I'm Not Cinderella (The Princess Chronicles)

by Montgomery, Tarrah

  With my hand still at my mouth, I shook my head no.

  He glanced back at the medical instruments. “I don’t feel good about this.” Then he looked at the closed door leading to the next room. “But I told you I would help you, so let’s solve this mystery.”

  I nodded. We approached the door, and Dennan carefully turned the doorknob. We stepped into the room and saw a gray-haired man with a beard. He lay on a dirty mattress on the floor. He appeared very ill and malnourished. When the man heard our soft footsteps, he cringed. He may not have been more than fifty, but his condition made him seem much older.

  I let my hand slip out of Dennan’s and walked toward the man, my concern for him trumping any worry for my safety. Once the man turned in my direction, his eyes grew wide and his cracked lips stretched into a wide grin.

  “A . . . A . . . Abby?” he said hoarsely.

  By the loving look on his face, it was clear he was calling out to someone he loved. And he obviously thought I was that special person.

  Then, it dawned on me.

  I took his outstretched, shaky hand and turned back to Dennan. “He thinks I’m Gabby,” I said. “This must be Gabriella’s father.”

  Chapter 25

  Rashin-Coatie

  Scotland, 1901

  So the bird sings:

  Clippit feet an’ paret taes is on the saidle set

  But bonnie feet an’ braw feet sits in the kitchen neuk.

  The prince turned his horse and rode home, and went straight to his father’s kitchen, and there sat Rashin-Coatie. He kent her at once, she was so bonnie; and when she tried on the shoe it fitted her, and so the prince married Rashin-Coatie, and they lived happy, and built a house for the red calf, who had been so kind to her.

  Day 20 (continued)

  “This is your friend’s father?” Dennan exclaimed.

  The ill man spoke to me again. “Abby, is that you?”

  I patted his hand, which clung to mine. “It’s going to be all right.”

  I looked at Dennan, this time with tears rolling down my cheeks. “We need to find Gabby.”

  Dennan moved to the foot of the bed and said gently, “Sir, who are you? Where are you from?”

  The man’s gaze never left my face. “Sherwood Manor,” he slowly answered.

  If this was Gabriella’s dad, why was he confined in a rundown house behind a mountain, and what role did Lady Catherine have in hiding him here?

  “Is Gabby your daughter? Is that who you’re calling for?”

  His eyes twinkled as he nodded at me, but suddenly he looked terrified and shrunk up against the wall.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  The man trembled while struggling to wrap his ragged sheets around his thin arms.

  Dennan placed his hand on my shoulder. “We need to get help. He’s sick.”

  From behind us, a familiar voice said, “Yes, he’s a very sick man. You should leave immediately.”

  Lady Catherine. I rose from the edge of the bed and grabbed Dennan’s forearm in a death grip.

  The woman stood in the doorway. Her cold gaze examined Dennan and me slowly from head to toe as her lips curled in disgust. “Your Highness,” she acknowledged Dennan in a mocking tone.

  He stepped forward. “You will be punished for your crimes.”

  “Tsk, tsk. The absentee prince attempts to play his role as a ruler,” she sneered. “You would be wise to leave the leadership to the nobles and carry on with your juvenile frolicking in the forest.”

  A burly man stepped into the room behind Lady Catherine, and I saw the shadow of another man in the hallway. Besides William, how many other men were in the house?

  “You will never find me guilty of anything,” Lady Catherine said under her breath.

  Dennan started toward her in anger, but I held onto his arm. “She’s only trying to bait you.”

  “How charming,” Lady Catherine said scornfully. “The damsel in distress rescues the great prince of Fenmore Falls, or should I say Black Rider.”

  She knows. How does she know?

  “Leave Brinlee out of this,” Dennan growled through his teeth.

  “Brinlee is part of this, if you like it or not.” Lady Catherine turned beady eyes toward me. “Why do you think I let you stay at my house when I didn’t even know who you were, Miss Brinlee from Idaho?”

  I felt nauseous as I realized I was part of her malicious crimes.

  “When Isaac informed me that he saw Black Rider in the forest with a strange girl,” Lady Catherine went on, “I knew it was you the first moment I saw you.” She spoke to the prince again. “I used Miss Brinlee to distract you from your goal. You were getting too close to discovering what we were doing.”

  Dennan looked at me. I thought I saw a bit of doubt in his eyes.

  “When Black Rider couldn’t be killed by pirates,” Lady Catherine continued, “don’t you think I took every precaution of deterring you when you were on land?”

  My hand tightened on Dennan’s arm. I shook my head and pled with him with my eyes. He must have sensed my sincerity, because he drew me closer.

  “Do you really know who this girl is?” Lady Catherine cocked her head to one shoulder while looking at the prince. “She’s from a far different place than you could ever imagine.”

  How much does she know?

  “There are many secret doors in Sherwood Manor, Miss Brinlee,” Lady Catherine snapped.

  I gasped. She knew about the magic door. She knew where I came from. That meant she knew where Gabby was.

