There was a knock on the door ceasing the conversation between the four of us and Benjamin called out, “Come.”

The door opened and one of the footmen announced Louis. I stood to my feet as my brother walked into the room.

“Louis?”

“Dom,” he said, relieved, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“You’ve been looking for me? Why?”

“The regatta—”

“Louis, we’ve got more important things to worry about than the regatta,” I said, raking a frustrated hand through my hair and looking to the other men in the room.

Louis took a breath and tried again. “I know, which is why we need to get to the regatta.”

I turned to look at him. “What?”

“I-I know about Priscilla and the Baron, Bianca and I both know.”

I stilled and spoke very carefully. “Know what?”

“We know that she’s leaving to marry him,” Louis said, “And Bianca and I came up with a plan—”

“Oh, God, what did you do?”

“Nothing, nothing bad. We just thought that if you spent some time with Priscilla, alone, then you might be able to convince her to not to go.”

“Louis—”

“It was harmless,” he said, stalling my growl, “You were just meant to sail with her today. Bianca and I were going to make sure that you ended up in the same boat only now…”

“Now, what?”

“Well, I can’t find Bianca.”

“Could she not have already gone down to the docks?” Freddie asked coming over to stand beside me.

“We planned to go down to the docks together, but when she didn’t show up, I went down to see if I could find her, but she wasn’t there and…”

“What did you do?” I growled this time, I couldn’t help it.

“I didn’t do anything! It’s just that Bianca was supposed to get rid of the Baron for the day so that he wouldn’t interrupt, but he was there.”

“Where?” Benjamin interjected.

“At the docks, talking to Priscilla. He-ah-he got into the boat with her.”

“Dammit!” Dread churned in my gut as I paced around the conference table.

“I’m concerned about Bianca,” Louis said, “He must have done something to her.”

“There’s no proof that he’s violent,” Benjamin said in a calm voice, “But maybe we should check his suite to see if he perhaps locked her in there to keep her out of the way.”

“Locked her up? Why would he do that?” I couldn’t believe that such a thing would happen in the Palace, but Benjamin shrugged.

“He may not have, but I’d feel better if we checked it out. At least we know where the Baron is at the moment and he’s not going to go very far on the lake. I would feel better knowing where Bianca is and knowing that she is safe.”

We followed Benjamin out of the security briefing room and through the Palace until we came to the Baron’s suite. Benjamin knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Using his Master Key, he opened the door and we all trooped in. The room was empty and nothing seemed out of place. There were no signs of a struggle or that anything nefarious had happened.

Oh my head hurt. I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain but it didn’t help. I cracked one eyelid open to try to scan my surroundings, but all was dark. Wherever I was it was cramped and uncomfortable and smelled of really bad foot odour. I shifted uncomfortably and pulled a shoe out from under me, confirming my thoughts that I was in a closet. But whose closet? I couldn’t remember how I got here or why I would even be in a closet or why my head hurt so much.

I felt around the confines of the closet until I located the door and pushed, trying valiantly to open the door, but it was locked or something had been pushed up against the doors because, when was there ever a lock on a closet door? I kicked at it ineffectually with my foot and groaned in frustration. I tried to sit up straighter, pushing clothes and shoes out of my way until I could stand. From my now upright position, I tried pushing at the doors again, putting my weight behind it. The doors rattled and I heard a thump from the other side, but they remained stubbornly closed.

That was when the panic set in. I had never been afraid of enclosed spaces before, but I had never been locked in a closet before either. I couldn’t even remember who’d put me in here so I had no idea if they would even be back to let me out and if I didn’t know where I was, how would anyone know to look for me here? I felt the small space constrict further around me and it became hard to breathe as I imagined that with every breath I was hastening my own demise. Was the closet air-tight? Would I run out of oxygen before someone found me?

I started banging on the doors, yelling for all I was worth. It couldn’t end like this, I couldn’t die here all alone in a locked wardrobe. A sob tore from my throat and I banged my bruised fists against the door with more fervour. My breaths were more ragged and if it hadn’t been so dark, I would’ve been sure that my vision was dimming as the lack of oxygen began to effect me.

