The Assassin Princess

A Foolish Kidnapping

"Yes. I came back earlier because..." Alaric's answer was quickly cut off by the assassin.

"Some mercenaries crossed the Southern border and had invites into the castle as wedding guests." Wesley finished Alaric's sentence solemnly. His tone prompted the panicked feeling in Alaric's gut to return with full force.

"So you got my notice? Good. It wasn't too late then." Alaric responded hopefully. Wesley frowned. The panic increased.

"Where is Calira? It doesn't look like she picked out any flowers." Alaric remarked as he motioned to the abandoned flowers and half put together bouquets.

"Gone. Calira....she's gone." Wesley replied somberly. Alaric froze; his panic overwhelmed him.

"What do you mean gone?" Alaric questioned as he remained rooted to his spot. The image of Calira's hollowed gaze came to the forefront of his thoughts and stayed there. The vision wouldn't go away as his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He could feel his hands trembling, but he didn't know a way to stop them.

Had his missive been too late? Why hadn't he been notified sooner? Where were the guards? Where was his father? Where was Zarek? All of these questions raced around his head as he waited for Wesley's answer.

"She went to greet wedding guests and..." Wesley started to explained.

"No." Alaric stopped Wesley before the assassin bodyguard could finish.

"Where is she?" He demanded before he could stop himself or gather his thoughts. All he could feel was panic. Wesley looked surprised before settling his features into a furious look.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here with you." He growled in anger. Alaric's jumbled, panicked thoughts stopped dead at Wesley's words.

"You...don't know where she is?" Alaric questioned as Wesley let out a noise of frustration.

"No. The wedding guests that she went to meet were mercenaries from the South. They must've overpowered her. By the time we realized something was wrong, they were gone and they took Calira with them." Wesley explained as he folded his arms across his chest. Zarek still hadn't returned from tracking the men, so Wesley still held onto the hope that the older assassin would find them and bring Calira back before any real harm befell her.

"Why weren't either of you with her?"

"We..." Wesley didn't know how to answer Alaric's question. It had been an ache in his chest from the moment they had realized Calira was missing. After all, it had been his foolish question that had led to Calira storming away.

"She got angry with us and we thought we'd give her some space," Wesley answered after a few seconds of silence. Alaric stared at him with narrowed eyes.  Wesley waited for his wrath, but it never came. Instead the King stormed past him in the direction of his father's chambers.

***

Calira kept silent as she slowly came back to her senses. Even though her eyes were open, she could only see darkness so she knew she was blindfolded. Her wrists and ankles were tightly bound. A gag was shoved between her teeth. She knew what this was: a kidnapping. She felt herself bounce up and down with every hole and rock in the road they took. She wiggled and felt around; she discovered she was in a carriage of some sort. Probably one meant for cargo since she could feel any seats. She internally cursed. She had let her guard down and suddenly she was a kidnapped princess who would no doubt be ransomed.  All of her training and she was still no better than a dainty court trollop.

She paused in her self-berating to think about the men who had ambushed her in the palace. All of the ones she went up against had a snake tattoo that was common among Southern mercenaries. They had entered the castle with legitimate documents and wedding invitations and left using secret passages since an alarm hadn't been raised.

Someone had paid a great deal of money, provided real (or extremely convincing counterfeit) documentation, and bribed palace staff like the maid to help them; all in an effort to kidnap her, the Crown Princess, while the King was gone. Calira frowned at the thought of Alaric. He would no doubt be receiving word of her kidnapping by now and thinking of ways to blame on her. A small part of her was glad that it was her and not him that their enemies had decided to abduct. Calira had been in worse situations and while she wasn't in her usual garb, her skills were no less useful. Once they reached their final destination, she could figure out an escape route and kill as many of her kidnappers as possible.

Almost as soon as this plan formed in her head, Calira felt the carriage roll to a stop and muffled voices bark out orders. She wondered if they had reached their goal or if there was something in their way. Suddenly the men's voices lowered as a higher, feminine voice took over.

"You've got her, then?"

"Yes. She killed two of my men so we had to rough her up a bit," Calira sneered at the leader's voice. They were closer to her carriage now; she figured they were standing right next to it since she could understand the words they were speaking.

"That's fine. I didn't much like her faux perfection anyways. Bring her inside. We don't want to dillydally now." It took Calira a little longer than she would've liked to admit to figure out why the woman's voice was so familiar.

                  "The bitch needs to be taught a lesson on how she shouldn't steal things that aren't hers." The woman's icy, possessive tone was all Calira needed to confirm her suspicions. One of the people conspiring against her and orchestrating a kidnapping had to be none other than one of her betrothed's mistresses: the vain Countess Veronique DuBare.