I'll get my daughter back

Henry paced back and forth across his study as the hours without word from Carol ticked by. Just as the clock stroked six a knock at his door interrupted his pacing.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but a letter has arrived for you," Charles apologized as he presented a small letter on a silver tray. 

"Thank you," Henry took the letter from Charles and sat behind his large desk. He raked his hand down his face and broke the seal.

  Dear Henry,

  I will bring Evelyn back when we are through. She is not lost, so you don't need to send 

  Someone to find her. 

  --C

Henry threw the letter down on his desk and reached for his now empty brady sniffer. He had to admit to himself that he saw this coming. He wanted to believe that Carol would be doing what is best for his daughter, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this time was different from when she had taken Peggy to be assessed. He knew that asking Daniel and his wife was bound to bring someone level of retaliation from Carol, but he had hoped it would take her longer to discover that someone was trying to find their location. 

He rang the small bell on his desk to signal for Charles to come back. 

"Please send for Michael at once," Henry commanded. 

It didn't take long for Michael, one of this most trusted knights to answer the summons. Michael had been with them while Lauren was alive and he even played an important role in uncovering information for them about the dark magic and black markets in and around the duchy. Michael was an excellent swordsman and a brilliant strategist, so it only made sense to Henry that he might be able to help him in figuring out what exactly Carol may be up to. 

"You called for me sir," Michael bowed in respect to Henry.

"Yes, I need you to tell me if anything has been going on with the black market recently. Has there been anything in the past week that I should be aware of?"

Michael thought for a moment before he answered and removed a folded piece of paper from his leathers, "yes. There was an auction about a week ago and one of the items was a small ruby charm that caused quite a stir. It looks like this," he unfolded the piece of paper on the desk.

Henry quickly snatched up the paper and his face went pale. He recognized the small ruby charm because of its impeccable goldened leaves and vines that encased it. He knew he had seen this charm somewhere and quickly opened up the box that contained letters from his late wife Lauren until he found the letter he was looking for. His hands began to shake as he read his wife's warning: "Henry, should this item ever come to be seen again, it is imperative that you acquire it. One of our daughters may be able to harness its power. I have come to know that it is rumored to have belonged to the Fae queen 400 years ago. It will awaken when the blood of a fae is recognized by it. Its powers are unknown, but I believe that one of our girls will be its owner. This was foretold to me long ago when I was wondering the realms. It was seen that one my blood will be recognized by this charm and it can both save their life or cause their demise. Please acquire this charm at all costs. I only regret that it has not been seen so far."

"Michael," Henry started. "I need you to tell me who bought this charm."

"Well, that is easy. Lady Carol was the one who I believe purchased the charm. She was not alone at the auction, but I know that someone in her booth was the winning bidder."

Henry's face paled and his hands shook as he poured himself another glass of brandy. He couldn't be sure if Carol knew about the prophecy, but he knew now that he was too late. "This is all my fault," he lamented.

"I don't understand, sire."

"It's not your fault, I should have been paying more attention to the auction houses. Michael, I need you to send some scouts out to Lady Carol's domain and see what they can find. She has taken Evelyn and I have already tried to find out her location through Daniel and his wife, but Carol caught her doing a locator spell and prevented her from finding the location. I need you and your men to see what you can find. This is of the utmost importance and I need an answer tonight."

"I understand, we will do our best." Michael reassured him before taking his leave. 

Henry glanced down at the papers on his desk. He knew that Carol would never want to hurt Evelyn, but this was different. What if Evelyn was the one that the charm recognized? Carol had always been jealous of Lauren's powers, that much he knew, but he had no idea what Carol would do to his child should that charm recognize her and that scared him more than anything. Something told him that he was too late, but that didn't mean that he would sit around and wait until he heard from Carol. No, he needed to find Evelyn as fast as possible and hope he got there before something happened. 

Several hours passed by with no word yet from Michael and Henry was growing impatient. He had locked himself in his study hoping that the mountain of paperwork that he needed to finish would be enough to distract him, but his thoughts constantly went back to Evelyn. Around ten o'clock there was a knock on his study door and Henry flew up from his chair to answer it. 

Michael was standing in the doorway by himself and Henry knew just by the look on his face that something bad had happened. "Tell me what you know," he commanded Michael.

"Sir,  I believe that she is being held in the root cellar at the back of Lady Carol's property. We weren't able to get close enough to check, but there is definitely something strange going on. My spies were able to see a large group of witches surrounding the entrance and from their movements, we believe they were attempting to cast spells, but some were violently pushed back by force and we feared being found out should we go in ourselves."

"You did the right thing," Henry exhaled. "I need to go get her back, you're coming with me along with fifteen of your men that you trust the most. This is not going to be easy, but from what I know now, I don't think Carol or the witches will have much in the way of preventing me from getting my daughter back."

Michael bowed his head in thought, "might I suggest that we contact someone from Lauren's coven? They may be able to help us with this. We can't use or sense their magic," Michael suggested.

"No, it's too dangerous for us to do that. Just ready your men and I will meet you at the stables in twenty minutes." 

Henry downed another glass of brandy before he headed out to get himself ready for the journey ahead. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but if what Michael's group had discovered was in line with what Lauren had said, he needed to go get Evelyn and there was no way that Carol would be able to stop him. He would be the only one that would be able to save her.