to him once last night but not since."
Ali stared at Lea in horror, she now knew what she had missed when she made Duke Anton promise, she didn't make him promise to have Spen completely healed just seen to by a healer, which had happened. "Can you take me to see him? Do you have access to a healer's kit? I can hopefully help him a little bit."
Lea thought about her request for a moment before saying, "Tonight, after the Master goes to sleep, I can take you. And I will have your healer's kit."
The afternoon went by slowly, Ali considered herself lucky that Duke Anton hadn't come back to keep her company. She must have dozed off in a chair because she found herself having another dream.
She was being dragged to a horse, she was fighting which was not successful because her hands were tied before her.
"My dear princess, come along we need to get you out of here before King Jeneth gets here. He seems to think that I was the person that kidnapped you and he wants to search my place. Come on." Duke Anton pulled on her arm again.
"No!" She screamed, "I actually would like to be found."
Ali was thrown up to her horse and a second rider hopped up behind her putting a arm like steel around her waist and kicking the horse into movement. Others moved around her, creating the box formation required for the travel spell. The world became blurred and dizzy as the spell took effect. After about an hour of riding in this blurred state Ali could feel her riding companions grip relax. She also felt herself becoming disoriented. It might just be the ride, but Duke Anton had given her a strange smelling cup of liquid and had forced her to drink it before he had forced her on the horse, it could be that as well. She needed to escape while she had the chance. Quickly before she thought about it too much she rammed her head back into the head of her riding companion and threw herself off of the horse. Hitting the ground while at the speeds of the traveling spell was rough. She laid there for several moments waiting for her breathe to return. The sky was still spinning when she finally tried to stand. She knew that she need to get on her feet and run. They were coming, at the moment she wasn't quite sure who was coming but someone was definitely coming.
Ali jerked out of her sleep, she knew how she had escaped last time, that is why they had tied her hands to the saddle horn when they had brought her here. But how was she going to escape this time?
When Lea finally came to take her to Spen, Ali was feeling very anxious. Quickly and quietly Ali followed Lea down to the dungeons. Ali was surprised that there were no guards on duty and when she asked Lea about that, Lea replied, "Not all of the guards are happy about how The Master has captured you and your friend and are keeping you here. The guard on duty has promised to look away for an hour. That is all you will have." Ali nodded as Lea opened the door. She gasped in surprise as she saw a very pale Spen lying on a mangled looking cot.
Running to his side, Ali picked up his uninjured hand and whispered, "Spen, It's me, Ali. Are you awake?"
He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. "Ali…?" he stammered out. "How are you… here?"
"One of the maids helped me." Ali said as she smoothed his sweat ridden hair back from his face. "How are you doing?"
He chuckled for a moment before it turned into a cough, "There was a healer that came yesterday, and I felt better after that but not so much now."
Ali turned her attention to his bandaged arm and slowly peeled the bandages off. "I don't know exactly what to use but I will try." She motioned Lea to bring her the healer's pouch that she carried. As Lea came forward she looked at Spen in awe. "Here you go, princess." She said before quickly backing away. Ali looked at her confused for a moment before shaking off her unease and rummaged through the pack looking for something to help her. Replacing the herbs and bandages Ali hoped that what she choose would help him. Spen had stayed quiet and watched her the whole time through drowsy eyes. When she was done she clasped his hand again and finger combed his hair back as she smiled watery at him. "We are going to get out of this somehow. Just wait and see." Ali reassured him.
Spen shook his head, wincing at some pain, "No, princess. I don't think I will. The poison is in my system. Only a good healer could get it out now. And somehow I don't see our host going and getting one."
"I won't let you die." Ali firmly stated. "I will figure out a way to get you a healer."
Sighing, Spen let go of her hand and fumbled for something around his neck, "This is yours. I won it in a bet. I should give it back to you."
"No, Spen." Ali protested, "You will regret giving it back to me."
Spen forced it into her hand. "Maybe, or maybe not. But you need to find some way to escape. Promise me you will."
"We will both find a way to escape." Ali declared.
What Spen was going to say next was interrupted by Lea saying it was time to go, the guard was about to come back. "I will be back, Encyclopedia." Ali said quickly, before kissing him lightly on the forehead, and allowed herself to be pulled out of the little room by Lea.
When she was back in her rooms, Ali laid in bed and stared at the object that Spen had given her. It was a simple white pearl set in a gold ring. She put it on her finger and looked at it in the flickering candle light. She had seen this ring before, someone had given it to her. She searched her memory, knowing that it had to be in there somewhere. She remembered losing to Spen on a bet about who would last the longest in a mock mage battle between them. She had tried stealing it back from him several times because her mother would be furious if she knew that Ali had lost it in a bet. Her mind went back to her mother, her mother had given it to her.
Queen Elena came into Ali's bedroom on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. "I have a special present for you my dear. And it is very important that you hold it in the highest regard." The Queen held out a delicate hand with a small box on it for Ali to take.
Surprised at this, Ali took the box and slowly opened it, to reveal a single white pearl set in a gold ring. She looked up into her mother's eyes, her brown eyes meeting her mother's blue. "What is so special about a ring?"
Her mother laughed, "I received this ring from your grandmother with very important instructions which I am telling you. I was told to give you this ring on your sixteenth birthday and that it would help you in a very dangerous situation." Holding up her hand to quell her daughter's questions she continued, "It is a transporting ring. They are made from pearls that have been taken from the magical green oyster in the pink sea on the other side of the world. Each pearl has the ability to transport someone three times before it loses its power and becomes a black pearl. This ring only has one time left. Your grandmother gave it to me like that, and I am giving it to you with the admonition to only use it in a life and death situation. She told me that you would be in one, so save it until then, please promise me you will keep it with you." Queen Elena eyes looked at her daughters eyes pleading.
"I promise, Mama." Ali stammered as she put on the ring.
"Good." Queen Elena smiled and hugged her, "Now, I was told that in order to make it work you have to think about where you want to go. It needs to be a clear picture in your head. You can take anything or anyone as long as you are touching them. Do you understand that?" Ali nodded her head and the Queen went on, "Next you twist the pearl three times and then tap it three times and it will take you to where you envisioned yourself." Queen Elena made Ali repeat that several times before hugging her again and kissing her goodnight.
Ali jerked up out of bed, looking in wonder at the ring. This was her way out, and by holding onto Spen she could get him out of there are well. She looked out the window and saw the sun barely beginning to rise. Excited about her plans to escape she bounced out of bed and quickly pulled on the first dress she saw. She pulled the bell, hoping that Lea would help her with her escape.
Lea arrived still rubbing her eyes, trying to wake up. "Lea, if I tell you that I know of a way that I can escape, would you help me?"
Looking at Ali with confusion, "Do you have a sure way to escape? Because if it doesn't work you will find yourself locked up."
"I do. But I need supplies, the right clothes and another trip to see Spen." Ali said eagerly.
"What is it?" Lea asked and then changed her mind, "No, don't tell me, and then I can answer true fully that I have no clue how you escaped."
Ali ginned at her, and said, "Hurry, get those supplies. When do you think you can have them gathered and in the dungeon where Spen is?"
"It will take most of the morning to do it without causing suspicion." Lea thoughtfully said, "Let's try for this afternoon, when the Master takes his daily ride."
"Good," Ali said, and then sent Lea off to start her tasks.
Author's note- Time to stop, this chapter is long enough. I hoped you enjoyed it. Thanks for the Reviews Fell4 and Ashley!