The horse was still alive when she returned to the house. Maria went around to the back, got the older bucket, filled it with water from the well, and placed it close enough for the horse to drink once it stopped lying on its side.
Then she got one of their storm shutters and methodically began to cover up the broken window.
It was when she finished with that and was met with the choice of whether or not she should go inside to clean up did she finally admit it to herself.
She had lost the trail.
Presumably after taking her mother and finding some means to transport her– someone nearby was probably missing a wagon and horse– the Dark Magic wielder had calmed enough to stop leaving a trail. While a trail was still likely, Maria couldn't follow it without a horse, and the only horse she had a right to was on the edge of death. It would need rest food and water, and might even harbor resentment in future. With at most two days head start, she couldn't possibly follow whatever trail she found on foot.
The child howled and cried and demanded they take action. The hunter, eager as she was, could not change the fact they had no place to go, no means to get there beyond their feet and if they tried to repeat the pursuit they had done with Katarina, they would likely die of exhaustion, or getting stabbed to death from inattention because of exhaustion.
The lady pointed out that they had resources to bring to bear on this problem now. What's more, they had friends, who had more.
The child didn't believe it. Who had ever been their friend, who hadn't turned against them when the revelation of their magic came about? Even the friend they had first healed had turned against them, and now they had forgotten the girl's name!
"Maria-chan? Are you all right?" Katarina Claes suddenly popped into the view. Literally.
Maria blinked, even as she leapt backwards instinctively as she realized the duke's daughter was practically nose to nose with her, and she thought she could feel Lady Hunt's murderous jealousy falling on her across space and time. "L-lady Katarina!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Katarina was wearing the rough green clothes she liked to wear when farming. For once her perpetual smile was absent though, and instead a look of concern graced her features. "I went to visit you and ran into Anne, who told me what happened. Then Sophia showed up, and we all decided to come after you. Are you…?"
Katarina hesitated. Then she shrugged, stepped towards Maria and wrapped the shorter girl in a hug.
"I don't know what I can do," she said, "but I'll do what I can. Just ask me."
For a moment, Maria just stood there, accepting the hug, even though she could feel what was probably Sophia's gaze burning into the back of her head.
"Could you… give me a ride back to my manor?" Maria said, suddenly feeling very tired. Without her noticing, the afternoon had passed, and the sun was only a quarter of an arc away from setting. "I seem to have overtaxed my horse."
Katarina smiled. "Sure. It'll be just like old times."
"And… could you stay the night?" Maria asked. The burning gaze intensified. "You and Sophia?" The burning lessened considerably. "I need you there with me."
"Sure," Katarina said.
"I'll have someone get us some sleeping clothes," Sophia offered, finally making herself known. "And have someone stay with your horse. Is there a stable in town?" Maria nodded into Katarina's vials of blood. "Then we'll try to get him there and when he's rested bring him back to your manor. Does he have a name?"
Maria turned to look at the fallen horse, still breathing and weakly stirring. "Ludwig," she said quietly. "Like from the story. He's a good horse."
Maria let herself be guide to the carriage as Sophia gave her servants the proper orders. She settled into the plush seats and let herself fall into the realm of Quella, feeling a twinge of guilt that she was using these two as bait.
They were having dinner at the slightly reorganized dining hall when the bait finally bore fruit.
"Katarina!" the Third Prince's hunting cry resounded through Maria's entrance hall. "Katarina, where are you?"
Maria made a gesture for her to stay seated and keep eating. It was a needless gesture, as Katarina was still speaking to some of the young Ashina women, who were responding happily to a familiar happy face who spoke their language. Maria rose and exited the dining hall, standing where the Third Prince would have to acknowledge her.
"Your highness," Maria said with a bow. "What a pleasant surprise, that you would visit my home so early and unexpectedly. I had been hoping to speak with you."
He gave her that shallow, preoccupied smile of his that he tended to bring out when his mind and little prince were focused solely on Katarina Claes and everything else was a distraction. Still, he did slow down. "A good morning to you too, Lady Campbell," he said. "I apologize for dropping by unannounced, but–"
"My mother has been kidnapped by the Dark Magic wielder who trespassed on the castle," Maria said bluntly.
He actually seemed to trip on empty air for a moment as he heard and understood her words, and for a moment she wondered to herself if he was going to ignore her, or brush her off. As it was, he suddenly stood in place, his back to her, seemingly staring very hard at Katarina. Then he sighed and turned around.
"Could you repeat that?" he said, suddenly all business, his eyes intent and not so much distant as high above.
"I have reason to believe that my mother was kidnapped by the intruder who trespassed on the castle and used Dark Magic on Lady Katarina. The one you were unable to apprehend," Maria said, shamelessly taking every lever on his mood and mind she knew of and activating them all. "Miss Shelley, Lady Katarina's maid, was visiting my mother and found our home had been broken into. Among the damage she found this." She presented him with the paper, with its childish scrawl. "It would not be visible to your eyes, but that note contains traces of her touch. It still does, though it will likely fade in the next day or two. On investigation, I learned that a local woman, an Estella Almera, had come into contact with the Dark Magic wielder and has likely been suborned somehow with Dark Magic. With this woman's likely assistance, the Dark Magic wielder abducted my mother. Their current location is unknown. They have sent no other messages, made no other demands. I suspect this is vengeance rather than ransom."
