His Abducted Bride (9 page)

Sure that no harm could come to her, she held out her hand. “Give me a knife.”

“My lady?”

“A knife. I’m going to prove that what you fear is for naught.”

He stared at her hand for a long moment then shook his head. “No. I can’t have you do that. I’ll just tell you what you want to know. The lake is in Reinhold. You’ll have to go through the Havenshire forest and go west. Once you reach the ocean, you’ll have to go across it until you reach Reinhold. When you get there, you’ll need to take the golden path. On the path, you’ll come to a fork in the road. Go to the left, and it’ll take you to the Grim Reaper’s Path. The lake is hidden somewhere in there.”

“Thank you.” She turned to leave but stopped and faced him. “I don’t want you telling the king or anyone else about this.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Satisfied, she clutched the vial to her chest and opened his door a crack, making sure no one was there. Good. There was no commotion. The guard still hadn’t told the king he lost her. She slipped out of the magician’s room and softly shut the door. She wondered when she should drink the potion. He had only granted her twenty-four hours to make her way out of this prison.

With a shrug, she decided to take it right away. It wasn’t like it’d take her a full day to get out of the castle. She took another sniff of it to prepare herself for the taste and drank it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. A little on the tart side but doable. She placed the vial aside and waited. For a moment, she thought nothing was going to happen and was ready to barge right back into the magician’s room and demand he help her.

But then her body warmed and tingled. Then her limbs shrunk and fur grew on her body. She tried to gasp when she realized that the magician had changed her into a mouse, but the gasp came out as a squeak. She shivered. This had to be the most disgusting thing that had ever happened to her!

The sound of people running spurred her to action. The guard knew she had escaped, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d end up right back where she started—under the ever-watchful eye of the king. She scurried across the stone floor, barely noting how cold it was in her hurry to get out of sight. She glanced around for a place to hide. Since she was a mouse, she should be able to hide just about anywhere. All she needed was a hole or a crack large enough to slip through. But the walls were surprisingly sealed. She squeaked in aggravation and kept running.

She rounded a corner and stopped when she saw the steps. When she was in human form, those steps didn’t seem nearly as steep as they did now. Gulping, she backed up against the wall. There was no way she wanted to even try to go down those. With a tentative glance over her shoulder, she saw the shadows of the guards on the floor as they headed in her direction. Her nose twitched in irritation. If she was gray, she might be able to blend in with the stone, but she was white. They’d spot her right away!

Bracing herself, she ran to the edge of the step and leapt off of it. A squeak left her throat as she hurdled down to the next one. She landed on her back, but despite the pain shooting down her legs, she rolled onto her feet and continued going down the steps. Each step got easier, and by the time she landed at the bottom, she had mastered the ability to land on her feet.

But she didn’t have time to enjoy her victory. The guards were descending the stairs. That left her with little time to find a suitable hiding place. She ran across the hallway, huddled toward the wall as she made her way toward the kitchen. There would be lots of places to hide in there. She picked up the scent of cheese, and her stomach rumbled in anticipation. With a place this big, she could have a real feast!

Startled, she shook her head. She was not a mouse! She was a person. By now the guards were at the bottom of the stairs. Panicking, she shoved the thought of delicious cheese aside and scampered to the kitchen, glad the door was ajar. She found a small table near the door and hid under it, her heart beating frantically as the guards came crashing into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” one of the cooks demanded, her voice booming in Sandy’s ears.

Sandy winced. Being so small meant everything sounded louder than what she was used to. Thankfully, she wouldn’t remain in this form for longer than a day.

“The queen has run off,” the guard told the cook. “Have you seen her?”

“No one’s been in here but you and your friends.”

“She must have passed through the hall. Did you see anyone run by here?”

“No, I haven’t seen or heard anyone. Do you think she’s in danger?”

“Not likely. She’s giving the poor king a hard time.”

