Eternal Vows (4 page)

“Who do you think scared them off, Your Highness?” a knight with long red hair asked.

Your Highness? Would it kill one of them to slip out of character for a second and tell me what the heck’s really going on?
“So you saw them?”

“Of course.”

Witnesses galore! The press is gonna have a field day with this.
Nobody is ever gonna call me an idiot again, she thought.
Especially Frank. Speaking of him…
“Later, I’m going to have to get a statement from every one of you, but in the meantime, could you please make that phone call? Really, this is serious. Get rescue out here right now! My friend could be hurt.”

“Flushing you out was easier than I expected,” said the leader.

“Well, you woulda been hiding, too, if those things were after you. Long story short, I was hunting…er, uh, not real hunting like shooting Bambi or anything. I’m a researcher for The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, the BFRO. Ever heard of us?” she asked, feeling like a fool for mentioning it to the gorgeous guy in front of her. She was rather sure there was no hope of getting his phone number, if there ever was in the first place, because guys usually ran the other direction when they heard what she did for a living.

A knight looked at the leader, cocking his brow. “Victor, we need to make haste. She must consult with the healer.”

Yep, that’s it. Either I’m nuts or they are. Victor, huh? Hmm. In Latin, that means “conqueror”. Sexy.
“Listen, I don’t need a doctor—just a little help finding my friend.”

Victor swung lithely from his horse onto the ground.

She gasped at his towering height and muscular build.
Talk about tall, dark, and handsome! Who’d of thought I’d meet this medieval hottie in the middle of some forest on a Bigfoot hunt?
She scanned the stranger and then the horsemen standing behind him. “Any of you got a cell?”

They mumbled amongst themselves, shaking their heads.

Their character acting was beginning to get on her nerves. “Fine, but can one of you give me a ride back to my Jeep? I can call for help there. I think we’re parked about six miles north, near the main road.”

“A cell? A Jeep? What are these strange things she speaks of?” a confused knight asked. “She is delusional, milord. She must be taken to the healer for her head wounds.”

“Delusional or bewitched,” said a knight with a white mustache and matching white hair tied into a ponytail.

“Yes! She is spewing out these lies to mislead us!” called out another.

“Lies? I’m not lying,” Sarah said. “I know it’s a long way back to my vehicle and a big favor to ask, but we’ll get there in no time on one of your horses. Look, I’ll even pay you to make up for your time off the set, but if you’re not going to help me, then please at least get your men to start searching the area. We can cover more ground if we split up into groups and look for Frank. You three can go over that way, and I will go with Victor here to—”

A dangerous glint flickered in Victor’s eyes. “How dare you command us, princess or not?”

She hesitated, taken aback by his rudeness. He looked like Prince Charming, but he sounded more like that caveman from those old dinosaur movies. “Listen, mister. I love movies and all, and if you save me some tickets, I’ll be sure to come watch this little performance of yours.” She tipped her hat. “I promise I’ll even wear something nicer for your big opening weekend and all, but right now, we need to get moving. A man’s life is at stake.”

“Bark out another order like that, miss, and you’ll feel the sting of a whip on your back,” Victor said.

Sarah cringed.
Testy, ain’t he? Pssh! Forget the phone number and the show then, buddy. How about some anger management classes? Or…
A new thought popped in her head, and she glanced around. “A-ha! I got it! I know what you’re up to. Where’s the hidden cameras? You almost had me fooled. Frank’s in on this little
Candid Camera
act, isn’t he? Ooh, I’m gonna kill him. Where have you got him stashed away?”

“You should’ve thought twice before you stepped onto enemy territory,” he said.

“You’re good,” Sarah said, pointing at him. “Stepping on enemy territory is a nice touch. Did your producers put you up to this?”

Victor’s face hardened into grim lines. “You’re now a prisoner of war, Princess Gloria.”

She stared at his stern face and stiffened. “Look…this medieval game you’re playing is kind of cool and all. Love the costumes and the attitude, but I really need a phone. If you’re not playing some kind of joke, then this really is an emergency.”

Victor’s menacing gaze ran over her inch by inch. Stepping closer, he traced a finger down the side of her cheek.

She shoved him back. “Don’t you touch me!”

“How dare you?” he roared. “Are you not aware of who I am?”

Of course she had no idea, nor did she really care. “No. Who
are
you?” The situation was getting out of control. The hot guy was clearly a nutcase, and she’d come to realize that Ashton Kutcher wasn’t going to be jumping out of the bushes anytime soon, announcing that she’d been punk’d by Frank. It was time to run and let them get back to their jousting or whatever it was they did to earn their pay from the Renaissance Fair payroll office, especially when she saw one of the knights scanning her up and down, lingering a little too long on the skin exposed where the two upper buttons had been ripped from her shirt by a rather intrusive thorny vine.
Why the heck did I let Frank have our only weapon?
she scolded herself.
What if these medieval jerks decide to take advantage of me out here?
The thought alone sent shivers through her body.
If I scream out here, who’ll even hear me?
She was suddenly sickeningly reminded of every horror film she’d ever seen where stupid teenage girls wandered off alone in the wilderness, and she was none too happy to be that stupid girl. As the knights fanned out and surrounded her, her heart raced.

“Stubborn woman! You know who I am,” Victor said. “Your brother might’ve gotten away, but I’m afraid you are in our possession, whether you like it or not. It is my duty to make you pay for warning Charles and his knights about my trap.”

Mistaken identity was putting it lightly. “I don’t even have a brother,” Sarah said, “and I’m no rat.”

“
More lies!” he hissed, his blue eyes blazing. “Did you really think I would fail to find you just because they dressed you up like a man in clothes that blend with the trees? Foolish, foolish girl.”

