The Atonement of a Writer

10. Smoke Equals Fire

When they left, they were pretty confident that it was the end of the Dumonts. As the nondescript carriage slowly moved away, they had no way of knowing that the girl would survive.

Even years later, they still had no idea how.

And so she agreed to cooperate.

~*~

Whatever Lili was expecting, it wasn't this.

She had been on her way to the royal palace. Or so she thought--this was obviously not the way to the palace. She highly suspected that at least one of the carriage drivers in the Soule estate was Colette's mole. No, in fact, she was sure of it. Because they were currently going through a forest, and even though she could hardly go to the next town without a GPS back in the real world, and she didn't know the way to the palace all that well, she was positive that there were no forests near the palace.

There were two possibilities. One, they were taking a shortcut she didn't know of. Two, she was currently in the process of being kidnapped. The first option was dubious, and the second option, well, she struggled between whether she should laugh or cry.

Somewhere in the back of her head, Lili noted that this situation wasn't ideal. If she never arrived at the palace, it would be a snub, at best. That thought didn't send as much panic through her as it probably should have. This was so cliched, she was turning apathetic. That...wasn't good.

It was time to borrow a few lines from TV.

She leaned forward and pushed aside the curtains that separated her and the driver. Sure enough, it was the same driver from the Soule estate. So this is power, she thought. Moles everywhere. "Hey. Watcha doin'."

She thought the driver flinched, but it must've been her imagination. In a gruff voice, he replied, "We will arrive at your destination soon, Miss."

Yeah, no thanks. She didn't book tickets to hell.

"Wow. Are people like you everywhere?" She wondered out loud. Even she never expected Colette to have a mole--or more--in the Soule estate.

"I don't understand what you mean, my lady."

Lili gave a small eye roll. "Where are you taking me?"

"...I don't understand what you mean, my lady."

"Not telling me, are you?" She leaned in until her lips were almost touching his ear. "I'm sure we'll have a fine tea party, then."

Lili had always wanted to say that.

She then drew back and closed the curtains. She checked her pockets--she had a pocket knife she'd stowed, just in case. Should she use it to threaten the driver? No, she decided. She wasn't supposed to bring weapons to the palace--just how easy would it be to turn the tables on her? She wasn't stupid enough to jump out of the carriage either. The horses, heck, the driver could outrun her, especially since she was wearing heavy clothes. Damn this era. Lili ignored the voice in her head that questioned, shouldn't you take responsibility for picking this era, then?

There was nothing to do but wait.

A few hours later, the carriage finally stopped. Without prompting, Lili exited the carriage all on her own, only to be greeted by about a dozen muscled men pointing their swords at her.

One of them, presumably the leader, stepped up. "Come wi' us," he growled. "No funny business."

"But I like being funny. Haha." Lili wondered what would be stopping Arielle from "funny business". It wasn't like there was anything stopping her from calling forth a jaguar or a bear, was there?