Once Upon A Rose - Chapter 16
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And now, here is the next part of our story.
Chapter 16
“How can you do this?” Celsiana asked. “Don’t you care at all about my brother?”
“He is handsome, but I plan to do more for my kingdom than participate in an arranged marriage.” Arabella smiled. “I would think you of all people could appreciate that.”
“I would never betray my people,” Celsiana replied.
“And neither have I. In fact,” Arabella glanced over at her companion, “we plan to make everyone in our kingdom much wealthier.” She looked at Orris. “Tie them up and we’ll deal with them later.”
“This is going to cost you a lot more,” Orris said as his men tied Celsiana and Nicholas to the chairs.
“I can’t believe Seraline knew about this,” Celsiana said, looking up at Arabella. “I always thought you were cold and aloof, but she seems to really care about my brother.”
“She does,” Arabella said, rolling her eyes. “One reason I didn’t tell her what I had planned. And I doubt her father would go along with it even if we had told him. He’d much rather come up with some diplomatic solution that would cost us half our profits.”
“Do you want me to gag them?” one of the men asked.
“No need,” Arabella replied, turning to Orris. “No one will hear them, and we’ll be back to take care of them very soon. Do you have the item we discussed?”
Orris dumped some of the soap into the linseed oil jar, then put on the lid. “I saw them demonstrate this and it’s exactly what you wanted.”
“When we attack the castle, this should keep our arrows burning long enough to do some real damage.” Arabella smiled at Celsiana. “I want to thank you for all your help.”
Celsiana glared at her but didn’t say anything. She watched them all leave, then turned to Nicholas. “How soon do you think they’ll test it?”
“Soon,” Nicholas replied. “Since you’re a princess, please tell me your friends are the royal guards and not my sister and her friends.”
Celsiana looked down for a moment. “I told them to get your parents once they found out where Orris was taking me.”
“Do you want to tell me why you did all this?” Nicholas asked. “You’re a princess and while I admire your courage, what exactly were you hoping to accomplish?”
“I needed to get out of the castle,” Celsiana explained. “I wanted to spend time with my friends…the first real friends I’ve ever had.”
“Well, at least this explains how you got the natron.” Nicholas smiled. “Trevor mentioned you had a science tutor from that land.”
Celsiana smiled back. “Are you ready to get out of here?” she asked, holding her hands up.
“How did you do that?” asked Nicholas.
“Even we gardening princesses can do a little magic,” she said, holding up the pocketknife Nicholas had given her. “See, magic?”
“Very funny,” Nicholas replied as she cut him loose.
“We need to find your family and then warn my father,” Celsiana said.
“We should warn the king first,” Nicholas stated.
“Arabella won’t do anything until they know I’m missing. She’s too greedy to pass up a ransom like that.” Celsiana wound up her braid and put her hat back on. “You know, I never did like her.”
“The feeling seemed to be mutual,” Nicholas replied as they quickly made their way to the main door. “Locked,” he said.
“We can go out the window,” Celsiana said, “if you help me move a few of those crates.”
As they walked over to the other side of the room, they heard wood splintering. A moment later, the door flew open and Nicholas’ father walked in with men Celsiana didn’t recognize.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he said, hugging Nicholas. “Your sister told us you were here. She and her friend are with your mother at Reginald’s house.”
One of the men nodded. “She told us about Orris being the one behind this.”
“Father, I have much to tell you, but first, we have to see the king.” Nicholas took Celsiana’s hand. “Right away.”
“You want to take our gardener to see the king?” his father asked in surprise.
“She’s not a gardener,” Nicholas replied, then smiled. “Well, not just a gardener. She’s also our princess.”
His father looked from Nicholas to Celsiana. Taking off her hat, she said, “Thank you for coming to our rescue.”
“Your Majesty,” the men said, bowing before her.
“This is why I snuck out,” Celsiana whispered to Nicholas, then turned and smiled at the men. “If you would be so kind, I’ll need your help to stop a traitor.”
Read another chapter next Friday!