She huffed. In her line of work, she’d been called plenty of names, but she’d never been mistaken for a male. “A man? Why, because I’m wearing camouflage pants? I’m hunting a creature, not going to the opera. What’d you expect, some strapless mini-dress and stilettos?”

“Milord, with all due respect, the disguise is a rather ingenious idea, perhaps one we should replicate in the future,” the blond guy behind the knight said. “Had the princess not surrendered, we would not have seen her.”

“Surrender? Listen, you’re making a big mistake.” She suddenly remembered she’d left her pepper spray behind, and she regretted that. “I’m not a princess. I don’t know what freaky game you’re playing, but my friend’s going to call the police. And trust me when I say he has lots of connections with the FBI. They’ll be swarming the place any minute!”

Victor smiled. “Is that what you call your knights? I’m afraid we dispatched this FBI hours ago, Highness. That was how we knew they abandoned you somewhere in this forest.” He knocked the fedora off her head and hastily jerked her bunned hair to a disheveled mess. Tousles of long brown hair tumbled down the middle of her back.

“I told you not to touch me!” she yelled, drawing her hand up to slap him.

He caught her wrist. “Do not ever threaten to attack me, Princess, and you must cease with giving orders to those who have you in custody.” A fiery blue flame burned behind his eyes.

Loosening his grip, she yanked her hand away. She realized that smacking him wasn’t going to help her one tiny bit; all things considered, running sounded like a much better option. She glanced around for the best escape route, but it was no use, for she was completely surrounded. Her mind raced, terrified to think about what they might try to do to her.

Victor tugged at her holster and pulled out her radio to examine it. “What kind of magic device is this?”

“Idiot,” Sarah whispered under her breath, rolling her eyes. “It’s a radio. I know it’s not the newest Sony type, all slick and thin and whatnot, but give me a break. Pretending you don’t know what it is is just…lame.”

Victor raised an eyebrow. “A radio, you say? Is that a weapon of some sort?”

“No. It’s for communication.” Boy, was she getting tired of this role-playing. “You know, you talk into it, and someone else’s voice comes out.”

“Witchery,” mumbled one of the knights.

Victor held up his hand to hush the murmurs of his men and then gestured for one of his men to take it. “Take this back with us.”

A tall, muscular knight walked over to her, dangling her 35mm camera. “And what is this?” He snapped the button, and a flash of light made the knights erupt in a choir of gasps and shocked whispers.

“A weapon to blind her opponent!” one knight asked, blinking as if hundreds of white spots filled his vision, like something he’d never experienced before. “‘Tis surely evil magic, sir!”

Sarah sighed and pointed to the digital view screen. “Magic? Seriously? Look. There are your fine knights in all their glory. I think I’ll call this shot,
Deer in the Headlights
.”

The man gasped. “She paints a picture of us in the blink of an eye, yet she has no paint or brushes! Surely she is of an evil ilk, milord!”

“Oh please. Give me back my camera,” hissed Sarah.

Victor’s gaze narrowed. “You are brave, captured yet still forcing demands upon those who would have you in chains.”

“Fine. You can have the dang thing. But that film belongs to me!” After all she’d been through, there was no way she was going to let her evidence go, medieval army or not.

“Film? What is this you speak of?” asked a knight. He looked at Victor, who only shook his head and shrugged.

Victor ran his hands down her pant leg; she bit her lip to keep herself from kicking him hard, knowing any kind of physical assault would only make things worse. It was one girl against a platoon of nuts, and the odds didn’t look good. She was just glad he hadn’t held a knife or a sword to her throat…yet.

“What other weapons are you hiding in your man-clothes?” Searching her pocket, the man pulled out the thermal camera and dangled it. “Your knights left you with weapons we’ve never seen. Too bad you didn’t put them to good use, Princess Gloria.”

“
Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how dangerous a radio and a thermal camera are. And stop calling me ‘Princess Gloria’! My name’s Sarah.” She shook her head and raised her hands in mock defense. “Tell you what. Just keep them both. I’ve no idea what game you’re playing, and I really don’t care either. All I want is to go home—with my film.” Her heart pounded, and her palms dampened. She took a few long steps backward. “But if you won’t give me the film, I still want to get out of here. So, I wish you gentlemen all the best, and I’ll just be on my merry way now, if you don’t mind.”

“I would advise you to halt,” a knight said behind her.

Crap.
Her breath caught in her throat, and the same thought played in her mind.
What are these guys planning to do with me—or to me?

Victor turned to his knights. “You captured her this morning, here, in the Forest of the Guardians. Is this the same woman who escaped from you?”

“Yes, milord,” a knight said, looking slightly embarrassed. “Without a doubt, this is the same one who escaped us.”

The others nodded in agreement, some looking at the ground in shame.

A case of mistaken identity was the last thing she needed. “They’re wrong! I can assure you they’ve never seen me before.” She laughed. “How could they? I wasn’t even here.”

Victor scoffed. “Are you suggesting that my knights are liars, Princess?”

“No, but maybe this healer of yours should get them all some bifocals. I’m a researcher leading a major expedition. I study these creatures, uh, these Guardians, as you call them, that are running around this forest. I have been trying to prove their existence for a long time, and—”

“Prove their existence? You know full well they exist! That is exactly why you entered this forbidden place. You thought we wouldn’t follow you in, but I’d risk my life to get my hands on you. After all, you are all the leverage we need to make your stubborn father see the light.” Victor climbed up on his horse and stared down at her, casting periwinkle daggers through her. “Would you like to ride with me or one of them?” He pointed to his men. “I must warn you that my men are not as capable of keeping their hands to themselves. Has been many weeks since they have seen someone the likes of you, and men can get very lonely.”