Four days passed without incidence, and despite the number of guards placed through the castle and along the walls, Gavin insisted on being with Sandy everywhere she went. Granted, he meant well. She knew he was doing it to protect her, but there were times when she missed being alone.
On the fifth day as Sandy was trying to read a book about the Havenshire forest, her gaze kept going to Gavin who watched her from the other side of the room. When she asked to come to the large sunroom so she could relax on the sofa and read, she expected him to let down his guard since no one else was there, but he remained focused on her. She even turned her back to him in hopes that he’d turn his attention to something else, but when she glanced over her shoulder, he was staring at her.
With a groan, she straightened on the sofa and slammed her book shut. “Can’t you do something else?”
“My duty is to protect you at all costs, and we know there’s a threat nearby.”
“Yes, I know that, but the threat isn’t right here in this room.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do. You had the guards search the room before we came in here.” She sighed and placed the book beside her. “Look, I understand why you’re doing this, but it’s driving me crazy. I can’t live like this.”
“Would you rather have a guard watch over you?”
Noting the hurt tone in his voice, she shook her head. “No. I just want you to do something else while you’re in this room with me. Can’t you read a book or look out the window or rest your eyes?”
“If I do that, something might happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen. We’re in a closed space. There is only one way in or out. There is nothing in here with us that we need to be concerned about.”
“But King Petros could have sent something in here that looks like it belongs here but doesn’t. My guards might be thorough but they’re only human. They could miss something. Not all threats are big or obvious.”
“What if I promise to scream at the top of my lungs if something bad happens to me? You will be able to save me in a matter of seconds.”
“But it could take a couple of seconds for you to be abducted.”
She groaned. “If you refuse to leave me alone for longer than a couple minutes so I can use the bathroom in private, will you at least stop staring at me?”
“Are you saying you’re tired of me already?”
“I’m saying I need some space, some time alone to just…be.”
“Just be?”
How could she explain this so he understood it? With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her golden hair and let it fall softly against her shoulders. “I love you. You know I do. You’re sweet and look out for what’s best for me. You accept everything about me, too. But sometimes it helps if I can enjoy some time without you so that when we’re together, I appreciate you even more.”
“I see your point, but I don’t know how I can make sure you’re safe.” He paused. “What if I have a guard watch you?”
She grimaced. “I don’t like that idea either. I need to be by myself. Can’t you make sure a room is secure then let me be in it? I won’t leave without ringing for you to come and get me.”
After a long moment, he nodded. “Alright. I can do that. I think of all the rooms I trust, I suggest the bedchamber. Would you mind going there?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Grateful, she rose to her feet. “Thank you.”
“What a sad state of affairs it is when a wife is eager to get away from her husband.”
“Don’t be like that.” She walked over to him and kissed him. “We’ll appreciate each other much more after we’ve had a break from each other.”
Though he didn’t seem convinced, he led her to the door and checked the hallway before he motioned that it was safe for her to leave the room. Slipping her arm around his, she strolled down the hall, glancing around but not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She tucked the book under her other arm and kissed his cheek.
He grunted. “Oh sure. Now that I agree to get away from you, you act all loving.”
Knowing she couldn’t soothe his ego, at least for the moment, she turned her attention to the staircase as they headed up the steps. She would make it up to him later. She’d tell him how much she wanted him to make love to her. He liked it when she admitted it, and it was true so she wouldn’t have to lie.
When they reached the bedchamber, he searched the entire place. She tried not to let her impatience show, especially since he went back over a couple of areas twice. But she held her tongue and kissed him good-bye.
“I’ll be back in an hour to see how you’re doing,” he said.
“Okay.” She gave him another kiss. “I love you.”
Though he rolled his eyes, he said, “I love you, too. Make sure you lock the door.”
After he left, she shut the door and locked it. She glanced around the room and sighed with relief. It felt wonderful to be alone! She hurried to the bed and settled into a nice, comfortable spot. Opening her book, she found the place she’d left off. She didn’t get past one sentence when a black mist swirled around her. She coughed and tried to throw the book aside, but vines grew out of the book and clasped her hands. She tried to scream but the mist put her into a deep sleep.
***
Gavin paced the wall between two of his guards. He probably should be practicing with his sword, but he couldn’t concentrate. Something was bothering him, and it wasn’t even the fact that Sandy wanted to be alone. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it.
He turned to one of the guards. “Will you go to my bedchamber and ask Sandy if she’s okay?” Hopefully, she wouldn’t mind if the guard went to check on her.
The guard nodded and left his post at the wall.
Relieved, he turned his attention to the forest beyond the clearing in front of his castle. His sword was sheathed on the belt around his waist, but his fingers itched to pull it out. Something was definitely wrong. He tapped his foot impatiently and scanned the other walls, noting that the other guards were careful to keep their posts. Good. They needed all the advantage they could get.
He caught sight of a sliver of light coming from the forest just as one of his guards yelled an alarm. King Petros had made his move. Gavin turned to the guards in hearing distance and cried to attack. While his men assembled to battle King Petros’ men, Gavin hurried down the stairs leading to his bedchamber. He was no fool. King Petros had been waiting for the moment he left Sandy alone. He knew he should have stayed with her! Now King Petros had a good head start on him.
