Chapter Seven: The kidnapping

Two hours later, Leonidas woke up with a groan, his hands and feet tied, and a very painful ache in his neck.

"Well you certainly took your time. Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. We haven't got all night." Analeigh spoke from where she sat, resting her head on her palm as she watched him try to shake off the drowsiness that lingered.

"I see you've taken to kidnapping." He intoned flatly, not even bothering to turn to where she was.

"Indeed. It's a very amusing hobby and I didn't even need to break a sweat."

"I see. You do this regularly?"

"No, you're my first attempt."

"I'm honoured then." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked at him for a minute and stood up.

"Why are you acting like a petulant child?"

He chuckled darkly, "Coming from the woman that attacked me and has me tied up for no reason."

"I do have a reason. I want to know, why exactly you tried to burn the Great Hall just to get our marriage cancelled today."

"You have the wrong person, princess. I did no such thing." He continued with his flat tone. There was silence for a beat before he heard the sharp movement of a sword slicing through air and stopping just before it hit his neck.

"This is very unbecoming behaviour of a woman of your caliber, are you sure this is your first time?" He said, glancing slightly at the sword sitting under his throat.

"Certain situations call for drastic measures. I could kill you right here. By law, any citizen threatening the life of a member of the current royal family is eligible to die by their sword. I have evidence to prove it too, you were extremely sloppy." She said, turning around to squat right in front of him, still holding the blade to his neck.

He smirked.

"Oh? Evidence I don't even remember leaving, this is news to me."

"The rebels wore the same shoes your pretentious household loves parading about. They didn't attack anyone from your family and moved confidently, like they knew the layout of the palace already. The fires were put out fast, very little damage was done but the commotion was just enough to derail the wedding." She listed off, one after the other.

"You and I both know those are assumptions, not hard evidence. As for the first point, it is a very obvious set up. Why would I send in criminals with something to obvious that would link me to them?"

"Did you forget that you wore those shoes yourself when you snuck in to spy on me?"

"That was me. I could have easily bailed myself out by saying I got confused or that i wanted to explore. Arranging a rebel attack in the palace is punishable by death, why would I leave such a big clue?"

"Who knows? You might be thicker than people think. Just look at you, getting caught by the same trick twice." She tilted her head mockingly, trying to observe his reactions better.

"I didn't think you would try this in a place as open as the palace."

"You tried to kill me here as well."

He paused. "You have a point."

"I'm still waiting for you to explain why you created such a scene just to get out of the wedding. You know the throne is shared, if you kill me, someone else from my family will be chosen." She thought of the way the hall had descended in chaos, the fear in the citizens eyes, the confusion amongst the guards. While it was true that it wasn't rare for a royal wedding to get derailed by rebel attacks, it was still something that hadn't been seen in several generations. With each past attack, the palace security had learned how to avoid a repeat. Guests were properly vetted and usually had people that stood in as guarantors. Analeigh counted at least 20 rebels that day, the only way so many intruders could have gotten in was if someone let them in. Someone with enough authority to wave off security checks.

"Considering the situation I'm in right now, I doubt that would be such a terrible outcome."

"You really are starting to annoy me." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you genuinely think I won't follow through with my threat if you keep playing stupid games?" She leaned more into his space, bringing the sword closer to his neck, nicking him in the process.

He smiled then all of a sudden, she found herself being pushed down with the weight of his body. She moved quickly to try and defend herself but it was no use, he had somehow gotten himself untied and now held her hands in one hand while using the other hand to grab her sword. She struggled against his hold to no avail, he had her right where he wanted her.

"You regained your strength faster than I expected." She huffed, heaving with the effort she made to free herself.

"I've been trying to get out of those ropes since I woke up. You were surprisingly thorough, well done." He cocked his head, waving her seized sword right in front of her. "Light and thin, a good choice for someone that doesn't have abundant physical stamina."

"I really should have used magic to hold you down instead of ropes." She groaned.

"I'm very thankful for the lapse in judgement." He grinned, teeth flashing in the dim lighting of the room.

"Are you really going through such dangerous means just so you wouldn't have to marry me? I know treason can not have your entire family line killed because of our unique situation but have you thought of your immediate family members? Your mother, your father, your siblings. Having to walk around as the parents and sibling of a disgraced Prince Consort?" She needled, glaring at him for being so infuriating. To her surprise, he laughed.

"You sound so knowledgeable about family and loyalty, one would think you actually knew what that felt like."

"I do." She replied quietly. "Maybe I do not have the support of majority of the royal family but I have people that I would lay down my life for. As they would do for me. So I know what family and loyalty looks like, which is why I do not understand why you're so determined to make a move as foolish as killing your betrothed. Even at the expense of the people."

He stared at her once she stopped and didn't say a word. After a moment of nerve-racking silence he sighed, loosening his hold on her unknowingly.

"As for the reason I attacked you before the wedding, I already told you why I did that. As for the wedding fiasco, I didn't do it. I know you think your little dots connect and that your evidence is infallible but deep down, you know if you were to take that to court, your case would be dismissed. If I truly wanted to harm you, you would be dead by now."

Analeigh stared at him in silence, turning over his words in her head. He sounded genuine but he was the general of the imperial military forces, if he didn't know how to lie his way through sticky situations, there was no way he could have gotten this far. She held his gaze as she adjusted her feet so they could be aligned.

"You know," She whispered, leaning closer. "It really doesn't speak well of your intelligence if you fall for the same trick three times." And with that, she kicked his ankle with enough force to make him wince, embedding the needle she had there into his skin.

"You have poisoned needles in your shoes?!" He winced in pain as he let go of her, looking at the red, irritated ring around the needle that she kicked in.

"My shoes are doubled layered, with the needles laid flat in the second layer. All I need to do is to hit the mechanism that makes them come out." She had never been so grateful for one of Ophelia's inventions, all her whining about she was never going to use them yet that was what just saved her life at that moment.

"You're insane."

"Thank you." She stood up and brushed her dress calmly.

"Oh don't bother trying to get up. The more you move, the more the poison spreads and immobilises you." She bent down beside him to take back her sword, letting out a pleased hum when she felt the blade back in her hands.

Just then, she felt the presence of magic behind and swung immediately at the source, without even seeing it. A bird appeared, bleeding. Apparently she only injured it. Leonidas on the other hand let out a sigh of relief as the bird landed in his arms.

"See you around, Princess. I'll be sure to repay the favour next time we meet." He said and in the blink of an eye, vanished along with the bird that came in.