It's My Life

Chapter 39 - The Demand

Vance drove to Westlake, not wanting to see those idiots at Sugden. He realised he was avoiding them, but he was getting the feeling they liked the girl, and they may try to stop him if they knew what he was up to. Once at Westlake he went into his office, telling his secretary that he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, and sat at his desk. He had a few minutes to kill, so he went over the files from Sugden regarding Cassandra. He noticed that during the testing her reproductive system hadn't been checked, no personal questions had been broached, so he made a note to ask her about all that. Looking at the time he mentally shook himself and picked up the phone, dialling the number for the embassy.
"Crystallia Embassy, how may I direct your call?" He heard.
"Ambassador White, please." Vance said, his voice cool, almost sneering at the polite use of the the word please.
"May I ask what this is in regard to?" The receptionist asked.
"Princess Cassandra's safety." He said. He heard her slight intake of breath, and the call was redirected to the office of Andreas White.
"Yes?" Andreas said.
"Phone call for you, sir. I think it's the man who took the princess." The receptionist said. Andreas sat up straight, looking at the clock. Right on time.
"Put the call through." He directed. The receptionist hung up, hearing the call connect. His mind played over the morning as it did.

The King, Queen, Shanthe and Leira had arrived at eleven, and they had all convened in the conference room with Tom, Andreas and Cora. After formally greeting the royal family, Tom, Andreas and Cora had all settled opposite the four royals.
"Who is this Vance Ashton?" Arnes asked.
"All we know is that he is a wealthy business owner and tycoon. What we believe, though, is he's the one that hired Monterry nineteen years ago to abduct the princess as an infant, and killed Monterry when he didn't deliver her to him." Andreas said. Arnes frowned, and Mallora put her hand on his.
"Have you found out anything that may give us a clue as to why he holds such animosity to the royal family?" Mallora asked. Andreas shook his head.
"Only that he has no birth details, no history before twenty-five years ago. The princess reported a bad feeling about him, he scared her, but she didn't know why." Andreas said.
"I recall Princess Leira saying something about that. She and Shanthe felt nothing." Arnes said.
"His attention wasn't on them, they wouldn't have felt the dread." Mallora said. Arnes looked at her.
"Perhaps. That would make sense." Arnes said.
"He says he will call at two with his demands." Andreas said.
"I would normally not get worried in situations like this, but I feel this blows normal situations out of the water.  All we can do today is listen to his demands and find out what he wants. Whatever he wants though, he won't get it." Arnes said. Everyone nodded. Arnes looked at Andreas. "What are his demands about the phone call?"
"That only members of the royal family be present. No one else. I believe he will call through to me first so he can guarantee I won't be there." Andreas said.
"Understood. Then we can all convene at one-thirty, to prepare. I want all the information you have on Mr. Ashton, any pictures." Arnes said. Andreas wrote it down. 
"Do you think Cass will be with him?" Leira asked.
"I doubt it. He can block off, we think, but blocking her too would be hard. She will probably stay at the house he built to hold her." Andreas said.
"You are certain he has a house? Why has no one been there to get her?" Shanthe asked, and Cora watched as Mallora took his hand in a gentle yet firm grip, trying to calm him.
"We don't know what resources he has, or how long we'd have or where he's calling from. Let's just wait for demands, and see what happens. I want to go and get her, but we have to wait." Mallora said. Tom felt a nudge in his mind, and looked at his father.
"Tell them what she told you." Andreas sent privately. Tom nodded and cleared his throat to get the attention of all.
"I have received word from the princess, Majesties, highnesses. She is safe, I feel, but he is stopping her from swimming. He's had her for two full days now, and he is depriving her for four days. She went without for three days last time, I think he knows this and is taking it a step further." Tom said.
"When did she sent that?" Arnes asked.
"About an hour ago, Your Majesty. I was in class, but I couldn't respond. It was like a brief window, it lasted less than a minute." Tom said.
"How did she sound?" Shanthe asked.
"Strong, but at the same time tired. A little scared, but also hopeful. She has faith in the hope we can save her." Tom said.
"We'll do our best." Andreas said. Heads around the table nodded. There was a knock at the door. Andreas looked at Arnes.
"Enter." Arnes called. The door opened and one of the staff entered.
"Lunch is being served." He said, bowing formally. Arnes stood up, holding his hand out to Mallora, who took it and stood as well. Shanthe did the same for Leira, and all four followed the servant to the dining room. Andreas and Cora stood.
"Will you join us, Tom?" Andreas asked. Tom shook his head.
"I'm not hungry. I might go and do some studying. Let me know if you need me later." Tom replied. Cora touched his arm, and they all left the conference room.
Once lunch was finished Andreas looked at his watch. It was ten minutes to two, and he knew that Vance would be punctual. Andreas stood up.
"I believe Mr. Ashton will call me first, and I will direct the call to you in the conference room." Andreas said. Arnes nodded.
