Of Cat and Boy
By Lady of the InkDisclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, but you knew that. At least, I hope you knew that. But I do own this story, and all the twists and turns it takes.
Recap: Reaching out, she pulled back her blanket and prepared for bed. Before she could lie down, however, a hand was slapped roughly over her mouth as an equally forceful arm locked around her waist. She couldn't even scream as she was dragged from the room.
Chapter Ten
A New Family(Part One)
Merle growled deep in her throat, struggling against the loops of rope that were wrapped tightly around her wrists. Her next jerk at the unyielding bonds sent her elbow slamming into the wooden bottom of the cart she was in. A whimper escaped her as a film of tears filled her eyes. Blinking them back harshly, she took a couple of deep breaths through her nose, the only way she could breathe with the thick gag that filled her mouth.
Trying to remain calm was getting to be harder by the minute. Things had gone steadily from bad to worse since she had felt those hands seize her from behind. With the one over her mouth forming a tight seal, there had been no way for her to yell for help. By the time that her terror had worn off enough for her to try and fight back, it was already too late. Both arms had been pinned tightly to her sides, rendering them useless.
Her next thought had been to kick her abductor, but that, too, turned out to be hopeless. As if her reaction had been expected, she was being dragged backward, her upper body held tightly against the chest of her captor. Her lower body was being pulled at an awkward angle, giving her no leverage to strike back. She was completely at his mercy.
Her one form of attack had come when they had left the kitchen behind and crossed some distance through the courtyard. Though the early morning light was extremely dim, her excellent eyes had allowed Merle to make out a small cart waiting off to one side, the horse that pulled it stamping impatiently at the ground.
When the man, and she was sure it was a man from the extended bit of close contact, shifted her to place her in the cart, his grip on her mouth had loosened for a fraction of a second. Using it to her full advantage, she twisted her head to one side, and then sank her teeth as deeply into his palm as she could manage. When he jerked the wounded appendage away with a muffled cry, she'd filled her lungs in preparation for a wall-crumbling, window-shattering, dead-waking scream.
A fist connecting harshly with the side of her head knocked that breath right out of her. It also sent her sprawling into the bottom of cart with ringing ears and a throbbing pain in one temple.
After that, things were a little blurry. The dusty tasting gag was shoved into her mouth. Something thick and dark was pulled over her head, completely blocking out her vision. The dark, stiffening feeling that the covering gave made everything seem twice as frightening. By the time she felt the small jolt that signaled the cart's movements, it was all she could do to keep from falling into an all out panic attack.
Since then, she felt as though they had covered a lot of ground, but knew that she could be completely off on that guess. It was so hard to be sure of anything when your whole world was darkness and muffled sound.
It was another jolt, this one rougher than the first, that roused her from her almost sleeping state. Instantly coming fully awake, Merle tensed as footsteps came clearly to her ears. They rounded the side of the cart, stopping at the back. Even with her eyes covered, she could tell that he was looking at her. She shuddered as she imagined his gaze like thick ooze, sliding its way across her skin.
There was the sound of something scraping against wood as he leaned onto the bed of the cart. Merle couldn't hold back a small squeak as two far from gentle hands gripped her ankles. She was dragged roughly across the hard surface, gaining her some more scratches and wood burns.
She felt an instant of vertigo at the loss of the support, but it vanished as her feet hit ground. Weaving slightly, she fought to regain her balance. The last thing she wanted was to be at even more of a disadvantage, sprawled across the ground.
There was no warning. One moment, she was trying to shift herself to keep from falling, and the next, the hood was whisked from her head. Blinking against the harsh sunlight, it took a moment for what she was seeing to sink in. After that, all she could do was stare at the now revealed identity of her kidnapper.
Van smiled as he slid down the banister, not even caring if anyone saw him breaking the rules. Nothing could bring him down right now.
As promised, he had met with his mother immediately after breakfast. A long talk had followed as he explained to her how he had met Merle, and all the visits that had followed. When he told her what Merle had revealed to him about her lack of family, and Balgus' intervention, he could see that she agreed with his early deduction that Merle was supposed to have been a companion for him.
