Chapter 30: Kidnapped
****
Clarkent changed out of his ballroom outfit and into his suit of livery and went to the Riding Stable. But he did so very slowly, the night still resting unhappily with him.
Once at the place where he spent most of his time, he stood morosely by High Flyer, staring at the horse as if the creature was his last connection to the princess. But Princess Loisette’s favorite horse simply ignored him, closing his eyes and trying to sleep. The only indication of the horse’s awareness of his surroundings was the way his ears flicked whenever Clarkent let out a heavy sigh.
<I shouldn’t have gone,> Clarkent reflected. Attending the ball had been an idiotic thing to do. He couldn’t reprimand himself enough. Dancing with the princess--yes, *that* had certainly been a good idea. *Not*.
Grabbing the necklace from that ogre cave had been yet another stupid move. Why had he thought he could get all chummy with royalty? Why had he tried to rise to a friendship above his station? It was like reaching for the stars--the only way for a normal man to come close was for one of them to fall . . . and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to bring the princess down to his level. She deserved to remain aloft. Even if it meant she was untouchable to him. And why had he asked her to meet with him, anyway? Why was he standing around and expecting that she would remember? Expecting that she would take time from her night of majesty to visit a humble stableboy? Why was just thinking about her muddling his head so much?
He was mired in these dark thoughts when the twitch of High Flyer’s ears made him turn, and he saw Peri entering the stable hastily. Clarkent pursed his lips and stared at him, certain the magician was going to interrogate him on what had occurred at the ball.
But that wasn’t what happened at all. Instead, Peri said to him in a voice that was soft and low, “I have news from the castle.”
Clarkent frowned in confusion, the older man’s statement throwing him for a loop. Having just come from the castle not long before, Clarkent wasn’t certain what the older man could mean. “What kind of news?” he asked cautiously. “How do you know this?”
Peri stepped closer, still speaking very quietly. “Peregrine Falcons have great hearing, so James has been a very helpful source of information for me, though I also have other sources in the castle. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is this: the Regent intends to force Princess Loisette to marry him tomorrow after her coronation so he can continue to rule Metropolita.”
“Wh-what?” Clarkent gasped, his hands clenching at his sides. “He can’t *do* that!” His heart was protesting so loudly he could barely hear himself think.
“He plans to and will,” Peri said firmly, “unless we do something about it.” He stared at Clarkent, his face grim. Then he turned his head away, his bearing almost sad. “And I worry for her life. I have long suspected that he killed King Samuel.”
“You--you think he . . . murdered the king?” Clarkent whispered. How could someone have done such a terrible thing?
The magician nodded, swiveling back to look at him. “But he covered his tracks well, I’m afraid. There was no trace of evidence linking King Samuel’s death to him. If anyone suspected Duke Alexander’s involvement, fear must have kept them quiet.”
Clarkent placed a hand on Peri’s arm and gazed at him pleadingly. “We can’t let him hurt L--the princess.” Her name sat like a lump in his throat. But speaking it would take his thoughts back to somewhere that they just couldn’t be at the moment. There were other more important things to think about right now.
“I agree, son. What we need is time to prepare and learn more. And for now, we must get the princess to safety.”
“You’re right,” Clarkent said, bobbing his head once. “What do you want me to do?”
“I live in a cottage deep in the royal forest which no one knows about. It is hidden by the same kind of concealment spell as the cave where Phantom is. I will find James and send him to lead you to it. You must take Princess Loisette with you. She should be safe there, and you will be able to talk freely without worrying about being overheard. Right now, it is an hour until midnight--she should be finishing with the ball about an hour after that. Allow her to enjoy herself--but after the masquerade ends, you must find her. Alexander won’t make his move tonight, but we must. We have to act first.”
“How long do we stay there?” Clarkent asked him, his thoughts jumping ahead. How long would he be alone with Princess Loisette?
“I will come and get you both when I find out more information and believe that the princess can return without fear,” Peri told him. “I need to put up some safeguards and learn more about Alexander’s plans and who his accomplices are. There is always the chance this is an idle rumor, though I fear it is not. He has been waiting for this day. I am sure of it.”
Clarkent nodded, staring seriously at the older man. A question was burning on his tongue. “Why are you doing this for the princess? The Regent . . . he . . . he is one of her kind.” They were both upper class. The Regent was the highest-ranking man in the kingdom. Wasn’t he the sort of man she was supposed to be with? Why was Peri fighting against this? Clarkent was glad for it, but he didn’t completely understand.
“No,” Peri said, his eyes flashing, “he is not one of her kind. He is selfish and thirsty for power. If he continues to rule, then the kingdom will suffer more. And it won’t be too long before even the Black Knight finds it hard to take away the people’s despair.” He stared at Clarkent, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “And besides . . . she deserves to be happy.”
“I want her to be,” Clarkent whispered in a choked voice, not sure if he was speaking to himself or Peri--all he knew was that he would do anything to help the princess be happy.
But despite the quiet nature of Clarkent’s utterance, the magician heard him and answered, “I know.” And then, with a slight nod, he disappeared out the stable door.
Clarkent gazed out into the night. The Regent could never make Princess Loisette happy. Clarkent didn’t know who would, but that man certainly was not the one. Clarkent knew that deep within his heart.
