This is Prompt No. 71-Camera

Mitchie could not seem to make her brain function long enough to close her jaw from its present, hanging open, state. She heard the gasps behind her and summarized that this revelation of Victoria's was not common knowledge…yet. "Your Majesty!" she gasped out.

One of Victoria's advisers stepped forward hesitantly. "Your Grace," he said, his voice shaking, "that's a grave accusation. Are you sure about this?"

Queen Victoria whirled on him, a sneer on her face. "How dare you?" she asked, her voice deadly quiet. "Who am I?"

The little man gulped. "You're my queen," he squeaked.

"And what does that mean to you?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing.

"It means that you know what's best," the adviser conceded, scrambling away as soon as he possibly could, glad to be out of his queen's way.

"Your Majesty," Mitchie tried again, but the queen cut her off once more.

"Don't try to squirm your way out of it, you spy," Queen Victoria ordered. "I've known about you since before you arrived in my court."

Mitchie's jaw, which had just managed to snap itself back into its proper place, fell once again. "What?" she asked, her mind working furiously to figure out how that could have happened. "How?"

Queen Victoria snapped her fingers. "Felix, bring the photograph from that camera up here so that our little friend can see it." Her tone showed exactly what she thought of her "little friend."

Another man made his way up towards the queen, handing her a sheet of paper. She grabbed it impatiently out of her hand and sat for a moment, examining it. A sly smile crept over her face, and she turned the photo around. "It's a very good likeness, isn't it…Lieutenant Perry?"

Mitchie stared, horrified, at the picture in front of her. There she was, sitting at the table in the saloon, playing poker with Nigel and his band of thugs, masqueraded as a man. She probed her mind, trying to remember what had happened that night. She had been drugged, yes, but she didn't remember anyone having taken her picture. Yet somewhere, in the very furthest recess of her mind, Mitchie remembered the slight clicking sound, and the flash of light that she had dismissed because all she could think about at that moment was not getting sick. It had been a camera.

"Who took this picture?" she asked.

Queen Victoria smirked. "The Union isn't the only group of people that has spies," she said. "They weren't after you when they took this picture, but when they noticed that your drink was being drugged, they figured that there was something important about you, and that you might be a later threat." Her eyes narrowed again as she eyed Mitchie up and down. "Turns out, they were right."

"But-"

Once again, Mitchie was cut off. "You can save any explanations for your execution," Victoria told her.

"But-!"

"Guards!" Queen Victoria called. "Take her away!"

Two guards rushed forward and seized Mitchie, pulling her away from the assembly with a rough, brutal force that had Mitchie squirming away from them in pain. As one guard placed his gloved hand over Mitchie's mouth, she bit down hard. He cursed and sent a slap across her face that made her ears ring.

"You little-" he growled, but Mitchie tuned out the words he assaulted her with.

She kicked out, hoping that her legs would connect with anything, any part that might aid her in escaping. If she could just stand on her own two feet without being dragged, she could put up a fight, but there was no defensive strategy that her family had covered with her for when your attacker was practically carrying you upside down.

"Stop it!" the other guard commanded harshly, driving his fist into Mitchie's lower back.

Mitchie gave a groan and her body went completely slack for a moment with the pain that shot through it. A tear slipped down her cheek and she gulped in a breath of air. She knew that the punch had been a warning. The guard could have hit her harder and could have paralyzed her, but he hadn't. He had just left her dazed and aching enough that she couldn't put up as much of a fight.

The two guards carried her down through many passageways, all of them leading deeper into the ground. Mitchie shivered as a cold draft blew into her face, but she moaned as the action caused her who lumbar to feel as though it was on fire.

"Be quiet," the other guard commanded, slapping the back of Mitchie's head and driving it forward.

"She can't help it," the other guard told him. "I almost paralyzed her." The smugness in his voice, the pride dripping off the words "I" and "paralyzed," almost made Mitchie sick. She felt her heart fill with such loathing that she saw black spots swim before her eyes, and she had to force herself to calm down.

She closed her eyes in the hopes that she could shut out the dimness, knowing that they were taking her to the dungeon underneath the court, the very one that she had heard such horror stories about. Perhaps if she didn't look, it wouldn't be as bad.

The footsteps and heavy breathing of the guards were interrupted only by the opening and closing of a heavy metal, and Mitchie figured that it was a door. "Who goes there?" a rough voice asked, but Mitchie could tell even with her eyes closed that it didn't belong to either of the guards.

"It's just us, Lonnie," said one guard.

"Why hello, lads," the voice said again, grating over each syllable. "What have we here?"

One guard nudged Mitchie, and it was all she could do to fight back another groan of pain. "Prisoner of the queen's. She's a spy."

Mitchie heard a leering laugh, no doubt coming from Lonnie. "Well, that's certainly a change. A nice one, at that. All you're been bringing me of late has been dirty peasants." Mitchie felt another hand touch her arm, squeezing it unnecessarily hard. "Yes," Lonnie murmured, almost to himself, "a very nice change indeed."

"Where should we put her?" one guard asked, his voice sounding strained. "She's heavy as an ox."

Mitchie clenched her jaws together hard. Shane could easily pick her up. She waited, her eyes still closed, for Lonnie's answer.

"Put her over in that cell," he said after a moment. "It's one of the only empty ones."

Mitchie felt a jolt as the guards moved again, and soon another door was being opened. The guards took another couple of steps and then dropped Mitchie. She gave an angry cry of outrage to cover up the pain she felt, and lashed out at the guard nearest her, kicking as hard as she could. "Yow!" he cried out as her foot connected with his kneecap.

He backhanded her across her cheek and Mitchie found herself losing consciousness. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness completely was, "She's a wild one. Sure you can handle her?"

And it was Lonnie's reply, coupled with his laugh, that chilled her heart. "I think I can manage."

A/N: What's going to happen next? Let me know what you think!! (Which means you need to review!) ;)