Page 58 of If The Crown Fits
He started pulling her out of the cell and she tried to fight him, but she was weak. “Cai!” she called out my name and I looked up. “Let me go!” She tried to hit Lance, but it was to no avail as he dragged her away. I couldn’t move, couldn’t stand up, and couldn’t help her. I could barely breathe.
Chapter 15
Woodsbrook Manor
Lara
I don’t know why I shouted his name. It was instinctive and unplanned and utterly useless. Lance pulled me up the small stone staircase that led out of the cellar. Dark spots filled my vision. “What did you do to me?”
“You think you’re the only one who can make tonics?”
My stomach made a knot. I should have known, should have seen it coming and now I barely had the strength to stand up, much less fight back.
“If you’re wondering, it wasn’t in your wine, but on the rim of your cup.”
I let out a moan of pain and clutched my bleeding leg once we reached the top of the stairs. This tonic would need to wear off soon if I ever hoped to get out alive.
“It’s in your chambers, correct?” Lance asked, referring to the necklace, and I nodded. Why would Cai tell him?
Why would he give that up, even after knowing that I’m not Eloisa? It didn’t make sense, none of this did.
“Where did you put it, Lara?” Lance shoved open the door of my chambers and pushed me inside.
“In the top drawer.” I gestured to the dresser, watching the knife in his belt with every step he took. I brushed my hair out of my face as he opened the drawer, and I discovered it was wet with tears.
Lance pulled out the necklace and inspected it. I gathered all my strength and will in that moment and leaned forwards to grab the knife. Before he could turn, I jabbed it into his torso as hard as I could manage.
Lance let out a gasp, and once he realised what I had done, he smirked devilishly before dropping to the bedroom floor. I didn’t check to see if he was dying. I pulled open the dresser drawers and grabbed a few things. The world was still blurred, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins was starting to overcome the power of the tonic. I was slowly starting to become more awake, more in control of myself.
I stumbled into the hallway, awkwardly putting on breeches under my shift, but not before I had ripped a piece off to tie around my bleeding upper leg. After tucking my shift into my pants like a shirt, I pulled on a pair of riding boots without caring to fasten the laces.
I was running until it became difficult to breathe and then finally, finally I saw the glass door that led to the gardens and, beyond that, the forest. I stopped suddenly and Cordelia’s words sounded in my mind: “You will have to decide if the gold you’re being paid is worth his life.” I sighed. The gold was completely out of the question now. After all, I might have killed the man who was supposed to pay it to me.
However, Cai’s life might still be worth something, and not in the sentimental sort of sense. That, and the fact that he had stopped Lance from killing or wounding me severely. And I did so hate owing people things.
Clenching my teeth, I ran in the opposite direction, back towards the cellar.
It was dark and cold and smelled of must. I hurried towards the dim light of Cai’s cell. He was lying on the floor, barely conscious. I feared we didn’t have long before Lance’s guards came back.
“Come on.” He looked surprised to see me. I probably would have been too, if I were him.
“What—” He groaned as I helped him sit up. “What are you doing here?” I placed his arm around my shoulders to help him stand.
“Making sure you don’t die, at least not yet.”
We made our way out of the cellar and my leg felt weak.
But complaining about the pain wasn’t going to do me any good now. I was just lucky that Lance hadn’t cut too deep. It hurt, but it wouldn’t kill me. At least now I knew why he was so desperate for Cai not just to trust me, but also to like me. He knew that if his first plan didn’t work out, he would be able to use me to get what he wanted from Cai. If only I knew what his plan was after that. Was he really going to let me go, or simply kill us both?
“Where’s Lance?” Cai coughed.
“Bleeding on the bedroom floor,” I replied curtly.
“You killed him?”
“I don’t think so.”
I headed for one of the doors, hoping they would lead to a fairly secluded spot outside. If Lance’s guards were to see us, neither of us would be able to run away.
