A/N: Hello everyone! Happy Friday! I have a new chapter for you guys. I am sorry for the wait on these chapters, I'm busy with work and classes starting in a few days. I'm mainly focusing on this for right now and finishing this one before updating A Poison Affair, Wildest Dreams and maybe White Mask. Hopefully I can get better with uploading chapters too.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 48: A Meeting with a Phantom
Looking around, all he could see was darkness and outline of trees. He couldn't see any sign of a camp or life. As much as he wanted to head back to the camp, he had orders and knew that a king's order had to be obeyed. However, finding the Phantoms' camp was practically impossible and a part of him didn't want to find the Phantoms' camp. He just wanted to find this camp, give the message and get out of this dark woods as quickly as possible.
"Who goes there?" He jumped at the sound of a dark voice. Looking around, he saw no one there.
"Who is there?" He asked into the darkness. "By order of King Daae, I demand to know who is there!"
"Phantoms don't follow a king's order." The voice replied. The man's eyes widen as he realized he was in Phantom territory.
"What business do you bring?" Another voice asked. Again he looked around to see who was there and again, there was no one.
"I-I have a message from King Daae…" He held up the piece of paper with the message written on it.
"Leave it on the ground." The voice nodding, he quickly placed on the ground in front of his feet.
"Get out…" He didn't need to be told twice. He quickly turned around and headed back to his camp, running like a phantom was after him. Once he was out of sight, Hunter appeared and walked over to the where the message was placed. "Who is it for?" Arrow asked, appearing as well. Grabbing the message, Hunter looked at the name written on it.
"It's for Erik."
"Well, he is the one who captured her." Arrow said. "Let's head back so we can give him the message."
"Where exactly is Phantom?" Hunter asked as they began their walk back to the camp.
"Most likely with Christine."
"This is the most he's spend with a woman."
"The man is in love. We were all like this when we fell in love with our wives." Arrow commented. "Let him be. Besides, he is going to have to return her to her father soon. I can understand why he would want to spend as much time with her as possible."
"Do you think he'll tell her?" Hunter asked him. Arrow thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't think so. He is not the man to express his feelings and I think he doesn't realize he is in love with. When he realizes it, I think it will be too late." Arrow answered. Hunter only nodded as they continued walking through the darkness. Soon they entered the camp and could still see people were still awake. Seeing a group of warriors sitting around a fire, they headed over to see if Erik was there.
Surprisingly, he was there and of course, Christine was sitting right next to him. Saint and Chief were also sitting there, along with their wives. Saint was telling the women a story while Tor and Erik seemed to be talking about something else. When one of them say Hunter and Arrow, they greeted the warriors.
"Evening boys." Meg greeted them.
"Evening." Arrow said back. "I hope we're not interrupting anything." He said as he approached the group. "I have a message here…for Erik." All of them were quiet as Erik stood up. Christine watched quietly as Erik took the message and read it. She wanted to see what it said, but she would be patient and wait for him to finish. When he was done reading the message, he glanced at Arrow and then to Christine, handing her the message. Taking it, she read before looking up him.
"My father wants to meet with you?" She asked him, making him nod.
"So it would seem." He answered.
"Are you going to go?" Meg asked him. His eyes glanced over to Tor who said nothing. Meg followed his gaze to look at the warrior. "Are you going to make him go?" She asked him. "Do you remember the last time he went to meet Gustave? You two were almost killed!" How could they forget about that? Erik has scars to remind him every day about what happened. "How do you know we can trust him this time?"
"Because he wouldn't risk Christine's life." Tor answered. "He'd do anything for her, to have her back."
"Including surrendering." Erik added.
"Do you think he would surrender?" Tor's wife asked.
"It's possible." He answered.
"When is it?" Saint asked.
"Two days." Erik answered. "The town is a day ride so I will leave tomorrow."
"Take Striker and Hawk with you." Tor ordered, making Erik nod. Christine remained silent as they spoke about the meeting her father wants with Erik. As much as she wanted this war to end, she knew it would mean that she would have to leave soon. She would have to leave Erik and return home to England. At this point, she was unsure if she wanted to go back.
Two days later and Erik was ready for this meeting. He, Striker and Hawk travelled all day yesterday to the town that Gustave said to meet at and spent the night there. Now the morning of the meeting and they were heading to the building that Gustave was waiting in. They had no trouble finding it since it was the only one surrounded by English soldiers. Though Striker and Hawk wanted to go instead, Tor gave them orders to stay hidden and only appear if necessary. Hiding in a building next to the other one, they watched as Erik entered the building. Entering the building, his eyes scanned the entire room. He had expected the room to be full of English soldiers, but only Gustave and some other man that Erik never saw before was standing there. Walking over to the two men, he stopped and looked at the king of England.
"I should have you hanged for kidnapping my daughter. However, her life is in your hands." Erik smirked.
"Aye, so I would choose wisely." Erik threatened.
"If you harm my daughter, I swear I will have killed right here and now." Gustave threatened.
"And what good would that do? Having me dead and your daughter still kidnapped?" Erik asked, knowing he had a point. "Your daughter's fate is determined by me and with me dead, I can tell you that you would never get her back." His voice was dark and threatening, almost making Gustave step back. "Now, you asked for a meeting and I am here. What is this meeting about?"
"What price do I have to pay for my daughter to be returned to us?" He answered, but also asked.
"England's surrender." Erik answered. "All castles captured by your men to be returned to my countrymen, as well as villages and any prisoner. Two thousand pounds."
"Two thousand pounds?" Gustave repeated. Even though he was the King of England, that was still a lot of money.
"Aye." Erik nodded his head. "That is not even a fraction of the cost to repair the damages to our homes." Gustave thought for a moment. This was a heavy price, but Christine's life was on the line. After a few minutes, he decided.
"Very well." He answered. "We have terms." He agreed to surrender and move his army out of Scotland, as well as the money. Erik nodded, shaking Gustave's hand. "How is she?" He asked. The powerful king now gone and a worried father standing in his place.
"She is well." He answered, giving Gustave some relief.
"I do not trust him." The man next to Gustave finally spoke and Erik noticed the heave French accent. Great, a Frenchman… "How do we know he had not harmed or taken her?" He asked Gustave who looked at Erik.
"Who are you?" Erik asked.
"This is the prince of France." Gustave answered. Erik's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out why the prince of France is here. "He is Christine's fiancé." Gustave told Erik. Both men noticed Erik's eyes widen as the word 'fiancé' registered in his mind. Fiancé? Christine is engaged?
"Fiancé?" Erik repeated.
"Oui." The prince said. "We are to be married as soon as she returned." He told Erik who was still processing the fact that Christine is engaged and she never told him. "I just want to make sure that my fiancée has had no harm come to her." Erik knew what he really meant. Gustave looked at the masked warrior, waiting for his answer.
"I would never harm or force a woman to do something they didn't want to." The prince's eyes widen, almost knowing Erik's hidden meaning.
"That is good news to hear." Gustave said as he placed a hand on the prince's back. "I will send a message when I have the money for you." He said to Erik who nodded.
"Christine will be returned to you then." Gustave nodded, a sigh of relief coming to his face. With nothing else needing to be said, Erik took his leave. On the way out, he grabbed his weapons that he had to remove before entering the building. As he walked away, his mind was racing. He couldn't over the fact that Christine is engaged and that she never said anything about. He also realized that he only had a few days left with her.