Chapter 8

Quinn

Maria and Liam didn't return home until it was dark, looking exhausted, as usual. Maria made a fuss when she saw me hovering about at the door and all but slapped me on the butt and dragged me into bed while Liam reprimanded me for not looking after myself.

The cottage was very dimly lit, with a single candle and the fireplace going. I had to squint to make anything out, and once dinner was ready, I made a move to get out of bed. Of course, Maria wouldn't let me. Hence, I ended up propped with pillows—borrowed from Liam's and Maria's herself to add to the comfort—and sipping on runny soup and eating very hard rye bread with cheese.

Once again, there was no taste of any sort, and I thought about the delicious fruits I had picked earlier. I couldn't wait to share those with them.

Hold on! I couldn't possibly brazenly summon my storage magic circle right in front of Maria and Liam and bring out the fruits, could I? If I were to do so, I'd be practically screaming I had been blessed.

No, I couldn't do that, at least not yet. It'd scare the bejesus out of them. Furthermore, they'd questioned how I, as Quinn Fairchild, would have gotten the blessing when they knew Quinn had not been blessed. At least I couldn't explain that without having to tell them I was not Quinn. Besides the fact that only those of pure noble bloodline had ever been blessed, and when they did, they usually showed signs during their childhood years, between the age of ten and thirteen, and I was certainly neither ten nor thirteen.

I sighed, feeling disappointed. The sharing of delicious fruits would have to be another day then.

Once dinner was over, Maria settled herself beside me on the hard, cramped bed. She wrapped her arms around me as she said, "It feels like ages since I last cuddled you. I promised not to since I might hurt you, what with you having bruises and broken ribs and such, but seeing as you're so much better now, I honestly cannot help myself." She snuggled her face against my hair. "You're so warm and cute, Quinn."

I resigned to being squeezed in Maria's arms like a beloved teddy bear, and said, "Mother is taking longer than usual."

"Perhaps they are still dining?" Liam said. He meant the pigs up there, I supposed.

"This late?" I frowned.

"I have to agree it is getting late," Maria said. "Shouldn't we—"

Loud, furious knocking came at the door, and I looked at Liam. Alarmed, Liam hastily got up from his seat and went over to open it. Mrs. Ross came rushing in, her face flushed and eyes darting about the cottage before they came to rest on me.

"What's the matter, Mrs. Ross?" Liam asked, shutting the door.

From Quinn's memory, Mrs. Ross was the housekeeper at Bedford Manor, and she and Elizabeth were close. It had always been Mrs. Ross, too, who had looked after Elizabeth, and more so, Quinn, when either of them was in trouble. She'd brought around leftover food from Bedford Manor to feed Quinn since she was always starving.

Mrs. Ross said, "It's Beth."

Noting the apprehension in her voice, I unwrapped Maria's arms from around me and got out of bed. Mrs. Ross rushed over to me and grabbed my hands into hers. "Quick, you must leave at once."

"Leave?" I asked, astounded, not just at her words, but at her flustered, frightened voice, too. "What's going on?"

"Quinn, you must leave at once," she repeated.

"Why would I have to do that?" I asked.

"Because Beth, she…"

"Mrs. Ross, what is going on?" Liam asked.

Mrs. Ross's gaze rested on Liam for a moment before shifting over to Maria and then me. She said, "Listen, all of you must leave this place at once. I've discussed it with Beth and it's the only way."

"The only way?" I asked, more than a little confused as to what the heck was going on now. Why was she so nervous? And where was Elizabeth? I said, "I'm not getting this. Can you please explain what is going on?"

Mrs. Ross sighed and then tightened her hands around mine. She said, "Oh, Quinn, I… Your mother has been locked up."

"What?" I said, astounded. "Mother is being locked up? Why? When?"

"It's Lord Bedford," she said. "He intends to offer you instead of his daughters to Lord Norsewood as a bride."

"What?" Liam and Maria said in unison.

No, I was not getting this at all. That pig was planning to offer me as a bride to Lord Norsewood. Clearly, the picture just didn't fit here. I mean everyone in this town knew me as a boy, so how could I be offered as a bride?

"But I'm supposed to be a boy," I said.

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Ross said. "But Lord Bedford intends to pass you off as a girl and… Your mother, Beth, he's using her as leverage and that's why you must leave this place."

I narrowed my eyes, and then it clicked.

Wow! Just wow! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Honestly, just how low could that bastard go? He was that selfish that he'd go so far as to threaten me by using Elizabeth. To think he'd even make me, who was supposedly a boy, take his daughter's place as a bride to save his family's hides. Did he realize what he was doing was an insult to Lord Norsewood? To King Henry?

"Take me to her," I said.

"What? No!" Mrs. Ross said, shaking her head furiously, adamantly. "You all must pack and leave Bedford at once."

I stood firm and said, "Mrs. Ross, please take me to my mother. Now!"

I wasn't sure if it was because of my stance or my tone, but Mrs. Ross froze and gazed at me for a moment as if she was confused or stunned, or both. She said, "What would you do after you've seen your mother?"

My face a hard mask, I said, "Then I'll negotiate with Lord Bedford."

"Negotiate?" Mrs. Ross said. "You, with Lord Bedford? Impossible!"

