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A new thought struck me. Wait. Why wasn’t I out there, looking?
I started for the door, but he reached for me. “Vienne. Where do you think you’re—”
“No, don’t,” I warned, then screamed when he latched his hand around my arm, capturing me. “Let me go!” I pounded both fists against his chest with a vengeance. “How dare you stand there and have nothing when you looked my baby in the eye and promised her… You swore an oath you would never let anything bad happen to her. Oh God.” I sobbed, realizing I’d come unhinged but was unable to stop the flow of unbridled despair. “How could I lose my own baby?”
Collapsing against him and burying my face in his shirt, I wept, hurting as I’d never hurt before. “She was right there,” I insisted between the tears. “This morning, she was right there, happy and safe… And now she’s gone. I lost her. I’ve lost my child.”
Urban’s arms banded around me. “Shh,” he murmured. “You didn’t lose her. We’ll get her back. I swear.”
“I shouldn’t have left her alone with the servants for so long. I shouldn’t have been with you. I’m such an awful mother. I…I…”
“No,” he crooned, swaying me back and forth. “You’re not. You love her, she’s a wonderful healthy baby because of you. You’re an excellent moth
er. This was not your fault. Monsters did this.”
“What if she’s scared?” I babbled on. “What if they’re not feeding her, or oh God, hurting her?”
A shudder went through Urban at the suggestion, but he merely repeated, more sternly, “We’ll find her. I will find her.”
I lifted my face, my gaze hopeful. “And you can’t sense her? Like you can sense me? She’s a part of me. Surely, you can...”
Urban’s chin quivered and his eyes went moist before he shook his head. “I can’t,” he croaked, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
More tears fell down my cheeks. “It’s okay.” I nodded and went back to resting my cheek against his chest and petting his arm. “I’m sorry I’m going crazy. I just want her back so bad.”
“Don’t apologize. We’re all going crazy over this.”
When he kissed my forehead, my legs gave out under me. But Urban caught me and scooped me into his arms, where he carried me to a nearby chair and deposited me gently on soft cushions. I curled into a ball to weep with my head on the armrest.
Urban set his palm gently against my hair as he stood. “I’m going to go get her back now. I’ll return shortly with your daughter.”
“Okay.” I bobbed my head stupidly.
He glanced toward Caulder, Yasmin, and Nicolette, who stood there, gaping at us with staggered expressions.
“Hurry,” I said, so he nodded and strode from the room.
Chapter 37
Urban
I left a numb, shell-shocked Vienne with the king, queen, and princess, and I stormed from the castle, more determined than ever to find Anniston.
Whoever had taken that precious little child wasn’t going to live to see another day. That was my promise.
As soon as I exited the keep, a party of people were hurrying toward me, Brentley, Allera, and Soren among them.
“Did you find anything?” I demanded.
“We captured these two,” Brentley answered, out of breath as he motioned to two men with their hands tied with ropes around their wrists as the soldiers containing them pushed them forward for me to deal with. “They were just outside Mandalay near one of the sand mountains between the castle and the village. We think they may be Far Shore scouts.”
I strode to the two men and looked them both in the eye.
“We asked about Anniston, but they’re not talking.”
With a nod, I eyed one, then the other. “Did you help kidnap that baby?” I asked.
When the bolder one spit at my feet, I took that as a yes.
