Emma recoiled, the reaction of finding a snake within reach of one's bosom.
"Freddy, you can't be serious…" she quavered.
"Oh, darling, of course I am," he stated, his cool smile present, as always, upon his face. With those words, he withdrew a dagger, its handle encrusted with sapphires, from his belt.
Emma shook and attempted to back away towards the door. She found, however, that her legs would not obey.
"Don't bother," he said simply, eyeing her attempts to flee.
"Y-you'll get caught! They'll know it was you! You and I are alone in this room, there is a crowd downstairs and servants outside that can attest to that!" she cried.
"No, no, they will think that the disgraced Duchess of Westbourne has murdered you," he placidly said.
"She… she didn't kill my father at all, did she?"
"What, that woman? She had not the nerves to go through with it. She left the dirty work to me."
"I don't understand. Freddy, why are you doing this!"
He walked over and grabbed her roughly by the upper arm. Her legs had regained movement as he forcibly walked her over to the bed and made her sit upon it. She tried to resist, but found it quite impossible.
"You see, my dear wife, I was not in any way going to inherit your father's money after you were born. 'Sins of the fathers' and all that. Why should I be punished, I, a man, simply for being the child of the younger brother? It was not fair! Then, she came along. I was a child, too, then. But eighteen years of age. She also understood the threat you posed to her inheritance. So, she struck a deal with me. If I helped her murder your father, she would eliminate you by herself and then I would be in a position to marry her daughter and inherit half the wealth."
"You are a sick man!" she exclaimed. "We would have offered you any assistance you needed!"
"Don't interrupt me!" he snarled, for the first time breaking his calm demeanour. He then continued.
"After your father died, she decided to go back on her part of the deal. I knew she would kill you soon after, or so I had thought. I suppose she was still to weak to do that. But, the point is, she drew back on her promise to wed me to her daughter. I simply could not stand that, but to accuse the Duchess of murder, especially when I was the one who directly killed the man, would be to place the noose around my own neck and allowing her to step over my corpse. So I disappeared."
Emma was shivering now. The cold tone of his voice and his calm depiction of such brutality was unbearable.
"So, you see, the Duchess did not in fact murder your father; she simply organized it."
"But… the letter? Her confession?"
Frederick began to laugh.
"I learned a great many skills in my travels. I went to the continent and pursued the study of our geneology. You see, dear heart (this was said with the most sarcastic tone possible), we share a very powerful bloodline. Quite rich in magic and the like."
Despite her own experience with unusual enchanted objects, she now found herself laughing, in turn, at what he said.
"Now I know you are mad."
"Do not dare address me so, wretch!" he shrieked, striking her across the face with the back of his hand. She was unable to move out of the way, and so felt the full impact of the blow. Involuntary tears poured from her eyes.
"Yes, magic! Do you not wonder why you are unable to move, why none of the servants have entered this room, despite all the noise we have made?" He lapsed into a thoughtful moment.
"It is truly a wonder. Many said I had sold my soul to the devil for my abilities. In truth, I had spent three years, traveling and studying the dark arts. My ability, combined with ancient knowledge, allowed me to return to England and take my revenge."
"No, it couldn't be. No…"
"Of course it could be, Emma dear. Perhaps you are familiar with a little stem which harbours three hazelnuts."
Emma looked up, startled.
"Did you like my little gifts?" Again, he laughed harshly.
"But, why?"
"The hunter's suit was one of mine. I wanted you to meet that fool of a prince; even a servant girl might need a little push to encourage her to risk all to attend a ball. I did recognize you by your gown that night. I knew you would try to appear inconspicuous and, in truth, I had quite forgotten what you might look like. That gown enabled me to find you that much more quickly."
"What do you want from me, Frederick?" Her eyes were cold with hate, for she now realized her mistake.
"I want you to perish. By marrying me, you have passed your father's title to me. As for the money, that is also mine now. You see, I am much better off this way than had I married Maria. Now I am both a Lord and wealthy. She would have provided no title for me, and only half of the wealth. Your role in my life is over. I have no need of you living, while, dead, you transform me into a grieving widower. Perhaps, in a year, when I am done mourning, I shall have a moneyed countess to call my own."
As he had continued to speak, Emma had been processing what he said earlier. "..we share a very powerful bloodline. Quite rich in magic and the like." If he had magic, perhaps so did she. As he continued to speak, she continued to struggle against her invisible bonds, though now consciously calling upon a higher power to assist her in this.
"So, you see, the hazelnuts, the forged letter, the falsified documents attesting that your father had arranged a marriage between us… all of these were of my doing and part of my plan. The Duchess is weak-minded, so she fell easily to my control. She might have confessed to half the murders in the country had I so wished it."
