Stolen
Princess
LAVENDER SAGE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental
Text Copyright © 2019 by Lavender Sage. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted and reproduced in any manner or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or whatsoever without written permission of the author.
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Table of Contents
Stolen Princess
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
EPILOGUE
Stolen Princess
Killian has been searching for Irene Taylor, the three-year-old daughter of his foster family, kidnapped sixteen years ago. The trail leads him into an isolated forest and a hidden manor.
Determined to bring her back, he walks inside the formidable house despite unknown dangers lurking all around but what he never imagines is the young woman waiting for him inside. One look at her and he’s decided to claim her as his own.
Nineteen-year-old Irene has been waiting for a prince, a savior, who would take her away from the oppressive house she grew up in. The moment her eyes meet Killian’s, she knows he is there for her.
He’s claiming her, no matter the consequences.
But there are outside forces threatening to take her away.
Can they ever reach the world outside those godforsaken woods where she’s been a captive her whole life? Will fate let them stay together despite the dangers surrounding them?
Immerse yourself in this romantic little story and enjoy a modern day fairy tale.
If you like your steamy tales with a dash of sweetness, you’re going to love this. Grab some fudgy brownies on the side because it will get hot, sweet and gooey. A happily-ever-after guaranteed!
Note: This story was previously published titled as ‘Delicate’ under the pen name Ivy Sage.
1
Killian
My land rover trundled through the rocky terrain of the forest. The narrow path we’d followed from the deserted wooded area disappeared a mile back and now we were just heading towards the east as the GPS pointed on the dashboard. Closely growing tree trunks obstructed our vision in every direction.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” asked Tom. He was a young graduate who worked under me at Triton Motors. He’d followed me to investigate a house situated in the middle of nowhere. Technically we were in northern Pennsylvania but the place was so remote, even our cell phones stopped working five miles back.
“The house has been hidden these past decades but one of our drones located it. According to GPS, we are on the right track. We will be there soon,” I explained. Tom became silent but the worried expression on his face deepened. “What are you so afraid of anyway?” I asked. “It’s just trees everywhere.”
“You don’t understand, Boss,” he whispered. “This is the kind of place where maniacs come to sacrifice virgins. Haven’t you seen the Blair Witch Project? It’s exactly in these kinds of woods.” He shuddered. “What if there’s no girl in the house but some psycho waiting to murder us?”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me. “What nonsense are you talking about?” I shook my head, turning to look away from him.
“But, Boss. This place is so creepy,” he insisted.
My gaze swept the greenery ahead. None of it was creepy but it felt awfully lonely and desolate. I thought of the girl who’d been kidnapped from her parents when she was barely three and hidden somewhere in these woods. It was unimaginable a person could grow up in such an isolated place.
Irene Taylor.
A sigh escaped me. Her photograph flashed before me. At three years old, she was a cute, chubby toddler and the apple of her parents’ eyes. She inherited her father’s dark curls and her mother’s green eyes. There was a radiant, glowing smile on her face in every photo that crowded Mr. Taylor’s home.
I’d grown up seeing her face but never had the chance to meet the little girl who was so loved and cherished. The Taylors adopted me into the family when I was twenty. I was their old butler’s son who was left behind when his father died. Instead of sending me away from the estate, he sent me to college.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor treated me as family since I was a boy. After my mother passed away, Eva looked after me. I was lucky to receive her love and attention which rightfully belonged to her daughter, Irene.
Irene was kidnapped by Nicole Stewart, a woman who was in love with Joe Taylor. When he chose to marry Eva instead, Nicole sent mercenaries to kill her on the wedding day. When her plans failed, she kidnapped their daughter on her third birthday and hid her away in this godforsaken forest.
Nicole Stewart was from a wealthy Russian family with ties to the mafia. She was vicious and cunning, knowing the couple would be drowned in misery if she stole their daughter. For years, the Taylors searched for their little girl but Nicole successfully stayed hidden both from the cops and the private investigators.
Recently, she turned up dead, being run over by a car in the middle of New York City. As soon as her identity was confirmed, I tracked her whereabouts and found the trail leading into the woods here. The drones flying over this vast area had caught sight of a manor, and the only way they detected it was due to their low-flying height.
I ran out of my office as soon as I had the coordinates, taking Tom with me. In hindsight, it would have been better to bring someone else but in my stressed, overexcited state, I hadn’t wasted a single moment.
The Taylors brought me up in their home, caring for me even when I had no relatives left. Joe Taylor even brought me up as the heir to his fortune. I don’t know exactly when it happened but I’d accepted them as my own family. The little girl whose photographs I saw growing up was also like a lost sister to me. Eva spoke of her daughter with such longing and desperation, it touched me too.
Now, I was determined to find their daughter. It was the only thing I could do to repay them.
“How much farther do we have to go?” asked Tom.