After that, it took no more convincing. Varie had seen nothing wrong with allowing the cat girl to take her intended place. Before he had left the room, Van heard his mother issuing orders about readying a bedchamber and summoning the seamstress for a fitting after lunch.
Allowing himself a couple of jumps as he neared the kitchen, Van felt like he was going to burst. This was going to be the best news he had ever given someone. He wondered what Merle's reaction would be. Would she laugh? Cry? Would she even believe him at first? He wasn't sure, but he was reasonably certain that she'd be as thrilled as he was.
Sliding around the last corner, he bounded into the crowded kitchen, ignoring the startled cries from the workers as he headed straight for Merle's sleeping corner. The sight of the empty sleeping pallet stopped him in his tracks. For a moment, he just stared, then his brow furrowed. Merle was always in bed at this time of day. It was one of the busier times in the kitchen, and she preferred to keep as far away from the other woman as possible.
So why wasn't she there?
His eyes darted all over the small corner, but there was no sign of the cat girl. No tousled pink hair peeked from beneath the blanket hanging half off the bed. No tail curled from behind one of the barrels or boxes that formed a barrier between that corner and the rest of the room.
An unsettling feeling began to build in the bottom of his stomach. Something was wrong with all this, he just knew it. Turning from the alcove, his eyes skated over the figures behind him. Some continued working, some watched him out of the corners of their eyes. Only one seemed to be watching him openly, not caring who saw. When he caught her eye, Daphne left her counter station and came towards him. She started to speak before she even made it to his side.
"So you don't know where she is either." It was much more of a statement than a question, and they both knew it.
Van shook his head, knowing that the downcast expression on the older girl's face was mirrored on his own. "Wasn't she here when you got here?"
It was Daphne's turn to shake her head. "I even came early, to see what you'd thought about her new look, but there was no sign of her. Just the empty bed."
"You don't . . .think she left, do you?" He hated thinking that his friend would do that, but he also knew he needed to look at all the possibilities. Merle had never hidden the fact that working like she did wasn't the way she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Though he had spoken of his plans to have her position changed, she might have thought that it wasn't going to happen. Had she given up and decided to take her chances on her own?
"I don't think she would have done that," Daphne's voice was calm, but tinged with worry. "She was so happy last night. She said she'd never had friends to look out for her before. Even if she were going to leave, she would have told us. There's no way she would leave without saying anything."
Van nodded his agreement as his shoulders slumped. He didn't like the path that his thoughts were taking. If she hadn't left on her own, why wasn't she here? Was she all right? Or had someone done something to her?
"We should look for her." His strident statement was enough to make everyone in the room turn towards him with varying expressions on their faces. As his eyes skated over those faces in slight embarrassment, he saw one that seemed out of place. Of all the women, some looked confused, others questioning, but one wasn't even trying to hide an expression of spiteful satisfaction.
The woman, Nellie, was someone he recognized dimly as one of the cooks. Though she had never spoken directly to him, he had heard quite a bit about her from Merle, none of it flattering. The look on her face made anger rise inside him. What kind of person was she to take pleasure in someone else's misfortune?
His anger changed to worry when he realized that someone like her, or even worse, could have Merle at that very moment. Biting his lip, he turned back to Daphne, ignoring the rest of the room. "Can you look around down here? Check all the storage rooms and cellars, anyplace that you can think of. I'll talk to my mother, then look around the rest of the floors."
Daphne nodded, obviously not worried about getting in trouble for obeying the prince's orders. In an instant, she had turned on her heel and vanished into the first of several storerooms that lined the walls of the kitchen. Following her lead, Van made his way back into the hall through the door he had entered. A small corner of his mind recognized the quirk of fate that had him passing through the same doorway twice in so few minutes, and in two completely different moods. His happiness from earlier had been completely replaced with worry and a bit of fear.
Picking up speed as he neared the stairs, only one thing was clear in his mind. Merle was in some kind of trouble, and he had to find her. He wasn't sure how he knew that the whole situation was more than a misunderstanding or a prank, but he did. For all that he wished she would turn up somewhere, sleeping and oblivious to the commotion she was causing, he knew it wouldn't happen. She wasn't just napping somewhere; she hadn't taken a walk and lost track of time.
Something was really wrong.
