(A/N- Hey everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers of the last chapter! Hope you like this one! Luv all you guys! By the way would you like me to keep recapping the last paragraph or two at the beginning of each chapter? I'm not sure.. it was in a story I read once so I decided to try it! Review more please guys!

r&r jess)

Recap:

Suddenly, a hand came down over Chloe's mouth and she immediately reached for her dagger, which she had been extensively trained in the use of. She tried to look over at Allegra and saw that she was doing much the same, struggling for the use of her dagger, and as Chloe tried to jam her dagger into her attacker's leg to no avail, she felt the hilt of a dagger crashing down upon her temple and the world begun to go black. But the last thing she saw, maybe even sensed, was that Allegra was falling as well.

Chapter 3: Trapped

Chloe awoke to find herself in a room full of bright sunlight.

"Where am I?" she said out loud to herself. Where was Allegra?

And for a moment she could not for the life of her remember why she was there. But then she remembered her decision to go through the back streets against Allegra's will and the attack. She had no idea where she was, and she soon discovered that to sit up was very unpleasant, her head felt like a whirlpool, so she lay back and surveyed her surroundings. The room was spacious, of a circular space well lit with natural light thanks to many windows, and containing the four-poster bed she lay in, made with cream silk sheets and gold pillow cases. It was furnished with an elegantly polished ebony table with 3 chairs surrounding it and a tea set on top. In the far corner she could see a basin and jug to wash her hands in, made of fine china with abstract patterns in the brightest colors coiling themselves around it. There was a bedside table next to her which matched the table, but the item that to caught her attention first was the tall glass of crystal clear water which she downed gratefully.

As she began to feel better she sat up in her bed and from her new vantage point took a better look around. To her right she saw a large closet, and both cautiously and a little painfully slowly rose from her bed and went to look inside. She found, to her disappointment that she had been provided only dresses, there was not a pair of breeches in sight. She sighed and changed as quickly as she could into a fresh loin cloth and breast band, then selected a lime green muslin dress which she noticed was in the latest French style. It had fitted sleeves that came down to her elbow and then finished with a generous flourish of white lace partially covered by muslin which came to mid-way down her lower arm and a conservatively low neck-line that was also trimmed with lace, then the gown pulled in a little below her bust with a string of seed pearls (of cheap dressmaking quality of course) on a thick lime green ribbon, flouncing out slightly and then finishing at the floor in a flourish of muslin that gently swished as she walked. Surveying herself in the mirror, Chloe could not but notice how similar this gown was to many of her own at home, in the style that her dressmaker thought was most becoming on her, and pondered as to how her captors knew her exact size (for the dress fitted most precisely) and decided that these people were serious and must have been watching her for some time. Worried by this alarming idea, Chloe quickly banished it (for later review) and instead busied herself restraining her unruly curls in a matching green ribbon and picking a pair of beautifully embroidered slippers from her closet, also lime green and thinking to herself amusedly that her captors had very good taste indeed. Then she paced around her room, first checking the door to her prison, which she found to be securely locked. She also noted that her dagger was missing, unsurprisingly.

Moving to the table, she noted the intricate carvings that looked somewhat familiar, but she infuriatingly could not place. She knew that they were not Frellan, but she knew she must not be so faraway, as otherwise how would she recognize them? Making a mental note of the pattern, she walked over to the gloriously large windows, counting that there were 6 sets of double windows, about 2 meters wide at 1 metre intervals. They were shuttered with enormous gilded and also beautifully carved shutters, which immediately reminded Chloe of those she had seen in a picture book about a mystical yet unreal place called India, with a place made of jewels! The grand shutters were covered by opaque silk curtains that looked to be a cross between silver and white. She slid them open carefully and opened the shutters to look upon a garden undoubtedly belonging to a palace, and upon the sight of a forest that she could immediately tell to be foreign because of the way the trees stood stiff and tall but also strangely familiar, but she was sure they too were not Frellan because unlike these trees, trees in the forests native to Frell branched out to form a leafy green canopy.

Just as she was in the middle of puzzling over where she was, and where Allegra was, she remembered with a jolt her graces warnings.

"But Chloe my dear, promise me you will be careful. Marcius was never one to let something he wanted go so easily."

She was in Kemack. It all came flooding back to her, the intricate carvings of the shutters and the table she must have seen in the markets of Frell, and the trees of the forest were called Caemens. How very right the Duchess had been.

But before she had time to consider this further, she heard a key scratching in the lock of the grand door and swung around to see it opening. In the doorway stood a man stoutly built, of an average height and with dark brown hair which was down to his shoulders and was impeccably straight, harshly so, as was the rest of him. His piercing grey eyes were boring down upon her over his over-large nose which had evidently been broken many times. His thin lips had formed a sneer, as she imagined they did so almost always. But atop his head sat a golden crown encrusted with every stone imaginable, but even without this she would have know him instantly as King Marcius of Kemack, a man widely feared among both his people and those of surrounding lands, and who sent a chill down her own spine, but she refused to let him see that.

