Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Edouard took up the other side of the unconscious driver and each man draped an arm over their shoulders. They hefted the driver to his feet and proceeded to drag him toward the barn.

I moved to follow, but a tingling in the back of my mind told me to stop. My attention turned to the forest proper and its mist-infested depths. The fog glided about like the remnants of a ghost but kept itself neatly in the bounds of the undergrowth. I leaned toward the brush and squinted, but nothing could be seen. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was hiding there staring at me.

"Miss Lucas?"

I jumped a mile in the air and spun around to find the emperor standing near me. He had a concerned look on his face.

"I-I'm alright," I assured him.

He nodded at the forest. "Did you sense something in there, miss?"

I shook my head. "I'm sure it was just my imagination, or maybe an animal."

"Then we should follow the gentlemen inside," he coaxed as he offered me his right arm.

My heart dropped into my stomach. According to decorum, his offering his right arm meant I had to accept with my left arm. The arm with the canister on it. The canister that contained his missing family heirloom.

I wanted to keep my head attached to my shoulders, so I bobbed my head as I spun him around so he faced the barn and pressed my hands on his back wherein I gave him a push. "You're right. No time for formalities, we should hurry."

My rough treatment of His Majesties' personage earned me a chuckle from the man himself as he obliged. "You are quite right, Miss Lucas."

I lifted an eyebrow. "How do you know my name, anyway?"

"One does not become betrothed to one of my wealthiest subjects without my hearing about it," he told me.

"Oh. Right."

"By the by, Miss Lucas, I am very curious as to your place of origin," the emperor continued as he twisted his head about to give me a quick study. "I cannot place your family name nor can I find any information about your lineage."

"Gutter trash," was my response.

He blinked at me. "Pardon?"

"My family. They're not really from a wealthy background, so you wouldn't know them."

"Ah. I see. Then how did Count Castle and you become acquainted?"

"Uh, that's a long story, too long for the short walk back to the house," I told him as I quickened my pace and pushed him faster across the barn floor.

We popped out the other side and had nearly met up with our other companions. The front door of the house swung open and Dreda's small form could be seen standing in the doorway.

"Hurry along before you're all soaked!" she scolded.

We did our best, with the emperor himself helping the other men lug the driver into the house. I couldn't help but marvel at Ben's ability to appear weak, with him being able to easily lift the driver by himself. The two men about him, however, were ample enough encouragement. If they knew his alter ego one would have jailed him in their dungeon and the other would have gleefully executed him.

I was glad to be back inside the warm and secure home as Aunt Dreda shut the door behind our group. She had an unhealthy pallor as she hurried after the group of men. They carried the driver into the parlor and laid him out on the sofa.

Ben knelt in front of him and examined the pale fellow. Commander Edouard hovered over his shoulder and his lips tightened with each second that ticked by. "Well? What's the matter with him?"

After a long moment of silence, Ben leaned back and shook his head. "I'm not sure. I can't find any physical marks on him."

"Perhaps magic," the emperor suggested.

"Or maybe the fog outside?" I chimed in.

"I'm tending more toward the magic," Ben mused as he climbed to his feet. "The fog, by all the local stories, might be able to account for his extreme pallor, but not for his ending up in the bushes outside the barn."

I shrugged. "Maybe it was hungry and wanted to save him for a snack later."

"That sounds more like a werewolf to me," Edouard spoke up with a sneer. "Those beasts would attack an unarmed man."

"But not leave him alive to tell the tale of their attack," Ben countered.

The emperor cast a disapproving look at his guard. "I would have you not mention such baseless accusations again, Commander. We are here to quell such prejudice, not encourage it."

The commander bowed his head. "My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. I will not think such things again."

Callidus shook his head. "I don't expect you to think differently on my command, Edouard, but I would ask that you keep a more open mind. As Count Castle here noted, the signs point to a foe who doesn't see a gain to eating their prey, at least not in the usual sense."

Aunt Dreda had clasped her hands against her chest and at the mention of prey I noticed her hands shook. She tightened them into fists and swallowed a lump in her throat. "Would a cup of warm tea soothe him, you think?"

"It's possible," Ben replied.

"Then would you help me fetch some, Ben," she pleaded with a pointed look at him. "I wouldn't want to venture through the house alone if there is someone attacking us."

Ben nodded. "Of course."

Together the pair slipped out of the room. My curiosity wouldn't let that stand, so I slunk after them. I found the relations in the room on the opposite side of the entrance hall. They were already in conversation as I drew near.

"I. . .I despise asking this of you, but would you please go see if Werd is alright?"

Ben pursed his lips. "That's asking a lot of me right now, Aunt Dreda."

She hung her head and clasped her hands over her chest. "I know, but something tells me that he's in danger. I can feel it in my bones."

Ben studied the distraught woman as I came up, and his attention turned to me. "You heard."

I stopped beside them and nodded. "I heard, and I think we should go, and don't argue with me, young man."

Ben sighed and looked past me at the parlor. "We'll need an excuse for our absence."

Dreda lifted her chin and smiled. "Leave that to me. You two go out now while they're distracted."

She slipped past us before we could argue and stalked into the room. "Now don't expect too much from my tea, Cal. I haven't improved it over the years."

Ben and I tiptoed toward the door, but I got to see the emperor's face fall with a touch of horror in the corners of his mouth. "I see." The few words contained a great deal of grief.

Ben and I slipped out into the long day that had transformed into a stormy night by the black clouds. The rain still pelted us as we slipped around the side of the house and into the woods. The narrow path led us to the small hut and my heart pounded loudly in my chest the closer we came to the rundown shack.

Ben stopped just shy of the clearing and turned around to catch my eyes. "I know you'll argue against this, Millie, but please stay here."

I looked from him to the dark windows and wrapped my arms around myself. "I'll stay here."

His eyebrows rose just slightly. "You're sure?"

I tightened my arms around myself. "Yeah. There's something not quite right."

"Women's intuition?"

I couldn't manage a smile for his gentle teasing. "This. . .it feels like something's wrong. Really wrong."

Ben's teasing vanished and was replaced with a grim expression. He set a hand over mine and met my eyes with his glowing ones. "I won't be long."

He slipped away and became his alter ego as he slunk toward the shack low to the ground and without a sound. I huddled beneath a large branch of a nearby tree and watched him with dread. My fright only increased when he opened the door and slipped into the black interior. I leaned to one side to catch sight of him, but there was nothing but darkness.

That's when a pale arm wrapped around my waist and a cold hand covered my mouth.