Adora caught red handed?

Drexel led Adora back to her room, “Please stay here. I’m afraid that now we have a lot to talk about but I need to do some talking with others first.” He shut the door, leaving Adora alone.
 
[Father, I have a problem. Kyle is here and now they know that I’m your daughter and I believe they think I’m a spy.]
 
There was a small knock at her door but Adora ignored it. After the other knock Adora thought, What the…? Oh wait. I forgot that some people knock to get into a room. They don’t just barge in. What a difference from home. “Come in,” she beckoned. The door opened and Samual walked into the room. Adora took a couple steps back as he closed the door behind him. Her heart was beating fast, but she forced a sneer on her face. She watched him as he locked the door. “Samual,” Adora said, “What are you doing here?” He narrowed his eyes, “Knock it off, Adora. I know what you are trying to do.” Adora shrugged, “I’m only trying to get you to understand that anything between us is impossible.”
 
“Fine. You can lie to yourself if you like, but I will keep my hope and you cannot take that way.” She opened her mouth to reply but he raised his hand. “I didn’t come here to discuss us. I need to know if you are sincere about accepting our help.” Adora began to pace around the room, “I just don’t see how you can help those who will likely be on the Huntsmen’s Most-Wanted list. But I will try.” Samual nodded and he smiled. Adora knew of smiles that can mean physical pain, like her father’s, but this smile went straight to her heart. She closed her eyes to block the tears.
“Kyle doesn’t trust you,” Samual continued. Adora blinked and looked again at Samual with dry eyes. “I don’t blame him, but what have you guys decided to do about that?” “First we were going to ask you to stay in your room, but we figured that as long as either myself or Drexel stayed with you at all times – except for in here of course – then that should be good enough.” Adora nodded, “That’s ok with me.” “Good,” Samual said, “and since we couldn’t decide who would get first baby-sitting duties, we drew straws. He got the short straw meaning he gets this first shift.” Samual stared at her for a long time, then blinked and left the room.
Another knock on her door brought Kyle into her room. “How nice of you to come visit me.” He waved his hand, “Shut up, Adora. I know why you are here and I will keep watching you to prevent us from being discovered.” Adora scowled, “You came in here just to tell me that?”
“No,” Kyle said, “I am mostly hoping I could convince you to accept our help and to help us. We can free you Adora. Even from Lord Nicholas. Come on! I escaped him.”
“Hm,” Adora said noncommittally. “You have magic too. That would’ve helped in many ways. I don’t. I am a slave.” Adora paused. “Remember, a slave is a slave for life?”
Kyle shook his head, “So are most of the people here! So are most of the people we help.” Kyle shook his head, “I want to help you Adora, but I will not allow you to jeopardize all we have worked for and accomplished during all these years.”
Adora narrowed her eyes, “Are there any previous slaves that I could talk to that have escaped from my father?”
Kyle looked thoughtful and nodded slowly, “I think so, but I don’t know for sure.”
Adora pursed her lips, “And how many of my father’s slave wagons have you captured over the years?”
Kyle looked a bit more uncomfortable at this question, but he answered, “About 10. His guards are usually well equipped and well trained.”
Adora nodded, “And you guys have been capturing slave wagons for about 25 years I believe I was told? And in 25 years and the numerous caravans that travel through that pass – and not just my father’s – you have only successfully captured 80 to 100 slaves belonging to my father? How many of those hundred do you have successfully completing your freeing program?”
Kyle scowled this time, “Less than 10.”
“Ten?” Adora said. “That’s not a very good success rate. What happens to the slaves that you cannot help?”
Kyle shrugged, “We erase their memory of their wagon being captured, but not of the attack, and drop them off where they can be found by the searching party or so that they can make it back to their owners.”
Adora nodded slowly. “How would you prevent the Huntsmen from coming after the missing slave?”
Kyle turned away and unlocked the door saying, “We haven’t come up with a successful plan for that yet. Thankfully, they are not hired by most owners to retrieve common slaves.” Kyle opened the door and stepped out into the hall. “Kyle!” Came a voice from down the hall and a young man ran up to him, panting. “Thank goodness I’ve found you! We have a problem with Lord Nicholas’ pleasure slaves!” Kyle ran down the hall following the young man. Adora stepped to the threshold and looked down the hall. Sighing, she shut the door.

