What are you talking about? She is not here!" Erik growled, angry that the man thought that he would go back on his word of leaving Christine alone until she was ready to come back to him.
"She has to be here. She is not at the manor and no one has seen her for hours!" Anthony.
"Allah protect us," Nadir whispered. Erik was already half way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Anthony demanded, following the masked man.
"To find my wife," Erik growled.
xXx
Christine smiled softly to herself as she walked down one of Rome's many streets. It had been very easy to sneak off from the estate and Christine had been walking for several hours. She had needed time to be alone, without servants and without a brother who continuously popped into her room to make sure she was alright, even though she had told him twenty times that she was.
She knew without a doubt that Anthony was going to be livid with her when she arrived home, but at the moment it did not bother her. She would deal with her brother when she returned. She had every right to want to take a walk, no matter if it was dark or not. And she was definitely capable of taking care of herself without a chaperon.
Christine had been thinking about her mother a lot recently and though she missed her what she thought about the most was what relationship did she have with Nadir Khan, and exactly how did she come to think of Erik as a big brother?
There had to be some way to find out. She knew Erik and Nadir would most likely tell her nothing. Surely someone or something would be able to give her the answers she needed? Christine thought about it for a long time, coming up with nothing.
She was so immersed in her thoughts that she never heard the carriage approach, or see the man who approached her. All she knew was one moment she was thinking and the next she had a hand over her mouth and was being dragged roughly up to the waiting carriage.
She struggled and fought but the man, and she was sure it was a man, dragged her effortlessly to the carriage and tossed her in. Christine's head hit the carriage door with a sickening sound and the last thing she felt was the carriage jostling back into motion.
Christine hesitantly opened her eyes, a hand going to her head. She felt like she had been unconscious for hours and the last thing she remembered was being thrown into a strange carriage and then nothing. She was lying in a soft bed and a fire was roaring in a large brick fireplace. There were only two windows but they were rather small and had the curtains drawn. There was a large rug before the fire and on it Christine was surprised to see, lay a young woman. It was obvious that she was crying because her shoulders were shaking almost uncontrollably and Christine could hear her soft sobs. She had dark black curls that ran the length of her back and her slim body was adorned in a navy blue dress of commoner quality. Whoever she was she was not of noble birth.
"Mademoiselle?" Christine whispered. The woman's head snapped up and Christine was caught in the stare of beautiful olive green eyes. These remarkably colored eyes were set in a heart shaped face with dark, sun colored skin. It was obvious she was a Roman and Christine prayed she spoke French and could tell her exactly what was going on.
"Do you understand what I am saying?" Christine asked. The woman took a deep breath and nodded. Christine sighed in relief.
"Do you know where we are?" she asked. The woman shook her head with another tiny sob.
"N-no...they kidnapped us both!" she cried softly. She had a strong Italian accent that almost made it impossible to understand her French but Christine managed.
"When did they kidnap you?" Christine demanded. What did this woman have to do with her that they were both taken together?
"I was walking home and I saw you...then I saw the carriage and some man shrouded in shadows came up behind you and grabbed you! Another man saw me and though I tried to run they caught me and brought us here," she explained. Christine could see that the woman was nearly hysterical and she knew that would help neither of them. Slowly Christine made her way off of the bed and to the woman's side. She sat down next to her and for a few moments simply looked into the flickering flames.
"I am Christine, Christine Desslar," she said. The other woman glanced over at her and even managed a smile.
"Sienna De Luca," she murmured. Christine smiled back at her, she had a beautiful name.
"Has anyone come in here?" Christine asked. Sienna shook her head. Christine had thought so. She felt a feeling of dread enter her stomach as she thought about who could possibly be doing this to them. Was it the man who wanted Erik dead? She prayed that was not the case.
"They...they will not hurt us, will they?" Sienna whispered. Christine glanced at her. She was young, most likely Christine's age but even more innocent then Christine had ever been. She knew that the door was locked and there was no other way out, so they needed to occupy their time until someone came in. Christine turned to Sienna.
"Do you like stories?"