The afternoon sun was dipping down the horizon. “We are close. But I think we should walk the rest of the way. It’s too hard to drive here.” The land was too rocky and bumpy. Tom complained about it all the way but it was getting ridiculous now.
“We can’t go on foot, Boss!” he whimpered. “What if there’s someone waiting for us to do exactly that?”
“What if something goes wrong with the car?” I pointed out. “There’s no cell service here. We would have to walk back the whole distance.”
Tom groaned unhappily. I brought the car to a halt near a cluster of birch trees and climbed out. Checking the GPS tracker laying on my palm, I pointed towards the west. “Let’s go.”
Tom clung close to me as I led the way. So far, I wasn’t fazed but as the afternoon slowly faded away I began to worry we would miss the entrance to the manor. It had to be well-hidden from sight because it remained undetected for so many years.
“What do you think she looks like?” asked Tom, shivering visibly.
“I don’t know.” Irene Taylor was as frozen in mind as the photographs in the Taylor residence. A three-year-old chubby child with rosy cheeks, curly black hair and the roundest green eyes. Sixteen years had passed. She should be a young woman now but my mind couldn’t conjure how the little girl would look like now. A part of me was still e
xpecting to come across the little girl from the photographs.
“What if she’s as crazy as the woman who kidnapped her?”
“She’s not crazy,” I replied but my voice lacked conviction. Nicole Taylor had been crazy. She’d let her jealousy take control. For Eva and Joe’s sake, I hoped Irene wasn’t influenced by her kidnapper. Even if she is, I’ll get her the best treatment to fix it, I vowed, balling my fingers into fists at my side. No matter what state she was in, Irene was loved. As long as she was with us, Irene would get better.
“Look at that!” Tom suddenly shouted, his hand outstretched.
Following the direction of his gaze, I looked up at a tall wall of vines. And then it dawned on me. “That must be the walls surrounding the manor. Come on.”
Feverish excitement propelled me forward. While Tom cursed as he tripped on the undergrowth, I ran forward, eager to find an entry through the wall of ivy.
Reaching the thick ivy barrier, my hands began tearing at them, desperate to find an entrance to get inside the manor. The wall was so high, we couldn’t spot the manor beyond it. Whoever built it took every effort to conceal it from outsiders.
“Boss!” Tom called out. “Over here.” He went further down the barrier and was pointing to a clump of bushes. I hurried forward. “Look at this,” he said, pulling back the dried branches that hid a rusting iron gate. “But it seems to be locked.” He rattled at the bars but it did not open.
“This is it,” I said, taking a few steps back. With all the force I could muster, I kicked the gate. The impact was hard enough to break it off its hinges.
“Wow, Boss,” Tom breathed. “You know taekwondo?”
“Yes.”
“Guess I don’t have to be scared anymore.”
I turned to look at the impressed expression on my young subordinate’s face and couldn’t help the chuckle. “Come on,” I said, bending down so my head wouldn’t hit the low archway over the gate as I walked through the gate. Vines of ivy brushed my head and shoulders as I emerged onto a vast estate before me.
Unlike the forest outside, there were no trees here. An enormous field of dried poppies lay before us beyond which stood a Victorian-era manor made of black granite. It rose up like gigantic specter against the darkening horizon.
“Wow,” whispered Tom, coming to stand beside me. “What a place.”
The black-stoned manor was the only thing standing in the vast field. There were no visible paths forward. The thought of a child living in that desolate place sent a shiver down my spine. For a moment, I almost believed Tom’s fantasies of a mad woman living here.
“Let’s go,” I said through gritted teeth. It didn’t matter if Irene Taylor was mad. It wasn’t the child’s fault. No matter what state I found her in, I would take care of her.
Grass and dried up plants crunched under my feet as I proceeded towards the house. The sky overhead was a dark indigo by now. There was no light on any of the windows but the manor seemed to watch our steady approach.
Reaching the front entrance of the manor, I glanced at Tom. His glasses flashed in the moonlight, obscuring his eyes. He gave me a small nod.
I placed my hand on the thick iron door before me, feeling the cold metal sap away warmth from my skin. Pushing on it, I felt it give way with a loud creak. Catching myself from stumbling forward, I held the handle tightly.
My eyes adjusted to the dimness within. Only a single candle burned in the center of a small table. The furniture was all dark wood and reminded me of an era long gone. Some of the faint candlelight reflected on the walls in shiny patterns. Raising my head, I saw a gigantic chandelier hanging from the ceiling, its crystals glowing with dim luminescence.
“This looks like some kind of palace,” whispered Tom.
I walked towards the table that held the candle. Our footsteps echoed loudly around the room. Reaching it, I fumbled around the surface until my hand came on a handle. Pulling on it brought out a small drawer. There were more candles and a box of matchsticks inside.
“I will look upstairs,” I said, taking out two candlesticks. “You can search downstairs.”
“But Boss! I am scared.”
