shock. The Huntsman she had been wary of, but Desmond? He was in no way related to any of the five enemy Kingdoms on the border! At least...they had thought he was not...
She calculated how quickly she could get help here if she just started running and screaming now. Not quickly enough. The guards won't know it's me. They might not even realize it's a human sound. It could be taken for one of the peacocks, disturbed, or some other animal. We are near enough the forest that anything could come into the yard and be killed by a dog or kill something else. If she began running and screaming, Desmond and his lackey would have plenty ot time to grab her and make off with her before help came. She knew then she was going to have to get away, get to the Palace, raise an alarm — No, that would not do — it would be her word against his. Between this moment and when she finally organized guards to come after him, the Huntsman could be back in his bed, and even if Desmond was found outside of his rooms, he could say, well, anything. He could deny he was ever at the stables, and hewould deny that he was talking to the Huntsman. He could claim that she was dreaming, sleepwalking.
She would have no way of disproving him.
No, she needed to get back into the Palace, wake Lily and tell her what she had overheard. Her best bet to catch him was through magic. All this time, they had been watching the Huntsman, not him. Now that they knew what he was up to, they should be able to catchhim at meetings with the Huntsman. At something, anyway
She froze, as she heard a growl behind her, and smelled hot, doggy breath.
'What's that?' Desmond said sharply.
She knew not to move. That growl had been deep and menacing.
'My hound seems to have found a spy, sire,' the Huntsman replied, in a growl not far removed from the dog's.
'Well that you set him to watch then,' replied the Prince, and uttered a few guttural words in a language she didn't recognize. 'Now you can call him off.'
She heard a whistle, and the dog padded away.Now! she thought, ready to run for it, and —
Couldn't move. Not a muscle. She couldn't even make a sound.
She was barely able to blink and breathe.
'Let's see what little mouse we've caught,' said Desmond, his voice full of cruel amusement. Two dark figures approached her where she was stuck, leaning against the stable wall. The light from a shuttered lantern flashed into her face, and she heard the Huntsman's swift intake of breath, and then Desmond's slow chuckle.
'Well, well, well. It looks as if you have managed to snare me my quarry after all,' Desmond said. He tore off the magical bracelet Lily would have used to find her, and threw it on the ground before uttering another handful of words. And that was all she knew....
...until she woke up.
She was not in the stables of her Palace. This place was cold, and it was dank. It smelled like wet stone. It was so dark that at first she was in a panic, thinking she was blind, and she lurched to her feet, fell, smacked her head on stone and saw stars.
That was when a shutter in a door she could not see until that moment grated open, and a light shone in on her, proving that at least she wasn't blind.
'You're awake!' It was the Huntsman, and he sounded surprised. 'His Highness told me you wouldn't be awake for half a day yet!'
'Well his Highness doesn't know everything, then, does he?' she snapped. Her head hurt. Where was she?
The Huntsman laughed. It was the sort of laugh that put cold chills up her back.
'Bold little Princess. Not that it will do you any good. Desmond is the best sorcerer in his generation. He is patient, and thorough, and you are where you cannot escape and cannot communicate with anyone or anything. Not even a mouse or a spider. Every way in which a magician can see at a distance has been eliminated.'
She gulped, the pain in her head forgotten. So that was why they had never caught the Huntsman doing anything other than what he was supposed to! Desmond...
'Your Godmother will not find you a second time, Princess. And in case someone is listening as well, somehow, you may be sure that neither of us will say where you are within your hearing. I myself have been geased against doing so.'
Her blood ran cold. It sounded as if Desmond had thought of everything.
'He is still at the Palace, of course. When your loss is discovered, he will be as horrified as anyone else.'
Of course he will.
'I, of course, will be the logical suspect. When searchers are sent out, he will come here. No one suspects him of anything. Unlike some of the others, no one will demand he take a partner.'
It was logical. There would be no reason to suspect Desmond.
'When he returns here, he will proceed to envelop you in magic. He has specialized in the kinds of magic that well, to put it simply, make it possible to control one other person. He has studied these things for years. Such spells take a great deal of time to cast, but that does not matter. He will have all the time he needs to make them work on you as there is very little chance that anyone will discover this place. If they do, there would be no reason to think you are here. If you are sought here, this cell is well hidden. His Highness will have sufficient time to wrap your mind in so many, many spells that not even the urge to eat and sleep will be your own. Then, when you are completely his thrall, he will 'rescue' you.' The Huntsman laughed again. 'Perhaps he will put you to sleep, and wake you with a kiss. You will be overjoyed to be with him by then, and he will reveal to your people that he is the answer to your problem, that his magic can control the enemies of this land and set them against each other instead of Eltaria. You will adore him, and be overjoyed to wed him. Who knows, you might even actually feel those things. You will probably be very next to an imbecile when he gets done draining you of magic, but that won't matter.'
