Sophia turned to Mattias. “What do you say, Chancellor? Shall we go and rescue Leo’s groom?”
Leo stared, only able to manage a faint, “What?”
Sophia huffed and started walking and talking at the same time, taking long, determined steps as they made their way back to the castle. “It’s simple. Stephan obviously figured out there’s something between you and Felix, so he’s taken him as bait, hoping you’ll ride to the rescue. Then he plans to either kidnap or assassinate you. Who knows which?” She shrugged. “It’s Stephan. The plan likely doesn’t make any sense.The important thing is, you can’t be the one to rescue Felix, but Mattias and I can.” She paused at the bottom of the staircase long enough to turn and say, “Mattias, youareskilled with your blade, aren’t you? You seem like you would be.”
Inexplicably, Mattias’s cheeks turned pink. “I like to think I am,” he said gruffly.
“Excellent. Let me go and change out of this”—she waved a hand at her gown—“and I’ll lead you to them.”
And with that she was off, striding up the staircase as all three men stared after her with something like awe.
ChapterFifteen
Felix was woken by a rhythmic thudding that matched the pounding in his head, the creak of leather, and the rich scent of horse. As his consciousness returned, he became aware that there was something binding his wrists and ankles, that his head was hanging low, and that he was tied in place as he bounced along.
Ignoring the hammering in his skull, he opened his eyes only to be met with nothing but darkness. Blindfolded, then.
It all came back to him.
The sudden blow, someone dragging him from his horse and tying him up, and then, when he’d struggled, another whack, harder this time. It must have knocked him out cold because he had no memory of anything after that.
The bouncing continued, the rhythm maddeningly familiar, and when he combined it with the sounds of a saddle, Felix finally figured out that he must be tied across the rear of someone’s horse—which meant that he’d been deliberately abducted.
Him—anobody.
There must be a mistake. Some idiot must have seen him riding Shadow and assumed that a horse of that calibre would be carrying someone important. Felix would have laughed out loud, if his head hadn’t throbbed quite so much.
He did his best to relax, unwilling to let his captors know he was awake and hopeful that he’d hear something, anything, that would give him a clue as to what was happening. But the rider was mostly silent apart from a few frustrated grunts and clicks of the tongue directed at the horse. Whoever it was, their equestrian skills were basic at best. As time wore on, the dryness in Felix’s mouth and the increasing strain on his muscles as he was jostled against the horse’s broad back almost tempted him to say something.
But what, exactly, should he say?
Not to interrupt your plans, but any chance we could stop so I can stretch my legs? Also, could I get a drink and perhaps a sandwich?
Wasthere such a thing as accepted captivity etiquette?
Leo would know, he thought wryly. He’d probably taken lessons in it just in case he was ever kidnapped.
At the thought of Leo, Felix’s heart twisted painfully.
If Felix didn’t make it back by tonight, how long would Leo wait for him? Would he think Felix had abandoned him? Somehow, picturing Leo waiting in his chambers for a visitor that never came was more distressing than being arse-up over a horse going who knew where, and it didn’t take long before Felix found his initial distress and confusion turning to a simmering, self-righteous anger.
How dare someone just…scoop him up like a lost puppy?
He’d hadplans, and he wasn’t going to let some cut-rate body snatcher ruin them. No, he’d been trained by the captain of the guard. Whoever had taken him, Felix was going to make them regret it.
Which, fine, wasn’t going to happen rightnow—not while he was trussed up like a prize pig and couldn’t see—but once he was untied,thenhe’d make his attackers’ lives hell, stage a daring escape, and ride back home to Leo.
Somehow.
True, he didn’t exactly have an escape plan, but then again, he was working blind—literally.
He was distracted by the horse underneath him angling up and the sound of hooves scrabbling on rock as they lurched upward. The movement caused him to slip backward, and he squawked in momentary panic.
The ride levelled out and the horse came to a halt. A hand slapped his arse, making him squawk again, in indignation this time.
“So, you’re back with us?” a deep voice said. “Just in time. We’re here.”
Rough hands tugged at the ropes around Felix’s waist, and then he was sliding back and down, his legs threatening to fold under him as his feet hit the ground. Someone grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him upright.