She snorted. The poor king, indeed! She was a prisoner and they were sympathetic toward him? She had a mind to delete this entire book once she returned to her realm. Never did she think her characters would turn such a blind eye to the distress of their author.

She saw the guard’s feet turn as he addressed the others. “Go further down the hall and see if she’s in any of the other rooms.” While they hurried to obey him, his feet returned to their previous position, indicating he was facing the cook again. “The king will not be pleased if it turns out you’re helping her leave this castle.”

“Why would I do such a thing?” the cook asked.

“Sympathy?”

“Sympathy? If the queen had her way, my son would be dead.”

Sandy’s whiskers twitched. Just what did the cook mean by that? She never harmed the cook’s son. She hadn’t killed anyone in the time she’d been in this realm.

Someone ran into the room, and she peered around the table leg to see who it was. She narrowed her eyes at the familiar boots with the heart and two swords etched on the heels. It was the king.

“Where is she?” the king demanded, not hiding the distress in his voice.

Curious that he should sound frightened instead of angry, she scooted closer to the table leg and peered up him. His breathing was fast, as if he’d been running, and his eyes were wide in shock.

The guard knelt before him. “Forgive me, my lord. I let her escape.”

He shook his head and motioned for him to stand. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. She’s not any closer to being reasonable than she was the day I brought her here.”

Her fur whiskers stiffened. Unreasonable? He abducted her and forced her into marriage, and she was unreasonable?

The sound of something licking its lips caught her attention. Turning around, she saw a cat staring at her, one side of its mouth curled into a smile. Her paws grew tense as she debated which way to run from the beast. And to think just earlier that week, she picked up the monstrous furball and petted him!

The cat narrowed its eyes at her and lifted its paw and swatted at her. She squeaked and ran away from it, but it placed its other paw in front of her, successfully blocking her from getting away. She squeaked again and scurried in the opposite direction, only to be blocked a second time. Her nose twitched in a mixture of fear and aggravation. The stupid thing was playing with her!

“What’s that cat doing in here?” the cook asked as she went over to the table.

Good. Maybe the cook would get the foul beast away from her. Sandy dodged the cat’s paw again just as the cook looked under the table. What came next was a very shrill scream that nearly knocked Sandy on her back. Good grief but the cook had a healthy pair of lungs! She could wake the dead with her scream.

“What is it?” the king called out.

“Nothing to worry about, my lord,” the cook quickly replied. “It’s just a mouse.”

Sandy tried to scamper away, but the cat slammed its paw on her tail. She whirled around and tried to bite the stupid animal, but the king knelt down and wrapped his hand around her. With a squeak, she wiggled, but her effort was in vain. Even though his hold on her wasn’t tight, it was firm enough to prevent her escape.

“Since when do we have mice in the castle?” the king asked, studying her.

The cook, eyes wide and hand pressed to her chest, gasped. “We keep the kitchen very clean, my lord. We haven’t seen one in over a year.”

She squeaked again and dug her nails into his hand in a futile attempt to get him to drop her.

He clucked his tongue and shook his head at her. “There’s something different about this mouse. It seems to be intelligent.”

How could he tell that? She looked like any other mouse.

“I don’t know the difference between one mouse or another,” the guard began, coming over to her and studying her, “but I don’t see what’s so special about this one.”

“The eyes are following us. When the cook was talking, its gaze went to her. When I talked, its gaze went to me, and when you talked, its gaze went to you. It’s taking note of our conversation. A regular mouse wouldn’t do that.”

Drats! How was she to know something so simple could work against her?

“Give me something to keep this mouse in,” the king told the cook.

The cook scanned the room. “Alright. I’m sure we have something around here that will work.” Finally, she snapped her fingers and hurried to a shelf where she grabbed a steel colander and set it on the table. Then she retrieved a china plate. “Put it in there, and I’ll set this plate on top of it. We’ll use a heavy weight to secure it.”

