The Ordinance

Chapter 7 - Isabelle

The night Isabelle had spent in the Faerie palace was...strange, to say the least . In a miraculous turn of events Natalia had been weirdly kind. Isabelle was skeptical at first, but then thought better of herself. Maybe this girl just needs a friend, she'd thought, and Isabelle was nothing if not an exceptional friend. Still, she knew she had to be cautious, so she'd spoken with Maxon earlier that morning about all that they'd discussed.

"I know she's your baby sister," he'd scoffed at the word baby, "but you have to find out what kind of danger she might be putting herself in at the expense of a bunch of rebels."

"But how does one go about searching the den of a grizzly bear?" he'd asked.

"I think you might find that the grizzly bear is truly made of cotton stuffing."

"With all due respect, I've been living with the grizzly bear for sixteen years now, and no part of her is conventionally soft."

On that odd note Isabelle had told him that she must depart, and maybe it was just that foolish schoolgirl again, but she'd thought she'd seen a glimmer of disappointment in his eyes. She'd stood on her tiptoes and gave the prince a peck on the cheek.

"Farewell, Prince Maxon," she'd bid.

"Have a safe journey, Isabelle," he'd replied, "and don't go poking around any bear dens."

Next thing she knew, she was being whisked into a carriage with all of her things, waving the prince goodbye. This is going to be a long carriage ride, she thought. How utterly right she had been.

Isabelle suspected that they were about midway in their journey back to her castle. There truly was nothing to do on this awful carriage. She'd already taken a nap, read a book, sewed, and it wasn't as if there was anyone to talk to on board the carriage, just the footmen out front who was leading the horses through the dense forests that led back to her home.

"Mr.Smith, how much longer will the journey be?" she called out from her carriage window to the portly footmen.

"Only a couple hours left now, Miss," he replied. "How are you-"

He stopped speaking mid-sentence, right as the carriage halted jerkily.

"Mr. Smith, are you alright?" she asked. "Mr. Smith?"

All of a sudden the door to her carriage flew open and a large, bald man stepped in, crouching to fit. Without warning, he placed a gag in her mouth just as Isabelle was about to scream. I doubt the good yelling would do, though, they stopped us so far out, she thought helplessly. A wave of panic struck Isabelle like a blow to the head. Why are they doing this?

The next thing Isabelle knew, the bald man was pulling oddly colored gloves out of his back pocket; it was like the gloves were every color all at once. Faerie silk, Isabelle realized miserably. Whoever this is knows I have powers, the man shoved Isabelle's hands inside the gloves, and then proceeded to cuff her wrists as well. I'm screwed, and as a final touch to her near-perfect kidnapping, he placed a burlap sack over her head so thought she might as well have been blind.

The man lifted her out of her cushioned seat, carrying her like a groom might carry his newly-wed bride. He took on her weight easily, like picking up nothing at all. She felt the rush of cold air as they exited the carriage. The man placed her on some sort of cart without walls, she knew because she could still feel the cold winter air. It felt like she was sitting on something lumpy and uncomfortable. Gods, am I sitting on hay? She'd officially reached an all time low.

People were whispering to each other at what she assumed to be the front of the wagon, but she couldn't tell what they were saying through the burlap sack and the panic-stricken voice in her head. What if I die? What if I never see Maxon again? What if I never get to see my family again? These were the terrible things the panic in her head was shouting at her.