A/N- Imagine my excitement when I opened my email to "14 new messages"!! I was so syked! To reward all of you for giving me almost 75 reviews (haha, Tamaran Girl) I figured I'd post this EXCITING chapter for all of you.
Chapter Twelve
I told Jerrold of Roan and Iris, and he sent me with messages and other things, like food and medicine to give to them. I went to the dungeons at least once a week.
I overheard another one of the king and queen's conversations. They were talking about Jerrold. The king called him "that scrawny son" and the queen got angry. The king yelled at her for taking Jerrold's side, and the queen yelled back that she would never take the side of "that traitor". And I thought my family was dysfunctional.
Then, one day, everything changed.
I was cleaning, as usual, when I entered the meeting room to dust and scrub. The king was standing at the map of Kyrria with a tall, tan boy with straight, black hair falling around his face. Both looked around suddenly when they heard me open the door.
"Beg pardon," I said, cursing my mistake silently as I curtsied.
"Daria?" someone said.
I looking up at my name. Orlando. It was him. My eyes grew wide in fear. "I believe you have mistaken me for someone else, your highness," I said, curtsying again. I walked out of the room without waiting for a response.
As soon as the door clicked shut, I tore through the apartments, leaving, and ran through the palace halls. I was terrified that my cover may have been blown. Suddenly, someone caught me by the hand and whirled me around to face them. It was Orlando. He pulled me into an empty room.
"Well, it's Lady Daria," he said, laughing. "Are we playing spy?"
I shrugged. How do I answer that? "What are you doing here?" I asked, avoiding his question.
"Spying. Like you," Orlando replied in his smooth voice. "I'm arranging an alliance with the king against my parents wishes. Or so he thinks."
"You're gathering information for the revolution?" I asked.
He nodded. "So as not to look suspicious, why don't we go sort out his 'misunderstanding' with the king?" he suggested.
"Okay," I said.
Jerrold grabbed my hand and led me to the royal apartments. When he opened the door, he moved his hand up my arm, from clasping my hand to gripping my wrist.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
He didn't answer; he just threw me onto the floor of the sitting room, in front of the awaiting king.
"Your majesty," Orlando yelled, "I've discovered a spy within your castle!"
The king looked unimpressed. "Come now, Orlando, this girl is but a servant," he said.
"No," contradicted Orlando. "She's the sister of Sir Roan of Jenn, the man you've got held in your dungeons. She's traveled with your son to Ayorthia to negotiate an alliance with my parents."
The king's eyes grew wide with anger. "Is this true?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said foolishly. I was furious. "Yes. But I'm not the only spy. Orlando is scouting information for the revolution too, and we're both reporting back to your son."
Orlando began to laugh. "You believed me, wench! You believed my whole act. I knew you would. You were so easy to con, so vulnerable after you found out your precious Jerrold had lied to you," he said, mocking me.
I flew at him, clawing his face with my nails, kicking and scratching and hitting him. I wanted to kill him. I could have, I would have, but the king had two guards pull me off him. They held my hands behind my back. Orlando approached me and put his face close to mine, trying to kiss me. I spat on him.
He stepped back, roaring in rage. I was too angry to be scared. He put his hand up and I felt the back of it strike my cheek, knocking my head sideways. My cheek burned, and I felt blood trickle down my cheek.
"You pig," I said intensely. "You'll pay for what you've done to our cause. And you'll pay for what you've done to me."
Orlando laughed. "I fear you not, Lady Daria," he said.
"And I, you," I replied, repeating one of the last things I'd said to him in Ayorthia.
"Take her away," yelled Orlando, disgusted. "Lock her in a tower. The tower."
I began to kick and scream and flail as the guards tried to move me. One of them grabbed a point between my neck and my shoulder and pressed hard. Everything went black.
A scratchy, tapping sound awoke me. I sat up, looking around. I was laying on a lavishly decorated bed. The room was small and circular, and a bit chilly. There was a small window. I heard the tapping sound again, coming from the window. As I opened it up, a handful of pebbles flew into the room, littering the floor. I stuck my head out the window and looked down. Instantly, I grew dizzy. I was very high up, in the fourth or fifth floor of the palace.
"Daria!" someone called.
I looked down at the small figure on the ground. Was it? "Jerrold?" I asked.
"Of course!" he replied. "Who else?"
I laughed. "Why are you here?" I called down.
He shrugged. "I know you aren't a damsel in distress…" he began.
"You're wrong," I interrupted. "Right now, I am. Thou art to rescue me, Sir Jerrold?"
Jerrold laughed. "I have a plan," he said. "Do you have a bed?"
I nodded. "Yes, plenty," I replied, catching on. "I'll tie them together to make a rope!"
He beamed. "Exactly!" he called up.
I ran to the bed and began pulling off the sheets. There had to have been six or seven. I tied them all together and looked around, finally deciding to tie the end of my rope to the bedpost. I flung the rest out the window.
"Can I make it?" I called down.
"Yes!" Jerrold replied.
I took a deep breath and stepped out on the windowsill. I turned around, facing the room, and began to lower myself down. But then, I heard the door open. My stomach jumped when I heard the inhumane roar. Orlando's head popped out of the window when I was about halfway down.
"Bad idea, Daria," he said, smirking.
He was holding the end of my sheet-rope. Laughing coldly, he began pulling it up roughly. I scurried down, but it was useless. He pulled the sheets up much faster than I climbed down. Finally, I was hanging onto the end, high above the ground.
"What are you to do, Lady Daria?" yelled Orlando crudely. "Jump to your death, or allow me to pull you up?"
I laughed, imitating his detached nature. "I'd rather die than be in that room with you," I said.
I let go of the rope, and plunged backwards to the ground. Miraculously, Jerrold caught me evenly on the ground. Laughing hysterically, Jerrold and I took of towards the woods while Orlando stood at the window, cursing.
A/N-- Orlando! Don't you just HATE him now? Tell me about it… in your review! Please review! Haha, you know the drill mate!