Trapped

I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. His body was so heavy on top of mine that I couldn’t move at all. His hot breath on my neck made my toes curl. I wriggled as much as I could to try and escape, but if anything, my struggling seemed to excite him.

“Leave me alone!” I hissed. “I’ll tell everyone the truth about the monster you are.”

Luca laughed. “The people think the queen is dead. No one knows you are here. Even the guards don’t know who you are. I have to say your boyfriend did a remarkable spell on you. I barely recognize you. I assume that’s your boyfriend down in the basement and the other one is...Daniel?”

“People will find out!”

Luca glared at me, his face a picture of ugliness. It was so strange how I ever thought him attractive. Yes, he was good-looking on the outside, but looking past that pretty exterior, all I could see was the monster within.

“Don’t think for a second I’m going to let you go,” he rasped. “I’m going to have my fun with you, and when I get bored, I’m going to kill you. Most of Silverwood believe you are dead anyway. I wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”

He moved his leering lips towards me. I’d kissed him so many times; and yet, this wasn’t a kiss, it was an act of power, and he was winning.

I tried moving my head to the side to escape, but he kissed my neck instead, making me want to throw up. He was rough, and I had to bite my lip to stop from crying out again as he hurt me. I could feel a bruise already appearing on my neck as he sucked down hard.

I had never felt so completely helpless or alone.

Suddenly I heard a kerfuffle outside. Someone was shouting although I couldn’t make out what they were saying through the closed window. Luca heard it too because he jumped off me and raced to the window.

“It looks like your boyfriend has gotten himself into some trouble,” Luca jeered as he looked out from behind the curtain.

Cynder!

I hesitated, torn between running through the door for my life or seeing what was happening outside to Cynder.

Something told me I’d not get very far if I tried to make a run for it. I’d seen a guard right outside the door as Luca had dragged me through it. I pulled myself from the bed and walked silently over to Luca. Peering out of the window from behind him, I could see Cynder on a horse. Sitting directly behind him was Jenny.

Another horse came into view with Daniel and a man I didn’t recognize sitting on it who could only have been Daniel’s father. A third horse held Dean.

I jumped up and down silently. They had escaped!

Why weren’t they leaving?

Policemen or guards rushed out of the house. Cynder danced around them on the horse as Dean and Daniel’s horses headed for the exit. There was more shouting, but Cynder didn’t turn to follow them.

Cynder was hopelessly outnumbered. The guards crowded around the frightened horse, trying to pull Cynder and Jenny off. One of the guards grabbed Jenny’s leg and almost pulled her to the ground, but as I watched she swung her arm around and landed a right hook to his face. I clapped my hands together as Cynder grabbed the back of her dress—the same one she’d been wearing at the wedding days earlier—and pulled her back up onto the horse.

“It looks like your boyfriend is staying for you,” Luca leered. “He won’t get away.”

As I watched, the throng around Cynder’s horse got deeper. There were too many guards now. He’d never get through them. As I watched, Daniel’s horse sailed through the air over the fence to the outside. Seconds later, Dean’s horse followed. Both shouted over to Cynder to follow, but it was apparent he’d waited until too late. There were too many guards

Daniel brought out his wand, and a flash of light hit the guards at the very back. They crumpled to the ground, but it wasn’t enough.

“Come on, Daniel!” I whispered under my breath urging him to do more of the same.

Luca, on seeing what Daniel was doing, opened the window and shouted down to his guards.

“Shoot him!”

“Run, Cynder!” I shouted from behind him, causing Luca to slap me hard across the face. As I fell backwards, I heard the sound of gunshots ring out. My head hit the floor, and within seconds, everything had gone black.

Hours later I woke up with a banging headache and a dry throat. The room was dark, but I could see enough to know I was still in the same place I’d been hours earlier, only now I was tied to the bed. My clothes were still intact. Luca must have left just after the shooting. At least, that was something. I breathed slightly easier until it all came flooding back to me. The horses, the guards, the gunshots!

“Cynder!” I cried, sitting up in bed quickly as far as my restraints would allow. I was bound to each corner by four short ropes and moving was nearly impossible.

