“My lord, are you sure this is a wise idea?” Sir Handel asked later that day.
King Gavin Blackheart turned from the window in his planning room as the knight approached him. “There is no other way.”
“And how are you going to convince the priest to perform the marriage ceremony? You know Father Augustine doesn’t like to marry a woman against her will.”
“He’ll do it. If he doesn’t and her troops come to invade us, she might find the way back to her world. If that happens, she will write the story as she wants it, and he dies in that version.”
“Because you kill him.”
“I don’t want to kill him, and as long as I have her trapped here, I won’t. I have no way to stop her if she finds the portal back to her world.”
“You have an excellent point.”
“I doubt he’ll be able to argue it.” But to be on the safe side, maybe he should make it so that she didn’t protest the marriage at all when the priest arrived.
Gavin turned from the window and went to the long round table where he’d unrolled a map of the kingdoms. His gaze went to Havenshire where he ruled. The forest surrounded it from all sides, a forest that was under a spell to keep his people safe.
His gaze traveled north of the Havenshire forest to the North Ocean. Sandy’s kingdom, Crystaline, was situated on the hill with a valley to the south and mountains to the north. Her kingdom had some protection, but it was easier to get there than to get to Havenshire, which worked to his advantage.
To the east and south of Havenshire were two other kingdoms, and to the west was Reinhold, ruled by King Petros who was his very distant relative. He wasn’t sure how they were related, but it was clear that Sandy had plans for King Petros in a sequel. Whatever her plans were, Gavin was determined they’d never happen because he’d have to die in order for her to see those plans through.
“When do you want me to summon the priest?” Sir Handel asked.
“Summon him at once. I see no reason to delay the wedding.”
He bowed. “As you say, it shall be done.”
Gavin watched as Sir Handel left. The sooner he united her kingdom with his, the sooner her knights would align themselves with him. It’d been a risk to bring Sandy here to his world and try to convince her to change the course of the story. Forcing her into marriage hadn’t been his first choice, but she left him with no other option. She was going to resist it, of course, but there was little he could do about that except keep an eye on her in case she tried to escape. No. There was no “in case she tried to escape.” She would definitely try it. And when she did, he’d be ready for her.
With a determined nod, he turned back to the table and picked up the map of his castle and unrolled it. His safest bet was to place spies at different points along the wall surrounding it. He couldn’t watch everything she did, nor could he spend all his time with her to make sure she didn’t run off. He had a nagging suspicion that his decision to interfere with Sandy’s current story, which would affect the sequel she planned to write, would have unexpected ramifications. His gaze went back to the map of the different kingdoms. The question was, who wouldn’t like the turn of events and what would they do about it?
***
Sandy strolled down the corridor later that day, ever mindful of the flickering light provided by torches that did little to banish the shadows. She hated the shadows. Though she wasn’t one to get easily spooked, she quickened her pace, trying not to imagine something horrible lurking in them.
“I can outrun you,” the guard a few feet away from her warned as she turned down another corridor.
She glanced at the guard. He was so quiet, she barely remembered he was behind her. Right after breakfast, King Blackheart insisted she be guarded at all times.
“Nothing personal,” he’d told her. “I just can’t have the queen running off on me.”
Now as she thought of his ridiculous statement, she wanted nothing more than to go up to him and say if he was that concerned, he should be the one following her instead of making someone else do his dirty work.
“Where are you going?” the guard asked.
“If you follow me long enough, you’ll find out,” she muttered under her breath.
“I beg your pardon, my lady. I didn’t hear what you said.”
She groaned and stopped so she could face him. “All I’m doing is exploring my prison.”
“Prison? Do you mean you wish to see the dungeon?”
“No. I mean all of this,” she motioned to the walls. “This is my prison.” For emphasis, she added, “My dungeon.”
“That’s ridiculous. You’re going to be the queen. This is your castle.”
“That’ll be the day,” she muttered and continued striding down the corridor.
“Forgive me, my lady, but I didn’t catch what you said.”
“It’s nothing,” she called out over her shoulder and quickened her pace.
Man, if only there was a way to get rid of the guard, then she could relax. Better yet, she could figure out a way to escape. She knew what the king was doing. He was making sure she didn’t get a chance to leave the castle. And that was what made this place a prison. A prison, by definition, was a place where one couldn’t leave. She decided not to explain this to the guard. What was the use? He was a lackey who was doing what he was told.
She slowed her steps as an idea came to her. Turning to the guard, she said, “I must use the bathroom.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Bathroom?”
“Yes. The bathroom. It’s that place you go to when you need to...you know…” When he didn’t help her, she bluntly finished, “Go pee.”
“Oh! You want to go to the water-closet.”
She frowned. A water-closet? “I’ve never heard that term, so I know I didn’t write it into this story. How did you come up with it?”
“It’s what the room is called, my lady.”
“I gathered that much, but who came up with the word?”
