"Let me go!" i screamed on top of my lungs but he didn't instead he looked at me, his blue eyes alert like a squirrel in a raining season.
"Are you hurt, Milady?" he asked me
I am sorry, what?
Why was he concerned about my welfare if he was going to slaughter me?
"No" I answered slowly but I didn't take my eyes away from him, his motive was still undetermined.
"You could have seriously maimed yourself, milady. Jumping out of a moving carriage is dangerous and…" he followed my eyes and it rested on the part of my forearm his hands were currently holding. He tilted his head to the left and exhaled. "I need your word that if I let go of you, you won't try to jump out…I am very uncomfortable putting my hands on a lady but then again, today has been very bizarre. It's the first time I have been away from Abbott in thirteen years. It is my first kidnapping too, if you can imagine. My first carriage ride and I must say, it is quite uncomfortable and-"
I blinked. "Are you going to kill me?" I asked him in a low whisper.
"Kill you?" he looked confused.
Was my punishment something more awful than death? Knowing Abbott he was capable of finding creative ways to make me hurt.
"Yes, kill me…slaughter me…chop off my head!" i asked loudly.
"No. calm your heel, Miss Spencer…this is just a kidnapping not an execution"
He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world then he offered me grapes.
He bloody offered me grapes like we were best pals not kidnapper and the kidnapped!
"Where are you taking me to and is the bronze cuffs neccesary?. I won't try to jump. I promise"
He looked conflicted like he was trying to make an impossible decision. "I can take those off, i was never a fan of them but Abbott…i will take them off and please, accept my sincere apology for placing them on to begin with"
He took out a key to unlock them but the carriage came to an abrupt stop and it spooked him enough to leave the carriage to investigate. I could hear him talk with the Knights outside.
"Why did we stop?"
"To feed the horses water, Sir Bastian. They are not like ones we ride on to war, my friend"
"Why? Bluestone is still a long way and i don't know how long i can sit in a carriage before i fucking lose my mind and go on a slaughtering spree"
I tuned out their voice and started plotting my escape. Sir Bastian might not murder me but my cousin Winslow definetly will.
I searched my hair hoping Evie placed a hair pin there and she did, thankfully.
I took it out and pried the cuffs open. Thank you, Mama! One of the pecks of having Ginny Baltimore as a mother is you develop a habit of picking locks before you could crawl.
I pushed the door open and I ran. I ran with all of my might and I made as little noise as humanly possible.
I ran until the wind was behind me and my lungs were at the danger of expiring and even then, I didn't stop. I ran until I ran into an unwavering wall.
I stopped.
I looked around. I had no idea I was this close to Bluestone manor until I saw the big oak tree by the right and the scary thugs both on horses and on foot in front of me - My cousin's henchmen.
I took off in a run.
I barely made it to the clove forest before the horsemen caught me.
I was beyond screwed.
I watched as they came down from their horses with their extremely shiny and sharp sword and they looked at me like they wanted me dead.
"No, Cousin Winslow needs me to wed old man Charlie Stinson, the marquess of eagle bee" I felt a nauseating wave flow through me at the thought of being pawned off to the man so old he had three teeth and one good eye.
"Sorry" The man had a tiny smile. "Baron reconsidered after you stole from him"
"I didn't. The seal belongs to my father. He is the real Baron of Bluestone!"
"Your father is dead. Win is Baron now and the raven seal just like you, dear Abigail belongs to him. And our order is to find you with a broken neck…blame the bandits and recover the seal from you. Don't be so sad, Baron will avenge you or at least pretend to"
He took a step closer and I took a step back but there was nowhere to run to.
"You don't have to do this!"
"But I really want to" he replied with a smile.
As he moved closer to me, I closed my eyes and waited for his attack. I waited for the pain that came with a broken neck and the sound that came with a bone snapping as life left my body but it never came. I heard a groan and a yell that forced me to open my eyes.
There she was, standing there with her bloodied dagger, she had a crossbow on one hand and arrows in a bag she was carrying. She was wearing pants…she was wearing bloody pants!
Her hair was as black as the night and she was so tall, she towered over me…. her beauty was legendary, her nose was pointy and dainty, her eyelashes were long, her chin and cheeks looked like they were sculpted.
Her skin was different from mine. She was Tan like Abbott. I have never seen anyone that looked like her before in my life with exception of Prince Abbott.
She wiped off the blood from her dagger and returned it to her leather belt. She looked surreal.
At first, I thought I died again. I died and my death was so swift that I didn't feel it. I died and this was the afterlife
But I wasn't dead.
I knew this because the horsemen were dead and they were lying by her feet. She had slit their throats in mere seconds.
"You saved me" I murmured like a lunatic. "You saved me…why?"
"Would you rather I let them kill you?" she asked me.
"Wait, what?! Of course not! I love my neck"
"You are welcome. Bye"
She said and started walking away. I followed her.
"What is your name?" I asked her.
"Alexa" she murmured but didn't slow down.
"I am Abigail. Thank you for saving me"
"You are welcome. Now, stop following me!" she demanded.
"I can't. People want me dead and I need to get to Zurich. Can you take me?" I asked her and hastened up. She was fast.
"No"
"I can pay for your services. I have gold in my satchel…real gold!" I told her.
"You shouldn't tell people about that; they will rob you"
"You can have everything if you get me to Zurich, Alexa"
"I don't believe in earthly possession"
"You have to" I yelled and made the mistake of grabbing her.
Suddenly, I was on the ground and her foot was pressed against my neck.
"Don't grab me!" she warned and left me there.
"You have to…please!" I felt tears rush down my face "You have to help because I used to be somebody! I am supposed to be somebody, I am supposed to have a father who loves me and a mother who goes to hell and back to protect me….I am supposed have a husband who shouldn't kill me...i am supposed to be the honorable Abigail spencer, daughter of the crazed baron of bluestone and the beloved wife of Abbott but I am not….i am supposed to be safe and loved and protected. No one taught me how to be anything but the baron's daughter!" I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
"Fathers aren't supposed to go missing leaving me without any form of protection. Cousins aren't supposed to want me dead and mothers are supposed to defile death if it means their child will be in unbearable pain. Help me because I am all alone and the world is kind of terrifying. Help me because bets are I won't last long if you leave me. Help me, Alexa because my probably dead parents won't!"
I waited for her to say no. Many people would, the world is not a bed of roses and people don't get what they deserve. Good people die and bad people reap where they didn't sow.
It's life. It is just life.
"Okay" she murmured.
"Okay?" I was more surprised than curious "Why?"
"You ask that question too much, don't you?" she asked me.
"Father said to question everything"
"I hate questions. If I am to help you, I have rules. I will not call you my lady or any other titles bestowed on you by whomever. You will follow orders with no questions asked and you won't compromise the integrity of my mission in Zurich. Do you understand these rules as I have said them to you?"
"What is your mission?" I asked.
I couldn't help it. I was raised to ask questions.
"Oh, to kill King Aldous, of course" she answered with a smile.
I blinked.
Wait what?!
I swallowed hard. What was that adage again? from frying pan to fire.
Yeah, that's it.
"Ahmm…Alexa?"
Alexa!