10

Chapter 10

Fabien Goldrudder POV

He could hear her calling to him. His mother called for him and he turned away from the door of his bedroom and headed to the direction of his mother's voice. The door opened as he approached and his eyes widened when he saw his father standing next to his mother. There stood another man behind his father. A man whose presence he had not expected at all in such a place. A man whose presence was definitely unwelcome. And yet it didn't matter. For he would still save her.

It was almost like a reflex, the first step he took towards his father was to run past the stranger and to reach his mother's arms, his heart beating fast with the hope and anticipation that she might be alright. However, before he could reach her, he stopped in his tracks when he heard the stranger's soft but stern words.

"Leave her alone, boy. You don't need to fear me; I'm not here to hurt her or anybody else."

Fabien blinked and stared at his feet. Had he imagined it? No, the voice had sounded real. The way his father and mother both stiffened in surprise and stepped backwards, giving way for their guest, confirmed it was indeed him. He swallowed hard. Why did the man know so much about him? Was he the spy who had tried to abduct Gillian? He looked up again and noticed the expression on the stranger's face, trying to determine whether he was telling the truth. When the man finally nodded, Fabien's heart began to pound wildly in his chest.

If the man was who they said he was, then why hadn't he tried to rescue Gillian earlier? Surely he must have known that Fabien would try to rescue her if he had seen them leaving the castle. He would've helped his parents escape, too. But that wasn't the case anymore. He hadn't seen Gillian since the night he had kissed her goodbye and he felt sick as the realization hit him that his kiss had probably made the whole incident seem completely different. Did she even want him anymore? The uncertainty filled his stomach making him feel nauseous. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to disappear in a dark alleyway where nobody could see him crying. How could everything have gone wrong so quickly? He looked back towards his parents, who were staring at him curiously. Gillian hadn't looked at him once. He wondered whether the stranger knew he cared for her. If he did, then he certainly didn't care. He wasn't aware that the stranger had followed him into the bedroom, but he didn't seem happy about this situation, either. It seemed like the two of them were fighting over something and Fabien didn't like it.

As if sensing Fabien's gaze on them, the older man turned and stared directly back at Fabien, who had averted his gaze back onto his own feet. Suddenly, it occurred to him that he should ask the man if he had seen Gillian leave the castle. The sooner he got the information out of the man, the better. Without breaking eye contact, he cleared his throat and said in a soft, hesitant tone, "You haven't seen Gillian leave, have you?"

There was an agonising pause as Fabien waited for the reply he wanted. To say that he wasn't expecting the man to deny having seen Gillian would be a massive understatement. After a while, however, the stranger remained quiet, which made Fabien nervous. What if he had lied and hadn't seen Gillian leave? That meant he had seen him and that would mean Fabien had messed up terribly and ruined everything. Before he could change his mind, he quickly stepped forwards until he stood in front of his father and looked at him earnestly.