He strode purposefully into the room, followed by two liveried guards in Kemack colors of orange and gold. They both dwarfed the large king, and she noticed with satisfaction that both had bruises and one a rather large cut on their faces so she quickly established that they must have been her kidnappers. Her train of thought was interrupted by King Marcius.

"Hello Princess Chloe." He addressed her with formality, bowing slightly but the effect was ruined by the presence of that all-knowing smirk.

Her first instinct was to scold him roughly for having kidnapped her, threatening him and so on. But after a moment she decided that would show her fear and so answered him with as if nothing were a miss.

"King Marcius" she replied indifferently, curtsying "I beg of you to indulge me with the whereabouts of my maid Allegra."

His smirk grew. "Ah my dear, your maid is perfectly safe, in a room down the hall. You will be reunited with her in due course." He looked her up and down. "I am pleased with your choice of dress. It is very becoming and Michelent will no doubt approve."

Chloe bit back a gasp and began to realize the duchess's full meaning. However scared she felt, her resolve did not falter and she held her ground. "Your majesty is too kind." Putting on her most innocent face, she decided to enquire about her position. "But I am still in the dark about why you require my presence in Kemack." She could not resist adding, "But I see that I must also be addressing my kidnappers. You should have been forewarned that both Allegra and I are a handful." She bit back a laugh at the murderous look on both guards' faces.

"Yes my dear, Mikael and Bromof assure me that both you and your maid are skilled in the art of dagger fighting. Not a very princess like skill, eh dearest?"

"Ah no your majesty," In her sweetest voice she continued, "but my dear parents had no objection to my learning to protect myself from the likes of you. But you have not answered my question. What do you want from me?" she asked it most directly but feared she already knew the answer.

"Straight to the point are we? Well, I would have thought that a clever girl like everyone assures me you are would have worked that out by now." His eyes danced as he watched for her reaction. But to his disappointment he got none.

"I think I have worked it out but I would like you to prove me wrong." Chloe spoke calmly.

He looked amused. "Well that I cannot promise, but let me see what I can do. I shall start from the very beginning. As you are no doubt aware…"

"But if you intend to start from the beginning sir" interrupted Chloe "I must beg a meal from you, for I find myself famished."

Marcius smiled and clicked his fingers to the guard on his left side. "Bromof, please get Chloe lunch," Bromof bowed and exited the room. Marcius continued, "As I was saying. You are aware of the messenger that I sent to your dear parents what, four days ago now?"

Chloe exclaimed "Naturally I do! But how long have I been unconscious for then? What is the time now?"

"Oh, about a day and it is 1 o'clock. Stop interrupting me girl! Where was I? But the messenger who asked for your hand in marriage for my son, Prince Michelent, when your parents refused so bluntly, naturally everyone has accepted that I would have taken great offence from that and I would not want to deter them from that state of mind." He grinned evilly, "But just think my dear! Frell and Kemack united! It will be one of the great superpowers! Surely I need not explain myself anymore."

Chloe felt numb, although she was not shocked as that is what she had expected. "But my parents will not be at ease with me being here! They will come to get me." She forced herself to sound surer than she felt.

He shook his head. "But no my dear. They will do no such thing as they are probably at this very moment reading a letter describing your fate and the warning that if they come to get you, you and your maid will be killed." Chloe gasped at that. "But all I ask of you is that you marry my son and you will go unharmed. To anyone who asks, you are merely visiting us. My plan is foolproof. You have no choice."

"I will never marry your son! Ever! It would be a fate worse than death!" She shook with anger.

"But you will not have to. I would never force you to do such a thing."

"Then why am I here?" Chloe spoke with a voice that trembled, fighting back tears.

"Instead, you will marry me." Chloe gasped and backed away.

"What has possessed you to think that I would ever do such a thing?" Her anguish had become fury and if looks could kill, he was buried.

"Ah my dear, this is where the lovely Allegra comes in handy to me. If you refuse, we will kill her bit by bit, making sure her death is as painful as possible."

"You are a monster", was all Chloe could get out before her voice became untrustworthy. She felt hot tears rolling down her creamy cheeks and had an almost too strong urge to throw herself onto her bed, but quelled it in time to prevent it.

She heard the door open, and looked up to see Bromof returning with her food. He set it down upon the table and returned to his post by his master.

"Chloe, I think it is evident what little choice you have. We shall leave you now." And the king and his guards left the room, leaving Chloe brimming with hatred and venom for this king and his son.

Why oh why did she not listen to Allegra?

She through herself on the bed and dissolved into tears.