Their
abductors bundled them quickly and efficiently into waiting carts, which were disguised
as vegetable carriers. Lily struggled violently to begin with but Victoria
insisted that she quieten down, for her own safety and because she had always
taught her to act like a lady whatever the circumstances. Victoria, herself, however,
having calculated that the odds were against fighting her way free, submitted
without any resistance.
Within eight hours of being captured Lily and
Victoria had crossed over the border into Formor. By then there was little that the Praefectus
could do, and, in fact, it was several days before Lily’s family
had any idea that she had been kidnapped.
The two captives were split up and taken on
different carts initially, with Gerard assigning himself and his most experienced
troops to Lily’s cart. He was much less worried about losing the governess – he
was sure that the girl would survive without her teacher, if necessary.
Once they had crossed the border the
kidnappers felt so confident that they untied their captives and allowed them
to travel in the same coach. This was a far faster and more luxurious vehicle
that was waiting for them in Dursberg, a few miles into Formor. At that point Gerard joined then in the
coach. They travelled on in convoy, surrounded by Gerard’s men on big black
horses.
Lily and Victoria were grateful to be alive,
and sat hugging each other. Lily was more terrified than angry, while Victoria
was more angry than terrified. Gerard smiled his dangerous smile at them from
his seat opposite.
‘I hope you are not too discomforted’ he
said, ‘as you can see, we now have better surroundings and you are completely
safe’
Lily let out a sob.
‘Safe?’ said Victoria, very carefully; trying
to judge the exact extent of their physical danger, ‘how can a kidnapped person
ever be safe?’
Gerard leant back in his seat and examined
Victoria, his eyes scanning her minutely. He wondered why she didn’t seem as
scared as he might reasonably expect her to be.
‘Well, you’re
not really kidnapped at all, Miss Jenkins’ he said, unbuttoning his heavy coat,
‘you’re more of an unintended consequence. But if you co-operate we can make it
really worth your while’
Victoria’s held Lily closer and shook her
head emphatically.
‘I’m looking after Lily – that’s my only
concern’
Gerard’s grin became wider. He slid his hands
into his pocket and pulled out a bulging money bag. He extracted a very shiny Ethian gold
sovereign out of the bag and looked at it admiringly.
‘So, you are going to co-operate. That’s good
and very sensible. How much is the Praefectus paying you?’
Victoria was as shocked as she been all day.
Where she came from they never talked about money.
‘What? What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘I’ll double it’ he said, ‘and I’ll provide
you with your own rooms’
Victoria was dumbstruck, her shock turning
into bemusement. She narrowed her eyes as if calculating a very difficult sum.
‘Why do you think that I kidnapped you both?’
asked Gerard, pouring a handful of coins into his palm.
All three of them stared at the shower of
coins – even Lily who forgot her fear for a fraction of a second. Each one
would buy three pretty summer dresses.
‘Well it can’t be for the money, you,
horrible man’ Lily spluttered, ‘Daddy is always running out of money’
Victoria shushed her but was heartened by her
brave response.
‘Exactly’ said Gerard, ‘and the men who hired
me know that very well’
Victoria recovered slightly. At least she
hadn’t had to answer the embarrassing money question.
‘So why have you kidnapped us, then?’
‘Leverage, my dear Miss Jenkins, leverage.
They have great plans for Princess Lily, but to start with we need the
Praefectus’s co-operation. It hasn’t escaped my employers’ attention that
Prince Arnon loves his daughter more than anything else, temporal or spiritual.
Such a powerful love can be very useful…’
Lily’s angry face melted for a second. Her
eyes pricked with tears.
‘Does he? Love me that much?’ she mumbled.
Victoria hugged her more intensely, her anger growing as she listened. She
bristled indignantly.
‘You know that you will be punished for this
eventually, don’t you? You will be tracked down’
Gerard slid the money back in his bag,
realising that he’d misjudged his tactics, or at least his timing. Then he slid
the bag back into his pocket.
‘Oh yes, of course’ he said, ‘that’s very
likely. I have no illusions about my probable end’
‘My father will lock you up forever’ said
Lily, emboldened.
‘Possibly, princess’ said Gerard, reaching
forward as if to kiss Lily’s hand, ‘but I’m anticipating a more bloody, but
perhaps a little more romantic, end’
Victoria immediately brushed his hand away
from Lily’s personal space with a sweeping gesture. Her movement was quick and
decisive and one again Gerard was surprised by her deftness. Victoria’s mouth hardened.
