Luc held me close to his chest and pulled me away from the door. Anxiously he looked around the room and then dragged me to the far side of the room and placed me in the corner. Taking my shoulders he looked at me and said, "Stay here and do not move."
"Why? What is happening?" I asked.
"I can hear Nico in the corridor fighting." Luc said.
"What?" I replied, straining my ears to hear something.
Suddenly there was a loud bang and the doors at the other side of the room flew open. Nico stepped into the room and pointed out towards the veranda, "The bastard went outside."
Luc nodded and turned back to me, "Stay here where it is safe and I will come back for you."
"You are leaving me alone?" I asked confused and frightened.
"Mia," Luc said softly catching my hand and bringing it to his lips, "I went to great costs to have this room enchanted for this evening-"
"Wait- what do you mean enchantment?" I asked.
"Enchantment- I mean magic is real Mia. Very few people know how to do it and I had to especially go into the mountains to find this crazy old witch who could place a temporary enchantment on this room. The witch made it so that only members of the royal family and their guards can enter it threshold tonight. So I promise you that when I go through that door I am not leaving you unprotected."
A million questions sprung into my mind but by the urgent look on Luc and Nico's faces I knew now was not the time for questioning.
"Okay." I murmured dryly.
Luc smiled uneasily and pressed a kiss against my knuckles, "I promise you, I will return." He said.
The light bulbs above us flickered and then the power went dead. Luc and Nico exchanged grim looks and then headed through the open doorway and out on to the veranda. I waited in the corner of the room listening to every noise and creak that echoed around the large empty bar. With the power gone the only light that lit the room was the warm amber glow of the tea lights from the function room that crept through the open door. I tried to keep out of the light, keeping to the shadows and hoping and praying that Luc would come back to me soon.
Suddenly I heard a door from within the function room open and close. Heavy footfall preceded it and then through the door way I saw the cast of a man's shadow across the function room's floor. I held my breath and hoped it was Luc but I had this sinking feeling in my gut that this was the stranger who had eluded Nico. Luc had said the room was 'enchanted' and that I would be safe even if the person was a stranger but I couldn't help feel sceptical about this 'magic' nonsense.
Quickly I glanced around the room searching for possible exits just in case this enchantment proved to be false. There was a single fire exit on the far side of the room but it had been blocked by a large armchair. Part of me thought about attempting to sneak across the room and try to escape through the exit but I realised there was no way of moving that chair without drawing attention to myself. It was too big and cumbersome to be lifted and set aside quietly.
So I remained in the dark watching the shadow of the man becoming sharper and more defined as the man drew closer. Taking a step back I moved deeper into the shadows of the room, towards a narrow long table that was draped in a thin flimsy metallic table cloth. The table was pressed up against the side of the wall and had a series of upturned glasses arranged along it.
I began to lift the corner of the table cloth when the shadow paused. I stopped to fearing the rustling of the table cloth would draw unwanted attention towards me. The shadow quivered slightly and then changed shape as the man lifted his arm up. The air inside the room began to move and swirl, and in one second a cold and unnatural wind blew violently through the room extinguishing all the lights from inside the function room.
The room was plunged into darkness and I quickly crouched and ducked underneath the table to hide. The flimsy metallic table cloth fell down behind me which helped to conceal my hiding place. I backed up against the wall and watch through the thin material as the figure of a man filled the door way.
The moon was still shining and with its silvery light I was able to spy some details of this stranger. He was the same height as Luc, but he had much longer and fairer hair than Luc. He lingered in the doorway and I prayed Luc's enchantment would work. The man seemed to stay put on the door's threshold for a few moments. I watched behind the tablecloth waiting to see if he would turn away. Silently I willed him to go away but he did not go, instead he lingered in the doorway doing nothing. I took comfort in the fact he had not entered the room and prayed that he stayed outside until Luc returned.
"Amelia?" He called out across the room.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my eyes widened with fear- how did he know my name? Oh my god, he was looking for me.
The situation turned even graver when the stranger took his first step into the room. He repeated my name and I watched his head turn as he scanned the room for me. I kept still, not even daring to breath.
"Amelia you must come to me now and-" He stopped mid-sentence and turned around to look out across the veranda.
With a frustrated groan he run out of the room and disappeared then seconds later a dozen fully armed guards appeared in the room. These guards were different from the guards I had seen with Henrietta. They moved around the room then withdrew back into the main function room.
"Did you get him?" I heard Nico's voice say.
"No," A guard replied, "We just missed him."
"What about the Princess!"
This time it was Luc's voice. He sounded upset and worried. He rushed into the bar and began frantically calling my name.
"I am under here." I said emerging from under the table.
Luc breathed a heavy sigh of relief and crossed the room pulling me into his arms, "I am so sorry Mia," he said stroking my hair, "We run into the guards after we had left you- I had no idea, I would have never of left you."
"The enchantment didn't work." I said bluntly.
"I know, it's not meant to work on guards or the royal family, and that man was my brother." Luc said.
"That was Louis?" I asked.
"No," Luc said, his voice trembling, "It was Casper- he's got out. He managed to break out of prison."