"What was in the third nut?" Emma asked suddenly.
"The third? Why, nothing at all. I knew at that point I should have you in my control. You would never have chosen to wed the prince."
"You do not know that!"
"Oh, but I do. You are afraid to be a princess. You are afraid of that exalted position, which should put you before the eyes of the entire kingdom."
She knew this was true, but continued to protest, stalling for time. In fact, she had managed to free her hands, and was now trying to find a certain silk purse she had on her person.
"Did you ever find my bracelet?"
"What bracelet is that?" he asked, toying with the dagger.
"My silver one. It fell off in your hand that night I fled."
"What do I care what became of it? I remember no such trifle."
"You said the Duchess was to be my murderer…."
"Yes. You see, she escaped, quite easily (for she was guided by me) and made her way here on foot. In the morning, the servants shall be called in by a loud noise, a scream, and heart-rending sobs (all provided by me). They shall find you with a dagger in your heart, the Duchess's hand on the dagger, and the rest of the Duchess unconscious, having been struck by me, trying to defend you. She will be summarily hanged, having murdered both the father and the daughter."
He continued to smile, quite pleased with his plan. Meanwhile, Emma had found what she had been looking for.
"Enough talk. To business!"
With those words, he raised the dagger and aimed for her chest. At that very moment, Emma raised her own arm, to throw something small upon the ground. As the two halves of the nutshell fell apart, a sword materialized, the basket of gilt silver and gold inlay, while the blade was carved with all manners of beautiful emblems.
Frederick paused only for a moment, shocked by this development, but it was enough to prove fatal. Emma grabbed the sword and expertly struck him, piercing his body clean through.
His scream was heard by everyone this time, and the servants rushed in to find the lord of the house dead on the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own spilled blood, which seemed quite black. The lady was standing over him, holding a dripping sword and panting.
A/N: Cool, huh? This whole idea occurred to me when I woke up from a dream. I have been waiting to write this part ever since I first introduced Frederick. It seemed the perfect way to tie all of this together. Still, don't fear, dear readers! As I said before, this story is not over yet! Not at all! Just because the villain is dead, that does not mean this is the end.
Brizo: You almost read my mind. I hope it wasn't that obvious… Still, glad you understand the characters that well!
BiancaRobinson: I love your nickname for Frederick!
Clar-the-Pirate: I am glad you decided to make yourself heard. Reviews allow me to know what people like and don't like, so to hear from somebody who likes it that much is really wonderful. And, yes, I blushed.
El Boxer: God, I love foreshadowing. Especially subtle foreshadowing. Tiny little things. That is my absolute favourite.
Scoutcraft Piratess: Titania::Steals Piratess's exclamation of 'Flint and Steel'; is consequently harassed for being too antiquated… But, seriously, I remember reading one of your suspicions in a previous review and thinking to myself, 'Damn, did I give it away that easily?' Also, I was originally not going to write that scene with Maria, but decided it was almost as important as this scene with Frederick, for reasons that will become clear later. I'm very pleased that you liked it.
Saffie: Not to worry, everything will be taken care of. And I couldn't have Dominic kill Frederick. After all, Emma is a much better shot, if you remember…
ObsessiveCompulsive: Always happy to please. Sexy bad guys are always so much more fun, aren't they?
Swatter: Random? Possibly. I wanted to do something unexpected, so it may have come off as a bit random. I hope this chapter explains that. Also, I hope that Emma hasn't changed too much. She was a bit flat at the beginning of this story, but I attribute that to the difficult life she has been forced to lead. A person changes under duress. Now that she is back in her higher position, she can afford to be a bit of a brat.
InChrist: Seriously… HOW DID YOU KNOW? Cadmus is very clever… Now you know why Frederick wants to kill her. The man is on a serious power trip… I am so glad that my sleep-deprived state of writing is pleasing to you. I would not stay up and write after eight hours of work if it wasn't for wonderful readers like you!
Da Vinci: I don't know. Fluff really isn't my thing. I did try to put in some cackling, or at least sophisticated laughter (which is more Freddy's style) into this chapter. Glad you like the story nevertheless.
LauraShrub: Yes, you do have a reason. I haven't liked him from the beginning. I wrote him as a person who does not reveal himself. I would personally rather be with a person who blurts out every idiot thing that comes to mind than someone as collected and controlled as he is. :Hugs back:
To all of my lovely readers: You, and not highly caffeinated Turkish coffee, keep me awake at night to write these. I simply couldn't live with myself if I didn't finish this story. I want to finish it before I leave for University, though, and that is in little more than a week. So, happy reading.
My love to all of you,
-Titania