"This is the grand mansion of the Amyr. If you need anything, you can always call for me, Madame."
"Your ascent sounds French," Ella hissed in his ear when she was sure they were away from the earshot of any eavesdroppers. She was looking around the place every now and then for any signs of a woman similar to the photo they had received. Light hair, almost blonde and features similar to Ty. But the only people she encountered were the men with weapons passing a cold glance as they went past her and the women who had their heads covered, much to her disappointment.
"The countries are not that far off anyway. These goons can't understand English." He turned to her walking backwards he joked, "Meet your almost-married home in a few minutes."
She pursed her lips glaring at him, then looking away and following his pace silently. In the pretense they had rounded about one floor of the huge castle with at least hundred floors passing along them. Then as Roy examined every detail and toured her around like a guest, they had separated their ways reaching the bottom floor to search for any irregular paths or doors leading to basement or another area estranged from the castle. Ella was passing through one side of the corridor while the other side taken by Roy, she was venturing along the portraits covering the walls of the long halls, with only her footsteps in the hearing distance.
In the empty corridor, Ella came across another noise other than her footsteps. She was looking through the paintings which would be costing a lot to display them greedily, she stopped midway hearing a noise. Thinking it might be her imagination, she resumed walking only to hear the same noise after taking two steps. Certain that she was being followed, Ella became alert, carefully putting her feet one by one, waiting to hear the sound to continue thereafter. Poising herself with erect back she continued to walk ahead, the footsteps were on the trail behind her back as well, then she made an immediate turn to get inside the first room her hands reached for.
Poking her ear on the door to hear the person that was following her, she heard the footsteps to come into the hall she turned to and stopped. Waiting for a while, she heard the person to open the rooms of the hallway. Stepping back Ella looked around for a place to hide herself, each room was decorated with a bed, chair and table anciently placed around, just like this room. Pushing herself behind the door, she decided to pick the vas kept on the table as a requirement. Holding the stealthy thing while fixing her position behind the door to wait for the perpetrator intruding here, Ella held her breath.
The door opened and someone unfamiliar entered inside; with the way the head was covered it was difficult to proclaim whether the person was a male or a female. But as the person rushed inside with a grace, Ella was ready to strike the maid's head. The vas didn't hit the woman as she turned around to stop the strike from hurting her. Suddenly the women struggled to get a better lead on the other one, Ella aimed for pushing the woman to the chair as the vas slipped from her hand. She wanted to call Roy for help but it would mean alerting the others as well.
As the thoughts striped Ella's mind, she didn't see the punch coming from the maid, rendering her to fall on the floor. Swaying her leg, the maid fell on her face with a grunt. There wasn't much time for Ella to think about acting decent, she dropped herself on the woman, grabbing hold of her hair only to let the cloth loose. Seeing the light-colored hair, Ella stopped midway which was an advantage for the other one to gain control.
Ella was held down with her back on the carpeted floor, before the woman was about to land another punch on her face she cautioned, "Watch out!" The woman stared confused until she was beaten unconscious on the back of her head by Roy who was standing with the gun in his hand.
"I didn't get it. Who were you cautioning about? Me or her?" he pointed at the woman's unconscious self, lying beside Ella.
"I didn't think," Ella panted while closing her eyes in dizziness, realizing that woman had given a hell of a fight. As she was helped to be on her feet, she spoke out her observation over the woman, "She has light colored hair."
"I can see that Elle. But that isn't the basis for assuming this is the sister of that boy. And... she looks older than you, the girl is supposed to be around your age, remember?" He countered his logic, yet scanning over the woman's features to similarize it with the boy. If the girl Cora was found he had to ensure to keep her away from Elle until his study on her relation with Elle was accomplished.
She was shaking her head, "There was another thing. She didn't call for help. She came all over herself to fight with me. Why would she do that unless she didn't want to be found?" Unintended Ella's questions planted their seeds in Roy's mind, sighing he agreed.
"We will take her."
"Did you get anything?" She was absently gazing him for any bruises, while awaiting his answer.
"No and yes. Come I'll show you." He went ahead to hit the woman again on the side of her head, resulting in blood oozing out from the wound which was a mess, but clarified that she would not be awake for a long time. Carrying the girl on his shoulders like a heap he set forward to another path which went through a back door of the castle, with less to no one lurking around. There were two people, chatting together with chairs kept close facing the outskirts of the mansion.
"Another one? If we take this we could be tracked." Ella warned him as he placed the woman in the trunk of the truck. She reached out to help him with the woman, only to suck a breath in shock. There was another woman with the same hair as the one who attacked her. Taking in the both of them, she met Roy's eyes which confirmed her precision.
The ride back from the castle was not a memorable one as the both were having their minds attached on other areas, like being trapped in the Prince's game. They were let out of the castle easily as the truck was a goods carriage unbothered to the watch guards.
He interrupted the silence, "She came from behind to attack me."
"Same here."
"I looked for you the moment I was done with her. Did she say anything?"
"The women were the ploy by the Prince. He had hired them at the exact moment when it was anticipated for me to be here. There was a slight change in his plans and that was, us to be in his castle unannounced. If I had decided to come with him here, I would have remained trapped here forever."
"What? You were planning on coming with him here?" He accused her, stepping on the accelerator too fast, urging Ella's back to sink into the seat roughly.
"It was a last resort plan in my mind." She replied.
"Which you didn't feel trustworthy enough to share with me!" His voice was a ton higher with frustration.
"I didn't know whether I wanted to use that. What about you? You had the men hired around you who passed you the location of where Cora would be situated and helped along to kill the Prince's guards as well. You didn't tell me anything about that?"
"I wasn't sure I would get a positive response. I didn't want to let your hopes high!"
"That isn't a reasonable excuse! I was given no information about anything."
"What did you want me to do Elle?"
"Tell me. What you do, how you do. We both know you have something I am unaware of." He remained silent, denying to acknowledge anything. She haughtily said, "I keep wondering how you manage to get to me at the exact moment I need someone, but I never probed further due to my respect for you. Not only as my ally but also as my closest friend. It seemed protective in the start but later I felt like I am the one being watched and not the dangers that come for me."
Ella saw him clench his jaw tightly refusing to stray his eyes away from the road or to give a single glance to her side. Rather he was concentrating in his speed limit which was increasing with his blood pressure.