***
When I awoke my head was pounding with pain that quickly transformed into fear. All I could see was black wherever I looked.
Am I blind? I prayed that it was not so, but one of my eyes did hurt something fierce. I could not get my hands up to touch it. Scratchy material rubbed against my forehead. I realized with a little cry of relief that I was not blind, but blindfolded.
The seat against my bound hands jerked. I was in a carriage. The door opened, and when a hand grabbed my arm, I thrashed myself side to side, trying to kick where I thought the person to be. My feet struck the inside of the carriage, never once hitting the person whose strong clasp was relentless. I was pulled harshly from the carriage and set on my feet. A hand clamped onto my shoulder, and started guiding me forward. To force me to stop, the hand on my shoulder tightened. I could see nothing and I had no notion where we were. Until I heard them.
“You cannot do this!” A woman’s voice declared, and I instantly recognized it as Guinevere’s. “She is not without family. I have given you Loutaire,” dear God, no, “and if you do not uphold your end of the bargain I will go to the Holy Order and have you eliminated.” Her voice was cool, but I had heard the crack in it when she said Loutaire.
“My dear girl, is this emotion I hear? Do you care for these traitors?” Richard asked.
I cringed, but took a step forward, not caring if I was blindfolded. Fingers dug into my shoulder, and I jerked it down trying to get away from the pain that those fingers were causing.
“Of course not,” Guinevere sneered, “but all the same you shall not kill her.”
Boots sounded before me, and the blindfold was ripped off. For some reason, I could not see out of my left eye.
Richard was before me, smirking down at me. “Take them to the cellar.”
The guard with the touchy fingers shoved me ahead of him and on down to the same cellar where I had last seen Pierre. I was shoved to the far wall where he chained my hands above my head before leaving me alone.
Pulling on the length of chain, I was able to sit on the cold stone floor. My hands shook, but I ignored them as best as I could.
A stone hearth was to my right and beyond that was a table with iron tools all across it. I shuddered before forcing my gaze to move on. There were two chairs in the room, but nothing else. To my surprise I was not afraid, at least not for myself. There was plenty of time for me to think about what had happened, for they left me alone for what felt like hours, before I received my first visitor.
Richard came in, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked. He stopped before me, and I had to lean my head against the wall to look up to his face. “My dear Elizabeth. I regret to see you thus.”
“Release me and you will not see me at all,” I retorted.
Richard laughed though it was as fake as the man himself. “Imagine my surprise when I heard that one of the illusive Phantoms is none other than my future daughter.” Richard paced before me with his hands clasped before him. “At first, I could not believe it, but when I considered, it made a certain amount of sense.”
“What do you want, Richard?” I asked in a long-suffering voice.
Richard knelt down before me. “Names, Elizabeth. I want the names of all of the Phantoms,” he paused, scowling at me, his eyes hard and wicked, “or I will kill Loutaire.” Richard rose and walked over to the table in the corner. He picked up a tool that looked like iron scissors. “But his death will not come without pain. The longer you withhold the information that I want, the more suffering he will endure.” Richard snapped his fingers, and the door opened. Carried between two men was a body.
Chapter 31