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A Lure
"Where are you going?"
I didn't spare a backward glance to Franco, though I did slow my pace enough to prevent shouting our conversation across the hall. "There is something I need to do."
Taking the hint, he lowered his voice until our footsteps nearly swallowed up the sound, "You're going to see him, aren't you?" I didn't answer. He followed me up the stairs, "I'm coming with you."
My lips pressed together into a line, but I held my tongue until the door to my foyer was closed behind us. "You can't come with me," I told him, voice containing all of the weariness of the past few days.
He didn't move as I drew a violet bandana from the box it was hidden within, but I could feel his eyes following my movements. "And why not?"
I sighed, finally slowing down enough to look at him, "Because one of us needs to stay behind to protect the castle."
He huffed, but held further objections as he watched me throw open the window to secure the bandana outside. I turned to him, "I appreciate your discretion with my father, but this isn't the time to be foolish." I've done enough of that in recent months. "You will meet him, if that is what you truly wish, but it can't be today."
"Alright," he grumbled. "How long will you be gone?"
"Only an hour or two, I hope." Just long enough to find out if he knew anything about this cavern so many Blood Fangs were supposed to be gathered in. If it was as I feared, I could send a message to intercept my father before he walked into a trap. If it was as the council hoped, and the Blood Fangs had nothing sinister up their sleeves, then maybe we would steal a few more minutes to finish what we had begun the previous night before Franco interrupted us. I struggled to push the thought from my mind. "I just want to ask a few questions."
He sighed and gave a reluctant nod, "Fine, but when you get back, I would like to speak with you again."
I had no choice but to agree.
~*~
I waited at the lake much longer than the couple of hours I had told Franco. At first I paced. Then, I tried to distract from my worry by skipping rocks. Eventually, I settled myself against the trunk of the willow, head leaned back, eyes closed as if thoughts and prayer alone could bring Angelo to me.
But he never appeared.
The sky had long since darkened, the bright colors of the sunset giving way to the stars and moon, when I finally rose from my position against the base of the tree. I couldn't wait any longer, and I had realized with increasing clarity that Angelo would not be joining me.
I couldn't keep my mind from running through what his absence could mean, each possibility darker than the last. Was he in the cave my father was headed to? Was he injured? Dead? Had he decided to choose his family after all? Would I ever see him again?
I kicked at rocks along my path as I made for the hole in the curtain wall, sending them skittering over roots and leaves. I was in no real hurry to return to the castle, and no mood to be interrogated by Franco once more. I had nothing new to say, regardless.
All was quiet as I approached the wall and slipped inside. If all went well, by morning it would be bustling with guards and activity once again, but for the time being, the stillness had an eerie feel to it. Halfway to the enchanted garden, I noticed the sound of twigs snapping somewhere to the left, as if being broken by clumsy footsteps.
I sped up my pace, realizing that whoever was out there was drawing nearer. When they were almost upon me, I stopped fleeing and turned to face them, body taking on a defensive stance. It was only a few moments longer before a figure finally emerged from the trees.
"Giuliana," Angelo breathed as his eyes found me, but it wasn't his use of my real name that gave me pause, nor was it the fact that he was once again within the walls of the castle. Dark bruises were just beginning to fade from his cheek and one of his eyes was swollen half-shut. A spot of blood still clung just below his lip from a wound that had long-since healed. He cupped my face in his hands, smiling in relief, though there was a barely contained wildness gleaming in his eyes that seemed to warn that something was very wrong. "Thank The Goddess I found you."
"What happened to you?" My voice was no more than a whisper.
He winced, dropping his hands to take hold of mine. He turned and began dragging me behind him back to the wall I had just passed through. "My father figured out that I've been helping you. He outsmarted me, he–" He cut his words short. When he spoke again, his tone had a more determined edge to it, "He set a trap and we've all stumbled into it, I barely got away. I came straight here."
"A trap?" I repeated, my mind racing with the echoes of all of my worries from earlier in the day. "So my father is walking into an ambush?"
