Page 82 of Disenchanted
My shoes dropped from my nerveless fingers to the floor. I could not breathe, could not move, as though if I remained still enough Horatio would not notice me. A rather irrational notion since my nose was flattened against his chest.
I stumbled back a step as I gazed, stricken, up at him. My lips parted but no words came. My brain seemed to have shut down as well. Despite being immobilized by sheer panic, one realization penetrated my frozen mind. Horatio looked nearly as shocked as me.
“Ella,” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I— I—” I babbled. I noticed the bruise darkening his eye and momentarily forgot all else. “Oh, you have been hurt.”
I reached up to caress his cheek.
“It’s nothing,” he said. He closed his eyes, sighing at my touch. Then he removed my hand from his face and eyed me sternly. “You did not answer my question. What are you doing in this part of the palace? Don’t you know it is forbidden?”
“Is it?” I widened my eyes, trying to look both innocent and appalled. I have never been as glib a liar as Mal. I had to moisten my dry lips before I went on. “Well, ah— you did order me to stay out of the way of the fighting.”
“The fight is over, and I never meant for you to come here.”
“But the entryway was not guarded, so how should I know I was not allowed to come this way? I was so alarmed and confused that I blundered beneath the arch to hide and… and then I saw all these suits of armor and was intrigued by them, so I thought there was no harm in doing a little exploring and… and…”
I trailed off. I saw by the skeptical arch of his eyebrows that Horatio did not believe a word I was saying. Seeking to distract him from questioning me further, I asked, “If this area is off-limits, why are you here?”
“I am a garrison commander, one of the king’s loyal Scutcheons. Unlike you, I am allowed to be here.”
“So, you came looking for me?”
“No, I had no idea where you had vanished. I was looking for Sidney Greenleaf.”
“Mercato?” I cast a panicked look around me. The thought that I could have blundered into the king’s formidable wizard instead of Horatio chilled me to the bone. “Mercato is lurking somewhere near here?”
“I doubt that he is ‘lurking,’” Horatio replied drily. “But yes, I saw Greenleaf come this way and I urgently need to speak to him.”
Greenleaf? That was the second time Horatio had dared to call Mercato by his real name. Was he on such intimate terms with the king’s powerful wizard? I found the idea a little disturbing.
“Why were you looking for Mercato?” I asked.
“I need to speak with him. Because of that foolishness in the ballroom, the entire Hanson family and a few other Midtown citizens have been arrested by the palace guard. Besides the king, the wizard is the only one with the power to contravene that order. If I cannot convince Sidney—” Horatiocaught himself this time and amended, “Mercato, to release the prisoners into my custody, their punishment could end up being dire indeed.”
I shuddered, afraid to imagine what would happen to Myrtle and her family if they were hauled off to the Dismal Dungeons. And Fortescue! Had he been arrested as well?
“Do you think you will be able to persuade Mercato?” I asked anxiously.
“I believe so. Mercato can be reasonable at times.”
Considering the wizard’s hysterical rage that I had witnessed, I doubted this was going to be one of those times, but I nodded in agreement.
“Then it is urgent that you should find him as soon as possible. I must not detain you.” I tried to slip past Horatio, but he was not about to let me escape so easily.
Stealing his arm about my waist, he pulled me gently but firmly back in front of him. “We still have not settled the matter of you being here in this restricted area.”
“Haven’t we?” I gave a nervous laugh. “Goodness! I hope you are not planning to arrest me.”
The stern set of his mouth softened with a slight smile. “No, of course not, but—”
“I am so glad that you found me,” I rushed on. “I have been looking for you all evening.”
“You have been?” Again, that skeptical lift of his brows.
“Indeed, I have. We were supposed to dance, remember?”
“I did not forget,” he replied gravely.
