The Princess Switch

Kidnapped!

                                                                 Kidnapped!

                                                                Chapter #6

Right before I was about to reenter the castle, I turned around and found myself face to face with one of the masked men that I had encountered in the orchard!  We stared into each other’s faces for a while, and then I came out of my shock and into my senses before he could reach out and grab me.  I leapt up from my seat in the bushes and ran away quickly, even though I was exhausted .  I dashed until I felt that I would die from exhaustion.  I sprinted until I reached my apartments.  

Behind me I could hear branches being torn aside as the man followed in hot pursuit.  He screamed at me, trying to lure me into stopping, trying to pursued me into giving up to him.  But I knew that if I didn’t run, I would be doomed, and even though I didn’t know very much about these men, there was a large possibility that this man was not there to help me.  And the fact that he wore a mask really discomforted me, and I was worried about who he was and what he might want from me.

A few hours later, my mom found me there, trembling under my sheets in my bed in horrible and complete fear.  The kind of fear that once you experience it, it always lives down, deep down in the depths of your mind.  The fear that could ruin your whole world in just one second; your whole world feels as though it is toppling.  You don’t know what you should do about it, but you know that you have to do something.  

When she asked what was wrong I explained the whole event to her, leaving out that I had been in the garden eavesdropping on the king’s conversation with Jean Philippe.  She listened patiently, but as soon as the last words fell from my lips, she was up and gone, like the mother bird that all mothers are secretly in the back of their mind.  No loving mother can dare to forget about her child in their time of need, and she definitely lived up to this standard.

She instantly flew into action, moving quicker than I had ever seen anyone move before in my whole entire life.  She called all of the guards into the room, and told me to describe what the man had looked like.  While I was doing that(quite simply telling them that he was dressed in white from head to toe and wearing a mask), she rushed to the king to tell him.  

I could hear him roar with anger in the throne room once he had heard what happened out in the garden, with some parts omitted, of course.  “Close the gates!  Make sure no one gets out until we find that man, whoever he may be!” he bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the wooden rafters along the ceiling.  My dad was very over-protective, and this situation did nothing to help this fact, in fact, I doubted he would ever let me out of the castle again.

Later, after the whole garden incident was solved and there were no masked men found on the palace grounnds, I was not allowed to go anywhere, anywhere without a guard right there by my side, watching my every move, and everyone else’s moves.  

Even inside of the palace, where I was promised that I was always safe, even though now I know that I am safe nowhere, no matter how much I am told that I will be safe.  I may sound paranoid, but when life always denies you lemons, you have no choice but to skip out on making lemonade and just drink water the rest of your life until you do find lemonade somewhere.  My life was now an open affair for anyone who wished to involve themselves with it.

The only place that I could get an ounce of privacy was in the bathroom.  Seriously, a girl should be able to have privacy outside of the bathroom.  You can bet that I spent quite a bit more time in the bathroom after my guards were assigned to me.  I would bring a book into the bathroom, and I would stay in there for several hours.  

Soon after that, another incident occurred. However, this “accident” had a much worse effect on my life.  It would never be the same after this one life-changing event.  I had been out in the field picking flowers for Cook to place on the table for dinner.  My guard had been dozing off like the lazy person that he had become since he began ‘babysitting’ me, when a gunshot rang out, resounding like thunder through the air.  I glanced side to side, looking for the shooter.  

Instantly, a sharp pain pricked in my side as I fell to the ground in pain.  My eyes took in the flowers, now stained red with what I realized was my own blood.  The last thing I was aware of was being thrown into a sack by hard, rough, and cruel hands, and whoever it was kept grazing my side, which was making me writh in pain.  Before long, I lost consciousness, and I fell into a deep, vicious world of black. 

When I woke up, everything was dark except for a single line of light that I guessed was coming from under the doorway.  I could hear rough voices behind the door.  I tried to stand up, but I felt a pain once again in my side, and after touching it, I saw my hand glinting red in the small amount of light.  Blood had always horrified me, but now it was my own blood.  I felt dizzy just looking at it.  But, I had to figure out where I was.  

I could hear the men talking more clearly now I as inched towards the door.  One of the men was saying “I know the risks, but we have to get her to a doctor.  Our master won’t like it that she is fatally wounded, Stephan.”  Another one, Stephan, I guessed, said, “it wasn’t my fault that she moved right as I fired.  Boss would understand that, wouldn’t he?!”  No one answered, so I thought that no one was under the impression that “The Boss” would trust Stephan.

Then, someone turned the handle on the door, and I quickly closed my eyes, leaving them open only a slit. The light from the room next to mine hurt my eyes.  “She’s asleep, Jacob.  What should I do with her food?”  “Just leave it on the floor,” Jacob replied to the other man.  

After he left, I deftly devoured the food as best as I could with just one arm.  My parents must be worried sick about me.  Speaking of sick, I was bleeding almost too much.  I didn’t know much about medicine, but from what my mom had taught me, if I didn’t get medical attention, I might die.    I had been trained in medicine, but not enough to stop this much bleeding or  remove the bullet.  After I had eaten as much food as I could eat, I laid down to sleep,  because I knew I should rest, as it slowed the bleeding.

****************************************************************************************************************** Sorry, this is a short chapter, but the next one is where it gets really interesting.  I know I just keep on saying that over and over again, but this is for reals.  Once again, thanx for reading, and vomment or cote (I guess), please.  BY the way, I dedicated this to Wattpad, because without all of the people working hard at Wattpad HQ, there would be no Wattpad, and I would be a much less confident writer.  THANK  YOU WATTPAD FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO!  Ok, this is really short.  

Thanks, Hannah V.H. or loviedovy12