A/N - Hey! Sorry this took so long. I had writirs block as well as being busy! Thanks to all my reviewers and hope you like it!
Chapter 19
"I suppose you want to know why you're here?"
"That would be a respectable assumption." Leopold hissed at the man.
"Let's not be cheeky now darling." the man grunted through his gritted teeth as he stepped closer to her. "Or you'll never know about how you ruined my life."
Leopold winced as she saw that the left half of the man's face was a pink color and had been scarred as well as torn. Closing her eyes she was fighting the tears to come as she tried not to look at him. He was a hideous sight to be seen. He wore a vest that fully exposed his scarred arms and hands. If his face had been normal she guessed he would have been quite handsome, but for someone who looked like the devil himself she couldn't stand it.
"Not a pretty sight is it!" the man laughed stepping closer to her as she smelled his drunken breath. "I was burned thirteen years ago as my house collapsed around me. I wasn't the only one trapped in the fire though. My father perished in it as did most of our servants. My family was devastated from the loss."
"What has this to do with me?" Leopold croaked through her lips that had again gone dry.
"It has everything to do with you if you would shut your mouth and let me speak!" the man growled growing tired of her complaining by the second. Leopold shut her mouth and glared at the man refusing to let him see any emotions.
"As I was saying." the man paced in front of her "I was burned terribly, my family was devastated from the loss etc. My mother, brave as she was, struggled to find enough money that we may build up our house and recover the fortune it once had. Unfortunately we had little family to help us out and little to live by. So we were forced to leave what was left of our home and the new Duke and Duchess moved in. I was furious. How could the king who I thought had been a great friend to my father just leave us with nothing and expect everything to be all right! I couldn't stand for it! My mother on the other hand didn't give a rats ass about our house. She hated my father and hated me for looking like him and carrying on his once proud name. She ran off to the north and married the first Duke she met who would have her, telling him nothing of her past life. I on the other hand was forced to avenge my father's death on my own and the easiest way was to get rid of the current Duke and Duchess. And guess who they happened to be." the man came within an inch of her face and snarled at her. "Take a wonderful, wild guess Leopold. Because their fate shall be yours as well. Oh yes! Your mother and father put up a good fight against my men but they perished in the end as will you. Your family moved into my precious home and used the fortune that should have been mine in order to re-build it. Well they did a pathetic job and I'll have to fix everything once your gone. The last heir to the Wessex fortune!"
"You'll never win!" Leopold hissed hoping he would step closer so she could kick him "Someone will find out!"
"But dear Leopold I've already won!" he said laughing as he backed towards the door. "Your precious Aaron has no idea where you are and neither does your family. Their probably worried with grief right now. It has been a few days since you've been gone. Everyone's probably searching frantically. But they'll never find you until it's too late. You see there will be no ransom note as the only thing I want is to see you dead. Your money will become mine once you die so therefore there's no reason for me to try and take it now. Besides it might look suspicious. To sum it all up, as no one knows where you are there will be no one to comfort you when you die. Of course we did make arrangements for that Eron fellow to join you. The only reason being he followed you on the streets that night and we had no choice but to lock him up as well. Oh well."
"You can't take the fortune!" Leopold said thinking quickly "It will go to my eldest uncle!"
"It will go to no one! As you have no heir and you haven't yet made a will that entitles your fortune to another specimen in your family the fortune goes to the last Duke and Duchess in residence. And since I am the last Duke the fortune goes to me!"
"It doesn't work like that!"
"It does after you sign this will making me your heir!" he said taking a small piece of paper from his sleeve and showing it to her. "Of course I don't need your real signature. I've been studying your manuscript for years. Perfecting it in a way."
"How did you get a hold of my letters!"
"My dear you should really learn to trust your servants more! So you see Leopold. I win, you loose. Times up!" he snarled laughing in his throat. "I'll give you one more day to live and even let you see your precious little courtier again. Disgusting if you ask me."
