Kidnapped For Good
Chapter seventeen
The smell of lavender filled the air as Lucianna yanked Cora’s quilt off her bed.
“Do you have more of these?” she asked, glancing at her wide-eyed acquaintance.
One might call them friends, but Lucianna hesitated to attach herself to most anyone beyond her father and brother.
In fact, Cora was another person Lucianna did not let know her true voice.
She used a different one every time they met.
She told herself it was a precaution due to the nature of their meetings, but in reality it was a wall, a separation that Lucianna needed to feel comfortable.
The use didn’t wear on her as much since their encounters were usually much shorter.
Lucianna was typically only there to give Cora materials in exchange for her unique skills.
“That depends. Are you going to explain what you’re doing here?”
“Yes,” Lucianna answered plainly before pulling the sheet off her bed and beginning to knot it into the quilt. “I have a job offer. It requires you leaving here and sailing to Grimhaven. We’ll be gone through Eventide. Everything you need will be taken care of. But you will be risking your life.”
She finished the knot, then looked about the small bedroom for another piece of fabric.
The drop to the ground wasn’t much, but she wanted to be conservative since it wasn’t just her well-being at stake.
There was a fitted sheet on the mattress and a canopy of pink drapes above the four poster bed.
Lucianna wrinkled her nose and crossed over to the trunk at the end of Cora’s bed.
She opened it to find no quilts but a selection of delicate gowns.
Given Cora’s necessitated secrecy, Lucianna knew that wasn’t all that was in here.
She lifted the gowns to uncover a variety of glass vials and bottles.
Some full of mysterious liquid, some empty.
There was also a set of metal utensils and a few leather notebooks.
“Will you be needing any of this? If so, pack quickly. We do not have time to waste.”
“Wait,” Cora said firmly.
Lucianna sighed and turned to the alchemist. Cora’s arms were crossed over her pink nightgown, and her flaming-red hair was in contrast to her pale, freckled skin.
She wore a scowl and towered over Lucianna as she was several inches taller.
If Lucianna didn’t know how abysmal the alchemist was with a weapon not of the chemical variety, she might be intimidated.
As it were, the look was almost comical.
“What makes you think I’m going to come with you? Mother will be furious when she discovers I’m gone. And you say I’d be risking my life, too?” Cora shook her head.
“Do you want to escape this house?” Lucianna asked. “For good,” she added.
Cora huffed. “Of course I do.”
“And would you like to use your Gift for something other than cosmetics for aging nobles?” she questioned.
The alchemist took on a longing, wistful expression.
If Cora did not marry, she was unlikely to be free of her mother until the lady of the house died.
She could petition to work with the Scientists’ Guild, but she’d be forced to face her mother’s fury head-on if she went that route, and Cora was terrified of Lady Thornsbarrow.
“I dream of that every night.”
Lucianna dipped her chin. “Then come with me. I can promise you that if we accomplish our task, you will have freedom and funds to do as you wish. Not only that, but on this mission you will get to use your Gift for exciting things like sedatives and poisons.”
Cora’s green eyes lit with unbridled joy.
“Explosives, too?” The twenty-one-year-old woman was bouncing on her bare feet now. Lucianna supposed she should be concerned, but in reality, such weapons might be useful. So, she shrugged.
“Most likely.”
Cora gasped with delight and ran to a wardrobe.
She opened it and dug out a quilt in the bottom.
It sailed through the air, and Lucianna caught it, then began to tie it to the makeshift rope she was fashioning.
Then, she tied one end to a leg of the bed to anchor it.
Meanwhile, Cora pulled out a leather backpack and began stuffing it full of lab materials.
“You said the employer would take care of everything. Will they provide me with clothes and other necessities? I should like to use the majority of my bag for more important things.”
Lucianna tugged on their rope to test it, tilted her head to the side as she thought. The prince had said he would make it worth her while.
“Whatever you need will be provided,” Lucianna reassured her. “Once we arrive at the castle, make your requests known.”
