Whisked Away

~xvi~Audrey

Audrey woke up and stretched. A gentle nudge at her side made her start, but she looked, and she smiled; the mountain lion had found her a few days ago, hiding in Mirabel’s house. Ever since, he hadn’t moved from her side. It had been a week though, and she was worried.
“Have you found my cousin yet?” she had asked Mirabel. She had even described both of her cousins, Bilbo, Aragorn, and Legolas in detail, but nothing turned up; she had always shaken her head and said, “It’s not safe.”
Audrey had never relented trying though. She knew there was something going on, keeping Mirabel out of the house until the wee hours of the morning, and causing a hullaballoo outside.
Audrey pet the big cat as she searched for a hood to wear; the jaguar wanted to play though, and kept wrapping its tail around her leg and tripping her. “Stop it,” she whispered, “I’m on a mission,” She pulled her hood up, and caressed the cat’s nose, while it purred affectionately.
“There is something going on out there, and I have to find out what it is.”
Audrey patted the cat goodbye, and she crept cautiously from the house. Past the twisted streets, she came across a square, which was filling up with people. Carefully, she kept to the edges, her back to a house, and watched the crowd, catching bits of conversation.
“The king-”
“The king? Are you sure?”
“Sure I am! I heard it myself from the messenger who fetched the message.”
“I wonder what he wants?”
“Who cares, so long as he doesn’t stay there too much longer.”
“What! That’s close to treason!”
“Oh, pish posh. Oh- here he comes!”
Audrey looked up, and there he was, drinking out a big mug, after dismounting from his steed. Audrey noticed an immediate chill in the air as he turned to the crowd. She shivered at his highness, and turned her back as he began his speech, only to turn around again out of curiosity.
“Today is the day I become invincible.” He declared, taking what appeared to be a book from his servant, “First, I write my name!” He said, “I shall rule over you, and only I shall have power! Second, I write the word Heart. May all my enemies’ hearts be broken.” He paused a moment, while Audrey’s eyes were popping out of her head, ‘Surely he can’t be serious!’  “Third, Spell. May a strong enchantment fall over my enemies and make them stumble. Last, death: for all my enemies.” He finished with a flourish, “May it serve as a reminder to all.”
He then mounted back up, and Audrey would have run then, but something kept her stationary, against the wall, so she stood there as the crowd dispersed. A short village woman, with a simple brown dress turned to a girl with long brown hair and spoke softly to her. The girl said something in return, and stood still for a moment. Audrey felt sympathy for the girl, who appeared, at least from the back, to be around her age; she knew firsthand how cruel the king could be, and now he would only have more power.
The girl turned to go with the woman, and Audrey gasped.
“Lillian!” she shouted, not caring who heard.
The girl spun, and her face showed astonishment mixed with relief mixed with joy.
“Audrey!” They ran to each other and squeezed until they each thought they would burst. Finally, they released each other, and took a step back. The woman stood there, a mixture of relief and confusion on her face. She held a finger to her mouth, and motioned them to follow her. They entered a cottage eventually, near the edge of town.
She looked around, and smiled finally. “Now we may talk, or rather, you may, as I have no idea what any of this is.”
Lillian laughed, “Well, this is my cousin Audrey, and she was in the king’s dungeons,” she turned to Audrey, “How did you escape?”
Audrey grinned, “I didn’t escape- at least not on my own- no, an old woman who works for the king helped me escape. Her name is Mirabel, and I have been staying at her house for a week.”
Lillian’s face went flat, “What? But – why - “she turned to Safia, who suddenly appeared as if she DID understand at last, and looked a little bit chagrined.
She coughed embarrassingly, and wrung her dress in her hands,
“Well, I guess I never got around to telling her that your cousin is held captive, so I guess she never knew-”
“But I told her myself, yesterday!” she said, surprised. “Why didn’t she tell me then?”
“Because there wasn’t time,” a voice said from the doorway.
They all turned, and Mirabel walked in, to sit down in the rocking chair and look at them.
“By the time you got around to telling me, you were on your way out the door to go visit the emperor, and right after that, we had to hurry back from the meeting this morning. I was going to bring her to the meeting, now that I knew, but by the time I got back to the cottage, your cousin had up and gone on her own, leaving behind a thoroughly disgruntled cat.”
“But-” Lillian said, then stopped. She smiled. “I guess you’re right. Well, we’re together now, so what do we -(puff)”
In a cloud of smoke, Lillian was gone. Mirabel jumped to her feet, agile for an old woman.
“Where did she go?” Audrey asked Mirabel, who narrowed her eyes, and then sat back down with a thump, shock on her face.
“Gone, Audrey.” she said, “She’s gone.”
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Audrey stared at the spot where Lillian had disappeared. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Mirabel standing there. She blinked. “Ok,” she said, pulling a chair beside Mirabel, “Tell me everything.”
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Audrey stared at the wall, putting together the pieces of the assassination attempt.
“I don’t see what could have changed it unless. . .” she snapped her fingers, “The coffee! He was practically gulping it down, and the caffeine would have been so strong. . . maybe that had some sort of effect on the magic!” She had another stroke of genius. She looked around, “Where are the others? - Bilbo, Aragorn, and Legolas?” Mirabel looked to Safia, who shrugged. “Around. - why?”
She smiled beatifically. “I need them to help me climb a volcano.”