Maria took a deep breath and knelt, head bowed. "Please, help me your highness," she said. "I am without any other hope."
He let out a breath. "Ah," he said. "No hope, huh?"
Maria didn't move. "I have no spies, no informants, no one to search for me," Maria said. "However, I will not make Rafael's mistake."
"His mistake?" the Third Prince prompted. Despite himself, wisps and traces of dark amusement underlay his voice, whether he knew it or not.
Finally, Maria raised her head to look at him. "Yes," she said. "There is no shame in asking friends to help you have your vengeance. Especially when they have talents that outstrip yours."
"Flattery, Lady Campbell? From you?" the Third Prince said with a small smirk.
"A fair acknowledgement of what you have achieved," Maria said. She let herself smirk. "And a challenge to see if you can actually make use of your talents in a practical manner."
"Suppose I refuse?" the Third Prince said. He was just being an ass, she knew. Already he had a preoccupied look to him, no doubt considering his resources.
"Then I will ask Prince Alan. I will beg my liege the king. I will ask Lord Ascart, Lady Berg, and Prince Ian. I will submit to whatever lustful depravity Susanna Randall asks of me so she will use her influence. And if all refuse… I will turn my Dark Magic on each and every single one of them and MAKE them find my mother," Maria said flatly. "Starting with you."
The Third Prince rocked back, as if stunned. Another step back, his hand falling to his sword.
Maria didn't move.
"It's my mother, your majesty," she said quietly. "I would call the paledrake himself if it meant I could save her."
"Don't say stuff like that, it might be listening," the Third Prince hissed. He gave Maria a hard glare. "I could have you thrown into the dungeons for threatening me with Dark Magic, you know."
"I do," Maria said. "And you know that the one who finds her for me will have my eternal gratitude. Have you ever wanted an invincible weapon, your highness?"
He stared at her. "Awfully confident of yourself, aren't you?"
"Find my mother, your highness," Maria said. "Tell me where to go to save her. And as soon as she stands safe before me, I will kill them all for you. Keith Claes, Mary Hunt, Sophia and Nicol Ascart, Ginger Tucker… every man, woman, child and dog who has ever looked at Lady Katarina with desire will fall, and she will be yours and yours alone. Even Prince Alan, should you wish it. I will slay anyone who speaks against her, everyone who says she is an unfit queen for you, so that there will be no one to oppose her ascension at your side.
"And no one will ever know it was you."
The Third Prince stared at her, wide-eyed and open mouthed. His mouth flapped. Eventually, he said, sounding raw and strained, "If you do it like that, they probably will eventually," he said. "They're not stupid."
Maria rose. The Third Prince was staring at him like he'd seen a ghost. Or a monster. She didn't care. In this, child, lady and hunter were as one. "Please take a few minutes to consider it," Maria said. "Would you like to join us for dinner, your highness? I believe the seat next to Lady Katarina is free."
Smoothly, she led the way into the dining hall. After a moment, she heard his footsteps following her.
Maria sat down next to Miss Shelley, still in her off-duty clothes and not looking awkward at all to be dining with such company. Despite that, she had eaten little, staring at the food– it was bread and stew tonight, with root vegetables the children had grown from the garden– before her, which was nearly untouched. Save for a single glance up when the prince had entered and begun making a fool of himself around Katarina, she did not move, contemplating something only she could see.
"Thank you for relaying word of this to me, Miss Shelley," Maria said quietly. "Else it could have been days until I learned of it, and by then it might have been too late."
"I'm sorry to have brought such news," Miss Shelley said quietly. "Will you be able to find her? Can she be saved?"
"I will find her," Maria said, the words for herself as much as for the other woman. "I will save her. I will punish those who did this."
Miss Shelley nodded sharply at that. "I want to help," she said in a voice of quiet resolve.
"You already have," Maria said. "This is my fight now."
Miss Shelley finally looked up. He gaze was harder than usual, the flatness in her eyes that of a fortress wall rather than its familiar icy lake. "Alice Campbell is important to me too," she said, her voice determined. "I want to help you save her. I want to be by your side when you take her out of whatever abyss she's in now. I want to be close enough to get blood on my face when you tear apart the ones who did this and hold the torch to sear their wounds shut so they don't die a quick death."
Maria rocked back slightly in her chair. Miss Shelley's voice never even rose above a whisper.
Eventually, Maria nodded. "All right. You can be the Sif to my Artorias."
"Artorias died," Miss Shelley said, and finally started to eat. "See that you don't. I don't want to save your mother only to have her die of a broken heart."
Maria turned away and continued her meal.
Around them, children ate cheerfully in three languages, Sophia and the Third Prince pulled at Katarina's attentions, and the older wards watched quietly as their protector ate with murder in her young eyes.