Potatoes flew.
I clutched the rim of the bowl. Somehow in all of the commotion, I dropped the knife. Blind and confused, I scrambled on the stone steps trying to catch my balance while my suddenly free hand swept the stone walkway for the fallen knife.
It was impossible.
Someone screamed nearby as the assailant knocked me over and fell to his knees. It was a man—a much bigger, taller man. He smelled of cinnamon and lavender. That is the oddest thought to have in a moment like this. My index finger found the bone handle of my paring knife just as I tried to roll to my feet.
Unfortunately, the person who had knocked me down made that difficult.
“Get. Off. Me. Now.” I hissed, beyond angry. “How dare you...” I started to say. And then my eyes caught the color of his cape. Royal purple.
Royal. Oh, shit.
The man groaned, and rolled his weight off my shoulder, enough so that I could sit up. “The sunlight is no friend to either of us, today, sir,” I whispered.
The man on the ground moaned, clutching his ribcage.
I didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter. I was offered no choice.
Like inconsiderate trash, I was pushed aside, as strong men pulled me away and shook me like a rag doll.
“How dare you assault the prince?”
“What kind of idiot are you, girl?”
“Did you see her?”
“She tripped him. The prince? Is he …”
Someone bound my hands, easily disarming my grip on the paring knife.
“She stabbed him!”
“Is he alive?”
“No, I di-” I started to say before someone shoved me against the apple barrels in the yard and smashed a cloth in my mouth.
Instinctively, I was mad. But survival kicked in: I was more scared and confused than angry.
What happened?
Who was that?
What kind of trouble am I in?
“Is he alive?”
“Yes. The blade missed his heart. Glanced off a rib, looks like.”
“This girl? She did this?”
Another voice answered. “We will have to cover our tracks and hers. Take her. We only get paid if there are no witnesses.”
I had only a moment to glance behind me to where Corinne huddled, frightened. Our eyes met.
I moved my head sideways, once. NO.
Corinne’s shoulders sagged as I, Briar Rose Berwyn, insignificant kitchen assistant was kidnapped. I glared at the masked men as they bundled the wounded prince under a thick, black cloak. Then, two men clad in expensive leather and silver grabbed me roughly. One of them threw me on the back of a nervous horse. I lost my breath when I landed sideways across the saddle.
The horses whinnied, then burst into a gallop and then a flat-out run. Just like that, I was lost to the civilized world.
It was all I could manage to just keep breathing as the horse moved under my body. Falling off its back at that speed would mean terrible injury. I cursed the cruel hands of Fate. Only the gag in my mouth stopped the men from hearing each exquisite word, worthy of the most depraved sailor.
Chapter Two
Runaway
One of the brute men paid attention to me, but only barely.
When they stopped riding, every able man turned his concern towards the injured prince. That was the priority. Which made sense.. How else would they get paid?
I was an afterthought, an inconvenience. After they set up a campfire, the man with the sandy brown hair--he undid the ropes around my feet and hands and helped me stand.
He even had the decency to look ashamed.
I didn’t really worry about the prince living or dying. Royalty had a way of dancing on the edge of death and always surviving, by magic, by might, or by scheming money.
Corinne… I could only think of my little sister. Alone now, for the first time in her life, at the mercy of Groton and the pile of never-ending dishes. What will she do without me? Is she safe? How far have we travelled? How fast can I get back there?
How much time do I have?
I felt that raw panic building in the back of my throat. None of my kidnappers cared, certainly not about a little girl abandoned at The Three Golden Balls Inn and Establishment. Groton, though—I knew he would take advantage of my protective absence.
Then, whatever he chose to do then to my little sister would be impossible to stop. So many regrettable futures swirled in the chaos. I felt sick. I didn’t worry about my own life. That ship had sailed. But Corinne...
Furious, worried, defiant, I could do nothing but fume.
Finally, someone pulled down the cloth that gagged my mouth. “Looks like she’s come round. Bit feisty, this one.”
Feisty? Feisty? I wanted to scream in his laughing face. Instead, I aimed my work shoes at his shin and kicked him as hard as I could.
I had no voice, no water, and no value. More important that all that, a little girl needed me. I’ll fight the mountains themselves to save you, baby. Starting with these idiots...
As he howled in pain and clutched his leg, I headbutted him, throwing my forehead into his chin. His howl cut short. Bigger than omelettes, his eyes opened wide and then rolled up as the man fell to the road’s stone pavement.
“What the hell?” Someone yelled.
I couldn’t have cared less. As soon as I got my legs under my weight, I lunged for the horses, determined to save Corinne from whatever horrible thing Groton would surely do.
Strong arms tripped my feet just as I reached the nearest horse.
Stumbling, I fell to my knees.
Unkind hands grabbed my shoulders and forced me back to the rough campsite, surrounding me with the company of snarling men. Smiling, laughing, or cursing my attempt to flee, all of them could have killed me without a second thought. These were tall, muscled, trained warriors. And the prince who sat in their midst, he was no different—a giant among poor men. Good food and sunshine made a lion out of the prince.
He wasn’t laughing.
As I was pushed to the ground in front of him, I looked at the dirt. Frankly, I waited for the fist. For the punishment I had earned. Violence was everything I expected. Each time my father had hit me or my mother, I had learned that lesson.
He will punish me. And then… I will run away. I will find a way to be free. I will be there for my Corinne. I will.
I swore a solemn vow to the scuffed-up dirt, fallen leaves, and scattered stone that filled my vision.
No one touched me.
No one said anything.
My anger rose. “Well?” I finally demanded, blurting my defiance.
“Pardon?” the seated man responded, his baritone voice clipped. “What did you say?”
“You,” I spoke slowly as I raised my eyes to meet his stare. “You have kidnapped me. I demand my freedom immediately!”
His warm, brown eyes narrowed as he considered my rudeness.
“Let me go. At once.” I demanded again. “If you don’t listen to me, horrible things will happen…”
“You are not alone in the wilderness, woman. You can make a request. You have options. But you are not going back to that hovel of a tick-infested inn. We aren’t going back, not for some time. Your lack of gratitude is astounding, all the same.”
“I must,” I replied. “Things have been left…”
The prince cut me off, waving his hand, dismissing my concern. “Right now, what I need to do is get these men to safety and we have a small…” His explanation trailed off as the prince decided what I could know.
“We must retrieve a stolen item,” he finished his explanation with a wholly unsatisfied look on his face. There was clearly more to the story. He didn’t bother to explain it to me.
Obviously, I wasn't part of that adventure.