Falling For His Charms

CHAPTER 41

Well, Sophie thought, the night was definitely not going as planned. She was pretty sure that herself being put into a headlock by a pretty scary guy in a black cloak was not part of the plan.

For a few seconds, she forgot how to breathe. That's easy to do when someone has their arm around your neck tightly, even though the man wasn't necessarily choking her. Sophie had to remind herself that if she stopped breathing, she would pass out, and the plan would fail even more miserably than it already was. Then, once she had a steady breathing pace, she had to figure out what to do next... Dead end. If she moved, she's dead. If she screams, he chokes her, and she's dead. So what does she do? Good question.

Thank goodness she was in a room full of people who would notice when someone's life is in danger; one of the noble ladies started screaming and pointing at Sophie. That, of course, alarmed the chain reaction of other snobby noble ladies screaming, and men trying to act like the knight in shining armour while mentally freaking out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Fitz pulling out his sword, a murderous glint in his fiery eyes. She also saw Keefe making his way towards her, looking ready to kill.

Before Sophie knew what was happening, she was pulled out of her headlock and pressed with her back against the man's chest. Except there was a new addition: the dagger pressed against her throat.

"Anybody moves closer and she's dead!" Screamed the man, pressing the dagger closer to Sophie's throat. She tried to keep in her horror, attempting to look calm; however, she was absolutely panicking on the inside.

A steely silence spread over the crowd. Nobody dared make a sound, in fear that the young girl on the edge of death be killed. Even though Sophie was forced to look up so that the dagger didn't touch her, she could just barely see Fitz inch his way towards her.

"Why are you here?!" Demanded Keefe, on the far left of Sophie. Fitz was on her right, which made her assume that Keefe was trying to create a distraction.

"Why?" Growled the man. "Why? Well, what does it look like?"

"It's actually quite hard to tell," Sassed Keefe, glaring at Sophie's captor. "You know, when you barged in here during a dance and starting threatening one of the ladies for no reason at all? You know, I would really like to know the reason, if you don't mind."

The man laughed. "Well, one, this girl here is not just one of the ladies. She is actually Sophie Ruewan, who happens to be a big part of our plan-" He stopped talking suddenly, as if he had just been caught saying too much. He cleared his throat, and pressed the dagger right up to Sophie's throat, so that the cold metal burned her skin.

"Any more stupid questions and it will be the last you see of her."

"You know... I don't really believe that. You say that she's part of some 'big' plan of yours, but you want to kill her? You messed up people really don't make sense," Said Keefe.

That seemed to be the last straw for the man. In frustration, he swore at Keefe, and pushed the dagger into her skin; people could now see a few beads of blood dripping down Sophie's neck. Keefe's gaze darkened, looking murderous, and his hand twitched as he itched to unsheathe his sword.

"Must I repeat myself, young man?" Asked Sophie's captor, an insane smirk making its way onto his face. "If you make any move to attack me, she dies-"

He was cut off by being hit hard in the head by the handle of the Prince's sword. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and Sophie collapsed next to him. She face planted, and, seeing stars, slowly sat up. Fitz grabbed her and pulled her up into his arms.

"Are you alright? Oh my Gnome, you're bleeding more than I thought! You must have a concussion too... I am so sorry for knocking you to the ground as well! I really didn't mean to, but the intruder would not have been knocked out if I hadn't used that force. My Gnome, we need to take you to the hospital wing!"

Sophie shushed his rambling, and placed her index over his mouth, a lazy smile being drawn on her tired face.

"It's not your fault... " She breathed, feeling unusually dizzy. She couldn't really herself understand what she was saying; it all just kept flowing out. However, her words didn't seem to reassure Fitz at all. On the contrary, he seemed twice as panicked as he did before.

"Sophie... Your eyes are unfocused. Love, I need you to stay awake, alright? We need to make sure that your head is okay..."

Well, that didn't go very well. The next thing she knew, she was enveloped by darkness. What a night.