― Criss Jami

Lord Utteridge and Lord Ashwin led Rhea and Leia through the back of the inn, where a carriage was, incidentally, waiting for them.

“Oh, how convenient, that a carriage should be so prepared for our rushed departure. In fact, where’s the bloody rain you were talking of, Lord Ashwin? True, we should’ve never taken your good, reliable word for it, no, you are not atall reliable are you, you insignificant, cowardly bastard. Wait ‘til I retrieve my weapon and lay it upon you most viciously. You shall rue the day you ever thought of crossing-”

“Shut her up, Ashwin,” Utteridge muttered. Ashwin glowered at Leia, reaching up to yank cruelly at her hair. She did not give him the pleasure of crying out.

“You will hold your wretched tongue, or we’ll have to cut it out,” Ashwin hissed.

Leia smirked, nonplussed, “I see, your true colors finally come to light then?”

Rhea quietly watched the exchange between Leia and Ashwin, desperately hoping that Leia would actually hold her tongue, but known all too well that she would not.

Utteridge opened the carriage door and stepped in, then he turned and gave Rhea a sinister smile, raising his hand, beckoning her to him. Rhea grimaced.

“My lord-” Rhea started. Utteridge shook his head.

Utteridge reprimanded, “Now, now, don’t cause a scene. Remember what I said earlier? Ashwin?”

Rhea heard a soft grunt and turned to see Ashwin shove her roughly to the ground, where she landed on her knees. Rhea gasped, starting toward her friend to help her up.

“Ah, ah,” Utteridge murmured. Rhea watched as Ashwin held the gun up to Leia’s friend. Rhea’s lip threatened to tremble, but she held it back. She was determined to find a way out of this wretched man’s grasp, but she couldn’t do it if Leia’s life was threatened.

She hesitated another second before turning and taking Utteridge’s hand into the carriage. She was forced to sit next to the lord.

“Get up,” Ashwin ordered. Leia shot him a murderous glare and stood slowly.

“I dare you to try that again, you filthy mongrel,” Leia warned. Ashwin’s hand tensed on the gun and he shoved her again toward the carriage, urging her in. As she stepped in, her foot shot out behind her and kicked at Ashwin’s shin.

Ashwin yelped and momentarily lost his grip on Leia, who tried to retrieve the gun from the young lord, but another audible click in the small space had her pausing, looking to the source of the sound.

“You are testing my patience, girl.” Utteridge gritted his teeth, up to his wits with the useless antics of the Edmond girl.

“You won’t get away with this!” Leia promised.

Utteridge gave her a mocking grin. “That, my dear, is up to debate. I will get away with this and more.”

Ashwin finally righted himself and stepped into the carriage, and just like that, they were off, without anyone knowing they had even gone.

~~**~~

The carriage slowed to a stop and Rhea attempted to peer out of the covered window and saw that they had stopped in the middle of what seemed to be warehouses? Rhea wasn’t truly sure if that was correct; it was too dark to really see anything of import, but once she exited the carriage she was almost completely sure that they were quite close to the docks and that the buildings in front of them were warehouses.

Although, as Rhea continued to observe their surroundings, the warehouses looked downtrodden and ruined beyond compare. So, she assumed, abandoned warehouses.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Utteridge chuckled without any true amusement. “I must say I’m flattered that you accepted my invitation.”

“You, sir, are quite mad, I deduce,” Leia remarked cheerfully. Utteridge gave her a side-glance.

“I think I’ve had enough of your snide remarks, you ungrateful chit.” Ashwin growled, angry.

“Ungrateful? Ungrateful?” Leia uttered, a flat tone graced her voice. “Yes, I’m afraid you’ve definitely caught the madness that our peer, here, has come down with.”

“You think you are smart? Intelligent?” Utteridge wondered.

“More so than you, I suppose,” Leia shrugged with an unrepentant grin. Utteridge gazed at her for a moment longer and then he nodded.

“Put that cloth back in her mouth where it belongs,” Utteridge ordered.

