The General's Daughter

Chapter 8

I awoke with a headache and in total darkness. It only took seconds for me to remember what had happened and begin to panic.

I'd been kidnapped. By Garvan.

I didn't think there was actually a good scenario that involved being kidnapped, but being held by Garvan seemed about the worst.

How could I have been so stupid? Alex had no reason to meet me that way. He could have asked me to meet him at the castle if he wanted to talk or...anything else. He could have sent a carriage or asked Papa to bring me.

Everyone was going to be so worried. No one knew where I'd gone and it would be hours before anyone even thought to look for me.

Stupid stupid stupid!

I was lying on something....it was too hard for a bed, but too soft to be the floor. A cot maybe?

Sitting up, I squinted in the darkness to try and see something. After a minute of feeling like I was suffocating from the pressing blackness, I saw the faintest line that must be the bottom of a door.

Carefully, I got to my feet, shuffled over to where the door should be, and felt around for a knob.

When my hand closed around the cold metal, I turned it, but nothing happened. I was locked in.

Should I try to fight my way out and risk having whoever might be on the other side, hear me? Did it really matter if they did?

Before I could make a decision, I heard a voice on the other side of the door.

"-don't care about any of that. They'll take us seriously soon enough."

It was Garvan and it sounded like he was coming closer. Instinctively, I backed away from the door.

"Open it," he said. "I want to see for myself."

There was the sound of keys and then the click of the lock before the door opened.

My heart was pounding out of my chest and I squinted against the sudden light of the lantern in the now-open doorway.

"Well," Garvan said with a smirk as he entered the small room. "Hello, Miss Graham."

Thoroughly frightened, I stared at him in silence as I backed up even more.

Garvan noticed my retreat and chuckled. "I'm so glad you could join us. I do hope you approve of your accommodations."

I cast a quick glance around the room, now that I could actually see it. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of dirt, so I was probably underground somewhere. There was a small table and chair to my left. The cot I'd been lying on before, was to my right. There was nothing else. Not that there was space for it. The room was tiny. It was probably only ten feet from one end to the other.

My eyes settled on Garvan again.

"W-what do you want with me?" I asked.

Instead of answering, he advanced into the room and took a seat in the lone chair. If not for the other large man, standing in the doorway, I'd have tried to run. I settled for drawing back to keep as much distance as possible between Garvan and myself.

He grinned. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the cot.

I wasn't feeling very compliant and I didn't like the idea of being on any sort of a bed in this man's presence, so I stubbornly stood.

"Alright." He smirked. "Have it your way."

He leaned back in the chair and kicked his feet up on the table, pulling an apple from his pocket.

"What might I want with you?" he asked, obviously teasing me. "You, the beloved and only daughter of one of the most wealthy and influential men in the kingdom? The beautiful young love of the would-be future king, my cousin? What could I possibly want with you?" He took a bite of his apple and looked very pleased with himself.

"Alex and I aren't in love." There were any number of things I could have said, but denial about Alex was so normal for me, that's what came out.

Garvan looked unconvinced. "So you two weren't kissing in the western hall the other day? And you haven't discussed marriage?"

Surprised that he knew about any of that, I could only stare.

"There are a great many things I want with you, my dear, I assure you." His eyes traveled the length of my body, sending a shiver down my spine.

I crossed my arms to shield myself and pressed my back against the dirt wall, wishing I could get farther away from him.

Garvan laughed. "No need to worry," he said. "For the moment, you are merely bait. We shall have plenty of time for fun later."

He thought for a second. "I wonder if people see the irony," he said. "That you are the favored choice for their future queen, even considering your mother and her family."

I didn't have any idea what he meant about irony. Mother wasn't the most suitable choice for Papa by Society's standards, but that might only cause Garvan to think I was a poor choice. And other than not being from the kingdom, what did my family have to do with it?

"You have no idea, do you?" he asked, gleefully. "You aren't even aware of who you are named for."

He must mean whatever that newspaper article was about. I still didn't know why he should find it so amusing though.

"Your ignorance is charming," he said. "But I think it's more fun to have you know the truth."

Despite myself, I was interested. Did he know what my parents refused to tell me?

"What would you think if I told you that once upon a time, your mother was nothing but one of hundreds of play things, taken for the army's amusement? Or that your aunt attempted to murder the king because she was a treasonous rebel whore?"

"You're wrong!" I said, knowing that what he said couldn't be true. My parents loved each other. Papa couldn't have been part of anything like that. He wouldn't! Just because Aunt Keira knew how to use a sword, did not make her an assassin. And she never would have tried to kill the king. She was one of his advisers.

Garvan shrugged. "Choose to believe what you will." He glanced at the other man. "Alas, I must leave you now."

He dropped his feet to the floor, placed the bitten apple on the table, and headed for the door. With the lantern.

"No, please!" I rushed after them as the door was slammed shut, leaving me in darkness once again.

I pulled and pulled on the handle of the door to no avail. I was trapped, just as before. Only now I knew how claustrophobic this room really was.

Fumbling back to the cot, I sank down and pulled my knees up, hugging them to my body. I didn't bother to attempt to stop the tears that began flowing.

What had I done? I didn't have any idea what Garvan actually planned to do, but it was obvious that he wanted Papa and Alex out of the way. And I was apparently the key to his plan.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered through my tears, terrified for them. Because I was stupid enough to fall for this trap, they were both in danger.

I didn't doubt that Papa would do just about anything for me. What would happen to him? To Mother and the boys?

And Alex! I had been certain that I didn't love him as anything other than a friend, but I couldn't be this afraid for him if that were true. Maybe I really did love him.

It seemed cruel that I couldn't tell him so. Especially if he...

I dropped my head against my knees and sobbed as I thought about all the terrible things that could happen now because of my stupidity.