Onbekend(12)

FOUR




Arianna kept her eyes closed as she regained consciousness. From the feel of cold stone beneath her face, she had been moved to a new location out of her carpeted bedroom. She could hear two men gruffly talking only feet away from her, and she heard a dripping near her head that kept a beat to their conversation. The cold, damp floor she was placed on felt nothing like the ornate rooms she had seen in her grandfather’s house. She was somewhere else. The damp smell of mildew around her made her immediately think of a basement, but she didn’t dare open her eyes and look around.

“That went easier than planned. Since this girl has not met Lord Randolph yet, he will definitely not be able to tell the difference,” a deep, rusty voice said. “It has been years since the old man has seen his granddaughter.”

“Still, we need to watch out. You know her guards were all chosen to be the very best, but they only met her last night for the first time,” the younger raspy voice replied. The clanking of a large latch being opened made Arianna want to open her eyes, but she remained still, feigning sleep.

“How did it go?” the younger voice asked.

“Serine got in fine. No one seemed to even notice,” a third man’s voice said as he walked into the room. Arianna heard him near her. “She’s still out?” he asked his two comrades as Arianna felt something drop on her back.

“Yes if she were a dearg-dul, she’d be awake, but she’s human right now after all,” the older voice replied. “Then what is the plan to do with her?”

“For now, everything is set. At tonight’s party Serine will turn. After receiving Lord Randolph’s blessing, we won’t need this girl any more. Just leave her here and make sure all the exits are properly locked,” the leader said.

“But,” the younger man said with a trembling voice. “This one will also turn tonight, and if she doesn’t get blood,” he trailed off, imagining the outcome.

“It’s a horrible way to die,” the older voice said, finishing his younger comrade’s sentence.

“Does it matter?” the leader responded. “Actually, we need her dead. If they find out Serine isn’t Lord Randolph’s granddaughter, everything will be ruined, but it will be especially worse if this brat is alive. Without an heir, Lord Randolph will have to go on with the act of Serine as his granddaughter.” Arianna could feel the reluctance in the two follower’s voices as they grunted their agreement. “Besides, she’s an orphan. She has no one besides her grandfather. Who’s really going to miss her?”

“Can Serine really pull this off?” the younger voice asked.

“We’ve been grooming her since the day Randolph sent this one away. With all the surgeries, no one will be able to tell the difference physically. She is a perfect replica of the girl we have here. The only way this plan will fail is if they find the real Arianna,” the leader explained. “This girl must stay hidden and die, no matter what.”

Arianna waited until she heard the man in charge leave before finally opening her eyes. In the darkness of a single candle she could see that two men were huddled over a table in the middle of the room. She could faintly make out cards in one of the men’s hands. Without making a sound, she peered around the dim room and cell. There were metal bars separating her and the men with an ancient and oversized large lock on the door. The other three walls surrounding her were made of stone. She was in some sort of old-fashioned cell. Arianna was certain that the only way out was through the locked door. Arianna lifted her face from the cold, damp floor and watched the two men. Neither noticed that she moved.

“Where am I?” she bravely asked.

Startled, both men immediately turned to her. “Doesn’t matter,” the younger one with the raspy voice replied. She could see he wasn’t much older than her, and the scar across his throat accounted for his voice.

“Why did you kidnap me?” she asked.

“None of your business,” the older one now replied. Arianna stared at the long scar that ran from his left eye to his right cheek. “Keep quiet.”

Arianna moved to sit against the stone wall. She was trapped. They intended to kill her, but there was no way out of her jail cell. Arianna looked around the outside room. Only one door led into the small, cramped space. Arianna went back to lying on the ground. With her palms down on the surface, she listened to the vibrations of people walking. She was definitely underground, in an area filled with tunnels. No one spoke as they moved, silently turning down individual tunnels to their destinations. Arianna listened to find any friendly voice. Without a person talking, Arianna continued to listen to the footsteps. Arianna sat up as she recognized the faint click of Molina’s boots. Three people coming for me, Arianna thought.