The Pet Is Chosen

Unfortunately for Lord Ulrich neither brie nor Princess zara traveled away from the Duke's home without an escort. This would prove problematic when trying to capture either of the two ladies. He was biding his time though. He would have one of them if it was the last thing he did.

The hired mercenaries were growing restless as the time dragged on. He would have to figure something out soon or risk losing his hired men. He was didn't want to dirty his hands with the actual kidnapping but wanted one of the cat people women. Of the two women, brie traveled with the least amount of escort so would be the easier of the two to nab.

Finally after a month's time of waiting, Lord Ulrich finally gave the order to try and nab brie when she was outside the walls picking herbs. she generally only did this with three men and one other woman in tow. He didn't care what happened to the other people so long as brie was given to him unharmed. The plan was put into motion that very afternoon.

One of the mercenaries', Sebastian, was to actually grab the brie while the others distracted and fought off the others. With a group of twenty men that should be easy enough to accomplish. They just had to keep an eye on the guard towers and create some sort of distraction else where that would require them to not be watching. A plan for a fire on was devised for one of the buildings just inside the Duke's walls.

A fire would keep the majority of the people busy and leave plenty of time for them to nab brie and bring her to Lord Ulrich. He knew that trying to capture his precious former slave was just too big of a risk but this other did really look a lot like her. she would do just fine. He paced in the camp while the mercenaries went about putting the plan into action.

Two men distracted the guards at the gate while two other men with torches secreted in their cloaks were able to sneak onto the grounds and right up to the building that was to be set on fire. The fire was quickly set within moments and a call out for all hands and buckets was sounded. The guards in the tower ordered the gates closed and turned their attention to directing fire traffic.

brie that was with one of the kitchen help lady was picking herbs as usual. she sensed that something was not right but couldn't quite put a finger on it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the men approach and started to run toward the Duke's gates but found them closed. she was trapped.

Sebastian with the help of two others quickly tied up brie, while the other men fought off the guards with brie. The kitchen help lady was struck to the ground and left for dead after a very heavy blow to her head from the hilt of a sword. The guards who were with brie fought valiantly but to no avail. They were soon over taken and left for dead as well.

As soon as the fire was out, the guard tower noticed the trouble outside the walls and sounded the alarm. It was too late for brie though. she was all ready in the custody of the mercenaries and an hour's ride away from the Duke's land. she struggled in her ropes and tried to bite at the men if they came too near her. Sebastian suggested gagging her but the other men were too afraid of her claws to try it.

Sebastian came up with another solution. He struck the cat person over the head with the hilt of his sword and down she went off the horse and onto the ground out cold. He quickly checked to make sure she was still breathing, and she was. He tied her up and gagged her. The other men congratulated him on such a feat.

Sebastian and brie were the first to arrive in the camp. Lord Ulrich look most displeased to see his kitty gagged and unconscious. He yelled for the gag to be removed and quickly looked the girl over for injuries. He wished he had his physician with him but there was no time to make sure she was road worthy.

They would be breaking camp that very moment and heading back into Cat Person territory where the rest of his crew awaited. brie had one hell of headache when she came too. she demanded to know where she was being taken and that was met with a slap across the face from Lord Ulrich. brie trembled in fear at the sight of the man who once ordered her whipped.

Back at Duke Erick's, the guards who were with brie were not all mortally wounded and one was very lucky to be alive. They recounted to Duke Erick what happened and a search party was quickly formed to go after brie. Unfortunately the kitchen help lady was not so lucky, and she was prepared for burial. Draven paced the floor in the dungeon and was insisting on being allowed to go with the party.

Duke Erick felt that there was nothing He could do and wanted Him to wait here and protect Princess zara while He himself went after brie. He reminded Draven that He was still under arrest by orders of the King and He couldn't break the ruling under any circumstance. Draven reluctantly understood and helped assist with protecting the Princess.

When Princess zara heard what happened she was beside herself. she knew it was partially her fault that brie was in the hands of Lord Ulrich. There was no doubt in any one's mind who was behind this kidnapping and attack upon the Duke's people. The Princess gathered her ladies about her to start praying for brie and also for those who had fallen that day.

The men who set the fire were found still within the walls and thrown into the dungeon. It was pretty obvious to the people because those two men were strangers. They had been the only two of Lord Ulrich's men unable to escape when the gates had been closed. They were interrogated by Draven for hours about the plan and where brie was probably going to be taken.

Word was sent to the King who quickly made plans to arrive back at Duke Erick's lands. The two men were to be tried but most knew this was a death sentence just waiting to happen. They had been party to a kidnapping, fire, and killings. Even if they had not been party to all of it they were still guilty of some of it.

Draven paced back and forth in the study desperate to hear news of any kind from the Duke. He did realize it would be some time before word of any thing would be available. He sent messengers after the Duke letting Him know what He had found out about the kidnapping and everything else. The Duke first found the camp site that had been used by Lord Ulrich to hide out in His lands.

The Duke was furious that such a camp site had gone unnoticed by all of the men whom He trusted to keep Him and His people safe. He would be ordering an inquiry later but they needed to keep going if they were going to find brie before something terrible happened to her. He was certain that it was just a matter of time before Lord Ulrich committed some dastardly deed against her.