Stolen Princess

Chapter 9

A black car sped through the rural roads in Japan. The dense foliage devoured the BMW, consuming it with it's darkness. Nightfall benefitted the partizans, making them invisible as they camouflaged against the starless night. It had taken the three partizans almost a day to come flying from Maradova, get their military, specialised car and go after Lottie. It was more time than Jamie had expected and the frustration and stress were beginning to get to him. They were supposed to be arriving any minute now, but as night was beginning to fall, it was difficult to see and distinguish their surroundings. They were now traveling thought the coordinates Saskia had given them, when they started to see a slight outline of what seemed to be a concrete building ascending into their view. When they were close enough, they parked the car, hidden behind some conveniently placed, large bushes. They took the messy, handwritten map Saskia had given them and went searching through the cold fortress for the small prison windows. The plan was simple, once they found the cell windows, all they really needed to do was find a side entrance and break through. It wasn't very difficult to find a nearby door. The door could be accessed by some worn out, broken steps. The door looked old and rusty blending in well with the rest of the building. "Shouldn't be too hard to open," Jamie said as he took a strange looking hairpin out of his pocket. He was right, with only a few turns, they managed to open the door, barely making it creak. They silently entered the room, closing the door behind them so no one would know they were here. They were in luck, there was only one guard on patrol and they were three. Not that they needed to be, any of them could have knocked the guard out in seconds, even if they had been alone. They took the guard by surprise and knocked him out with a single dry hit on the head. Natalie, the queen's partizan took out some of the rope they had packed and tied him up with ease. Jamie searched the guards pockets and retrieved something, holding it firmly in his grasp. He stood up to look for the cell. It looked like only one cell was in use, due to the fact that all the other cells weren't closed. With the stolen guards' keys, they broke into a small, dimly lit room. Jamie looked around and almost missed Lottie. She was covered with a blanket in one of the corners of the room. She was shivering violently and coughing. She looked up and tried to back away from the broad silhouette. She was cornered. tears burned down her cheeks at the thoughts of what could happen. "Calm down Lottie, it's me," Jamie whispered. Lottie's head perked up at the familiar voice, "Jamie, is it really you?" she muttered in awe. "Yes it's me," he answered. "Sorry to cut this reunion short, but we should leave now if we don't want to get caught," Natalies commanding voice said. Lottie slid her hand under her pillow as Jamie picked her up effortlessly and carried her back the way they'd come from. They had no trouble reaching the car. He let go of her one instant while he opened the car door. Her weak legs started shaking and she instantly fell down, fainting. Now that she was finally with people she trusted; her body had actually allowed her to relax.

She woke up a while later, with the sting of her arm. When she looked down, she saw Jamie was disinfecting a wound she didn't remember having. She winced as the alcohol grazed her skin, and he realized she was awake. He looked up, their eyes meeting and suddenly Lottie's words caught in her throat. His gaze was so intense, she didn't dare look away. They stayed there, in silence for eternal seconds until Jamie broke the profound silence. "You scratched your arm with the bush when you fainted," he explained. She had momentarily forgotten about that, mesmerized by what had happened before. His deep hazel eyes transmitting all his emotions, relief, concern, joy. Suddenly Lottie started shivering again, realizing that her clothes were definitely not meant for winter. They were torn and tattered. Jamie took off his jacket and wrapped it firmly around her delicate shoulders. Lottie started to protest, it was his jacket and he was probably cold too, but Jamie looked away, showing no interest and she understood he wasn't going to take it back. A smile, the smile she'd been longing for the past two weeks, made it's way onto her pale face, illuminating what was once gloomy. Once she managed to stop shivering completely, she fell asleep, her head resting on Jamie's warm shoulder. "I'm sorry" Jamie sighed.