#

Kyle and the young man ran fast enough so that communication was impossible. Finally they reached the hallway where the slave girls slept and found them crying hysterically at one of the dining room tables. There were several guards standing around. “What’s going on here?” Kyle demanded. “Sir,” the captain of the guards began, “we saw these girls drinking from these little vials that were hanging around their neck. We took the vials from them because they belonged to Lord Nicholas and I was afraid that they contained a poison since we hadn’t had very good success with his slaves. But when I took the vials, they tried very hard to get the vials back, but refused to tell me why. So when I refused to return the vials until they told me the reason, they became hysterical. So we sent for you and Drexel.” Just as he finished Drexel came running up to them.

“Ladies!” Drexel said, sitting down at the table. “Please tell us what is wrong. We are only here to help you.” The women only continued their hysterical crying. He turned to Kyle, “Can you calm them down?” Kyle nodded and said his magic words. The girls’ screaming cries became moans and their breathing slowed considerably. “There! That’s better. Now then, I know you are scared of Lord Nicholas, but believe us that we can help you, but you must trust us and tell us what these vials are for.” One of the women with long braided black hair and bright green eyes, shook her head, “He made us swear to never tell anyone. But know that if we don’t get those vials back, we will experience great and increasing pain in three days and then we will all be dead. Do you want that on your conscious for so little a thing?” The woman stared at him steadily and finally Drexel shook his head, “Captain, give the vials back to them.” The guards handed out the vials and the women held them close to their bodies as if it was a rare treasure. Then they all got up from the table and went to their separate rooms. The guards then dispersed leaving Kyle and Drexel alone. Kyle sat down and said, “What was that all about?”
Drexel shook his head, “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
“Any luck with Adora?” Drexel asked, changing the subject.
Kyle shook his head, “No sir. She immediately got to the heart of our problem. That we have had so very little success with capturing Lord Nicholas’ wagons or in getting them to accept freedom. And she mentioned the Huntsmen again.”
Drexel sighed, “Do you think she is a spy?”
Kyle sighed and considered the question very seriously. Finally he nodded his head, “Yes sir, I do. But we still might be able to talk her into accepting our help to set her free.”
Drexel clasped Kyle’s shoulder, “I’ll talk with her. And who knows, perhaps she knows about these vials?” Kyle only nodded, stood and left the room. Drexel sat alone for another hour, thinking about his coming conversation with Adora and finally gave up. There was no way to predict how this was going to work out. He stood up and headed to her room.

#

           Once again, Adora heard a knock at her door. Growing more accustomed to it, she quickly responded. “Come in!” Drexel entered and closed the door behind him, but the door stayed unlocked. “Kyle was just telling me about your talk a few moments ago.” Adora stared at him, but said nothing. She is not going to make this easy. “Why do you want to stay with him Adora?” Drexel tried a different approach. He sat on the floor and leaned against the wall.

“Why do you keep hounding me about something I believe to be impossible?” Adora countered. “I have accepted my slavery. Why can’t you?”

Drexel looked extremely sad, “Because my sister was a slave and it killed her.” Adora gasped and sat on the bed. Her face had softened and she was now more willing to listen. “I have thus built my life trying to help other slaves escape and get their free lives back,” Drexel continued. We lived in a moderately sized city on the coast and one day three good-sized ships came into the harbor during the night. They set fires to many homes and when the alarm was raised and we all rushed out to battle the blazes, they entered our homes and kidnapped our wives, children, sisters – all the females they could get their hands on.”

