Liam stared after Ann's fleeting form before snapping out of it and turned to follow her.
"Wait, Highness," the man called.
Liam turned in his saddle and looked at the older man impatiently. "What is it?"
"Let her go," the man answered. "You will never be able to convince her to come back while I'm here. Let her blow off some of her steam first."
Liam turned his horse around and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Answer your prince," he demanded.
The other man dismounted and bowed deeply in a flourish. "Duke William of Ashcroft at your service."
That name seems familiar, but I can quite remember where I've heard it before. "If you are a duke, how is it that I have never seen you at court?" It was customary for all the dukes to live at, or visit the court at least once.
"I did go some months ago, but you were not present. Her Majesty said that you were away on a hunting trip," the duke explained.
Then it hit Liam. So this was the man who visited the castle on the night Ann ran away to the cabin. Then, this must be…
"Are you Ann's father?"
The man nodded. "That I am."
This was the man who caused Ann and her mother so much pain. The nonchalant look when the duke answered his question roused Liam's anger. He didn't seem to be ashamed of what he had done to his wife and daughter, in fact, he seemed as if he was happy to get rid of them. Liam dismounted and walked up to the duke. He looked at him in the eye and gave a lecture.
"Have you any idea what your wife and daughter went through because of your actions, you, you insensitive…" Liam trailed off for lack of word to describe the man in front of him.
The Duke of Ashcroft suddenly looked tired and old. He sighed. "Let's not discuss it here," he waved to the bunch of curious knights. "Come to my camp and I shall tell you." He mounted and rode to the direction of Briar City.
Liam stared after him, unable to decide whether he could trust the duke. The prince shrugged his shoulders, mounted, and led his knights to follow the duke. What's the worst that could happen, when he got the best knights in Annon to protect him. Besides, Ann could take care of herself for a little while.
Ann rode on until she came to a stream in the woods. She dismounted, cooled her horse and allowed Melody to drink her fill. Then the girl splashed the cold, clear water onto her face to clear her head, for it was pounding at the moment. Why is it that he always shows up when I least expect it, and what does he want with me anyway? Didn't he do enough damage already? Ann sighed and sat down at the foot of a tree, resting her head on her knee, lost in thought.
She was thinking about her past, and how her father took away everything that she knew. Then her thoughts came to Liam and her feelings about him. He said he would wait.
She couldn't go back yet, so she took her sketchbook and started to draw the scenery before her. Time flew by. Before she knew it, the sun was slipping down towards the horizon. Finally, she decided to find the prince and his knights.
Ann found them not far away from where she stayed all afternoon, the tents were already set up. Sir George nodded in greeting and took her horse. Ann wandered around camp listlessly. Her stomach complained because she hadn't eaten since breakfast, so she decided to see if she could eat something before supper was ready.
She had not gone far when someone called her. She turned around and froze. It was Liam who called her from his tent. But what made her freeze was the man beside the prince.
"Come over here," Liam beckoned. But Ann was staring at the man and not moving.
Liam sighed and walked over to her. He then proceeded to drag the girl towards the man standing a few feet away.
Ann snapped out of her trance and tried to run, but Liam had a tight grip on her. She tried to refuse to budge, but the prince was stronger than her. In the end, Ann stood face to face with the man that, she considered, ruined her life.
"Ahem," the duke cleared his throat. His eyes shifted around and he was fidgeting.
Ann would've walked away but for the iron grip that Liam had on her arm from behind. After a few seconds of silence, she stopped struggling. Instead, she stood tall and confident.
"What do you want with me, Your Grace?" she asked. She emphasized the last two words to sound as if she was mocking him; she even raised one eyebrow to emphasize her point.
"Oh, um, Ann," the man stuttered. "As you know, I'm your father. And um."
"Yes?"
"So you should call me 'Father'."
Ann's anger rose. "Why? You haven't been a father to me. First you hurt my mother and me, and then you left your home and sold it without telling us. You abandoned us, got yourself rich and didn't leave us a penny. Even before you left, you didn't care about my mother or me. So tell me Your Grace, what have you done that made you deserve to be called my father?" Ann was practically yelling in his face.
"I, I just thought that, I, you are my daughter by birth, so, I should be your father," the duke stuttered while looking at his feet.
"What good is just giving birth to a child when you don't care for him or her! And – "
"Duke William, please, don't get sidetracked. Continue with, you know." Liam had to interrupt. He didn't want the knights to here this and come out of curiosity. "And Ann, control your anger." This comment got him an evil look from Ann.
"Anyway," the duke continued. "I um. Oh, where was I. I wanted to um."
Ann sighed inward impatiently. Why doesn't he just get to the point! She was about to voice her thought when Liam silenced her with a squeeze on the arm.
"I just wanted to say that, um, I'm sorry for, you know…" he trailed off.
It was Liam's turn to sigh. He realized that this was as much of what they had wanted to accomplish as they were going to get. They had it planned out so perfectly this afternoon, but the duke blew his part. Liam let go of Ann and led the duke away from the girl.
Ann turned around to help prepare the food. She was slightly disappointed. At first, she expected insults from her father, but when he actually said sorry, her hopes went up. He didn't say what he was sorry for. Ann knew, but she just wanted him to say it. His half-apology did make some of her anger to leave, but only some.
~*~
I'm sorry for not updating for so long. My school has a semester thing, where you only take four course per semester. So this semester, I have courses with more homework, so I might not be able to update as often.
Ach, you people guessed who the man was!
naughty little munchkin: like I said before, I know the relationship between Ann and Liam was quick, but it's part of the story. As for the "sudden 'liam go find briana' part and 'ann can accompany him on the whim of the old gnome w/o any conflict' part" um...I guess it is too quick, but I just wanted to get to the adventure and the good parts. but you'll see that Ann does have a purpose in the quest, I just made up a lame excuse to get her to go on the quest.
