Incognito

29

Tears stained the mia's face when the staccato creak resounded through the room. The mia picked her head up in a panic. She leaned back against the door she sat behind. A muffled groan echoed and alarms rang in her head. She looked around the room for a hiding spot. The high bed was bare, the wardrobe empty, open, and broken. The vanity held cosmetic bottles and a Bible opened to Ecclesiastes. The mia had made a circle around the room before another creak sounded and found not one suitable hiding place. She surrendered her search and sat beside the bed as a bookcase spun out of the wall. The mia began to silently pray as a person broke into a fit of coughs and dust snuck into the air. The mia pulled her knees to her chest in an attempt to be smaller. Particles of dust swirled through the air and drifted up the mia's lungs. She held in a cough as the big man moved to the window and opened it wide, sputtering and coughing, as he clung to the window and clutched a large bundle of cloth to his chest.

Shadows danced and enveloped Mia as he lit a candle and the bed creak in protest when he sat down with a sigh. Petrified the mia felt the tickle of a sneeze in her nose. The man put down the roll of fabric as the mia pushed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and fervently prayed this was not how she would meet her Maker.

The man coughed and rolled over on the mattress and the mia clamped a hand over her mouth. She sneezed perhaps the biggest sneeze of her life and when her eyes opened she was face to face with her father.

And Jesus help her, she screamed. She did not ever plan this was how she and her father would be reunited but she knew that screaming at the sight of the man of her nightmares would be the end of her. She scurried back and asked Jesus for forgiveness from being so afraid of her own father.

When her back hit the wardrobe she stopped. She quivered as she looked at him. He looked older than she remembered as he said, "Hello Angelica. My, have you grown."

"It has been a while," she whispered, hating the shake in her voice. She wanted to wake from this nightmare. The arm she was propped up on shook so hard she collapsed onto her back. 

"Thought you were in the woods safe and sound, not at the castle during a massacre." He confidently stepped closer and a shiver shook Angelica's spine. His eyes crackled with knowledge and she knew he was hiding information. He knew she hadn't been in the woods. She prayed for boldness but her heart just pounded harder.

The bundle on the bed wiggled and rolled off the bed. She heard a thump and then Prosper cried out. The mia's heart jumped out towards her daughter.

"You stole my baby," she accused, tears blossoming in her eyes.

"You ran away from my house, for what? I thought you would be smarter than letting a man take advantage of you out of wedlock. And what happened? You have another obligation, another mouth to feed." Her father blocked her from Prosper who mewed painfully. The mia's heart broke, but her body remained in paralyzing fear. The body does not forget past pains quickly. Mia closed her eyes and wiped the anxiety from her body. Roslin had not anticipated that an upset mother was the strongest force in the world. Angelica knocked him aside and ran to her daughter, clutching the little girl to her chest. Prosper immediately quieted.

"I am not the one who ran away because of a man.  Do not confuse me with yourself." Her father's eyes blazed but she plowed ahead. "Why would you ally yourself with a slimy snake like Richard? You have money and you had a family before you chased us away."

"Yes, you are right. I had a family." His rage boiled and Roslin advanced enough that Angelica had to look up, but her gaze never flattered and she planted her feet. "My son ran like a coward when he was to be drafted. My daughter stole someone's child and fled before the authorities found out." Angelica's mouth fell open and Roslin smirked. "It does not look like you, and besides, you can't exactly hide while with child. I am a smarter man than you give me credit for. My wife, heartbroken over the loss of her eldest children ships the youngest off to a wealthy murderer then dies before the wedding under mysterious circumstances."

Angelica felt as if her last meal was going to heave up. She sank to her knees, a hand clamped over her mouth, and tears burned her cheeks. Her dear mother whom she did not even say good-bye to. Her mother died thinking Darcy and Angelica were lost to her forever.

"Obviously I was a prime suspect so I joined with Richard and his men. Decided we were going to take a stand to the murderer who wrecked our lives."

Roslin bent down and lifted Angelica's chin. "I will avenge your mother's death. He has taken everything from me and I will kill his whole family." Roslin plucked Prosper out of Angelica's motionless arms.

"Please." Angelica was not even sure what she was pleading for.

"Or maybe the baby is Holden's," her father growled. Prosper did not have the nerve to cry. "His hair, your eyes, the skin colors are not quite right."

"She is a Martin." Angelica cried out. 

Her father grins a devilish smile. "Thank you, my darling. At least Holden has not completely ruined you."

He waltzed Prosper to the window as Angelica wiped her tears and gathered her courage.

"What did the duke ever do to you?"

"He killed my cousin, stole my fiancee, drafted my son, threatened one daughter, and stole the other, and murdered my wife."

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Beth stayed close to Brooks' side as they snuck around the perimeter of the ballroom. The duke tripped behind her and Beth could not help but wonder how this was now her reality. She was following the man she loved more than life itself though a room torn apart by warring rebels. Fire licked the curtains and women shrieked and took cover as the wealthy and the bandits caught swords with one another. Somewhere in that mess her resurrected brother and Zac fought to find the princess and the king and deliver them to safety.

When Brooks paused for two dueling men to crash into the wall, Beth tugs on his tunic He leans down so she can speak into his ear. "I have to find my sister."

Brooks surges forward when there is a lapse in fighting and does not stop until they are in the stairwell. When it was quiet enough that Beth could hear herself think she stopped him again. "I have not seen my sister or my niece in a year and while we happen to be in the same building, I intend to see them."

Brooks looked over his shoulder before pulling her into the shadows. "I thought you believed your sister was dead."

The duke followed them at a polite distance as they stole through a hallways and upstairs.

"I did. But, darling, she's alive and I do not want to waste another second without her."

Brooks opened a door and sighed. "I know how much you miss your sister, but I can't lose you to heroism. Rebels are in here to kill the Holdens and I cannot risk you. If they find you they will use you as bait for me. I have to know that you are safe."

The duke stepped into Brooks' bedroom but Beth lingered.

"My father won't kill me." She protested.

"Your father is here to kill all the Holdens. Being betrothed to me makes you good as dead to any of the men running around here."

Brooks quietly pushed her through the doorway and closed the door. She heard the soft whisper of 'I love you' as it locked shut and the footfalls retreated.

Beth slumped against the door. Her brother and sister were alive and in the castle and her beau locked her away like a prized doll.

"Protecting until his last day," the duke murmured as he rubbed her shoulder. "I suppose that's why we both are as shit up as my mother's teacups."

Beth felt tears drop angrily down her face.

"He will make a great husband when he forgives you for this."

Beth turned to see the duke pull a volume from Brooks' shelves. He flipped through it before giving a distasteful click of his tongue. "I know it's one of these," he mutters as he selects a red dusty cover. There is a faint click before the bookcase begins to turn."

Beth sits agape stuttering as the duke of Averie turns to her. "It would not be a castle without secret passageways, now would it? I do sincerely hope you and Brooks are putting some into your Leeland estate."

Beth jumps up and kisses the duke's check.

"You are very welcome," he smiles as she disappears into the darkness.