A Threatened Treaty

Chapter Four

Evangeline's consciousness returned to her and woke her. She opened her eyes and tried to stretch, but she found her arms to be restrained. She tried to open her mouth to cry out, but found that her mouth was gagged. She was becoming more and more frightened by the minute, especially when she heard footsteps coming toward her.

She shifted to where she was at least a little comfortable when the door opened to reveal Nataniel Knight. However, Nataniel looked much, much older than when she met him. He sneered at her. "I honestly didn't think you'd go with me that easily," he said, his voice much deeper now.

Evangeline looked at him in fright, scared as to what he'll do to her. He chuckled. "My real name is Anastasio Devine. Remember it well and get used to being bound like that because you'll be that way for a long while," he told her. "At least you should be until the queen comes to give me her kingdom."

Evangeline hung her head as his evil grin came back and he began to laugh at her misery. He slammed the door, leaving her alone to cry in fear and silence. Her head hurt and now she is finding out that she was a hostage for the sake of gaining rule over her homeland. This day could not get any worse, she thought.

She heard someone else moving inside the little room and once again, felt fear for her life. She looked in the direction of the noise and found a man's face in the darkness. She had the sudden urge to scream before he put a finger to his lips in a gesture for her to be quiet.

Evangeline tensed as he came closer, but the urge to cry out was gone. She let him untie her and scooted away from him when she was free. He approached her calmly and gently touched her hand before she could pull it away.

She leaned toward him warily. "Are you friendly?" she questioned.

The man nodded and drew himself closer to her. He drew out a piece of paper and a writing utensil and wrote something down on the sheet. When he was done, he lifted it for her to see.

Maxwell.

Evangeline looked at the name, then to him. "Is that your name?" she asked him.

The man nodded and held out his hand for her to shake. Evangeline reluctantly shook it but stayed where she was. "Can you speak at all?" she asked.

Maxwell shook his head and Evangeline hung her head for a few moments before speaking again. "My name is Evangeline Treaty," she said.

Maxwell inclined his head toward her and smiled. He wrote on his paper again and lifted it for her to see. You're very pretty, it read.

Evangeline smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. I've heard it many times, but it makes me smile every time," she told him.

Maxwell smiled in return and drew himself even closer, to the point where he was right next to her. Evangeline scooted just a little farther away from him. She was nervous that this man would take advantage of her sweet nature, just like Anastasio did.

Maxwell laid a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him with a slight hint of fear. He saw it in her eyes and gave her a look of reassurance. She was reluctant, but she eventually relaxed before sighing.

"I don't know where I'm headed and I'm scared," she said.

Maxwell wrote on the sheet of paper and lifted it. We're headed for Toscana as slaves.

Evangeline hung her head and drew her knees up where she could bury her face in them as tears rushed down her cheeks. She felt an arm around her shoulders, which began to pet her back after a few moments of her shoulders shaking.

She eventually recovered from crying and leaned against Maxwell's chest for comfort. Maxwell kept his arm around her and stroked her arm gently. Evangeline eventually fell asleep and fell into his lap.

Maxwell held his hands up in surprise and stared at her sleeping face. He slowly relaxed and lifted her to where she was in a bridal style position. She'll sleep better that way, he thought. He stared at her face and blood rushed to his cheeks as he found how beautiful she was. He gently stroked the side of her face and grinned a little.

He kept hearing footsteps near the door and someone was called back to where they were. It was some time before the man who took Evangeline came back into the small room. "She's asleep," he said simply, "we can fix that." He shut the door and walked off.

Maxwell quickly looked at Evangeline in fear. He shook her gently until her eyes fluttered open. "What is it?" she asked.

Maxwell made a few hand signals that told her all she needed to know. Anastasio's coming.

The door opened and Anastasio stood in the doorway with and open canteen of water. He was planning on soaking Evangeline to wake her, but when he saw her eyes were open, he frowned. "Guess I don't have to worry about the water supply anymore," he said to himself, he gave someone out of sight the canteen and looked back at Evangeline. "I assume you know where this ship is going?" he questioned.

Evangeline bobbed her head but said nothing.

"Good. We're in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. I doubt you want to go for a swim, so don't try to escape," Anastasio continued.

Evangeline nodded once more and Anastasio squinted his eyes in suspicion before shutting the door. Evangeline looked up at Maxwell. "Thanks for waking me up when you did, Maxwell. I didn't want to get soaked," she told him.

Maxwell smiled and went to grab the sheet of paper and the pencil. Evangeline grabbed it for him. He nodded his thanks and began writing. He turned it over to where she could see the message he wrote. You can call me Max.

Evangeline looked back at him and smiled. "I go by Evie," she told him. Max gave her a sweet smile as blood rushed to his cheeks again.

Evie grinned at his flushed cheeks and leaned against his chest to fall asleep again. Max grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. Evie looked at Max as he was shaking his head and sighed. "I guess I'll need to stay awake in case they find land," she said.

Max nodded his agreement.

Evangeline and Max sat in silence for a few moments before Evangeline spoke again. "If we get out of this and escape, promise me you won't forget me."

Max looked at her and found her eyes full of fear. He set his face in determination and inclined his head. Evangeline rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'm glad I'm not alone in this endeavor," she said as an afterthought. "I rather like the company so I'm not bored all the time. I understand you can't speak, but it's nice to have someone to talk to."

Max nodded. He and Evangeline looked up at the sound of someone calling out the word they were dreading.

"Land!"

A/N: Hey Guys! Early chapter this time! Your welcome. I got it done early, so I just decided to give this to you guys as a gift. You're welcome. Also, Maxtheamazingdog to save you some sanity (I know how hard coming up with titles can be) I've chosen Breaking Free because it relates more to the plot of "it" than the other titles you gave me. To my other readers, DO NOT ASK ME ABOUT THAT!!! That is something else that you will, in the future, be pretty excited about.

Anyway, you're welcome for the early chapter, I hope you liked it and I will see you next Sunday unless I'm early again (which will probably happen). Buh-bye!

-Nicole