  Now my blood was boiling. “I know exactly what you’re doing, and you won’t get away with it,” I shouted.

  “Well, Miss Brinlee, we’ll just have to see.” Lady Catherine practically hissed. But underneath her confident exterior, I knew she was afraid of how much I knew.

  Two could play at this game, especially when one had read a lot of mysteries. “I know that if Gabriella realized her father was still alive, you wouldn’t have control of her wealth. You only kept him alive to get his money. He wouldn’t willingly give it to you, and there was no other way to legally get it.”

  When Lady Catherine narrowed her eyes, I could tell I was right. Suddenly, something rushed into my mind like a flood breaking through a dam.

  “Gabriella’s father never married you, did he?” I said.

  Lady Catherine didn’t answer, but I could see the truth in her bitter, dark eyes.

  “Gabriella’s father would never marry you,” I continued. “You drugged him and brought him here because he was worth more alive than dead. You drugged him every day to keep him weak so you could control him.”

  Lady Catherine glanced at Gabby’s father, who lay huddled on the far side of his bed. “As soon as Cinderella’s marriage is planned and completed, I will have no more use for him.”

  That’s right. If Gabby marries before she turns nineteen, Sherwood Manor’s wealth will fall to Lady Catherine as Gabby’s self-appointed guardian.

  “And you need the money to get people to help you try to take over the kingdom,” I guessed.

  Ooh, I am getting good at this investigation stuff.

  “The king will hear about this,” Dennan said angrily.

  Lady Catherine’s mouth formed a thin line. “You will never live to tell your father.”

  “Brinlee, when I say run, you run.” I could barely hear Dennan’s whisper as he brushed his mouth across my ear.

  My heart was beating hard. What was he going to do?

  He released me and took a step toward Catherine. At the same time, the large man also took a step closer, and the other man from the hallway stepped into the room. He was just as big as the first.

  The next moment happened so fast. Dennan told me
to run, and I ran the only place I could—through the door to the adjacent room. I heard fist hitting face and a groan, but I didn’t stop. I ran through the hallway and down the steps. When I came to the door leading outside, I stopped with my hand on the doorknob. Wait, I can’t just leave Dennan. He needs my help. I’m done running away.

  I turned and saw William standing behind me. I gasped.

  “Hello, Miss Brinlee. What a pleasure to find you all to myself.”

  I tried to step back, but with the door shut, there was nowhere to go. At the look in William’s eyes, I felt pure terror for the first time in my life. I ran past him and toward the hallway.

  Suddenly, I realized I was living my recurring nightmare where I ran down a long hallway in my modern clothes. Just like my dream, I couldn’t run fast enough or find another door that led outside.

  My heart raced as I heard William’s rapid footsteps behind me. He firmly grabbed my neck, and I crumpled to the floor in pain.

  “You’re not getting away from me that easily,” he said.

  I fought back and kicked him as hard as I could, but he threw me to the floor and pinned me. “I always knew you were spirited,” he snarled.

  He took a handful of my hair and forced me up. Then, he grabbed my arm and pushed me through the front door and toward the forest. We passed the carriage driver, who I now realized was dead—no doubt murdered by one of Lady Catherine’s accomplices.

  William dragged me into the forest. Certain “Do not let him take you into a forest” was on the top-ten list of things not to let your kidnapper do, I found the strength to wrench from his grip and run.

  “Help!” I yelled.

  I retraced my steps back toward the house, but William was on me in a flash. He grabbed me even before my mouth had time to finish a scream.

  He raised his hand and struck me in the face. “Shut up!”

  I cried out as the sting wrapped across my face.

  “Make another sound, and I’ll slice your throat.” William showed me the knife in his hand.

  “Brinlee!” Dennan’s voice was far away.

  I wanted to yell to him, but William brought his knife under my chin. When I felt warm blood drizzle down my neck, I stood silent and still, not even swallowing. Long seconds passed. Then, like a beacon tower above the waves of the sea, Dennan ran toward us.

  He came! He really came for me.

  “Don’t take one step closer.” William tightened his hand around my arm and pressed his knife to my neck again.

  Tears rolled down my face, and I could see tears in Dennan’s eyes. I knew he’d seen the blood trickling down the front of my shirt.

  “You will not kill her!” he shouted.

  This is so déjà vu. Just like the first time we met and Dennan saved me. Only he was Black Rider then. But I digress . . .

  “Let Brinlee go, and I give my word you will leave a free man,” he offered.

  William gave a sinister laugh. “Your word!” He waved his knife in the air. “Of what worth is your word? The entire royal family are imposters. Your word means nothing.”

  I watched the wavering knife. If I was quick, I could grab it. Dennan’s desperate gaze met mine, and I understood his silent urging to remain still. He wanted me to do nothing—he wanted to be my champion. I winked to let him know I understood.

  “My word is worth a lot more than you can imagine,” Dennan said to William. “I’ll bestow on you a wealthy man’s inheritance if you release her to me.”

  “How do I know you won’t just kill me after I release her?” William asked harshly.

  Dennan didn’t answer. I knew he wanted to kill William even more than I wanted to.

