Chapter Eleven

Tara and the strange man had been traveling for twelve weeks. The only time they ever stopped was when they had to rest and eat. This was one of those times. The horse was drinking out of a pond. Tara was sitting on top of a blanket. The man was lying down on the ground, trying to go to sleep. She spoke up and said, “I know who you are.” “Peter told me you were going to come after me.” “Your name is Kevin.” The only thing I don’t know is why would want to kidnap me.” “The only explanation I can come up with is you want more money.” Kevin began laughing. “You’re right my name is Kevin.” “But you’re wrong about me kidnapping you for money.” ”Then tell me, what other reason there for kidnapping a princess?” “You’ll find out in a few weeks.” “I don’t want to wait that long.” “Can you please tell me now?” “No, and if you keep on asking me, I’ll cut your off one of your feet.” “I wonder how you would like walking with only one foot.” “I want you to remain quiet so I can get some sleep.”

Tara decided to wait until he was asleep so she could try to escape. When she saw that he had finally fallen asleep, she got of her blankets and slowly started to walk away. But as soon as she started to walk past him, he grabbed her ankle and whispered in her ear, “If you ever try to leave me again, I’ll have to kill you.” “Now you’re going to have to lay next to me for the rest of the night.” He let go of her ankle and forced her to lay down with him. “If I were you, I wouldn’t even think of trying to run away.” “I have a knife in my pocket and I can use it whenever I want.” She laid there and thought about her as she went to sleep. She awoke the next day and saw Kevin packing all of the blankets and gearing up the horse. “You won’t get any breakfast today because of what you did to me last night.” “Now hurry up and get up on the horse.” “I don’t have very much patience today.” Tara sat behind him and said, “I just wanted you to know that I hate you and I’m never going to forgive you for this.” Kevin replied, “I’m glad you told me, because now you have made this so much more fun for me.”

Peter was sitting down in his study, having a private discussion with Phillip. “I hate just sitting here and being unable to do anything for preparing for this war.” “I need to get Tara back from him” “She most definitely has a lot of valuable information for us.” “You’re right sir; you do have to talk to her.” “But aren’t you angry at her for leaving you like she did?” “I am angry at her, but I still need to talk to her.” “Everything she ever told me was a lie.” “She used me so she could escape from me again.” “I told her father that I would always take care of her.” “Why am I still in love with her after everything she has done to me?” “I don’t think she lied to you.” “I believe she really does love you.” “She probably ran away because she was you would killed because of her.” “How do you know why she left me?” “Because I’ve seen this kind of love happen so many times in my old age.” “Even if you what you said is true, I still could never forgive her for what she did to me.” “You may think that way now but you’ll change your mind when you see her again.”

Tara and Kevin had finally reached his castle after weeks of traveling on horseback. Kevin quickly got off his horse and picked up Tara, while he gently carried her to the ground. The guards came and took her to one of the dungeons inside the castle. She lay down on the floor and tried to go to sleep. But she couldn’t fall asleep knowing that she was in Kevin’s castle. So she just sat up and tried to think of something else. She heard footsteps moving closer to where she was. She looked up and saw Kevin standing across from her. “Why have you come to see me?” “Did you come to make my life more miserable then it already is?” “Even though I would enjoy making your life miserable, I came here for another reason.” “I know about your secret, which you’ve been hiding from me.” “I had my physician give you a physical examination while you were knocked out.” “He told me you’ve been pregnant for almost nine months.” “So now I know that there is an heir to the throne.” “You won’t have to worry; I won’t have your baby killed.” “You should know that I do show mercy, when it comes down to children.” “That may be true, but I know you’ll have me murdered before I even get to see my child’s eyes.” “You can believe whatever you want, even though you’re wrong.” “I would never want to kill you.” “I have plans for you and your child.” “I don’t want to have a part in any of your plans, so you might as well kill me now.” “Believe me; you will be part of my plans whether you want to or not.” “I’m going to leave now and let you sit here to fell sorry for yourself.” He left her and went back to his bedroom.

Tara suddenly started to hear an entirely different set of footsteps. She turned around and saw Christina staring right back at her. “I want to find out the real reason why my husband would want to kidnap you.” “Can you please tell me everything he has said to you?” “From what I can remember, I think he said he has something planned for me and my baby.” “I fear he plans to make you become his mistress.” “I can not let this happen.” “I don’t want you to have to go through what his other mistresses were forced to do.” “I’m going to help you escape.” “Why do you want to help me?” “You barely even know me.” “I know my husband is a lire and a murderer.” “I have to live with him for the rest of my life.” “You are very young; you still have so much more in your life you haven’t lived yet.” Christina unlocked the wooden bars preventing Tara from going out and said, “I have ordered all of the guards to take a break from being on duty.” “So you won’t have any trouble getting away from here.” Tara got up and said, “I could never thank you enough for this.”

Just as she was about to walk out the door, she saw Kevin standing in the middle of the doorway. “So you could make a fool of me and get away with committing treason against your own husband.” “You already know the punishment for treason is getting your head cut off.” “But I’m not going to have you killed.” “After all, you are the mother of my children.” “Do you think I’m stupid enough to let you do something like this and get away with it?” “Well you’re wrong, from now on you’re not allowed to travel anywhere.” “You won’t even be able to go to visit your friends.” “You should have thought about that before trying to help this prisoner leave the castle grounds.” “I don’t care if I have to stay here with you.” “I’m just sorry I couldn’t help Tara get away from this horrible place.” “Now I’ll have to live the rest of this nightmare with you.” “I’m begging you to please let this girl go free.” “I will never let her go.” “She is the key to me winning this war.” Kevin pushed Tara back inside the dungeon and locked the keyhole to the wooden bars. “Now you’re going to come upstairs with me and go to bed Cristina.” Christina went up the stairs and left Tara sitting in a dark room, all alone.

Tara thought to herself, I wonder why Kevin needs me so bad. There seems to be some kind of secret he doesn’t want me to know about yet. I have been nothing but trouble to Peter ever since he married me. I’m surprised he’s still looking for me; after all I have done to him. I am never going to be a good wife for him. If I were him, I’d start looking for a new girl to marry. I’m not that pretty and defiantly not smart. I don’t know why he’s still in love with me. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow why Kevin wants me to stay here. After a few hours had passed, she fell asleep on the cold and hard floor.