He shook his head, pace not slowing for a second, "He's not, you are."
I dug my heels into the ground, forcing him to stop moving. "What are you talking about?"
He didn't look at me, his eyes instead flitting from shadow to shadow between the trees, though his grip on my hand was near crushing. "He lured your father away on purpose. He used the echoes of the cavern to amplify the voices of his men. Only a few will be there when your father arrives, willing sacrifices to a higher cause. The rest will storm the castle tonight while it is left vulnerable, they plan to scale the wall. They are likely already here."
I didn't even take the time to respond before I was tearing my hands from his grip to run back the way we had come. "Giuliana!" He called out after me. "Wait!"
"I can't just run away while my home is invaded," I told him over my shoulder, not slowing down. "The castle was entrusted to me, I intend to do my best to defend it."
"They'll kill you!"
"Then that will be my fate."
He caught up to me then, taking hold of my hand again to pull me a stop, "You told me once that you don't believe in fate." He cupped my face once more. "There's no shame in wanting to live."
"But there is shame in abandoning my mother and brother to be murdered."
He let out a deep breath. "Don't do this, please. Don't throw your life away." He brought his forehead down against mine, "Come away with me. Live with me."
I tilted my head up until our lips met, just the lightest brushing before I paced my hands atop his and pulled away. "I can't do that, Angelo. I'm sorry." I pressed a gentle kiss against each of his palms, then released them. "You deserved to be happy. You deserved so much more than I ever could have given you."
With those final words, I turned to resume my journey to the castle, but he kept close behind. "No, this can't be goodbye, this can't be the end for us. If you are going to stay and face them, then so am I."
My steps slowed, despite my urgency. I had to see his face as I asked, "You will fight your own people for me?"
He nodded solemnly, "I will fight and I will die for you, if that is my own fate."
I turned before he could see the affect his words had on me, speaking through the tightening in my throat. "Then let us both pray that it isn't in our fates tonight."
I turned back to the castle, mind racing. They could already be here. But there was no sound of alarm from the remaining guards, no hint that anything was amiss. "Angelo, I have to ask you to do me a favor," I began, "and you are not going to like it."
He grunted, keeping pace with my quick steps.
As we neared the enchanted garden, I slowed to a stop and turned to him, "I need you to go to the guardhouse, if they aren't all dead already, and warn them to sound the alarm."
He shook his head, "I'm not leaving you to face them alone."
"You have to," I insisted, tears springing unbidden to my eyes as we wasted precious time on arguments. "The guards need to be warned, and I need to find my mother. We can't manage them both together, but if we split up, we can."
He hesitated, but after another agonizing moment, he gave a reluctant nod. "Where do I find it?" His voice was heavy with restrained emotion.
My breath of relief was instant, "It's just to the left of the main gate. Stick to the tree line, and don't be seen. When you get there tell them that I've sent you, tell them that they must sound the alarm at once."
"What if they don't believe me?"
I reached up to remove the diamonds hanging from my ears. "Here," I told him, placing them in his hand. "If they need proof that I sent you, give them those. A tiara or a brooch would have been better, but those are worth enough to at least give them pause to consider your words."
He nodded again, but made no move to leave.
I took his face in my hands to bring him close to me. "This isn't goodbye," I breathed, swallowing the lump that had risen in my throat. "You always find your way back to me." I pressed my lips to his one last time, a fleeting kiss that was over all-too-soon.
I didn't allow myself to linger with him any longer. I forced my legs to turn and carry me away.
I couldn't bring myself to look back one last time, not sure which would be worse: to find he had already disappeared into the darkness of the woods, or to find him still standing there watching me march to face my fate.
~*~*~
Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!
Only about 7-8 more chapters left on NMF. As we draw nearer to the end, the chapters are going to be filled with a lot more action (and maybe a touch of gore, fair warning). I have some very exciting news for you all in a few weeks that I am just dying to share, so stay tuned!