  “Besides, I don’t think I’m ready to give her up,” William said. He leaned his face into my hair and inhaled. “Your fragrance haunts my dreams,” he whispered to me. “Just as in my dreams, I can smell myself on you.”

  That’s so disgusting.

  “You’ve been avoiding me ever since our first kiss,” William spoke against my ear. “I am determined to finish what we started.”

  I clenched my fists. It took every ounce of my self-control to not punch the pervert.

  “You see, Brinlee,” William said in a low voice, “there’s something about you—something that makes a man want you more than anything else in the world.”

  He used his knife to brush the hair away from my neck. With the knife, he pulled at the sleeve of my shirt, and I heard the sound of cloth tearing. He placed his lips on my bare skin with a soft kiss. “Do you think it was easy for me to stand by and watch the prince have his liberties with you while you danced with him that night at the cliffs?”

  My skin crawled like spiders where William touched me. I didn’t know how much more I could take.

  “I kept close tabs on you through the squints in your private chambers.” He kissed my neck again. “I was ever attentive of your whereabouts, and now my fantasy will be fulfilled.”

  “You’ll never be rewarded with the affections I have been granted,” Dennan shouted tauntingly. “You could only dream of being the kind of lover she’s already had.”

  My eyes went wide and I blushed, but Dennan’s words had the desired result when William raised his knife again in the air and yelled, “She will be mine, and I kill anyone who stands in my way.”

  The blade of his knife arced through the air. With a nod of Dennan’s head as encouragement, I bent my head sideways and swung my elbow into William’s midsection.

  What was it that Sandra Bullock said to remember for self-defense in the movie Miss Congeniality? SING: Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin. I learned some cool moves from watching that show a few too many times. Anyway, I elbowed William in the solar plexus, then stomped on his foot, punched him in the nose, and turned and kneed him in the groin. Oh yeah! Take that, Ponytail Man!

  My efforts distracted him, and I twisted out of his grasp. He struck at me with the knife. The wild blow tangled in the thick of my hair and only grazed the back of my shoulder.

  I reached for Dennan but lost my balance and fell sidelong into the dirt. He leaped forward and thrust me behind him. Like a madman, William swung wildly at Dennan’s body. His eyes burned with a strange glare. He yelled foul words and then struck again.

  “No!” I screamed as I collapsed at the foot of a nearby tree.

  Dennan stepped away from the thrusting knife and seized the arm that held it. With a maniac’s strength, William barreled his body into Dennan’s. They fell, but Dennan managed to hold onto William’s knife arm and keep the blade away.

  When they fell, William landed on the knife. It pierced him in the chest, and his breath expelled in a whoosh. He lay silent.

  “Dennan!” I cried.

  He got up and ran to where I lay on the ground. He knelt beside me and kissed the top of my head. “Are you all right?”

  “I think I’m cut,” I said through my tears.

  Besides the seeping wound at my neck, I felt a sharp pain on the top of my shoulder.

  Dennan gently brushed my hair away from the back of my neck. “Brinlee, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

  “This wasn’t your fault.” I looked back at him. He forced a smile but obviously felt guilty. “I’m fine. Everything will be okay.”

  He took off his shirt and tore strips from the fabric, then loosely bandaged my wounds.

  “What happened?” I asked, looking at his bare chest. “How did you get away?”

  He stilled his hands and gave me the half grin that showed the dimple I loved. “I knew the minute I saw those two that they were trained to kill, not fight. So, I did what I do best and fought.”

  “Just like that?”

  Dennan was checking my bandages but looked up to laugh. “Yes, just like that.” He win
ked. “You underestimate me.”

  I grew solemn realizing what might’ve happened if he hadn’t shown up. “Thank you, Dennan, for saving me again.”

  He moved to kneel in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I’ll always be here for you, Brinlee.”

  Can’t I stay here with him forever?

  He gathered me into his arms and kissed me tenderly. Tears of relief ran down my cheeks. With Dennan cradling me in his arms, everything was all right.

  Soon, he helped me up and we walked back to the house. I laid my head on his bare shoulder, in the place that seemed to be made specifically for me.

  “I need to detain the criminals, and then I’ll take you home.” Dennan kissed the top of my head.

  “I’m going with you.” I didn’t want to be left alone.

  He nodded. We passed the carriage with the driver, who we now could see was dead.

  “How many people were in the house?” I asked Dennan.

  “Only the two besides Lady Catherine.”

  “Why did they kill the man in the carriage?” I wondered.

  “Criminals don’t trust anyone—not even each other.”

  Sad, but true.

  I held Dennan’s arm and we walked into the house. We climbed the stairs and entered the bedroom, where Lady Catherine was tied to the table and the two men were knocked out cold on the floor.

  My attention went to Gabby’s father, who was huddled on the bed. I tried to put my hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away.

  “It’s all right.” I scooted closer. “It’s over now. We’re going to take you home.”

  He slowly peered over his shoulder at me. When recognition lit his eyes, he swiftly moved and wrapped his arms around me.