“Castle?” Cora squeaked. “What do you mean the castle?”
Lucianna did not answer. Instead, she opened the window again and looked out it. Her brows drew together. Where was Finnick? She leaned out further, tipping her body and scanning the ground below. Then, she heard an all-too-familiar voice.
“This garden is remarkable, Lady Thornsbarrow,” Lucianna’s husband said in a smooth voice. “It boasts of refined taste.”
She ducked back under the window. Lady Thornsbarrow must have caught him, and now he was using his insipid charm to placate her.
“I told him to not be seen,” she muttered under her breath.
“Who?” Cora asked.
“My husband,” she growled as she tossed the rope out the window.
“Since when are you married?” Cora exclaimed.
“Since a few hours ago,” she replied wryly. “Did you not hear the news?”
Word traveled fast around Enlight, but Lucianna was unsurprised when it came to Cora’s lack of knowledge.
The alchemist ignored her mother as often as possible, and that’s the only person who would tell her about a royal wedding.
Cora spent most of her days locked away in her room, developing cosmetics for her mother’s business.
“I suppose not.”
Lucianna tugged on the rope twice more for good measure.
She would have brought her own rope, but to do so would have looked like someone truly had kidnapped Cora.
And if that were the case, there would be more notice.
A noble girl running away from someone as heinous as Lady Thornsbarrow would cause less of a ruckus.
“Are you ready? I will go down first. Watch my movements. Imitate them.”
Cora’s eyes were as wide as teacup saucers.
“You know I am not one of athletic grace.”
Lucianna had been counting on Finnick to be present in the event of a fall. They could have caught Cora together. That is her recompense for believing for even a second the man would be helpful rather than a hindrance.
“Just move slowly. Everything will be fine,” she soothed. “Give me your backpack. I will carry it for you.”
Cora hesitated, clutching the leather straps. Lucianna extended her hand with a pointed look. The alchemist sighed and handed it over.
“Perhaps don’t jostle it very much.”
Lucianna gave her a flat look.
“It-it’s only that there are sensitive materials. If combined, the reaction could be quite . . . dangerous.”
Carefully, Lucianna pulled on the bag, wondering—not for the first time—what she did to end up in situations like these.
She walked back to the window and listened once more.
Finnick was still chattering away to Lady Thornsbarrow.
Lucianna rolled her eyes, then slid herself through the opening while holding onto the makeshift rope.
She went slowly at first, to show Cora what to do, then made quick work of the remaining journey.
Once she was on solid ground, Lucianna dropped the quilt and tilted her head back to look up at Cora.
She gestured for her to come down. It might have helped the alchemist’s nerves to be talked through the action, but they could not risk being heard.
After a moment’s hesitation, Cora began her journey down.
Lucianna held her breath for much of the woman’s way.
Only when Cora neared a point where a drop wouldn’t cause immense injury did Lucianna breathe.
“You did well,” Lucianna whispered once Cora’s feet touched the grass.
It occurred to Lucianna in that moment that Cora had never changed clothes. She rubbed her temples. Now they most certainly could not be seen by anyone. They’d think she escaped from a madhouse, what with her bare feet and nightgown.
“We must go. Finnick is distracting your mother,” Lucianna explained quietly. “He will meet us back at the castle.”
At least, Lucianna surmised he would. They hadn’t discussed a plan in the event of separation because he wasn’t supposed to get caught. She gritted her teeth. Insufferable man.
Cora shivered and crossed her arms over her chest again. Lucianna eyed the quilt pooling in the grass. She pulled out Finnick’s dagger that she’d attached to her scabbard belt after he aided her assent, and cut off a portion of the quilt. Then she extended it to Cora.
“Wrap this around you. From this point forward, you follow me. You don’t speak. You don’t look at anyone or anything but the next step in front of you,” she ordered.
Cora bobbed her head and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.
“All right,” Lucianna sighed. “Let us be on our way.”