A/N: Binging the Graham Norton Show on YouTube has done wonders for my productivity.
Hammy: I was wondering where you landed. I'm glad this isn't a 5th Indiana Jones situation.
TheRanger'sDaughter: Hazen's not that bad, he just doesn't get on with Reese.
AER: Perhaps you could get something easy? Babysitting? Do people trust you with children?
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
The next morning Elizabet rose early and immediately began dressing herself, more to annoy Alicia than because she was in a hurry. Neil sat up in bed stretching out his arms with a great yawn, clearly in no rush himself.
"I'm going to visit Lorelei," Elizabet told him as she let her hair out of its braid. "Perhaps Gabby will let her wake up today."
Their door opened without warning. Of course, it was Alicia.
"Your Grace," Alicia greeted Elizabet, giving a short curtsy. Elizabet glanced from her lady-in-waiting to her still shirtless husband and back.
"What do you want?" she demanded with an exasperated tone.
Alicia's eyes flickered up to meet Elizabet's but she didn't hold the gaze long. Clearly she caught on to Elizabet's irritability, but as usual she had no idea she had caused it.
"I have breakfast for you."
Of course. Something that could have waited.
"Alicia, we're newlyweds. Do you think you could keep that in mind before barging into our room?" Elizabet demanded. She immediately regretted snapping when she felt Neil's fingers on her waist, but it was too late. Elizabet had been criticized in the past for being too slow to anger. However, Alicia had done her in.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace," Alicia whispered. "It's just…Lady Carissa doesn't announce herself to Queen Scout. I thought…"
"Carissa and my cousin grew up as neighbors," Elizabet went on. "They're close personally. Furthermore, the reason Carissa doesn't announce herself is because she only ever enters the bedroom in cases of emergency. She waits outside until my cousin comes out on her own. Do you see how that makes sense?"
"I…I just…"
Neil cut in. "Remember it in the future, Alicia," he said gently. "Now, if you could leave us I assure you Elizabet will call for you when you are needed."
Alicia, for the first time since she entered Elizabet's service, left the room without a curtsy. Elizabet sighed when the door shut behind her.
"I'm sorry," Elizabet muttered. "I'm just…frustrated with her."
"We need to find her a new position," Neil reminded her. "The girl hasn't done anything wrong. She hasn't done much right, but she hasn't done anything wrong either."
"I've tried. There's nothing available."
"Then that will be my task today. I'll find Lady Alicia a new post."
Elizabet stared at her husband. "How? You're a man."
"I'll figure something out," Neil assured her. "I'm going to focus on finding that girl a new mistress. You focus on your aunt and Lorelei."
Elizabet nodded. She finished her hair and went to kiss her husband before heading out. "I should probably apologize for snapping at her, hm?"
"Probably," Neil agreed.
Elizabet did just that when she exited the room. Alicia pulled herself together fairly quickly but there was nothing she could do to hide her red eyes. Elizabet's outburst had driven her to tears. Elizabet directed her to check the hems in all her gowns, a chore Alicia generally performed once a month on her own. It'd take her most the morning and it would isolate her to the privacy of a wardrobe to continue crying if necessary. A lady-in-waiting to a princess should be tougher than this but Elizabet understood what it was like to lack a grip on personal emotions. Her childhood anxiety and mutism still affected her.
Elizabet first walked to her parents' rooms to check on Tammy, but the only people there were two maids tasked with cleaning the apartment. They let her know Tammy had gone with Sean to expedite her divorce from Calvin while Kineta rose early to review reports from the Academy that had been accumulating on Scout's desk. Part of Elizabet wanted to go be with Tammy, but actually signing a divorce would be emotionally rough for everyone. She'd probably want some time alone once it was done, just as Alicia needed time alone after getting snapped at. Elizabet decided visiting Lorelei would be the best use of her time before a royal duty was directed to her.
None of Lorelei's family was there when Elizabet stepped into the room. Gabby stood next to Lorelei's bed with a Hibernian apprentice at her side. The apprentice changed wrappings while Gabby soaked the bandages in a soothing balm she'd probably made herself. Elizabet waited quietly until the process was complete. The apprentice collected spent supplies and exited the room with a curtsy to Elizabet.
"Elizabet?" Gabby asked.
Of course she knew it was her. Gabby always knew. "Yes?"
Gabby held up her arms to keep them from accidentally bumping what they shouldn't. She managed to get up to her elbows in the soothing goop. "Would you direct me to the wash basin?"
"Of course."
Guiding Gabby by the arm wouldn't do. Whatever was on her arms wasn't harmful but clearly she didn't want it getting anywhere it shouldn't. Elizabet went behind the physician and guided her shoulders to the corner where a basin was full of cool, clean water. Elizabet then slowly lowered Gabby's wrists into the water and quickly washed what little medicine got onto her fingers. Gabby probably could have found the basin herself if she weren't concerned with keeping the furniture clean.
"Thank you," Gabby said as she immediately began scrubbing her arms. "I assume you're here for an update on her condition?"
"Why isn't her family here?" Elizabet asked. She retrieved a towel from a shelf.
"They come and go," Gabby answered. "She's been here so long and they have lives to live."
"If it were me my parents wouldn't leave my side."
"Not all families are like yours. It's difficult for them to see her like this. They'll come around more when she wakes up."
Elizabet nodded. She let Gabby's hand find the towel she'd retrieved when she started to search for it. "How is she?"
