Noir43
The sun was low and red in the sky by the time Ursula and Corinna returned to Chandernagore. Exhausted and filthy after hours of walking, they clung to one another as they reached the Inn and climbed the stairs to their room.
"How did you find us?" Corinna asked blankly as she dipped her hands into a wash basin and scrubbed her face. She was still trembling, her thoughts haunted by what she had seen. There must have been two dozen men who surrounded Erik, some on foot and some on horseback. For a long while she waited for a rifle to fire and was surprised when there was no gunshot.
She wasn't sure if that gave her hope or not, as Ursula had swiftly dragged her away.
"The boy told me you had ridden the elephant out to the fields," Ursula explained. "I ran as fast as I could."
"What do you think they will do with him?" Corinna asked as she patted her face dry and looked in the mirror. She was nowhere near clean, but aside from dirt she still didn't recognize herself in the mirror. There were circles beneath her eyes and bug bites on her cheeks and neck.
"I don't know," Ursula answered.
Corinna couldn't bear to look at her companion. "They're going to kill him, aren't they?"
"When they know the truth—"
"It doesn't matter. If they're looking for Anisha, if they're looking for her and she isn't found, they're….we can't leave him, Ursula. We cannot abandon him."
"Corinna, we cannot go back for him. Do you have any idea what some men would do to a young girl like you?"
She knew her companion was correct but it didn't lessen the pain she felt twisting in her stomach. "We just leave him for dead, then? Is that what you suggest?"
"I suggest we wait for your father. He will know what is best."
Corinna made no reply. She walked in a daze to the front desk, requested a key to Erik's room, and forced herself up the stairs again.
With Ursula behind her Corinna unlocked Erik's door and walked into the room. Absently she touched her shoulder where Erik had rested his chin against her as the rode the elephant.
Her fears became real. He wasn't here, wasn't in his room where he should have been spending his evening working.
The opera, she thought. They would have been going to the opera. Her grief resurfaced, fast and sharp through her insides. They had left him in a field and walked away as he was surrounded.
Corinna held her breath as she glanced around, finding the tubes of his artwork in the corner. It felt strange to be near his personal belongings. She glanced behind at Ursula and half-expected to see Erik climbing the stairs, asking what they were doing in his room.
Corinna took a deep breath and walked to the drawings, scooping them into her arms. She cradled them a moment, smelling the distinct scent of leather.
"Do you think he…?" Her voice betrayed her swiftly. She closed her eyes and held back the tears.
"We should go," Ursula answered. "We'll send a message to your father and wait."
"I don't want to leave."
"Neither do I, but if we are still able to walk free then we may still be able to help him," Ursula said hopefully.
"Why would you help him?" Corinna asked, her voice weaker than before. She covered her mouth to keep from sobbing and pressed her eyes shut.
"I do not have Mr. Levesque, Corinna. He did exactly as your father asked and protected you, and in sparing your life he may have given his own." She stopped when Corinna broke down, leaning against the wall to keep from crumbling to the ground.
"We don't yet know what happened," Ursula continued. "Let's hope for the best and leave here at once. Your father will know what to do."
Corinna started to turn and leave the room when something on the dresser top caught her eye. Still holding the drawings, she walked to the dresser and plucked the cufflinks from the dresser top.
They were the skull cufflinks he had worn in Dareesh the night Anisha and Girish were engaged. She recalled telling him how morbid they seemed and how he had grinned back at her.
A ragged breath left her lips, sending a tremor through her body that made her legs tremble. She held them to her lips and kissed them softly, vowing to return them to Erik when she saw him again.
"Corinna, we must go," Ursula instructed.
With a nod, Corinna opened one of the portfolios and slipped the cufflinks inside before she turned to Ursula. Clutching the drawings, she walked from the room feeling colder and more alone than she had ever felt in her life.
-o-
After they returned to their own room they heard a commotion in the common area. Corinna started toward the door but Ursula blocked her path.
"Just wait," she instructed.
Within moments they heard Erik's door open again and harsh voices muffled through the wall. The sound of furniture scraping against the floors made Corinna step back from the door and glance at Ursula.
"You said he was here," a woman said.
"Yes, Miss, I thought he was in his room. I heard him a moment ago."
"Where are they? His drawings should be here some place."
"I don't know, miss. All of his belongings are in this room."
The woman gave an exaggerated sigh. "I came here because you said he was in his room and now he is gone. You, leave. You, turn the mattress over, open every piece of luggage. He has my drawings. Find them and bring them to me at once."