Just when I thought it all over and my life coming to an end, I heard my name called.

“Bianca!”

“In here!” I yelled back desperately. Was that Louis’ voice I heard?

“Bianca, is that you?”

“Yes! Yes! It’s me, I’m locked in the wardrobe!”

“Hang on, sweetheart,” Louis called back to me with a grunt, “I’ll get you out of there.” I heard a tremendous crash and then the door swung open, the bright light blinding me.

“Oh, Bianca darling, I was so worried.”

Louis wrapped me in his warm arms and I clung to him.

“Are you hurt?”

I didn’t recognise the voice, but he spoke with authority.

“I-a-my head,” I managed to say.

Louis stepped back and looked me over. “Oh, God, what did he do to you?’ He cupped my jaw and brushed his fingertips across my brow. I winced as he touched a sore spot and he mumbled his apologies, kissing my cheek.

“Take her to the infirmary,” the voice said, “And we’ll head down to the regatta.”

“Oh, the regatta,” I said, my fuzzy head clearing, “Piérre, oh no, Piérre did this to me!”

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Louis said, stroking my hair, “Dom will take care of it.”

I relaxed against him and let him guide me out of the room. I trusted Dom and whoever else he had with him to look after Priscilla. They had to, there was no telling what Piérre would do to Priscilla.

I could still get out of this, I had to believe that. Surely Piérre couldn’t want all his misdeeds exposed to the world and if my father was charged with slavery or whatever the charge was for selling his child, then wouldn’t Piérre be just as culpable for accepting it? No matter that it was his father’s signature on the contract, if he was the one accepting the goods, then he was just as much in the wrong. His threats were just as empty as mine and I was only just realising it. Something of my understanding must have flashed across my face because he narrowed his eyes at me.

“Have you come to your senses, then Katerina? Are you willing to curb your rebellious attitude and submit to me?”

I snorted. “Hardly,” I said, standing up to face him. The boat rocked underneath my feet, but I stood my ground, bracing against the gentle rolling. “I just realised that you have no hold over me, Piérre.”

He scoffed. “I doubt very much that you are prepared to see your father go to prison.”

“But here’s the thing,” I said, gaining confidence, “If my father is to go to prison, then so will you.”

His eyes widened at the implication. “How? I had nothing to do with the deal my father and yours struck. I am an innocent bystander as much as you are.”

“Now, that’s not exactly true, is it? You may not have had anything to do with the original contract, but I do believe that the dowry you’ve demanded from my father is a more recent addition, prompted, no doubt, by your increasing debts. Besides, if you force this agreement on me, aren’t you just as complicit in the miscarriage of justice? You are, after all, accepting me in exchange for payment of a debt. I don’t think the authorities would look too favourably on you for that.”

I watched as the realisation of our stalemate washed over him. Joy welled up in me knowing that I had a way out of this without marrying him and without shaming my family. I could walk away and there was nothing he could do about it.

Pain exploded across my cheek as he back handed me and I barely kept from falling out of the boat. I dropped to my knees and cradled my cheek with my hand, looking up at him with a murderous gaze.

“Does that make you feel like a real man?” I spat at him. “Does hitting a woman make you feel strong?”

“It’s the least of what you deserve you ungrateful cow. I should turn you black and blue for your insolence. You think that anyone would believe your word against mine? Who is going to believe that you only married me because of some contract that your father and mine signed?”

“But that’s just it, I’m not going to marry you,” I said, slowly getting to my feet. “I have no intention of ever being in the same room with you again after today.”

He stepped forward and grabbed me by the throat. He was too quick for me to get out of the way and I gasped as he squeezed. I scratched and fought against his hands, drawing blood, but he wouldn’t let go. I was fast losing the ability to breathe and my eyes became fuzzy. With a last effort, I kicked at his knee, putting as much of my waning strength behind the kick as I could. He let go of my throat as he dropped with a yelp of pain. I bent at the waist and dragged in deep lungfuls of air, my throat burning from where he had been crushing my windpipe.