“The sooner we find her, the sooner we can leave.” Tom looked conflicted but accepted the lit candle from me. “Shout for me if you need help,” I added. “I’ll be there ASAP.”
“I’m going to need a raise after this,” he muttered under his breath.
“Fine.”
He looked up at me. “Really?”
“Get going, Peckham.”
He moved away, walking slowly towards the far corner of the entrance hall and disappeared down a corridor. As the glow of his candle vanished, I made my way towards the grand staircase on the other side.
My mind churned with all kinds of thoughts. You better be here, Irene, I prayed in my mind. How could another human being live in such a place? There was no light, no one to talk to unless you counted your crazy kidnapper.
Reaching the first landing, I walked down the corridor, checking every door there. They were all locked.
Next, I climbed to the second landing. The corridor felt different from the abandoned one down below. There were oil paintings of flower vases and fruit bowl on both walls. A faint fragrance of lavender and rose wafted into my nostrils as I walked down the hallway.
My heartbeat sped up at the sight of a thin sliver of golden light on the dark wooden floor. It was coming from the loosely closed door at the end of the corridor.
“Irene.”
I moved towards it. The scent of lavender got stronger.
My heart pounded as I pushed open the door.
A large, spacious room came into view. There were several candles burning there, bathing the place in their golden glow. As I looked around, my gaze fell on the figure standing near a canopied bed.
I felt my lips part at the sight of a beautiful, young woman. Raven-black hair tumbled past her small shoulders in thick waves. Her bright green eyes shone like clear emeralds as she stared up at me.
Without a word, she walked towards me. As she came closer, my eyes took in the gauzy white maxi dress hanging on her. It was translucent enough to give me a glimpse of her rosy-red nipples. My gaze dropped below to take in the dip of her flat stomach. I swallowed, glancing further down to see the crown of dark curls hiding her sex.
Reaching me, she laid a hand on my cheek. It felt cold against the rising heat of my flesh.
This young woman was the most alluring creature I’d ever laid eyes on. There was an untouched innocence in her eyes as she stared up at me. My gaze dropped down to her luscious pink lips and an intense desire to kiss them overwhelmed me. Something deep inside me stirred, my reaction to her beauty overwhelming me.
My cock was hardening just by the sight of her. I was no teenager who couldn’t control himself around a sexy woman. Heck! This person wasn’t even naked! What spell was she casting on me?
“Who are you?” The question escaped me involuntarily.
Her hand dropped away from my face as she took in a deep breath and squared her small, delicate shoulders. “I am Irene.”
2
Irene
Two days had passed since Mother left the house. Anxiety settled in my stomach as I watched for her return through the tall windows in the west corridors. While there were times she wouldn’t return for days but those circumstances were different. Mother would tell me the exact number of days she would be gone.
This sudden disappearance felt different. Mother was supposed to be back the very day she left after buying some things to celebrate my birthday next week.
I’ve been wandering the halls of the manor ever since the evening Mother was expected to return. Restlessness plagued me. Sleep eluded me. One single thought circled my mind. What if something happened to Mother?
The thought pushed me into a vortex of fear and panic. I would be utterly and devastatingly alone if Mother never returned. All I knew was the house and the fields around it. Mother
never allowed me to venture outside the tall walls that encased the estate.
“It’s not safe outside,” she would say every time I insisted to go outside and see the world that lay beyond the walls.
“But you go there all the time,” I would reason. “I will be safe with you.”
Mother would shake her head. “There are monsters waiting to prey on you. They will ravish your innocence and leave you broken both in body and mind until there would be nothing left of you.” Her eyes would turn dark. “You cannot leave the safety of this house. Ever!”
This particular argument seemed to last between us ever since I could remember.
“You were born here and you will remain here all your life,” Mother insisted.
A part of me doubted her. Slivers of memory often rose up in my mind. I remembered a different house, people and a vast amusement park filled with crowds of children, men, and women. While I had no idea where the place was, I refused to believe it was just my imagination. There had to be a period of my life when both Mother and I lived in another place.
The only consolation I had was the books Mother brought me back each time she ventured outside. I saw the world through them.
“I want a television, Mother,” I would often say with longing.
“We have no electricity.”
Electricity. The world outside ran on it while the only glimpses of its magic in my world were the things that operated on battery like flashlights, CD players and toys.
Growing up, I was consumed with curiosity. The books helped but I yearned for more. I wanted to know what it was like to be with children my own age, the feelings of friendships and enmity. As I aged, I became curious about love and the way my childlike body was transforming into a woman’s.
Mother would often scoff at the word and tell me it was just an illusion. According to her, men were monsters underneath their handsome façade. However, they were so different in the novels I would read. Secretly, I dreamt of a prince who would come to the manor and steal me away to the outside world. He would be strong enough to protect me from the monsters Mother talked about. We would be in love and he would give me lots of children, making sure I would never be lonely again.
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