From Protector To Lady

From Protector To Lady Chapter 35

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I awoke and shot up, my left shoulder immediately screaming in protest.

"Rebecca!" I exclaimed. It took a few moments for me to gather my bearings, I was in bed in our chambers. My left shoulder was bandaged tightly and it throbbed with pain. I hissed as I remembered what had happened.

"Stanton," a soft voice spoke. It was Tess, Rebecca's mother. "You have been badly injured, you are lucky to have pulled through. You lost a lot of blood, you had best lay back down. The doctor said you should heal fine but you must rest."

"They took her, I need to find her," I exclaimed, laying down as I had become dizzy, my head swimming.

"Yes," she agreed, her eyes tired and filled with sorrow. "It has been two days, there has been no word. We do not know who took her or where they have gone."

"I don't understand," I exclaimed, my mind reeling. Who could have done this? It didn't make sense. There were dangers in being my wife, yes, but mostly as crossfire to attacks on myself. I am the Duke, I hold the title, I am the obvious target. Anything that happened to her made my dukedom no less apparent. Did they intend to kill me and fail? It still did not explain why they would take her. If they wanted to kill us, would they not have left her in the street as well? I shivered at the thought.

Just then, a shooting pain shot through my shoulder, spreading all the way down my arm.

"Stanton, please, you need to rest."

"How can I just lie here, whilst she is out there? In danger? Or worse? I cannot just sit idly," I said as I cradled my shoulder with my right arm, fingering the bandage lightly. I had not been injured in years.

"You're right. You need to find my daughter. But you cannot do that in your condition now," she chided.

"Yes. You are right. I will send for some men to begin sweeping Tarantsmo," I said, more to myself than to Tess.

"Shall I fetch your messenger?" Tess asked.

"Yes, please." I nodded. If I was forced to sit here for the time being, I would have all men available searching and questioning. I will find who is responsible for this and I will make them pay.

"I will find her, Tess."

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I spat on the feet of the man in front of me. He retaliated by kicking me in the ribs, I coughed and wheezed as I tried to catch my breath. It hurt my entire body just to try and breathe, certainly one of my ribs was broken. 

"No bloody manners. Is that really how you treat the one who's caring for you?" the man spoke.

"You," I wheezed, lightheaded, fighting against the pain that seemed to be radiating through my every limb.. "You haven't done a damn thing for me."

"And ungrateful," the man hissed as he bent down, grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back.

"Ed – leave her be, Michael wants us," I heard a second man call.

The man in front of me sneered, his scruffy, chubby face wrinkling in displeasure as he dropped my hair and got up. I had been in this cellar for at least a couple of days. I had regained consciousness what I imagine was not too long after I had been suffocated and taken from Stanton. I remember waking up and being dragged about, my hands bound together behind my back, foreign hands under my armpits, pulling me along. I pretended to be unconscious, I wanted to try and take in as much about my surroundings as possible, though the hood they initially threw over my head made that difficult. Unfortunately, they remained silent most of the walk and it was too disorienting to try and count the turns we made or which direction we went. Eventually they heaved me into the back of what I assumed was a carriage, the telltale creak of the wheels and hoof beats giving it away. We were in the carriage for a long time – half a day at least.