“I don’t know. I’ve known that’s what the room is called ever since I was a boy.”
She studied him, wondering if he was baiting her, but he seemed sincere. Finally, she sighed. “Okay. Take me to the water-closet.”
He nodded and passed her. She followed him and saw that the bathroom only had a sink and toilet, but at least the toilet was one she could flush.
“I’ll give you some privacy while you attend to your needs, my lady,” the guard said then closed the door after she entered the room.
She quickly did her business then washed her hands, surprised that a castle should have running water. When she wrote the story, she hadn’t envisioned the bathrooms this way. In fact, she hadn’t envisioned any of her characters doing something as normal as going to the bathroom. They were always running off to avoid a battle or running into one. She hadn’t thought of them as real people. She had, however, had them eat and drink food.
With a shrug, she dried her hands on the cloth by the sink and ventured a look outside the window. At least there was a window in here. She stood on her tiptoes and peered down to the ground. Bummer. She’d never survive a drop like that. She was too high up in the castle. Her only other recourse was to outwait the guard. So she waited and waited and waited.
After she was sure she had waited long enough, she ventured a peek out the door and saw that the guard hadn’t budged from his spot. She grimaced. This was one man who took his job seriously!
Footsteps grew louder down the corridor, but she couldn’t see who was coming. The guard, however, straightened and bowed. “My lord.”
King Blackheart came into view. “Where is she?”
“In there, my lord.”
He glanced in the direction of the water-closet, and she knew she couldn’t stay in there any longer. She reluctantly opened the door and stepped into the corridor.
“I’ll take it from here,” the king told the guard. “You’re relieved of duty for the time being.”
She crossed her arms but waited until the guard was out of hearing distance before talking. “I’m a duty?”
King Blackheart clasped his hands behind his back and approached her. “Making sure you stay safe is his duty. You’re my challenge.”
“Challenge? That’s an interesting way to describe me.”
“Well, that is what you are. You won’t change the story so I can be the character I truly am.”
“So you’ll force me into marriage?”
“You have forced my hand to make it so. If you want out of the marriage, all you have to do is write the story the way it’s meant to be.”
“I keep telling you that it’s not meant to go the way you want it to.”
“Yes, it is. You just refuse to let your characters guide you. Why is that?”
“Because it’s my story, and whether you like it or not, I’m the one in charge.”
After a moment, he said, “As you can see, my hand is forced. You leave me with no other recourse but to bring our kingdoms together. It might be a simple matter to you if you kill me, but I refuse to let that happen.”
“Then it seems we’re at an impasse.”
“I suppose we are.”
She slowly released her breath, knowing he wouldn’t budge. “I had no idea characters could be such a pain in the butt,” she told him before she shoved past him and hurried down the hall.
“You won’t get rid of me so easily.”
She snorted.
He caught up to her. “I meant right now. We’re due for dinner in an hour, and you can’t show up wearing those clothes. Tonight, I’m making the announcement that we are to wed, and I expect you to wear a dress fitting for a queen.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I will go into your bedchamber and force you into the dress. It’s your choice, Sandy. Either you can allow your lady’s maid to do it or I’ll do it.”
“How cute. Another ultimatum. But I don’t believe you’ll be able to do the job.”
“As I said, you are a challenge, but unfortunately for you, I happen to enjoy a challenge.” He took her hand and turned her around. “Your bedchamber is this way.”
She removed her hand from his. “I don’t want you to touch me.”
“In that case, you’ll willingly put your gown on?”
Crossing her arms, she debated her options. King Blackheart had a lot of nerve abducting her, bringing her into the realm of her story, and demanding he either change her story or force her to marry him. And now she was expected to wear clothes to please him?
As if he could read her thoughts, he stepped closer to her. “My people won’t treat you like a queen if you don’t dress like one.”
Despite her discomfort from having him so close to her, she refused to back away. Doing so would only let him know she had a weakness, and she’d written him to be someone who would exploit any weakness he detected. “When my knights come for me, I will let them know you forced me into the marriage.”
His lips curled up at the corners, as if he enjoyed her threat. “We’ll see.”
“You doubt I will?”
“Oh, I believe you fully intend to, right now.”
“But you don’t think I will,” she pressed.
“A lot can happen between now and then.” He motioned for her to join him down the corridor. “Are you coming or should I carry you?”
She almost insisted he’d have to carry her but then decided she didn’t want him to pick her up. With a heavy sigh to let him know she didn’t like this one single bit, she trudged after him. Fine. So she’d have to play by his rules, at least for the moment. She still had to investigate the castle and see how she might make her escape. If the castle had been exactly the way she envisioned it, she would be able to slip out the secret passage, but it wasn’t as she wrote it. Somehow, he had changed it, something she suspected he did on purpose in order to prevent her from leaving. But little did he realize that when she was determined to do something, she would find a way to do it, no matter what obstacles someone threw her way. Somehow, she’d escape. It was merely a matter of time.