After a few hours, Sam returned.
"The Count expects you ladies at dinner tonight." He said. He nodded towards Emilia and left the room.
"Who is he, anyway?" Aylee asked. "He can't be Italian born."
"A very dangerous man." Emilia wondered exactly how much she could say without revealing anything important. "He's Welsh. Ellyana thinks he got tangled up with the Italians after something went wrong in his household."
Mary smiled in the hopes of cheering up her ladies. "Whoever and whatever he is, maybe we can convince him to marry."
"I doubt it." Emilia muttered under her breath. Lola laughed, and the sound grated in her head as they started to get ready.
She might not have known their full history, but she knew Sam and Ellyana avoided marriage for a reason.
Once the girls were dressed, Emilia slid on her holsters and they made their way down to the dining hall.
Count Vincent waited for them at the head of the table. Catherine sat next to him as though she was unbothered by the intruders beside her, but Emilia could see how she truly felt.
"Queen Mary!" The count stood, arms wide, as if he were welcoming them into his own home. "So nice of you to join us. Please, sit." He motioned to the row of empty chairs beside him. At least he was kind enough to place Mary and her ladies beside each other.
The ladies sat at the table delicately. Emilia directly beside Mary. She looked around the table. Surveying every face she saw before her. From the guards standing watch, to the nobles seated around them. In the doorway stood a cloaked figure whom she instantly recognized.
"Ellyana." She whispered.
"What?" Mary asked in her ear.
"Ellyana is in the doorway." Emilia informed. They watched the cloaked figure disappear down the corridor and Mary turned to the Count.
"If you don't mind Count Vincent." She began. "I must return to my rooms for a moment."
"What for?" He asked.
"You see," Emilia watched Mary as she cooked up a lie. "My corset is too tight. I need my ladies to attend to me."
"Be back in ten minutes." He ordered, sipping his wine. The six girls rose from their seats and followed Ellyana.
"Seems you can survive quite well without me." Elly mused, removing her hood.
"It's not enough." Emilia said. "Where is Sebastian?"
"Locked up with the guards." Ellyana confessed. "Along with Marque." Emilia's heart dropped. Of course they captured him.
"What do we do now?" Kenna questioned.
"There you are." One of Count Vincent's guards approached them. "The count does not like to be kept waiting."
Emilia turned to give Ellyana a final message, but the cloaked figure was gone. Foreboding shot through her as she followed the others to the dining hall.