His eyes filled with tears and he was looking at the wall, but his eyes were seeing another place in time. “At first we didn’t hear them screaming because of our yelling while trying to put out the fires and also because they started with the houses the furthest away from the fires. As they worked closer, we heard the screaming and some of us ran to help, but they were well-armed and well-trained. We were city men. They killed every one who attempted to help the women. Finally we all gave up trying to put out the fires and went to save our women. We failed utterly. Through their skills with the sword and magic they defeated us. When those that survived woke the next morning, the whole town was burned to the ground and most of the men were dead. I was one of the handful of survivors.”
           Adora sat on the bed in stunned silence. Finally she worked her tongue loose, “Did you ever find her?” Drexel shook his head, “No, but many years later I received a letter. How she got it to me I don’t know, but it said that by the time I read it she would be dead because she and some of the other slaves were going to attack their guards and try to escape.” Adora nodded knowingly. Drexel fell silent and his pent up tears streamed down his face.
           Adora could not speak. She could only find meaningless and empty words that she could not bring herself to say, so she stayed silent. “Who have you left behind, Adora?” Drexel asked.
She shook her head and sighed heavily, “No one. I’ve been a slave for as long as I can remember.”
Drexel nodded, “Is Lord Nicholas really your father?”
Adora snorted, “Yes, unfortunately.”
“What about your mother?” Drexel asked.
“I don’t really remember my mother. She disappeared sometime when I was 5 years old. I’ve lived with my father ever since.”
“Why do you want to go back to him?”
“I have no choice, Drexel. I greatly admire what you are trying to do here, but in my case it’s useless. I am a slave and he has guaranteed my loyalty to him. If I were to leave him, I would be dead in a matter of a week.”
Drexel got a puzzled look on his face at these words. “Adora, a while ago Kyle was urgently called to assist with your father’s pleasure slaves. The guards had taken away some small vials that the girls had just drunk from because they feared they were poison. The girls refused to tell the guards what was in the vials but said pretty much what you just did. That if they didn’t get the vials back they would feel great and increasing pain in three days then three more days later, they would be dead. Do you know what they are talking about?”
Adora paled and Drexel jumped up, “Adora! Are you ok?” Adora reached into her tunic with a trembling hand and pulled out her own vial that hung around her neck. Drexel gasped.
“Did it look like this?” Adora asked.
“Yes! The very same!” Drexel stared at Adora, “What is in these vials Adora?”
Adora replaced the vial under her shirt and shook her head, “I never would have thought that he would do that to his pleasure slaves, but it makes some sense.”
Drexel growled, “Well, it’s not making sense to me! Adora you know about these vials obviously. Please tell me!”
Nodding she waved to the chair in her room. “You’d better sit down. This will probably come as quite a shock.”
At first Drexel didn’t move, but after he realized that Adora wouldn’t tell unless he did so, he quickly moved the chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. “These vials,” Adora began, “keep us alive.” Drexel opened his mouth to interrupt, but Adora held up her hand. “Please. No interruptions. There will be plenty of questions later.” Adora closed her eyes and silently got her thoughts together before continuing. “Many years ago Father poisoned me after I was returned to him by the Huntsmen for escaping him for the third time. He said that only he had the formula for the poison itself and only he had the delay potion. You see, he told me there was no cure for the poison and that it is a very slow acting one. From the first few days of being poisoned, the person feels nothing. Then they begin to feel a slight burning that quickly increases to feeling like their very skin is on fire. This pain increases over the next three days until finally the person dies. This delay potion keeps the pain at bay, but we have to take it at least every three days. Or at least sometime before we die. Taking multiple doses of the delay potion on the same day or before its needed will not work. The delaying effects are not cumulative.”
Drexel was stunned by what he heard. “How could he do that to people much less his own daughter?! I don’t understand.”
Adora shrugged, “But now you know why we are loyal to him. At least I am because I am too cowardly to accept death. I want to live.”
Drexel’s face grew hard and his lips pressed into a thin white line. He shot to his feet. “Adora come with me. I may have someone who can help you.”