“Coward! Fool! You son of a mon-mmmphh, ow wiff stahh oouuhh*,” Leia continued through her gag. Rhea clenched her fists. This was ridiculous, villainous. She had to find a way to get her and Leia out of it, and quickly! Hopefully someone was looking for them. Rhea prayed it was so.

“Now that the fish-wife is mute, we can continue with our pleasantries, yes?” Utteridge smiled pleasantly. Rhea glared.

“Why are you doing this, Lord Utteridge? My friend and I have done nothing wrong.”

“Ah, my dear, this has absolutely nothing to do with you or that . . . creature’s actions. Although, by now, I believe your friend has indeed worked through my patience with her actions.” Utteridge shrugged. “It will not matter, in the end, anyway.”

“But why?” Rhea pressed, hoping to shove some common sense into the man before he went completely and utterly mad, as Leia had accused him of being. Rhea only hoped he wasn’t as far gone.

“Let us just say your husband and I have quite a history together. Things happened and now it is time for retribution.”

“Retribution? What for? What has he possibly done that could justify your actions?” Rhea demanded. Rhea hoped that she was distracting him enough so she could find a plausible weapon to temporarily gain superiority and get Leia released and both of them out of this blasted place.

“It is not just the man himself, but his name. That is where all my hopes are for destroying. Not just him, but his title, his reputation. Society will truly know who he is!” Utteridge was now aggravated to the point that he was yelling.

Rhea finally spotted something on the ground, several feet away. It looked to be a pipe, or perhaps a long pole of some kind? Rhea didn’t care what it was, it just seemed a good enough weapon at the moment – compared to being armed with nothing at all.

“I see,” Rhea murmured distractedly, inching her way to the left, hoping Utteridge wouldn’t catch on to her intentions. Her only hope was to keep him occupied enough to the point where he didn’t even realize where she was going, or what she would be doing.

“Indeed?” Lord Utteridge asked softly, “I am glad, because at the end of the night it will all come together. Finally,” he sighed, with relief.

Rhea just kept him talking, she was nearly arms reach to the pole now. Steady, Rhea. God, please, don’t let me mess this up. Rhea silently prayed.

Soon she was right on top of it, Utteridge had turned around and was riffling with something on a small makeshift desk. She leaned down slowly and reached for the pipe. Her fingers had barely brushed it when a hand circled her waist, lifting her up against a hard chest.

She shrieked. Utteridge barely moved, still looking at whatever it was he doing.

“What do you think you’re doing, love? Don’t want to make us unhappy now, do you, sweetheart,” Ashwin pulled her tighter against him and she felt him press his face into her hair and inhale deeply. Rhea panicked, pushing against him and struggling to get away.

“Remove your hands from my person, my lord,” Rhea demanded of Ashwin. Ashwin merely chuckled and moved her all the way to the right where a lone chair sat close to a long column that ran from the ceiling to the ground. She struggled even more, but Ashwin had already gotten her onto the chair with her hands bound behind her back and tied to the chair.

“There, that should keep you quite safe, my dear lady,” Ashwin grinned. Rhea winced at the rope biting into her flesh, but continued to glare at her captors. “Don’t make too much of a fuss, you don’t want to be trussed up like Miss Edmond.”

“Where is she? What have you done to Leia?” Rhea insisted. Ashwin smirked and opened his mouth.

“It’s ok, Rhea! I’m quite alright! They shoved me in a damn closet,” Leia yelled somewhere behind Rhea. Rhea sighed in relief.

Ashwin scowled, “How the bloody hell did she get rid of the gag?”

“Take care of it,” Utteridge said, still facing the table, “You are proving to be unhelpful, Ashwin,”

“I’ll take care of it,” Ashwin said, interrupting whatever else Utteridge might’ve said. Ashwin walked away just as clattering against the floor became audible. Rhea looked in that direction and then turned to Utteridge, who had turned slightly, as if to greet the noise.

“What is all this noise? I swear, all of London could hear your racket.” Rhea stared in horror at the direction of the familiar voice.