‘If you touch a hair on Lily’s head….’
Gerard retreated into his seat. His smile
reappeared, but this time it was slightly softer.
‘Oh, you have nothing to fear. My employers
would have me, my whole entourage and my maternal grandmother killed if they
discovered I’d damaged their prize. I was simply about to pay my respects to
her highness, but I now know that that is not required’
‘Absolutely! Keep your hands to yourself!’
said Victoria
‘I will – I promise. I really don’t want to
jeopardise this operation’
He jingled the money bag in his pocket.
‘After all – despite the great difference in
our social position – I appear to be the one with the money, and I want to keep
it like that’
The
journey continued in silence, punctuated by Gerard’s offers of food and wine.
The air of hostility within the coach lingered and Victoria only permitted Lily
and herself enough food to remain alert. Neither drank any wine, but Gerard
did, gulping it down very gratefully. The travelling was boring as there were
heavy curtains on the windows and so they had no idea where they were going.
All they could tell was that night was rapidly falling.
‘Where are you taking us?’ asked Victoria
after they had begun to climb precipitously along what was clearly a very
rutted, uneven track.
‘To Castle Uberwald’
Victoria knew that name all too well. She
knew that it was the final retreat of the Kings of Formor. For four hundred
years, in the series of wars that had scarred the human lands in the north, the
castle had remained untaken. It had been besieged by the Ethians countless
times, but it had never fallen. The castle was one of the main reasons that the
state of Formor still survived, despite the implacable enmity of its much
larger neighbour. It wasn’t an encouraging place to discover that you are to be
imprisoned.
‘Where’s that, Miss?’ asked Lily, wide eyed
and shivering slightly.
Victoria’s history teacher reflexes kicked
in, despite herself.
‘It’s the old capital of Formor, built by
King Heinrich IV, 345 – 367. The largest castle north of the Central Range,
it’s constructed from local granite. Heinrich had it built in response to the
growing threat from the then rapidly federating Ethian and Faneic tribes
further north. He called it…’
She stopped herself. This really wasn’t the
time. Lily’s mouth was wide open and she seemed close to tears again. One part
of Victoria, however, was disappointed.
Lily clearly did not know this very basic and important historical
fact.
‘It’s a big castle, Lily’ she concluded, ‘a
very big castle owned by the King of Formor’
‘Why are we being taken there?’ asked Lily.
For the time being, at least, she was unable to take in any but the most basic
information.
‘Because my employers would like you to stay
with them there for a while, while they negotiate with your father’ explained
Gerard.
‘Do you work for the King of Formor?’ asked
Victoria, ‘if so, then this is represents an exceptionally foolish diplomatic
blunder on King Albert’s part…’
Gerard grinned. He savoured a sip of wine
before he answered.
‘No, of course I don’t!’ he said, ‘No proper
monarch would hire someone like me’
‘Who are you working for then?’
‘A group who have a very clear idea as to
what they want to achieve and who are willing to use almost all methods to get
there ’
Victoria looked up fiercely at him.
‘Who, then?’
Gerard emptied his flagon. Consciously or unconsciously his hand went to
his money bag again.
‘I work for Baron Ernst von Eisen, the Grand
Master of the Ancient Order of the Knights of the Crimson Flame’
Victoria straightened in her seat and
blinked.
‘What? The Knights of the Crimson Flame?
Don’t be ridiculous. They were supressed by the Formorian king three hundred
years ago. They only exist now in tales designed to quicken a young man’s
blood’
Gerard nodded.
‘Yes they were, Lady Encyclopedia, completely
expunged’
He paused, clearly enjoying the moment.
‘However, it seems they’ve had a bit of a resurgence,
as you’ll soon find out’
Their eyes locked; Victoria was trying to
sense whether he was lying. Gerard refused to look away as a matter of
principle.
‘Are you serious?’ asked Victoria
‘Not really, in general’ he replied, ‘except
when money is involved’
He smiled his rascal smile and Victoria,
still staring into his brown eyes, felt her heart jump, completely against her
will. She looked away, embarrassed and now even more irritated.
‘But I think you’ll find that the Knights, on
the other hand, are unusually serious’
[3]
Formor – independent human kingdom between Eth and Visneoria, periodically at
war with Eth and barely tolerated by the Empire. It is a strongly centralised
monarchy with strictly enforced primogeniture.
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