Before Ursula could stop her, Corinna opened the door and peered out. Her gaze was met by a hard-eyed woman beneath a black veil. Though she could only see the woman's jade eyes, Corinna felt herself shudder.
They stared at one another a moment before the woman tore down the stairs, closely followed by two men who appeared of Persian descent.
"Find Mr. Baleeze. His fiancée's cousin should be around here somewhere," the woman growled. "His name is Mr. Patel. Find him and bring him to me!"
Ursula dragged Corinna back into the room and shut the door. "Foolish girl!"
"She's looking for him. That woman is looking for Erik. If she finds Ravi—"
"I know," Ursula answered as she held Corinna tightly. "By the looks of her I would assume her husband is the Sultan."
-0-
Sanjeev Desai sat up suddenly and gazed out the carriage window. The sun was setting but even in darkness he knew where they were. He forced a weak smile as the carriage slowed and rounded the corner. Within minutes the Inn would come into sight.
Ari Nadir twisted from side to side on the other side of the carriage. "We are not alone," he commented as he gazed out the opposite side. "Black carriages and black horses. She is here."
His words made Sanjeev shudder. She was the Sultana. Sanjeev leaned to the side and saw the carriages waiting one after another, all bearing the mark of a hawk with wings spread and beak agape. In the talons was a smaller bird.
"We're too late," Sanjeev muttered into his hand.
"We should stay here a moment," Ari suggested. "Examine our surroundings, be certain that we are the ones watching rather than the ones being observed."
Sanjeev nodded reluctantly. He peered out of the carriage again and examined the windows of the rooms overhead. There was movement beyond the curtains in the middle room on the second floor.
"There," Ari said quietly. "She is with Mr. Baleeze."
Sanjeev followed his friend's gaze to the lead carriage being pulled by a pair of Lipizzan horses. Ari opened the carriage door enough for sound to travel through.
"She's not here," the Sultana said. "But we have him captured."
"You may do whatever you wish with him. My only concern is Anisha."
"It would be wise of you to accompany me," the Sultana replied.
The driver helped the Sultana in and closed the door once Girish followed her inside. Within seconds the carriage pulled away and the two trailing behind followed in its dusty wake, all filled with armed men serving the Sultan.
The two men sat in silence for a moment as the carriages barreled out of sight.
"We're too late," Ari murmured.
Sanjeev only nodded, unsure of his only daughter's fate. "We must follow them. We must find my daughter."
-0-
The last thing Erik remembered was the barrel of a rifle against his forehead. He remembered feeling strangely at ease, almost wishing the hammer to draw back and the bullet to exit the muzzle.
When he woke in the dark, head pounding and mouth dry, he dreaded the sensations that indicated he was still alive. Living meant suffering, and now he had no doubt he would suffer.
His body rocked back and forth, head tossed side to side. His eyes were open but the world was still dark as night. Blindfolded, he realized as he attempted to move. His hands were behind his back, ankles bound together. The manacles were tight, the iron chains heavy and cumbersome, digging into his flesh.
Without thinking he groaned.
"Awake again," a voice called.
Ravi.
An image popped into Erik's mind of Ravi standing before him, facing away from the sun so that his features were obscured and the sunset blazed, red as blood behind him. He remembered being on his knees when the men appeared from the brush and surrounded him. He remembered his head being held back by the hair and the gun between his eyes and then…
The pain to his skull centered on the right side just above his hairline. Something blunt had knocked him out, had split the skin into a bloody knot lost in his dark hair. He took a deep breath and caught the scent of copper and salt. Blood. His blood in the air.
"Where is she?" Erik asked hoarsely.
"That is what I have been wondering," Ravi replied. "Where is my cousin?"
"Corinna?"
Ravi snorted. "No one in my family cares what happens to her. She may as well be a stray dog at our feet. Where is Anisha?"
Erik gave no reply. Anger boiled within him, fumed by Ravi's insult. If he had been able to move he would have made Ravi pay for his words.
"You have one last chance to answer me," Ravi threatened.
"I'll have a thousand chances," Erik answered, spitting blood. "You will not kill me. You can't. She won't permit it."
This time Ravi was silent, causing Erik's anxiety to escalate. He struggled to sit upright again but stopped once his thrashing about made him sick to his stomach.
"Where is she, Ravi? Where is the Sultana?" he asked.
Ravi sat in silence, but the answer Erik received sent a violent tingle up his spine.
"I am here, Erik," she replied.
And with her voice the world left Erik once again.