As Luca had closed the curtains, I couldn’t see out of the window at all except for a sliver of moonlight telling me night had fallen. I must have been out for quite some time.

Resting my head back on the pillow, I thought of Cynder and Jenny. Why hadn’t he just gone like the others had? Had Luca been right, and he’d stayed for me? If he had, he’d put both his and Jenny’s life on the line. If either of them had been injured or worse, I’d never forgive myself.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There was nothing to say Cynder had been shot. Just because I’d heard shots being fired didn’t mean they had hit their mark. I could feel the tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes, but I didn’t have time for a bout of self-pity. I needed to figure out a way to escape. I needed to find out if Cynder was ok. Pulling my right hand roughly towards me, I tried wiggling it free from its restraint, but it was no use. The harder I pulled, the tighter the rope became. Red welts appeared on my wrist as I pulled against the rough rope, and yet, I carried on trying, desperate to get out of the room to find out if Cynder and Jenny had made it.

I’d been working on it for over an hour and getting nowhere when the door opened. The blonde woman I’d seen whispering to Luca earlier walked in with a tray of food. She flicked on the light switch and threw the tray at me, sending the contents all over the bed.

“The king told me to bring you this,” she spat, before turning on her heels and leaving me alone once again.

The king? That’s what he was calling himself now?

“Well, good luck!” I whispered to myself. Being king hadn’t turned out so great for my father. With any luck, Luca would go the same way.

As the food was scattered all over the bed, it took a great deal of effort to gather it all up so I could eat it. Thankfully, it was all dry food such as sandwiches and cookies and not a bowl of steaming hot goulash. Even the drink was in a carton, although as the ropes were too short to bring my hands together, I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to open it.

I wasn’t in the least bit hungry despite not eating anything since breakfast. Every mouthful went down slowly, nearly making me choke, but I ate anyway. I would need my strength if I was ever going to get out of this place.

I ended up giving up on the juice box, so I threw it to one side in frustration.

The blonde came back in pulling a trolley with a TV on it which she plugged into a socket on the wall opposite my bed. The screen glared to life.

“The king wants you to watch this,” she said. Once again, she turned without another word.

“Excuse me,” I said before she had the chance to close the door behind her. “Please, would you open the juice?”

“Do it yourself,” she sniffed and slammed the door shut. I guessed she wasn’t my biggest fan at the moment.

I also guessed I was going to go thirsty unless I figured out how to open the juice box.

I picked it up again and tried working the straw into the top of the packet with just one hand.

An advert for ice cream finished, and Frederick Pittser’s face appeared, filling the screen.

At the bottom were the words Breaking News.

Whatever this was, if Luca wanted me to see it, it wouldn’t be good. I held my breath, waiting for Pittser to confirm my worst fear, that Cynder was dead.

Pittser’s face was actually somber as he spoke. It made a change from his usually smug expression.

“It is with deepest sorrow that I bring this announcement to you, the people of Silverwood today,” he began. “Officials have confirmed that the Queen, Her Majesty Charmaine has been killed by her kidnappers.”

I dropped the juice box letting the contents spill out on the blanket.

A picture of four men appeared behind Pittser. Actually, it was only two men, but no one would know. It was Daniel and Cynder. The other two were drawings of Daniel and Cynder in their disguise.

“No!” I shouted out at the screen, but there was no one to hear me.

Pittser continued, “Reliable sources tell us that these men are the kidnappers. You might recognize the one on the left as Cynder York. It was I that broke the news earlier on in the year that Cynder and the queen were having an affair which resulted in another round of competition for the queen’s hand in marriage. Despite their sordid affair, her majesty picked Prince Luca. It looks like this was too much for Cynder who kidnapped the queen and her family and destroyed our great palace. It has also been made known to us that along with his accomplices; he has killed the Queen Mother and the Princess Elise, leaving no heirs. Therefore, from tomorrow, Luca Tremaine is Silverwood’s new king. We’ve had no formal announcement yet on the coronation date, but we’ll let you know as soon as we find out.”

Long live the king. Long live King Luca!”