A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Charlotte had not slept a wink the night before. She had spent hours trying to pick the lock on her door only to fail and then she called for Niffty or Vagatha but Desdemona did everything in her power to keep them away from her. There was something rotten happening in this castle and she knew her stepmother was the source of it. Problem was, she didn't know exactly all the details nor did she have any proof of such. Still she couldn't just stay in her room and do nothing.

"Oh Eli, what am I going to do?" She asked her cat. "My kingdom is slowly falling to ruin, somehing terrible has befallen my father, and I can't do anything about it because I'm trapped in my own room."

Eli could say no words to console his mistress. He could only climb up into her lap and nuzzle her. 

"They have to let me out of here sometime." She thought. "And when they do, I'm getting out of here. I'm not sure where I'll go or what I'll do but I know that I have to leave here if I ever hope to find out what happened to my father and help my people."

Suddenly Eli's ears perked up and he became perfectly still. He always did this when he sensed someone was coming. Charlotte quickly got up from the bed, grabbed a book, and stood by the door. If it was a guard, she'd knock him out once he opened the door and flee. 

Knock-knock!

"Who is it?" Charlotte said lowering her book.

"Is this the bed chamber of Princess Charlotte?" The voice on the other said asked quietly.

"Who wishes to know?"

"I am a soldier who served in King Percival's army. I heard that he was declared killed in battle last night but I know for certain that's not true."

"How do you know?"

"I am from this kingdom and I was traveling home with him but then...We were attacked."

"Attacked? By whom? Was my father killed? Where is he?"

"I do not believe that it would be safe to answer these questions here. The queen has spies everywhere. It would be best if we discussed this somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Meet me outside the castle gates and make sure no one sees you leave."

A little voice in Charlotte's head told her that it wouldn't be a good idea to go meet this man alone. She didn't know why, she hadn't even seen his face yet, but her gutt feeling advised her not to trust whoever this man was. On the other hand, she was desperate to know what had become of her father. She convinced herself that she couldn't do another thing until she knew if her father truly was dead.

"Very well." She said. "I'll meet you there."

Charlotte changed into a clean frock and slipped on the white cloak Dolores had given her. Without making a sound, she crept out of her room and headed down the stairway. She continued through several hallways, out the front castle doors, and finally outside the castle gates where a man waited for her. When she saw him, her gutt feeling grew stronger. 

"What do you know about my father?" She asked him.

"I'm afraid I can't answer your questions here. There could still be spies. We'll converse in the forest."

"I'm not sure if that would be wise." She said. "I do not mean to offend you, but I do not know you and I do not feel that it would be safe to go into the forest alone with you."

"Your highness, you're not implying that I would actually do you harm? I am a loyal soldier of your father after all. To harm you would be treason and I am far too loyal to the king to even consider such an unforgivable act."

"That maybe true but I would feel more comfortable if we just talked here. Surely you can understand that?"

"I can but I can't risk anyone overhearing our conversation. If the queen knew of this, it might cost me my head."

"In that case let's meet again at another time. Perhaps, when I have a loyal escort with me? You must understand, at this time I can't really trust strangers."

At first he didn't answer. He just sighed in frustration and then grinned.

"You're not as dumb as she made you out to be. I respect that." He said.  "But unfortunately that means I'll have to do this the hard way."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly the man seized hold of Charlotte by her arms. She tried to scream but he covered her mouth, gripping her jaw so tightly that she could only muffle. He then proceeded to drag her off into the forest. Luckily though, Eli who had been resting on the ledge of her window, saw the whole thing. He quickly jumped from the ledge and landed on a naerb tree branch. Climbing down, he quickly ran to help his mistress but by the time he reached land Charlotte and the man who had taken her was long gone. 

Now Eli was a very smart cat. Smart enough to know the next best thing he could do, was get help. He quickly sniffed the air for the scent of someone he knew to be a trusted ally of Charlotte. He picked up just the right scent coming from the royal stables. He followed that scent and there sat Alastor, still waiting.

"Where is that woman?" He wondered. "It isn't like Charlotte to be this late."

Eli darted for Alastor and bit into his jacket, tugging on it.

"Hey what's this?" He turned around when he felt the tug. "Eli? What are you doing here? You're not an outside cat. I better bring you back to Charlotte before you get yourself lost."

He picked up Eli but the cat just gave him a small bite on the hand, causing him to drop Eli who returned to pulling on his jacket.

"Stop that! What's the matter with you?"

One more pull caused Charlotte's handkerchief to fall from his pocket. Eli recognized the smell instantly and grabbed the handkerchief with his mouth, running from the stables and toward the castle gates. Alastor chased him until he stopped by a set of tracks that had been left in the dirt. Alastor studied the tracks carefully, he could tell that they were made by someone taking a person by force. 

Eli then dropped the handkerchief over the tracks which was all Alastor needed to understand what happened. Charlotte was taken. The fear and worry hit him instantly. Without any further hesitation, Alastor picked up Eli and placed him on his shoulder, then followed those tracks as fast as he could. 

"He better not hurt her."