He turned and opened the cell door as a wave of light fled over Leopold. Standing in the door frame was Tahmores who looked even more frightening then ever. He walked inside and Leopold realized he was holding a thick chain similar to hers. As he led the person on the end of the chain into the cell Leopold recognized Eron and tears sprung to her eyes. They had beaten him far worse than she had imagined and he could hardly stand. Not being use to that kind of treatment she could tell he instantly melted under the pressure. Both of his eyes were black and his nose and lips were dried with blood. His hair was a mat of dried blood, mud and the flies that followed as his clothes were torn and dirty. His hands were chained as hers were and his wrists were cut up beyond repair. Tahmores led him to the corner of the cell before depositing him on the floor and taking off the long chain but leaving on the cuffs. Eron collapsed on the floor and lay there to weak to move. Leopold feared he was dead. Tahmores grinned as he passed Leopold and slammed the door behind him as both he and the man left.
Leopold was surrounded by darkness again. Fierce wind blew in through the window on the wall to Leopold's right and filled the room with coldness, making both Leopold and Eron shiver in their chains which quickly froze. Leopold was growing weak from lack of food and water and her legs were starting to give out which forced the chains to rub against her wrists. She cried out in pain whenever this happened and forced her body to stand for brief moments at a time. Eron must have heard her at one point or another as he woke for minutes before passing out again. He obviously stood low amounts of beatings. Leopold almost felt sorry for him. At least she would have if she wasn't in that horrible position. Finally Eron awoke and stayed awake.
"What happened?" he asked groaning as Leopold saw his bruised ribs through his ripped shirt. At that moment she did feel sorry for him and guilty she had thought him a weak man. He had obviously been through more hell than she had and all she did was complain. Of course he was her only chance of having peace in her legs before she was killed.
"Get up Eron!" Leopold hissed
"Leopold!" Eron said becoming immediately alert. He struggled to stand but eventually did and walked over to where she stood. "What happened to you?" he said an inch from her body and face with his arms raised as well as that happened to be the only position in which he was able to untie her.
"I'll explain everything in a minute." Leopold replied quietly as she felt her hands drop to her side and her legs gave way before she fainted on the floor.
Chapter 19
"I suppose you want to know why you're here?"
"That would be a respectable assumption." Leopold hissed at the man.
"Let's not be cheeky now darling." the man grunted through his gritted teeth as he stepped closer to her. "Or you'll never know about how you ruined my life."
Leopold winced as she saw that the left half of the man's face was a pink color and had been scarred as well as torn. Closing her eyes she was fighting the tears to come as she tried not to look at him. He was a hideous sight to be seen. He wore a vest that fully exposed his scarred arms and hands. If his face had been normal she guessed he would have been quite handsome, but for someone who looked like the devil himself she couldn't stand it.
"Not a pretty sight is it!" the man laughed stepping closer to her as she smelled his drunken breath. "I was burned thirteen years ago as my house collapsed around me. I wasn't the only one trapped in the fire though. My father perished in it as did most of our servants. My family was devastated from the loss."
"What has this to do with me?" Leopold croaked through her lips that had again gone dry.
"It has everything to do with you if you would shut your mouth and let me speak!" the man growled growing tired of her complaining by the second. Leopold shut her mouth and glared at the man refusing to let him see any emotions.
"As I was saying." the man paced in front of her "I was burned terribly, my family was devastated from the loss etc. My mother, brave as she was, struggled to find enough money that we may build up our house and recover the fortune it once had. Unfortunately we had little family to help us out and little to live by. So we were forced to leave what was left of our home and the new Duke and Duchess moved in. I was furious. How could the king who I thought had been a great friend to my father just leave us with nothing and expect everything to be all right! I couldn't stand for it! My mother on the other hand didn't give a rats ass about our house. She hated my father and hated me for looking like him and carrying on his once proud name. She ran off to the north and married the first Duke she met who would have her, telling him nothing of her past life. I on the other hand was forced to avenge my father's death on my own and the easiest way was to get rid of the current Duke and Duchess. And guess who they happened to be." the man came within an inch of her face and snarled at her. "Take a wonderful, wild guess Leopold. Because their fate shall be yours as well. Oh yes! Your mother and father put up a good fight against my men but they perished in the end as will you. Your family moved into my precious home and used the fortune that should have been mine in order to re-build it. Well they did a pathetic job and I'll have to fix everything once your gone. The last heir to the Wessex fortune!"