I didn’t see the next blow coming. He swung at me from where he lay in the boat, his fist landing in my stomach, causing me to fall forward even more than I was and then he followed up with another punch to my face, knocking me back. I stumbled and the boat rocked precariously and then I couldn’t stop myself as I fell, my head hitting the side of the boat as I went overboard. My last thought was of how cold the water was before I blacked out.

“There,” I said pointing the boat drifting a fair way from the shore.

I could see two figures standing against each other and by the body language, they looked to be fighting. I couldn’t make out their faces, but I had no doubt that it was Priscilla and the Baron. I didn’t wait for anyone to give me directions and ran down the dock, jumping into a sailing dinghy moored at the end of the pier. I untied the lines and pushed off, raising the sail and praying for the wind to fill it so that I could get out to Priscilla before something happened.

“Dom! Wait!”

I didn’t stop, I didn’t even look back to see who was shouting to me. I had to get to her, I had an awful feeling that something was going to happen and I needed to get to her, to save her. I didn’t think I could survive losing another woman I loved, especially not like this, not out here on the water.

The lines clanked against the mast as the sheet filled and I set a course directly for the other sailboat. I swore under my breath as I saw him hit her and prayed to any god who would hear me to help get me out there faster. I could hear them yelling now, although I couldn’t make out the words and then saw him grab her around the throat and if I thought I could get there faster by swimming I would have jumped into the lake to get to her. As it was I was at the mercy of the wind and although it was taking me towards her, it wasn’t going fast enough.

Priscilla broke free from the strangling grip around her neck but I watched in horror as Piérre hit her again and then a second time, sending her overboard and into the lake. The sickening thud of her head hitting the hull was like a punch to my gut, ripping the breath from me.

“Priscilla!” I cried out and stood from the boat, diving into the lake after her without thinking.

The water was cold, the runoff from the snowcapped mountains keeping the lake frigid despite the warm spring days. I paid it no mind as I struck out in a powerful stroke, determined to save Priscilla, determined not to lose her the way I had lost Adélise.

Piérre had recovered from his madness and had raised the sail, running, leaving Priscilla to her fate. Anger burned through me and I wanted nothing more than to put my fist through the smug reprobate’s face, but Priscilla was my priority. We were in a lake, Piérre had no way to escape.

I came to the place where Priscilla disappeared and I looked around for her, not seeing her anywhere. I dived beneath the water, searching frantically for as long as I could hold my breath and glimpsed a flash of her red sweater as she sank. I kicked to the surface and took in a deep breath before diving back down under the water and clawing my way through the water to her. I snatched her sweater, grabbing it by the neckline and hauled her to me, kicking desperately for the surface as my lungs burned with the need for oxygen.

I broke the surface and breathed in the fresh, clean air, lifting Priscilla’s head above the water, but she didn’t open her eyes, she didn’t respond and I realised that she wasn’t breathing. Her face was pale, almost blue with cold and lack of oxygen and I felt myself begin to panic. Had I gotten here to rescue her only to be too late to save her? I refused to believe that she was gone.

Strong arms reached down and pulled us free of the water and onto the deck of a boat.

“She’s not breathing,” I gasped, fighting those who were holding me back from her. I had to do something, I had to save her.

“I’ve got her,” a burly voice said, turning her on her side and checking her airway before rolling her back to begin CPR.

I watched on, horrified, willing her to open her eyes, to take a breath, anything to show me that she was still alive. Someone wrapped a blanket around me, but it couldn’t warm the coldness seeping into my heart as I watched on, my hope failing the longer it took for her to respond.

Priscilla coughed and the man rolled her to her side where she coughed up the water that had been in her lungs. I pushed away from whoever it was that had been holding me and dropped to my knees beside her, dragging her into my arms.

“Oh God, Priscilla,” I mumbled into her hair, “I thought I’d lost you.”

Her arms snaked around me and she held onto me, although weakly, and I let relief swamp me. She was alive and she was in my arms.

“I love you,” I whispered into her hair, “I love you so much. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t survived.”

I felt her body wrack with sobs and held her closer, not willing to let go ever again.