Page 56 of Lost with a Scot
“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Rosalind said as she settled deeper into the settee.
“Do you suppose we could ask the others if we can go home now?” Anna asked.
“I believe so. We can make our apologies to lady Eugenia and quietly depart. We have achieved our objective, after all. Let me go see.” Rosalind stood and went over to the door. She opened it, but rather than exit, she halted abruptly and backed up a step. The odd movement caught Anna’s attention.
“Rosalind?”
Aiden’s sister backed up yet another few steps as a man entered the retiring room. He held a pistol aimed at Rosalind’s chest, its barrel gleaming menacingly in the candlelight. Anna didn’t dare to breathe as she tried to think what to do.
“There you are, princess,” the man said in Danish with a distinct accent. A chill shot up her spine. He was Ruritanian. Anna slowly rose, every muscle in her body tense. If she saw the chance, she would fight. She’d had years of defensive training growing up. One man she could handle.
“Anna, be careful,” Rosalind breathed in a mix of fear and anger.
“Come with me, princess, or I will shoot this pretty bird.” This time his words were in English, no doubt because he wished Rosalind to know her life was in danger. But the man hadn’t bet on one thing. Rosalind wasn’t English. She was Scottish, and as such had a Scottish temper.
“Pretty bird, am I?” Rosalind growled and knocked the man’s arm away. The pistol flew from the stunned man’s hand and clattered onto the floor. He cursed and backhanded Rosalind so quickly that she cried out at the hard blow and stumbled away from him. Anna took advantage of the distraction and lunged for the pistol, but it was too close to its owner.
He bent down to grab it, and Anna changed her strategy of attack in the blink of an eye. Lifting her skirts, she kicked the man hard in the side of his knee. He slammed back into the wall with a howl of pain, but he managed to keep his fingers around the gun and point it at Rosalind.
“I warned you.”
Anna stepped forward, stepping in front of Rosalind and raising her hands defensively. The man’s brown eyes were cold and vengeful. A sneer twisted his face.
“My only orders were to bring you inalive.”
She understood his threat.Alivewas not the same thing asunharmed.
“Unfortunately for you, that pistol won’t fire.”
“What—?” He glanced down at the gun just long enough for her to take advantage of his mistake. She spun and kicked out, hitting him in the lower belly. While her skirts were of bit of a hindrance, she still managed to land a fair blow. Air whooshed out of his lungs as he fell onto his back.
“Rosalind, go! Get help!” She shoved Rosalind toward the door, but her friend was thrown back as several more men filled the room, all of them armed. Two of them grabbed Rosalind by her arms. The man on the floor was helped to his feet by another man, who cursed under his breath.
“Fain warned us she’d had lessons in self-defense. I told you we needed more men,” the man she’d knocked to the floor told the others.
The man who spoke next seemed to be the one in charge. “Take the princess, kill the other.” He waved his gun at the men surrounding Anna.
“Wait, no!” Anna cried out. “Stop!” she told the leader of the men. “I will come with you willingly, but only if you leave my friend unharmed. Kill her, and I swear you will have to kill me as well.”
“No, Anna!” Rosalind cried out.
One of the men struck Rosalind in the temple with the butt of his pistol, and she crumpled to the floor.
“Bind the princess, but make sure you cover her hands with a cloak,” the leader said, and as his men followed his orders, he put his pistol away. “One of my men will stay behind with your friend. If we are stopped for any reason before we leave the building, she will die. Do you understand?”
Anna nodded, her eyes locked on his, but she said nothing.
The leader looked to one of the men. “Stay here. If you hear an alarm or are caught here, slit her throat and escape. If not, leave in ten minutes and find your way to the docks.” He then turned his attention back to Anna, affecting a slight bow. “If you will follow us, Your Highness.”
* * *
Aiden exited the private room,with Ashton and Godric on his heels. They had formed a solid plan to rally troops across London using a network of connections through the Earl of Morrey, a friend of Ashton’s. It had been clear in the meeting with King George that he could not commit his own troops publicly, but there were plenty of men whom he would quietly approve of to take up the fight against Yuri’s forces, either on behalf of their honor for defending a princess or because Ashton and Godric could pay them a fee. Within a week, they could set sail with Anna and be bound for Ruritania. Morrey had assured them that while many men could be gathered here in England, he could rally just as many across the Channel to aid them.
The ball was still in full swing, dancing couples still covering much of the floor.
“Bloody balls,” Godric muttered in annoyance.
Aiden could empathize. He much preferred dancing in the forest with Anna in his arms and the music of songbirds in his ears.
