Escape and the Unraveling of Secrets

"I let him die laughing," said the man in black. "Pray I do as much for you." He lifted her, slashed her bonds away, put her on her feet, started to pull her along.

"Please," Buttercup said. "Give me a moment to gather myself." The man in black released his grip.

Buttercup rubbed her wrists, stopped, massaged her ankles. She took a final look at the Sicilian. "To think," she murmured, "all that time it was your cup that was poisoned."

"They were both poisoned," said the man in black. "I've spent the past two years building up immunity to iocane powder."

Buttercup looked up at him. He was terrifying to her, masked and hooded and dangerous; his voice was strained, rough. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am no one to be trifled with," replied the man in black. "That is all you ever need to know." And with that he yanked her upright. "You've had your moment." Again he pulled her after him, and this time she could do nothing but follow.

They moved along the mountain path. The moonlight was very bright, and there were rocks everywhere, and to Buttercup it all looked dead and yellow, like the moon. She had just spent several hours with three men who were openly planning to kill her. So why, she wondered, was she more frightened now than then? Who was the horrid hooded figure to strike fear in her so? What could be worse than dying? "I will pay you a great deal of money to release me," she managed to say.

The man in black glanced at her. "You are rich, then?"

"I will be," Buttercup said. "Whatever you want for ransom, I promise I'll get it for you if you'll let me go."

The man in black just laughed.

"I was not speaking in jest."

"You promise? You? I should release you on your promise? What is that worth? The vow of a woman? Oh, that is very funny, Highness. Spoken in jest or not." They proceeded along the mountain path to an open space. The man in black stopped then. There were a million stars fighting for prominence and for a moment he seemed to be intent on nothing less than studying them all, as Buttercup watched his eyes flick from constellation to constellation behind his mask.

Then, with no warning, he spun off the path, heading into wild terrain, pulling her behind him.

She stumbled; he pulled her to her feet; again she fell; again he righted her.

"I cannot move this quickly."

"You can! And you will! Or you will suffer greatly. Do you think I could make you suffer greatly?"

Buttercup nodded.

"Then run!" cried the man in black, and he broke into a run himself, flying across rocks in the moonlight, pulling the Princess behind him.

She did her best to keep up. She was frightened as to what he would do to her, so she dared not fall again.

After five minutes, the man in black stopped dead. "Catch your breath," he commanded.

Buttercup nodded, gasped in air, tried to quiet her heart. But then they were off again, with no warning, dashing across the mountainous terrain, heading…

"Where… do you take me?" Buttercup gasped, when he again gave her a chance to rest.

"Surely even someone as arrogant as you cannot expect me to give an answer."

"It does not matter if you tell or not. He will find you."

"'He,' Highness?"

"Prince Humperdinck. There is no greater hunter. He can track a falcon on a cloudy day; he can find you."

"You have confidence that your dearest love will save you, do you?"

"I never said he was my dearest love, and yes, he will save me; that I know."

"You admit you do not love your husband-to-be? Fancy. An honest woman. You're a rare specimen, Highness."

"The Prince and I have never from the beginning lied to each other. He knows I do not love him."

"Are not capable of love is what you mean."

"I'm very capable of love," Buttercup said.

"Hold your tongue, I think."

"I have loved more deeply than a killer like you can possibly imagine."

He slapped her.

"That is the penalty for lying, Highness. Where I come from, when a woman lies, she is reprimanded."

"But I spoke the truth, I did, I—" Buttercup saw his hand rise a second time, so she stopped quickly, fell dead silent.

Then they began to run again.

They did not speak for hours. They just ran, and then, as if he could guess when she was spent, he would stop, release her hand. She would try to catch her breath for the next dash she was sure would come. Without a sound, he would grab her and off they would go.

It was close to dawn when they first saw the Armada.

They were running along the edge of a towering ravine. They seemed almost to be at the top of the world. When they stopped, Buttercup sank down to rest. The man in black stood silently over her. "Your love comes, not alone," he said then.

Buttercup did not understand.

The man in black pointed back the way they had come.

Buttercup stared, and as she did, the waters of Florin Channel seemed as filled with light as the sky was filled with stars.

"He must have ordered every ship in Florin after you," the man in black said. "Such a sight I have never seen." He stared at all the lanterns on all the ships as they moved.

"You can never escape him," Buttercup said. "If you release me, I promise that you will come to no harm."

"You are much too generous; I could never accept such an offer."

"I offered you your life, that was generous enough."

"Highness!" said the man in black, and his hands were suddenly at her throat. "If there is talk of life to be done, let me do it."