"She's in a lot of pain," Gabby whispered. Elizabet let Gabby rest her hand on her arm. "There's little I can do for that if I allow her to fully wake. If she's asleep she won't remember it as much."
"But she still feels it?"
"As far as I can tell, yes. She still feels it," Gabby admitted. "She's putting up a good fight though."
Elizabet looked around the spacious room. Two or three other beds could easily fit alongside Lorelei's, but hers was the only one. Well stocked cabinets lined the walls and various instruments hung on pegs waiting to be used.
"Do you have everything you need in this room? I can send for more supplies if you require them. Or…we can rearrange what we have to mimic what you're used to in Araluen."
"The staff here has gotten me everything I need and then some," Gabby assured her. "And don't bother rearranging. It could never be the same and I'm used to this room."
"Used to this room?"
Gabby nodded. "I've treated two other high profile patients in here before."
Right. Scout and Scout's mother. Scout survived her wound. Lina did not. Elizabet felt a shudder run down her spine when she thought of Lina's death. The fiery funeral had temporarily forced her back into silence, as it brought back buried memories of her own first mother's death. Elizabet may not have watched those horrible moments, but the smell of burning fresh could never be forgotten.
"How are you doing with all this, Elizabet?" Gabby asked, breaking Elizabet's thoughts. Elizabet swallowed hard.
"What do you mean?"
"With Maggie and the search parties…with Lorelei…with being a new wife and mother all at once."
Elizabet laughed uneasily. "It's hard," she admitted in a whisper. "I'm doing my best."
"When Kane and I got Russ right away I felt the same way," Gabby told her gently. "You're going to be great."
"I hope so."
Gabby squeezed her arm. "How has Noah been…"
Gabby didn't get to finish. Lorelei's door swung open without warning. Elizabet felt the morning's frustration build yet again.
"Alicia, we just…" she began but Alicia cut her off.
"I know. Emergencies. The castle is under attack."
"We can't move Lorelei," Gabby said immediately after Alicia finished. "She's too weak."
At that moment Kane arrived with Anne latched to his torso, locking her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He balanced her with one hand and carried his sword in the other. It was stained with blood. Elizabet's heart raced.
"Neil…Noah…" she exclaimed in a rush. "Where are they?"
"I don't know," Kane answered as he came in. He unceremoniously dumped Anne into her arms. "Get her and Gabby back, then help your lady and me barricade this door."
"What…" Alicia trailed as Kane got behind a wardrobe converted into a medical cabinet. He looked to Alicia.
"Now!" he ordered. The two of them shoved the heavy cabinet in front of the door. Elizabet took Gabby and Anne to a back corner and then returned to assist in the barricade. Once they had everything they could possibly shove against it in place, they retreated. Kane's hand went immediately to his back and his face twisted with pain. Elizabet stepped next to him, trying to take some of his weight. He must have ignored his pain to make the room safe. Carrying Anne who knows how far couldn't have helped. She deposited him next to Gabby, who immediately began working on his back.
"What happened?" Gabby whispered as she directed him to lay on his stomach.
"I'm scared," Anne whispered.
Elizabet took Anne's arm and guided her away from her parents. She sat Anne in her lap and stroked her hair. She looked to Kane, wanting that same answer.
"People came," Alicia said when all Kane could do was grunt at the pressure Gabby put on his spine. "I don't know how many."
"Ten," Kane filled in through gritted teeth.
"It seemed like more…"
"What did they want?" Elizabet pressed. Ten well-trained men were more than enough to do damage.
"I…I don't know," Alicia sobbed.
"An heir," Kane managed to get out.
"An heir?" Elizabet repeated. "But…Gabe left. There are no more heirs here. Hazen, Mara, and Gabe are all gone. Gabe and Lorelei's wedding never went through."
"They may not know no one is here," Gabby pointed out. "Do we know if they ever figured out their Mara was actually Maggie?"
"They figured out she's no longer with their kidnapper if they're here looking for a replacement," Elizabet said. "But…why the attack?"
"They must know hardly anyone is here."
"We've got enough guards left to fend off ten men. Surely they aren't that stupid," Elizabet sighed. Then a new idea crossed her mind, an idea she desperately hoped wasn't true. "What if…what if they're here for Tammy?"
"Tammy is safe," Kane assured her. "She's wi…Gabby!"
Kane's yelp of pain cut off his answer. A loud pop cracked from underneath his skin.
"That should keep you until this is over," Gabby said with no remorse. Kane pushed himself up, reaching back to rub the sore spot she'd pressed against.
"She's with your father," Kane finished, facing Elizabet. Elizabet nodded. She'd known that.
"But who are they?" Gabby asked.
"Who would want to threaten Hibernia?" Kane asked, again facing Elizabet.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I mean, we have our enemies but…none that would go through the trouble of luring a young princess away from her cousin's bride's suite on her wedding day."
"We need to know who the actual target is," Kane thought aloud, shutting his eyes for concentration. "Gabe? Mason and Scout? Perhaps Hazen, since it's no secret he's soft on his little sister?"
"Surely it's not Mara. She's too young," Elizabet sighed.
A moan came from the bed. Everyone froze.
"Chloroform," Gabby whispered. "Quickly, someone….get the chloroform."
"Where is it?" Alicia asked. She, Elizabet, and Kane all stood and began searching the cabinets now in a great disarray. Gabby instructed Anne to stay put. She felt her way to Lorelei's bed and found a patch of skin that hadn't been burnt.
"Lorelei?" she asked. "Lorelei, don't try to move. Stay down for me, alright?"
Another moan.