Hunting Royalty

51. Bracelets and Breakouts

I sit and my cell and count. I count the number of seconds that pass, I need to time my escape perfectly. Eight thousand four hundred and sixty three seconds later I snap into motion. This is when there is a change of guards.

I reach down to my charm bracelet and pry open the locket. I remove the alexandrite crystal and press it to the collar around my neck. I hear the fizzle of magic as the enchantments break and the alexandrite crumbles into dust.  I reach for my magic again, it's such a relief to finally have it back.

It worked.

I can't remove the collar without the key but at least now it's useless. I reach for the next charm, the privacy charm I activate it and take a few deep breaths. I pull a little extra magic out of the storage charm I have and add it to my depleted supply within me.

I cast an illusion spell that makes it seem like I am asleep on my pallet and hides any unusual activity. Now I can move about freely in my cell without the chance of the guards seeing or hearing something suspicious.

I take the two-way portal and cast it focusing on the princess suite a few floors above me. The black mist grows until it covers one wall of my cell. I wait. Now that I've cast the portal, anyone can come into my cell from the princess suite.

Kayden is the first to arrive carrying a lifeless figure in his arms. He dumps the girl onto the pallet roughly and wraps me in a tight hug lifting me off the ground. "You could have told me this was the plan," he whispers in my ear. I had Marie tell him that Sam would vote not guilty, I needed for his reaction to be real, his anger helped sell the story.

Marie come through next with a nervous looking Cassy. The cell is cramped with five people in it and nowhere to sit. "Go back to the suite, I'll send Cassy back soon," I say to Kayden and Marie.

After they leave, I dump my glass of water from dinner over the unconscious person's face. Marie kidnapped her straight after the vote.  

Eva gasps and sits up suddenly, blinking as she takes in her surroundings. She screams. Her shriek is piercing and shrill, thank goodness I have that privacy spell preventing the guards from hearing this.

I slap her to get her to shut up. "No one can hear you," I tell her as I stand over her with Cassy a step behind me, close to the portal.

Eva tugs at the restraints binding her wrists but gives up when she realizes how tightly she is bound. I know she is reaching for her magic but I smile as I see her realize she can't find any. I tap the collar around my neck, "I got you a matching necklace, since you were so kind to give me this one."

Her eyes blaze with fury, she spits at me and I feel it land on my bodice. I don't care this dress it so filthy from this cell that her spit is probably cleaning my dress instead of dirtying it.

"Bitch!" she yells as she tries to clamber to her feet with her wrists bound behind her back, she looks like an awkward turtle stuck upside-down rolling around on its shell.

"When my father hears about this-" she threatens dangerously but I cut her off.

"He will never know about this. It's only a matter of time before he is in his own cell," I remark smugly, I'm going to get all these rebels.

She takes an aggressive step towards me, I shove one hand against her chest and use my foot to sweep her legs out from under her. She falls to the filthy floor in an ungraceful heap. I nod to Cassy and she places her hands on either side of Eva's face. It will increase her connection and make it easier for her to read Eva's mind.

"What is your gift?" I ask her.

She pauses, she's trying to figure out why I want this information, "I don't know yet."

"She suspects she is going to get the gift of aura reading." Cassy informs me with her eyes closed in concentration.

Interesting, I guess she has been quite good at reading people. "Have you told anyone this?"

"No." She says smoothly.

"She told Platt and her father." Cassy corrects her.

I tilt my head to the side and consider my next line of questions. "What is your maids name?"

"Victoria."

Cassy screws up her face as she searches for the truth, "But she calls her Vicky."

I spend over an hour asking every question I can think of regarding Eva's life, she tries to lie but Cassy gets the truth for me. Once I feel confident that I know everything I need to, I tell Cassy to go back through the portal and bring back Marie after she is done, "Cassy, thank you for doing this. For you own safety Marie is going to cloud your memories of tonight." Once she is done it will seem like a dream. She leaves through the portal and I turn my attention back to Eva.

"It was supposed to be red," I tell her while we are briefly alone.

She tilts her head in a calculating motion, "What was?"

"The bleeding hearts," I respond.

Her eyes narrow, "Is that how your caught me?"

"No, I caught you because I watched you slit my throat on that balcony," I retort harshly.

"Well I wish I had cut off your head!" she hisses venomously. "I guess I can wait for the executioner to do it tomorrow," she adds with a smirk.

I smile at her, "I think I going to keep my head, I like it where it is. Yours on the other hand..."

She pales at my implication. I think she is finally starting to grasp the danger she is in. I didn't bring her here just to chat.

Marie comes back through the portal. "Kayden is taking Cassy home, she's knocked out and won't remember much in the morning," Marie explains.

"Then everything is going exactly to plan," I say as Marie walks behind Eva. In a quick and fluid motion, she covers Eva's mouth with a chloroform soaked rag. Eva struggles to resist Marie's grasp but eventually she slumps down unconscious.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" she offers rubbing my shoulder.

"No. I need to focus, wait for me upstairs," I say determinedly.

I sit cross legged on the floor in front of Eva and begin centering myself. I'm just getting ready to begin when I hear a soft footstep behind me. I turn and look at Kayden as he towers over me.

"Last meal? I heard your stomach rumbling earlier, sounded like a thunder."

He lays the plate down on the table and take a seat into the chair that magically appears in my cell. "Do I get a chair?" I ask eyeing the impressive spread that's set up for me.

"Not when you're this dirty," he plucks and my dress with two fingers and frowns in disapproval, I swat his hand away and glare at him until he summons another chair for me. I stuff my mouth with food. Oh god, I've missed this. It tastes divine. I eat every single thing on the plate and drink the entire jug of water. I'm never skipping this many meals again.

Kayden leaves with all his extra furniture and I resume my meditation. I need to cast the dual transmorphing spell on myself and Eva. If I can get it to work she will take my place tomorrow and be executed for treason. After all she is the rebel, all that stuff was hers. This is justice for her crimes.

If I can't get it to work, well I don't want to think about that option. I need this to work, my life depends on it.