Chapter 9

Draco had also retreated to his chambers and was just preparing for bed. He had taken of his jacket and was standing in his white shirt and black trousers when someone came bursting in. He had a guards uniform on and his sword was unsheathed.
"What's going on?" Draco asked, his hand resting on his own sword that hung from a belt on his hip.
"We're under attack" the guard said.
"What?" he hissed. He rushed to the window and saw several men fighting in the courtyard.
"There here for Hermione" the guard explained.
"We have to go get her!" Draco yelled, unsheathing his sword. The guard nodded and they both ran down the hall. When they reached Hermione's chambers, Draco saw that the door was ajar. He threw it open and rushed in.
"Hermione?" he looked around the room to find it empty. He felt his chest tightening as his heart started to beat faster.
"She's not here" he hissed. He grabbed her crown, which rested on her vanity table.
"Maybe she got away." The guard encouraged.
"She wouldn't just leave without me" he answered.
"She's a queen, she would" the guard argued.
"You don't know her, she's not like that. She doesn't leave anyone behind" he whispered. Suddenly, another guard appeared.
"Your liege, they are retreating, the threat has been evaded. None of the guests got hurt and we suffered minor casualties" the guard explained.
"The queen is missing, I want this entire castle searched!" he ordered. The guards nodded and every able men from the queens guard started searching every crevice of the castle. It took an hour, no more, no less. Draco sat in her room, waiting. He pressed his nose in her dress and inhaled her scent.
"Please, let them find her" he whispered, closing his eyes.
"My Lord, she's not in the castle." A guard had entered her room.
"What? How did they get out?" he asked.
"I don't know" the guard admitted.
"Interrogate all the servants, if there is another way out of the castle, they'll know about it." he ordered. The guard nodded and walked away. Draco got up and started to pace in the room.
"If I were taking someone, where would I go?" he rubbed his temples.
"I can't use any of the regular ways to the outside, I'd have to find another route." He tried to think as her assailants would have. They would have taken her downstairs, to the cellars. The Malfoy Manor had an secret passageway in the cellar, to escape should enemies come knocking. It was worth a shot.

Hermione was lying in a dark room, her hands were still bound. Her wrists were bleeding from struggling against her restraints. She heard footsteps and someone came to the door. She pulled herself into a standing position. A man entered the room. He looked about thirty years of age. He had brown hair and green eyes and a scar ran from his cheek to the bottom of his face.
"Your majesty" he bowed to her. Hermione was slightly taken aback by this polite gesture.
"This is no way to treat your queen" she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, my lady, but it is necessary." He stated.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm lord Davenport." He explained.
"I don't know you, why are you doing this?" she asked.
"We're doing it for our country, we're doing it for you." He told her.
"What? You can't expect me to believe that you're doing any of this for me or our country! You kidnapped your queen and bound her before throwing her in a cell!" she yelled.
"We're sorry, my lady, but there was simply no other way." Hermione shook her head.
"Please, do explain" she hissed.
"We are loyal to you, your grace, and to the country of Argon. That's why the independence of our country is important. We don't want that English pawn prince Draco to ascend the throne. His father will take what is yours through him, they will take our country and they will force us to submit to their laws." He told her.
"What? I won't let them take anything from me!" she yelled.
"My queen, I'm sorry, but you wouldn't have a choice. According to the English laws, a queen cannot rule a country." He continued.
"Well, that doesn't matter, I'm not English" she tried.
"But you would agree with their laws as you married, it's part of the contract." Hermione shook her head and laughed.
"That's ridiculous!" she yelled. "Just let me go, let me go and I won't marry anyone" she tried to convince them.
"You need to marry to produce heirs for our country, we want you to marry someone who has its best interests at heart." He continued.
"And that would be me, Queen Hermione. The people of Argon want you to marry me, Lord Davenport. Without me, there would be uprisings." He smirked. It was at that moment that Hermione realized there would be no reasoning with this man. He was cruel and vile and only looking out for himself.
"I'll never marry you" she hissed. He stepped into her personal space and his hand touched her cheek.
"You won't have a choice" he whispered in her ear. Hermione shivered.
"We'll talk about getting you back to court as soon as I have conformation that your fiancée is dead." He said matter of factly before walking out and shutting the door on her once more. Hermione felt a tear run down her cheek. He couldn't be dead, could he? Surely her guards would have protected him, or at least his guards would. And surely the entire country wasn't supporting this vile man.
"I'll get out of here! You hear me! I'll get out of here and I'll kill every last one of you" she screamed at the door.

Draco was examining the cellar as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned, half expecting Hermione to enter and tell him that all of it was a sick joke. None of it was further from the truth.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed as his sworn enemy walked up to him.
"The same as you, I suppose. There is a passage somewhere in this cellar which takes us out of the castle." James explained. Draco smirked , he had been right.
"Well, let's get to finding it, so that we're at least one step closer to finding Hermione" he told him and both boys started patting the walls and checking cupboards. Malfoy was fondling a large oak structure when James yelled out to him.
"Over here" Draco rushed to James' side and looked into the empty hallway that the removal of a cupboard had revealed.
"there are footprints on the floor" Draco noticed.
"They would definitely have came this way" James commented. Draco nodded. He grabbed a torch from the walls of the cellar and walked forward.
"Let's go" he announced.
"We're not going to get the guards?" James asked.
"Hermione might not have time" he simply stated before running down the hallway. He heard James' footsteps behind him. His heart was racing and his palms were sweaty. He needed to find her and quick.