Adora stood and walked with Drexel out of her room and down several halls to a dead end. At least Adora thought it was a dead end until Drexel felt around on the tunnel wall and suddenly a section of the wall opened. It was dark through the opening, but Adora’s eyes were quickly adjusting to the light. Faster than Drexel’s.  “Where are we?”
“You’ll see soon enough, “ Drexel answered. The room was crowded with several plants growing in pots and even more plant cuttings bundled and hanging from the rafters.
Going to a door on the far end of the room, Drexel listened then knocked on the door in code. After a few moments the door opened and an old woman was standing there. “I need your help Zoe,” Drexel said. “It’s of the utmost importance.” Zoe frowned but backed away so they could enter. She shut the door behind them. This room had many windows letting in the bright sunlight and several tables with what looked like a wizard’s lab set up on them. “Adora,” Drexel turned to her, “Zoe might be able to help with this poison problem. Her knowledge is vast and she has helped us in the past. Tell her of your poison.”
Father would be furious at me for telling more people about his poison. Especially for telling this woman in order to be hopefully cured. But what if she can help? I haven’t had a chance myself to find out if his ‘No Cure’ scare is true. The worst she can tell me is that she doesn’t know. The woman had blue eyes so light they almost appeared colorless. They looked right into Adora and she shivered. But finally making up her mind, Adora nodded and told the woman all she had told Drexel about the poison – which wasn’t much – and about the delay potion.
Zoe nodded, her eyes shimmered and her body twitched. Finally she answered, “Yes, very interesting child. I actually have heard of this poison, but I’m afraid that Lord Nicholas is right. There is no cure, and now there is no hope for either of you.” Before they could understand what was going on, Zoe’s body grew and changed and in the blink of an eye there stood before them Lord Nicholas.
“Father!” Adora yelled and her father quickly waved his hand and they both collapsed, screaming in pain. Flagg came out of a side room and they were all transported back to Lord Nicholas’ castle. He waved his hand again and the pain finally stopped. They were both too weak to get up from the floor so they laid there panting. “Get up you useless child!” Adora got up on her knees and for once she was glad she didn’t look her father in the eyes. Drexel slowly stood, his legs shaky but he had no fear of looking Lord Nicholas in the eyes and did so defiantly. Lord Nicholas smiled at his determination then turned to Adora, “Why were you going to Zoe, Adora?” Adora swallowed hard, and desperately considered lying to him. But before that idea could take root, Lord Nicholas grabbed her by the throat and held her high in the air. She gasped for air and grabbed his arm, “We were going there hoping to find a cure for the poison father. But I didn’t know that until Drexel mentioned it.”
“Leave her alone!” Drexel yelled but with a wave of Lord Nicholas’ hand, he quickly found himself suspended in the air with his hands pinned behind his back and his ankles pinned together. “I will deal with you in a minute, but first I think you will want to watch this.” Lord Nicholas lowered Adora and brought her face very close to his. “Now just relax my dear and look me in the eyes.” “No! Not a mind scan! No!” Adora pleaded but Lord Nicholas sent out shocks of electricity through her body. She screamed and went limp when he finally stopped. “Do I have to ask you again, Adora?” In answer, Adora relaxed and looked him in the eyes. She felt him enter her mind like a thick evil cloud. [Show me what happened from the time the caravan came through the pass until now.] And with no way to stop the memories, Adora watched the memories display before him and she heard her thoughts being replayed as well. She groaned but she didn’t know how long he scanned her mind. Finally the ordeal was over and he was out of her mind, but as before she was completely unable to move.
 
“What did you do to her you monster!” Drexel yelled.
 
Lord Nicholas smiled – she heard it in his voice – and replied, “My dear Drexel, I have just learned all that Adora discovered about you and your operation. I have just scanned her mind and she told me everything.”
 
“No!” Drexel said. “It’s not true! I don’t believe you.”
 
Lord Nicholas replied, “Then how do I know that you dreamed up this idea because your sister was taken captive and sold into slavery many years ago. That Master Kyle, who used to work for me, created this collar that broke out mind link and that Samual is also involved in your organization.” He laughed, and it was a cold cruel sound. “Oh yes, I have great plans for those slaves. And a special punishment is planned for Samual.” Adora heard Drexel crying. “Guards,” Lord Nicholas said pleasantly, “Take Drexel here to the dungeons and Adora to her room.”