But though Peri’s plan had seemed so straightforward, Clarkent was now realizing there was a flaw with it. The princess would never believe such an outrageous story from a peasant like him. He could just imagine himself walking up to her and saying, “The Regent is going to make you marry him whether you want to or not.” Like she would put any stock into the truthfulness of that. She would simply dismiss him as crazy and waltz right back out of the stable--that was, if she even *intended* to come to their meeting in the first place. If she didn’t, he would have to sneak up to her room . . . and that thought scared him. If a stableboy was discovered sneaking into the princess’s room at night, then--
He took in a deep breath, not wanting to finish that thought. There was only one way around this. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t have any other choice.
****
When Loisette finally left the ballroom, she discovered she was walking with millions of butterflies flapping around in her stomach. As if dancing with the man in blue and gold hadn’t been enough to addle her, now she was going to meet with a stableboy on the night before she was supposed to become ruler of the kingdom. Midnight had already come and gone, so she was technically seventeen. All that was left was her coronation to complete the transition. And then everything would be different.
She nearly went straight to meet with Clarkent, suddenly wanting so much to be able to see him one more time, but she decided to first change out of her ballroom dress into a different one. She felt the dress Aliss had given her would draw too much attention when she tried to sneak out to the Riding Stable. Then, on a whim, she put on the necklace the stranger had dropped. It gave her a sort of comfort and made her feel just the tiniest bit less anxious about the upcoming rendezvous. It was as if the pegasus there was available to fly her away on a moment’s notice if she needed it. But she knew she wouldn’t. If there was anyone who could make her feel safe, it was Clarkent.
She left the castle and crept out into the night, narrowly avoiding the attention of a trio of rambunctious partygoers who hadn’t quite brought themselves to leave the castle yet. As the Riding Stable loomed before her, she felt her heartbeat begin to quicken a little. She stepped into the large building with an air of anticipation, a smile ready to leap onto her face as she searched the area nearby for Clarkent. But the only light in the stable was that which leaked in from the stars and full moon, so it was hard to see much. She opened her mouth, ready to call out Clarkent’s name--
--only to let out a muffled scream as she felt the pressure of an arm around her chest and a cold hand on her mouth.
She immediately thrust her right arm backward, only to let out a whimper as her elbow collided with something metal. Her assailant loosened his grip for a second, only to tighten it as she struggled to get free.
In the dim light coming in from outside, she was just able to see the armored arm at her chest lift to give something to the hand by her mouth. And then she was gagged as she fought harder against the person holding her. But the metal coating his body made all her gestures useless, and before long, her hands had been bound in front of her and her legs beneath her. With her feet pressed together, it was hard to maintain balance, but she somehow managed to remain nearly still, only moving her head to glare at the stranger as he moved into the light pouring in from the entrance. After seeing that armor, there was no doubt in her mind as to who he was.
The Black Knight.
He had come to kidnap her--probably to ask for some sort of ransom.
The only question was . . . what had he done to Clarkent?
****
It pained Clarkent so much to be the source of such anxiety for the princess, but he was doing this to save her. Maybe she would never thank him for this, but he had to do it. He couldn’t take the chance that she wouldn’t believe him. And it was much easier to see her angry with the Black Knight than it was to see her deriding Clarkent for being taken in too easily by rumors. With the latter, he would have been helpless to save her.
Through the slits in his helmet, he was able to see the glare she threw at him, and it nearly made him flinch and rethink his plan. But he made himself move confidently toward Phantom, whom he had placed in the empty stall that once belonged to Penelope Grace. He brought the horse out, feeling a streak of dark amusement as the princess tried to scoot across the floor in what was probably one of the slowest escape attempts ever made. Then, after only a second’s hesitation, he placed his hands on both sides of the princess, tightening his fingers around her. She squirmed to free herself, but he lifted her and placed her sideways on the front of the saddle, feeling the uncomfortable stretch in his side as he did so. The princess immediately stopped moving . . . realizing, as he had, that if she tried to struggle while on the saddle, then she would fall face-first onto the ground. She glared at him again.
Ignoring the pang of regret that she was justified in giving him such a look, he mounted the horse. He placed his arms around her and reached for the reins, kicking Phantom and bringing him out into the night. Clarkent had to admit to himself that he relished having the princess in his arms, though he hated the reason it had to happen . . . just as he hated the armor blocking him from being able to better feel her pressed against him.
But he shoved those thoughts away with a sense of shame and concentrated on guiding his horse. All he needed to think about now was keeping the princess safe. James was flying overhead, leading him to his destination as Peri had said he would.
Clarkent tried not to think about the young woman in his arms. Since he had resolved not to speak to her--so she wouldn’t guess his real identity--it was hard to bite back all the apologies hovering in his mouth. He didn’t want her to think ill of the Black Knight, but he had practically ensured that she would with this stunt. If only Gawain could see the Black Knight now, what would he think of him? His opinion would have probably turned just as horrible as the princess’s had. Any points the Black Knight might have earned by showing up at the tilting match would have utterly dissipated.
Clarkent really hated that he had to be a bad guy to be a good guy.
