home Chapter one. two . three . four . five . six . seven
A date for the wedding had not been announced yet. My father wanted a summer wedding, Allura wanted something sooner, but when daddy told her that this was the countryside, and if we held the wedding in the summer we could have more guests, she agreed. However, a specific date was not set yet.
Over the next month we visited the Baron's regularly, and he came to visit us. The Baron and I got closer. (Iglacias, I called him now) We would sneak off, and trade back rubs and kisses. His touch gave me such a warm glow and I loved the feel of his muscles! He seemed to really like the feel of my hands as they glided around his back and arms. After the first couple times, when we would first sneak off he would "catch me" -- he would come from behind and circle his arms around me in a strong bear hug. Then one arm would slide behind me to pin my arms behind me, and the other would take hold of my hair or neck, and he would lead me to a quiet corner. There he would spin me around and press my body into his with a passionate kiss. While he was "catching" me, something inside me was so, so willing! I didn't understand it, but I loved it.
We went on field trips, too. We cataloged the plants and animals we could find in the Kalzov valley, and made records of the rocks we saw in the surrounding hills. The Baron's ability to find things was sometimes uncanny. One week we would look through a picture book of flora and fauna, and I would point out interesting species. The next week the Baron would announce, "I think I have found one of those." (pointing to a picture), and we would head off to a particular hillside or glen, and there it would be! One time, Gunther showed up out of nowhere and joined us for a while. He talked privately with the Baron for a bit, then lead us to some dragon bones in a nearby cliff! They were truly bones, bones in rock, but they were all jumbled together so it was impossible to tell what the creature they were part of looked like. How they got into the rock was such a mystery, too!
"Medusa stalked this land." joked the Baron.
Then one day, we got an unusual message. The Baron requested my father to come with him on a trip to Italy. He gave no details, at least, none that my father would tell us about. Allura tried to get herself and me invited. "Oh, I miss Venice so! Are you sure you wouldn't like to take me and Amoletta along? I'm sure she misses her friends in Venice, too, and would love to catch up on news with them." But my father said this was business, and he and the Baron would be traveling lightly.
"Well, you should at least let me send Jackovy along with you to keep you well fed. You know how sensitive you are to strange foods these days." she suggested, and my father just smiled at that.
"If Jackovy came with me, who would feed you?" he said.
"... Oh dear, you're right." and Allura pouted as if she hadn't thought of that. Then she brightened, "I'll have him fix you some travel food. When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning."
My father left, loaded down with travel food Jackovy had prepared.
"Be sure to eat a little every day." said Allura as we waved my father off.
Allura and I were sad to see him go. But Allura was really sad, and as the days passed she got more and more agitated. A week later, she couldn't hold in whatever was bothering her any longer, "We should go to Venice and meet them there as a surprise. Yes, wherever they go in Italy, they have to come back through Venice. We should meet them there. Come, Amoletta, let us prepare for a trip!"
"A what? Who will keep the household?" I said.
"Oh, the servants can do that just fine. They always do. Hurry! Hurry! Lets get underway!"
Even if she was in a deathly hurry, Allura was still Allura. "Hurry! Hurry!" meant two days later she was ready to travel. We headed out in a caravan of a carriage and a wagon, with all her servants loaded in one or the other. This was traveling light and in a hurry? I don't think she left a stick of her stuff behind!
We traveled through the Kalzov valley in late fall, which is a pleasant time for traveling. The weather is cool enough to stimulate exertion, and some of the tree leaves are changing colors. It can be quite relaxing and stimulating at the same time, and as the caravan climbed out the Kalzov Valley, my heart climbed as well. Even Allura was... I was going to say was more relaxed, but as I looked at her I realized that wasn't so. She alternated between being lost in thought and staring at me... like I was prey.
The carriage crossed the summit and started down the far side. We were out of the Kalzov valley and into wilderness. A few minutes after we started down, Allura got a distressed look on her face. "Let me look at your hands, dear." She said it in the same tone a mother would use if she suspected her child had not washed her hands before dinner.
I held them out for her to inspect. She gathered them to her and looked them over closely. "Hold still." she commanded. ... It was the complete unexpectedness of it as much as her speed: Allura pulled out a pair of soft leather straps and tied my wrists together. When she was finished, she let me take my hands back.
"I put that on you to give you a tactile sense to what has happened, Amoletta. Our relationship has changed." said quietly and without any affectation. I was further shocked. I'd never heard her plain talk before. I didn't think she could do it!
I tested the straps. I could not ship my hands out. I reached for the knot. "Tut! tut! tut!" Allura slapped at my hand as I did. I ignored her.... and I was surprised for a second time: from somewhere she pulled out a needle-thin stiletto dagger and put it to my neck; there was nothing clumsy in how she did that, either! I settled down, leaned back, and put my hands on my knees.
"Close your eyes a moment, dear." she said. I did. When I opened them the knife was no longer in sight, "You have changed, my dear, from prospective stepdaughter to hostage."
home Chapter one. two . three . four . five . six . seven