I snorted. Of course, it was impossible where Quinn stood. An insignificant commoner girl like Quinn had no chance at conversing with the lord of the manor on equal footing, let alone negotiate. It was set in stone that Quinn had no chance of going against Lord Bedford, but it was different with me.

I jumped to the most important matter at hand and said, "What do you think Lord Bedford would do to Mother once he found out I've fled?"

Mrs. Ross's face darkened. I knew she knew the outcome of that, but I guessed when panic and fear ruled, logic was lost.

"Take me to her, Mrs. Ross," I said.

Slowly, reluctantly, she nodded.

It was half an hour later when Mrs. Ross led me, Liam, and Maria down the narrow, dark stairs to the underground floor of Bedford Manor. Standing by the door was Mr. Smith, one of the guards of the manor, and after Mrs. Ross had had a few words with him, he opened the door, allowing us in.

"I'm sorry to have locked your mother up, Quinn," Mr. Smith said to me as I passed him. "It's an order from Lord Bedford."

I didn't reply and went straight into the small, dark, damp room that was Elizabeth's prison.

The moment I saw her, I nearly went ballistic. Her cheeks were swollen red and her lips were cracked and bleeding, undoubtedly from being slapped. I worked on controlling my wrath as I stood there, staring at the woman who looked so broken.

"Aunty Beth!" Maria rushed over and knelt beside Elizabeth. She pulled her sleeve and started using that to dab away the blood.

Liam ran his fingers through his hair, obviously in distress and frustration, while Elizabeth stared at me and asked, "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. You must flee, Quinn."

"And leave you behind?" I asked rhetorically.

Like fucking hell I'd do that.

I walked forward and knelt in front of her. I took her hands into mine and said, "If I leave, we all leave. I won't be leaving you or Maria or Liam behind." I touched her ballooned cheeks gently, to not pain her, and wanted so desperately to heal her, but I knew I couldn't. Not now. Not when there were eyes around.

Sure, I trusted Elizabeth, Maria, and Liam. To a certain extent, I trusted Mrs. Ross and Mr. Smith, too, since they had been nothing but kind to the Fairchilds, but I wasn't going to take any chances. If I were to heal Elizabeth here, Mrs. Ross and Mr. Smith would see, and despite knowing they wouldn't report it to the higher up, namely Lord Bedford, they could very easily blurt it out unconsciously during a conversation one day.

"You're my mother," I said. "And I don't want to lose you." I had lost one before, and now that I had the opportunity to have another, I wasn't about to lose her, too. "I'll sort this out."

"How?" Liam asked, his voice tense. "By sacrificing yourself? Hell no! You're not doing that, Quinn. You're not going to be a bride to Lord Norsewood."

I turned and raised my gaze up at him. "Why? Because he's a monster and murdered his last wife? I thought you didn't believe in rumors, Liam."

Liam raked his fingers through his hair again. "I don't, but…" He growled. "Why must our family suffer so the Bedfords can get want they want? It's unfair."

"Quinn," Maria said. "You can't. You just can't. Please don't do it."

"Maria's right, love," Elizabeth said. "Please don't. You must leave this place while you still can. Listen to Mother, please."

I wasn't listening to either of them. I stood and said, "Mrs. Ross, take me to Lord Bedford."

Mrs. Ross looked lost as to what to do and she glanced from Elizabeth to me.

"I said take me to Lord Bedford," I repeated.

She said, "Quinn, you need to listen to your mother."

She wasn't going to take me to the pig, then fine with me. I turned on my heel and walked out.

"Quinn! Where are you going? Quinn!" Elizabeth called out desperately after me. "Liam, do something."

I marched up the stairs, very aware that both Liam and Mrs. Ross were behind me. Liam caught my arm and pulled me around, stopping me in my tracks. I snapped, "Let me go or you'll be sorry, Liam."

Liam said, "I know you're angry, but please calm down. This isn't like you."

"How is this not like me?" I asked, one brow raised in a challenge.

Yes, I knew that right now, I was not acting like the usual Quinn. The usual Quinn would just hug her mother and they'd both cry their hearts out. But I was not Quinn Fairchild. I was Quinn Chen from the twenty-first century Earth, and no one hurt my family and got away with it.

Liam stammered, "You're just not acting like your usual self and… it confuses me and…"

I shrugged my arm from his grasp and continued up the stairs.

"Quinn, please stop," Liam begged. "Aunty Beth has suffered enough."

"Of course, she's suffered enough," I snapped. "If a lifetime of torment and abuse isn't enough, then I don't know what is."

We came to the landing on the first floor of the manor. I darted my eyes about the hallway and then turned to my left.

Mrs. Ross said, "You aren't serious about seeing Lord Bedford, are you, Quinn?"

"Oh, but I'm very serious, Mrs. Ross," I said, pacing up more stairs to the second floor.

I knew where exactly they'd be. It was after dinner, and the family would be in the drawing room, enjoying their evening munching on dessert and drinking tea and gossiping and laughing, and simply having the time of their luxurious lives.

Quinn had scurried along these hallways and stairs all her life, doing backbreaking chores while avoiding the eyes of the lords and ladies living in this place. This Quinn today, however, did not scurry. No, she—I—marched, and upon reaching the door, I grabbed the handle.

Before either Liam or Mrs. Ross could stop me, I flung the door open and let it slam against the wall, loud, causing not only the servants but the Bedford members, too, to jolt in surprise.