Sandy squeaked in protest, but the king placed her in the colander and the cook placed the plate swiftly over it. She scrambled for a way to nudge the plate off her new prison, but it didn’t budge. She rammed into the side of the colander, but it did no good. She was trapped. Once again, trapped. Letting out one last defeated squeak, she gave up and settled onto her stomach to wait for whatever the king would do.

“So you gave her a potion that turned her into a mouse?” Gavin asked, unable to believe his ears.

Sure, he suspected she was the mouse he’d captured in the kitchen, but even so, the realization that she drank a potion so she could become one still surprised him. Was she so eager to get away from him that she’d turn herself into a rodent?

The magician let out a frustrated sigh and sat in the chair by his bookshelf. “I really wish you and the queen could manage your own affairs without involving me in them. My job is to protect this kingdom, not cater to your every whim.”

Gavin clasped his hands behind his back and stepped toward him. “My marriage to her is protecting the kingdom. Need I remind you that she originally wrote this story so that her kingdom would torch ours? I’m not the only one who was set to die in her final scene.”

“Granted, that’s true,” he acknowledged.

“And if she escapes and King Petros captures her, he’ll send her back to her world. If that happens, she will complete the story as she intended. I have yet to convince her that letting this kingdom remain is good for everyone.”

“She made a convincing argument when she was here.”

“Which was?”

“That I owed her since I forced her to marry you.”

Gavin huffed and examined the vials of different potions the magician kept on hand. “You owe her nothing. This story is under my control now, and I’m not about to jeopardize everything just because the author doesn’t like being here.” He gestured to the potions. “Do you have anything that will change her back into a woman?”

“The potion I gave her will wear off tomorrow.”

“I guess that isn’t too long.” And who knew? Maybe being a mouse for a day would give her a new perspective on her situation. “Alright. I’ll wait it out.” He headed for the door but turned back to face the magician. “You won’t be giving the queen any more magic.”

He nodded. “Understood, my lord.”

Satisfied, Gavin left the magician’s quarters and headed for his bedchamber. Well, at least that was settled. Sandy wouldn’t use any more magic to try to escape. He had no idea what to do with her, except stay with her at all times. If he had to chain her to himself, he would. Too much was at stake to risk losing her again.

As he reached his bedchamber, the guard by the door straightened.

“I trust no one has come to talk to the queen,” Gavin told the guard.

“She’s been alone the whole time, my lord.”

“Good.”

It wasn’t that Gavin delighted in isolating her from everyone, but he didn’t see what other choice he had. He’d given her full range of the castle, and he gave her all the time she wanted to be away from him. He hadn’t even ventured to her bedchamber to insist they consummate the marriage. His effort to give her sufficient time to get used to his kingdom, to see for herself that he and his people were worth saving, had been in vain.

Despite his frustration, he managed a polite smile to the guard. “You are relieved of duty for the rest of the day.”

Before the guard could reply, he opened the door to his bedchamber and entered it. He shut the door and made his way across the rug that led to the table near his fireplace. It was on this table where he’d placed Sandy in a cage he retrieved from a local shop owner. Even if she had fur on her body in her current form, he didn’t want her to catch a chill. The fall weather had descended on the land, cooling things when the sun settled for the evening, and evening would be coming soon.

He knelt in front of her cage. Even if Sandy was still in mouse form, he noted the familiar spark in her eyes and shook his head. “Will you always fight me?”

She squeaked, her whiskers twitching in what he could only assume was defiance.

“Forget I asked,” he muttered. “Well, just so you know, you will stay in this cage until you turn back into a woman. According to the magician, that will be tomorrow afternoon. So, in the meantime, you’ll have to be content to nibble on cheese.”

He gathered a couple of cheese cubes from the tray beside her cage and lifted the top so he could set them in her food dish. Noting that her water dish was still full, he closed the lid and latched it. “I’ll take you out of there when you’re ready to change back into a person.”

She squeaked again and turned to the cheese.

“I’ll assume you thanked me,” he replied, thinking that would be better than admitting he knew she had some clever retort in mind instead.