Page 33 of Mushy Stuff
Nanni says, “Thank you, I will take care of her from here. Come, Pampa, we need to go back to our room, and then we are going to have a talk about this.” Then she shoos Pampa into the tunnel.
Once both of them are in the tunnel, Nanni gestures for us to be quiet until she is certain that the servant left. Then she asks Pampa what happened.
Pampa looks at us with huge, worried eyes, and says, “I couldn’t get the window unlocked. I went into the room,but before I could unlock the window, I scented one of the servants coming. I hid in the closet, but she must have scented me, and she found me. Nanni, I think…” She gives me a nervous look then continues, “I don’t think this is going to work. The servant was in there putting a heavy chain and cuff on the bedpost. I think they are going to cuff her to the bed.”
“What?!” Rage consumes me.
Nanni strokes my arm and shushes me. “Wold, calm yourself. Anger will not help us right now. If he is going to chain her to the bed, then he thinks that she will try to run. We need to come up with another plan.”
I growl.
Nanni tuts at me. “Let us go back to our room and think of another plan.”
Chapter 25
Idonotsleepat all that night. I pace the floor like a caged animal. Late in the night, after Pampa goes to sleep, I sneak up to the house to see if I can peer into one of Lydia’s windows. There are guards patrolling the main house, but I manage to slip by them and get to one of the side windows of her room.
I see her asleep on her bed. Pampa was right; I can see a cuff on her ankle. They have her chained to the bed. I’m filled with rage that they would dare do this to her, but I quickly try to rein it in before I break the window in front of me. I test the window to see if it might be unlocked, but it’s not. I go around to each window in her room and test them all one by one, but they are all locked. Then I move on to the bathroom. The first bathroom window Itry opens. It’s a tight fit, but I am able to squeeze through. Once I’m in, I quietly slip into Lydia’s room.
She’s asleep on her bed, on top of the covers. She still has her robe on. I remember enough of life at this estate to realize that this is not right.
I touch her arm and whisper her name, trying to wake her. She doesn’t move. I panic for a moment thinking that she is dead, but I can see her chest rise and fall shallowly.
It’s then that I notice a fine dusting of powder on her collar, and I growl. They must have drugged her again. There will be no waking her until it wears off.
I inspect the cuff and chain. I’m hoping that I will be able to break it, but it’s sturdy and strong.
When that fails, I study the lock on the cuff and try to commit it to memory so that I can explain it to Nanni. Maybe she will know where we can find the key.
Once I’m done, I spend a moment just studying her. She’s so beautiful that it makes my heart swell. Once I get her free of this place, I will give her my mating bite so that she can stay with me always.
No one has hurt her, and I count that as a blessing. I long to stay with her so that she doesn’t have to suffer this alone, but I know I can’t.
Before I leave, I bend down and kiss the top of her head. I ache to kiss her lips, but I’m worried about that powder.After I kiss her, I break a couple of mushrooms off my shoulder and tuck them into her hand. I hope that she will recognize them, and it will reassure her that I am here with her. I may not be at her side, but I can be with her from a distance.
I slip out of the bathroom window, then make my way back to Nanni’s rooms.
Chapter 26
IgroanasIstart to wake up. I must be coming down with something because I feel awful. Wait, I don’t remember getting into bed. I scowl as I remember the powder that the servant blew into my face. Did they seriously drug me again?
I move my legs and feel something heavy around my ankle. I also hear the clink of metal. What?
I try to sit up but am hit with a wave of nausea that knocks me back down. I roll over and lean my head off the side of the bed and vomit all over the floor.
Yep, it’s definitely that drug from before. I don’t even feel bad for vomiting all over the place. It serves them right for doing that to me.
Once the nausea subsides, I realize that I’m holding something clenched in my fist. When I open my fist to look, I find two small, slightly crushed mushrooms. It takes me a moment to recognize them as the mushrooms that grow on Wold’s shoulder. Wold! Hope explodes in my chest. He must be here! But where?
I shift on the bed again and hear the clink of metal and feel something tugging against my ankle. I look down to see a chain attached to an ankle cuff. What the…they chained me to the bed?!
The door opens and the two Elven servants come in, and I quickly slip Wold’s mushrooms into my robe. One of the servants says good morning to me. I just glare at them.
One of them, the one that drugged me last night, starts to come around the side of the bed and gasps when she sees the vomit. She gives me a wide-eyed look. “What happened?”
I glare at her and coldly say, “You drugged me.”
She puts her hands to her mouth. “But it shouldn’t have made you sick.”