"Good. We will talk after negotiations." Arnes replied. He, Mallora, Shanthe and Leira moved to the conference room, and Andreas went to his office. Sure enough, on the dot of two, his phone rang. He cleared his throat again.
"Yes?" He said.
"Phone call for you, I think it's the man that took the princess." The receptionist said. Andreas sat up straight.
"Put the call through." He directed, and heard the receptionist's phone get put down as the call connected to him.
"Mr. Ashton. Thank you for being punctual." Andreas said.
"You know why I'm calling, Ambassador. I trust they are waiting to talk to me." Vance said.
"They are indeed. I will connect you to them momentarily. I just want to ask if she's okay." Andreas said. Vance chuckled.
"She's fine. You have nothing to worry about. Put me through to the King and Queen." Vance said. Andreas paused, but he knew he had no choice. He pressed the transfer button, then the extension for the conference room.
"He's on the phone." Andreas said once Arnes had picked up the phone.
"Put him through." Arnes said. Andreas hesitated, but did as he was told. He could do nothing.
"Mr. Ashton." Arnes said.
"King Arnes. I'm honoured to talk to you. Are you alone?" Ashton asked. Arnes looked around at his family.
"No. My wife is here." Arnes said.
"And the prince and other princess. Nice to talk to you all." Vance said.
"Sorry, the feeling isn't mutual." Leira said. Vance chuckled.
"I would imagine not. I see where Cass gets her feistiness from." Vance said.
"Proud of it too. I'm sure you didn't call for pleasantries. Tell us what you want so you'll let Cassandra go." Arnes said.
"All in good time. Mallora, how are you?" Vance asked. Mallora frowned.
"Appalled that you don't know manners, but well enough. How do we get our daughter back? We have money. We'll pay anything." Mallora said.
"Oh, I have enough money, as I'm sure you all found out. No, it's nothing as simple as money. In fact,  I want something I deserve. I will release Cassi if you and the entire family abdicate and name me the King of Crystallia. Only then will I let Cass go. The day the crown sits on my head and you all take the blood oath that will demote you from royalty, is the day Cass will be freed." Vance said. All four sat in shocked silence for a moment.
"That will never happen." Arnes roared.
"You cannot be serious!" Mallora gasped. Both Shanthe and Leira looked at each other, identical looks of shock on their faces.
"I am quite serious, dear Mallora. You see, I believe the king is not right for the throne, and I would make a better Monarch. I'll give you two days to think it over. I'm sure the idea of getting your baby back outweighs the good of the kingdom. I will call in two days' time at the same time." Vance said, and the call disconnected. Arnes sat there, staring at the phone as though it was about to get up and walk. Mallora had tears in her eyes, and Shanthe and Leira still had shocked expressions on their faces.
"He...he can't demand something like that, can he? It's preposterous." Leira said.
"He can demand all he wants, he'll never be king." Arnes said.
"Couldn't we just say yes, and then turn on him when Cass is with us?" Leira asked. Arnes shook his head.
"No. He knows what he's talking about. Once the blood oath is said, by me and your mother, we lose our silver scales, they will go back to green, yours too, and he will have all the power of the ocean. He knows what he's saying. I know we all want Cass safe, but I can't agree to this. The life of one..." Arnes said, his voice cracking with emotion. Mallora turned to him.
"We have two days to work something out. He will not be triumphant." Mallora said.  Arnes looked at her.
"I know." He said. Leira got up and moved to him, hugging him.
"We will triumph, Dad. We will save our sister. When he calls again, we'll make our move." Leira said. Shanthe nodded.
"That might work, but we have to be careful who knows. In two days time he may leave his home to call, and that day, if he leaves home, we get her. Whatever state she's in." Shanthe said. Arnes nodded and sent out a summons to Andreas and Cora. Within minutes both were sitting opposite Arnes and Mallora.
"How long would it take for you to put two task forces together?" Arnes asked Andreas.
"An hour. What do you need?" Andreas asked, his mind already thinking about strategies.
"No. Not for today. Two days time, Friday. Vance Ashton has made his demands, and we have two days to tell him our verdict. I can't tell you what we're planning, and we certainly can't tell the humans. They cannot shield their minds. All we can tell them is that demands have been made, and now we wait for him to get in contact again. Then we make our moves simultaneously. But only the six of us can know." Arnes said.
"What about Tom?" Cora asked.
"No. He seems impulsive when it comes to her, and that won't be good for us. He loves her, and love makes one do the crazy. Just us six." Arnes said. Cora and Andreas looked at each other, but agreed.
"We need to pretend we're fretting over the demands, or Vance may become suspicious. Shanthe and Leira, that will mean no social gatherings or public displays. We need Vance to believe that we're consumed by all this. We can't go about as normal. But I want everything ready here for when the princess is rescued. Doctors, the pool, food, everything. It'll be an even longer road  to recovery this time, and we can't take her to Crystallia." Arnes said. Everyone nodded, then went about their business. It would be a very long two days.