"You'll never win!" Leopold hissed hoping he would step closer so she could kick him "Someone will find out!"
"But dear Leopold I've already won!" he said laughing as he backed towards the door. "Your precious Aaron has no idea where you are and neither does your family. Their probably worried with grief right now. It has been a few days since you've been gone. Everyone's probably searching frantically. But they'll never find you until it's too late. You see there will be no ransom note as the only thing I want is to see you dead. Your money will become mine once you die so therefore there's no reason for me to try and take it now. Besides it might look suspicious. To sum it all up, as no one knows where you are there will be no one to comfort you when you die. Of course we did make arrangements for that Eron fellow to join you. The only reason being he followed you on the streets that night and we had no choice but to lock him up as well. Oh well."
"You can't take the fortune!" Leopold said thinking quickly "It will go to my eldest uncle!"
"It will go to no one! As you have no heir and you haven't yet made a will that entitles your fortune to another specimen in your family the fortune goes to the last Duke and Duchess in residence. And since I am the last Duke the fortune goes to me!"
"It doesn't work like that!"
"It does after you sign this will making me your heir!" he said taking a small piece of paper from his sleeve and showing it to her. "Of course I don't need your real signature. I've been studying your manuscript for years. Perfecting it in a way."
"How did you get a hold of my letters!"
"My dear you should really learn to trust your servants more! So you see Leopold. I win, you loose. Times up!" he snarled laughing in his throat. "I'll give you one more day to live and even let you see your precious little courtier again. Disgusting if you ask me."
He turned and opened the cell door as a wave of light fled over Leopold. Standing in the door frame was Tahmores who looked even more frightening then ever. He walked inside and Leopold realized he was holding a thick chain similar to hers. As he led the person on the end of the chain into the cell Leopold recognized Eron and tears sprung to her eyes. They had beaten him far worse than she had imagined and he could hardly stand. Not being use to that kind of treatment she could tell he instantly melted under the pressure. Both of his eyes were black and his nose and lips were dried with blood. His hair was a mat of dried blood, mud and the flies that followed as his clothes were torn and dirty. His hands were chained as hers were and his wrists were cut up beyond repair. Tahmores led him to the corner of the cell before depositing him on the floor and taking off the long chain but leaving on the cuffs. Eron collapsed on the floor and lay there to weak to move. Leopold feared he was dead. Tahmores grinned as he passed Leopold and slammed the door behind him as both he and the man left.
Leopold was surrounded by darkness again. Fierce wind blew in through the window on the wall to Leopold's right and filled the room with coldness, making both Leopold and Eron shiver in their chains which quickly froze. Leopold was growing weak from lack of food and water and her legs were starting to give out which forced the chains to rub against her wrists. She cried out in pain whenever this happened and forced her body to stand for brief moments at a time. Eron must have heard her at one point or another as he woke for minutes before passing out again. He obviously stood low amounts of beatings. Leopold almost felt sorry for him. At least she would have if she wasn't in that horrible position. Finally Eron awoke and stayed awake.
"What happened?" he asked groaning as Leopold saw his bruised ribs through his ripped shirt. At that moment she did feel sorry for him and guilty she had thought him a weak man. He had obviously been through more hell than she had and all she did was complain. Of course he was her only chance of having peace in her legs before she was killed.
"Get up Eron!" Leopold hissed
"Leopold!" Eron said becoming immediately alert. He struggled to stand but eventually did and walked over to where she stood. "What happened to you?" he said an inch from her body and face with his arms raised as well as that happened to be the only position in which he was able to untie her.
"I'll explain everything in a minute." Leopold replied quietly as she felt her hands drop to her side and her legs gave way before she fainted on the floor.