Page 70 of Pippa of Lauramore
The wedding is over.
Rough hands pull me from the courtyard floor, shaking me into consciousness.
“Pippa! What is wrong with you?” Lionel demands. His face is red with anger, and he looks terrifying.
“What’s going on?” I blink to clear my eyes and mind.
“You are my wife.” His face scrunches with fury. “You will behave!”
There’s no one around. I shrink from him, but he pulls me back, his hand clenched hard on my arm.
“You haven’t won the tournament,” I protest. “We’re not married!”
He holds his hand like he’s going to hit me, but he pulls back when he hears a scream from the palace.
“The baby!” Leonora shrieks. “They’ve drugged me and killed the baby!”
She falls on the courtyard in front of us. Her clothes are rags, her eyes are vacant, and her face is sickly pale.
I scream, and I keep on screaming.
“Pippa, wake up,”Leonora’s soft voice says. “Please wake up.”
My eyes snap open, and I hear the echo of an earsplitting shriek. It’s mine.
I grab Leonora’s face and examine her. In the dim, almost nonexistent light, she looks fine. My heart is racing, and I’m shaking. I’m clammy like I’ve been sweating, and I’m almost certain I’m going to be sick.
“Lay back down,” she says. “The nausea will pass in a moment.”
I can’t remember where I am or why I’m here. I feel like I’ve swallowed sand. “Where are we?”
“A cave somewhere. They took us through the woods, and I lost my landmarks.”
Who arethey?
Then it trickles back, first images and then the entire memory.
“They drugged me!” The nausea has indeed passed, and now all I feel is rage.
“Shhh.” Leonora leans forward, motioning in the dark. “They drank themselves into a stupor, but I think one may still be awake.”
I doubt that, considering I was just screaming for all I’m worth, and no one seems disturbed. “Where’s Marigold?”
I find her on the other side of Leonora. She whimpers softly, and she thrashes madly in her sleep. Leonora checks her brow. “She’s quieter in her hallucinations than you.”
I look around.
We’re in a cave. Wind rustles through leaves not far from us, so we must be near the mouth. I can make out sleeping figures across the cavern. I think the exit is just past them. Do we dare sneak over them? I’m not sure how to take out a full-grown man without a weapon. Should we make our way through the tunnels and see if we can find an exit?
It’s dangerous to wander unknown caves. Not only are there wild animals, but there are also toxic gasses and underground rivers.
Sweat still clings to my skin, and I shiver. My head throbs, and I rub my temples as I ask, “What did they do to me?”
“The cloth was covered with maid-of-the-shadows dust,” Leonora says.
A growl escapes me. “We’re lucky it didn’t kill us.”
Leonora glances at Marigold, and she looks worried. Bits and pieces of my hallucination are coming back to me. I look at Leonora sharply.
