Innocent

Chapter 20 - Ain't No Means Low Enough

I pushed Alexi through the portal and he vanished from sight. I poked my head through a moment later to watch. He ran down the ice tunnels of the mountain once more.

"Help!" He yelled frantically. "Please, help me!"

He disappeared around a curve, but I could still hear what was going on. He must have run into the guards because a bunch of shouting went up.

"Who are you?" A gruff voice demanded.

"I'm Alexi. I was brought here a few days ago." His voice sounded shaky and scared. He was a better actor than I would have expected for a high school drama kid.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" The guard asked.

"Yes. My name is Prince Alexi. I was kidnapped from your mountain by a group of creatures. I managed to escape and have returned here for protection."

"Come with us." A different voice ordered. Apparently they did know who Alexi was. I waited for them to amble off before continuing my plan. I formed yet another portal, this one back to the main entrance that Rilo and I can in form before. I needed to make a scene.

I fell into the snow, immediately freezing in my dumb outfit. The woodland fae did not dress for cold. Thankfully I was only going to be out there for a short moment. I hopped down into the hole and landed gracefully at the bottom.

"Hello loves!" I announced loudly. I marched into the room. Many of the fae exchanged confused looks, but none took any action. The woodland fae had been allies for centuries. They had no reason to worry about me.

I strode straight through the market, beaming generously at everyone around me.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you have my fiance." I called out. "I'm here to bring him back home."

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we do." An elderly fae woman spoke. I never understood the fae that chose to age. Why would you want to do that? It made no sense to me.

"Do you deny that you currently have Prince Alexi in your possession?" I quirked an eyebrow, daring her to lie to me. This raised some suspicion. They knew who Alexi was. What they didn't know is how I knew who Alexi was.

No one said a word.

"Well, if you don't escort me to him, I will have to go find him myself." I took off towards the nearest passage. I knew exactly where I was going this time. Rilo knew how to get to the duchess's chambers, and I was sure that was where they took Alexi.

The sound of hurrying footsteps soon joined me as I rushed through the cold maze. I navigated the mess with ease, counting the turns in my head. The fae were whispering behind me, trying to figure out what to do. I wasn't going to give them enough time to figure it out. I was just here to cause trouble and then leave as fast as possible.

I'm only a few turns away when I hear Alexi's voice.

"I'm telling you. It was some sort of tree people. They were green with lots of flowers, and they lived in trees." Alexi explained.

"That is impossible, the Woodland fae are our friends." The duchess argued with him.

The path was easier now that I could follow their voices.

"Perhaps there are things more important to them than friendship." After Alexi's words, there was silence. So things weren't as peaceful as they advertised. This was perfect.

I rounded the corner and the door to the duchess's chamber stood before me. The doors were open and two guards stood before it. They moved to block my path, but I slipped between them. The scrambled into the duchess's chambers after me. Upon entering the annoyingly bright and shiny room I find Alexi and some blonde woman sitting on a bed.

Wow, she was shameless.

"There you are, Alexi." I purred, marching right up to him. He jumped to his feet, face pale with fear. Oh, he was a good little actor, now wasn't he?

"Who are you, and I demand to know why you think you can just barge into my private chambers?" The woman also stood, attempting to intimidate me with her height. Yeah, all that did was let me see up her nose.

"Well, you're the one who is trying to seduce my fiance." I reached out and grabbed Alexi's hand.

"Your fiance?" She shrieked. For all that was evil in this world, her high pitched voice was the worst.

"Yes, and I would gladly like you to step away from him." I sighed, pointing out the fact that she had been slowly inching closer to Alexi. She jumped back over a good foot.

"You cannot be his fiance. You have no claim to him." She tilted her chin up, giving me an even better view of the interior of his nostrils.

"Ah, but I do." I flipped over the hand that I was holding to reveal a traditional engagement mark of the woodland fae marked onto his palm. I then opened my own palm to show the matching mark.

"That's impossible. You can't actually be engaged to her." She now spoke to Alexi. "You didn't actually go through with the ritual, did you?"

"It was either prison by marriage or literal prison. I did what I thought was best at the time." He knotted his hands in his hair.

"Well, I still won't let you take him. He came seeking refuge and I am going to give it to him." I had to admit, I admired her stubbornness. But, that wasn't about to stop me and my plans.

"Good luck with that." Grabbing Alexi's arm, I dragged him away.