Mentally cursing himself for being so stupid, he hurried down the halls until he came to the bedchamber door. The guard he sent to check on Sandy lay in an unconscious heap on the floor. After he made sure the guard was going to be alright, he tested the doorknob. He expected it to be locked, but it wasn’t. He slowly opened the door, deciding it was best to be cautious rather than burst into the room.
A careful glance around the room assured him King Petros wasn’t there. However, Sandy also wasn’t there, though he saw the book she’d been reading. It was lying face down on the bed. He picked it up and flipped through it, surprised that all the pages were blank. He distinctly remembered there being words in it before.
Checking the cover, his jaw clenched. The book was enchanted. Somehow King Petros had slipped it into the castle. But how? On the cover, words appeared. You lose, King Blackheart. No one but him would understand the message from King Petros. He was sending Sandy back to her world, and since she was the author, there was no way she could make it back to this world on her own. She needed one of the characters to pull her in.
He hurried to his battle room to retrieve his armor. He knew better than to go against King Petros without the proper enchantment. Since King Petros had access to magic from a powerful magician, then he needed to be sure he could defend himself from it. As he reached the room, he caught sight of a mouse scurrying across the floor and realized it was following him. Pulling out his sword, he leapt toward it and pinned it against the wall.
“Who are you and what business do you have here?” he demanded.
The mouse squeaked in protest, its whiskers twitching in panic.
“Show yourself, traitor.” He removed the sword on the mouse’s body but kept it pointed at him.
The blue mist swirled around the mouse until one of Sandy’s knights emerged from it. Trembling, he knelt before Gavin. “Please don’t kill me. He made me do it. He threatened to kill everyone in Crystaline if the others and I didn’t comply.”
“Threatened how?”
“They killed the knights we told you about. It was a warning. He buried them up to their necks, cut out their tongues and left them there for the vultures to eat. Please, we have wives and children. We don’t want them to suffer the same fate. Even you, with all the things the author made you do before you abducted her hadn’t been so cruel as to give your enemies a slow and painful death. You were always quick.”
“I’m not in the killing business unless it’s absolutely necessary,” he replied and lowered his sword. “Do you know where he took the author?”
“He wants her back in her world. It was my friend’s job to place the book in the castle where she wouldn’t be able to resist reading it. Then, when you weren’t looking, it had a spell to send her to him. I was supposed to follow you and tell him what you would do. He’ll be taking her to the portal that will lead her back home.”
“Fine. Then you are to tell him I stayed here to fight. Understood?”
“Yes, my lord,” he eagerly said, bowing with relief.
“But if I find out this whole thing you’ve told me has been a ploy, then I will kill you.”
He gulped and nodded. “It’s not a ploy.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Without another word, he continued on to the battle room.
***
“Let me go, you brute!” Sandy whacked the young version of King Petros against the head once more, but his hold on the reins didn’t loosen. Had she not been bound to the saddle through a spell, she would have risked an injury and fallen off the steed. As it was, her hips on down were paralyzed. She shoved at his back and, for the heck of it, said, “Would it kill you to wear deodorant?”
“I don’t wear it because I knew it’d bother you,” he spat and waved his hand so that magic bound her hands together. “Enough. You should have come with me when I made the offer. I would have been a lot nicer if you had.”
“You do realize my plan is to kill you off if I write the second book, don’t you? Why do you think I had to get King Blackheart out of the way first? You were going to be the next villain, and every villain is supposed to die. If you send me back, I’ll still control the stories.”
“You’re so amusing. You think there’s not more than one way to thwart an author’s plans? Blackheart chose to bring you into the story. I won’t be so kind.”
“But you need Blackheart to die first, don’t you? That’s your problem.” How she wished she could whack him again! “Because you know you’ll never win a battle against him. He’s too good of a warrior for you to defeat.”
Though he didn’t answer her, the clenching of his jaw told her all she needed to know. She was right. He needed Gavin out of the way before he could proceed with his plan, whatever that plan was.
King Petros ignored her as he led the horse deeper into the forest. She hadn’t taken the time to examine her surroundings up to that point, but since she couldn’t whack her abductor anymore, she started to notice what the depths of the Havenshire forest were like. The trees towered above her, their green leaves seeming to whisper a warning that the breeze carried. The deeper they went into the forest, the darker it became. She couldn’t be sure, but she could swear that something was watching them. She glanced over her shoulder and swore she saw something scurry across the winding path. She inwardly shivered, praying that Gavin was right, that the creatures lurking in this place would protect her because she was married to him.
King Petros continued on the path, bending when they passed under large and thick tree branches. She tried to bend, but the spell he’d cast over her prevented her from doing so. At one point, she thought for sure one of the branches would hit her, but at the last moment, it pulled back, allowing her to pass unscathed. To her surprise and relief, the other branches did the same if she came in their direct path. So the forest would protect her! Perhaps things weren’t as hopeless as King Petros would have them appear. Encouraged, she called on the creatures to help her.