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Victoria watched him in stunned confusion, frozen in the middle of the street. What a coward!

Collecting her wits, she slowly and carefully turned around to see what had frightened him so. She wished she had just followed the coward Porter’s lead and dashed away as two burly men appeared as if from out of nowhere, grabbed her by the arms, and started dragging her away.

Victoria screamed, her feet kicking the air, as she was hauled like a sack of potatoes. A couple of liveried men ran after them, yelling something and shaking their fists, and this was the last thing she saw before she was unceremoniously stuffed inside a carriage.

“You two, stand on guard outside. You are with me,” one of the thugs barked.

Victoria couldn’t see what was going on from her supine position on the carriage seat. She struggled to sit up, pushing at her wide, puffy skirts, only to fall flat on her back once more as the carriage jolted into a start.

“You arrogant, crude, bad… smelling brutes!” Victoria cried, unable to come up with a more cutting insult in the heat of the moment. “Help me sit up right now! And let me go!”

Rough, calloused, and dirty hands grabbed her by her arms and helped her sit up. Before she was able to thank the rude criminal for complying with her demands, he stuffed a linen cloth into her mouth. “Don’t bite,” he said in a terrible, hoarse voice. He grinned, showing his rotten teeth.

Another man reached up from across the carriage and tied her wrists together.

“Bastards!” she spat, although it came out as “Bassal.” And then her eyes narrowed at the two burly thugs. They might not have been bastards, but the person behind this kidnapping definitely was. “It’s William, that cowardly bastard! He told you to kidnap me!” Victoria tried to yell, but because of the cloth inside her mouth, it sounded more like an indecipherable jumble of vowels.

“Do not worry, Princess,” said the thug sitting across from her, a bald, huge, and foul-smelling man with half of his teeth missing. “All we want is money. As soon as your dear uncle opens his purse strings and gives us what we want, we’ll let you go.”

“What?” Victoria squeaked, her words muffled. Then she glanced at the man sitting next to her. He was smaller than the other one, and Victoria wrongly surmised she would feel more comfortable talking to him. But his gaze was uncomfortably lascivious and coupled with the fact that he was sitting uncomfortably close to her, she felt her body shiver and tense. “Why does William want my money?”

It shouldn’t have been surprising that her blackmailing, thieving, and lying bastard of a husband would extort money from her relatives this way. Although, if he were to abduct her, she doubted he would let her go for any amount of money. And where was he, anyway? Why wasn’t he in the carriage with her?

“In the meantime…” The first thug, the one across from her, looked her up and down suggestively. “We have a lot of time to pass. And I have never tasted a princess before.”

Cold sweat covered her body. William would never let his thugs touch her. Would he?

She glanced out the window and into the darkness. Where were they driving? The carriage rattled and jolted as it careened down the rough, moonlit road. If they were leaving town, in a few more minutes, nobody would be able to find them. They would just disappear among the country roads!

As it was, she didn’t have the cavalry rushing to help her.

Oh, Boje. What was going on?

“Where’s William?” she tried to ask, but it all came out like a squealing whine.

The thugs didn’t even bother answering. Victoria tried asking them more questions, but they ignored her. And with every passing moment, the horror started sinking more and more into her soul.

Something felt very wrong about all this.

“Such a pretty bird,” the thug in front of her finally said, his gaze caressing her body in a way that made her want to cast up her accounts. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle. I’ll be sure to get us a nice and soft mattress.” The laugh that followed that declaration made hackles rise all along Victoria’s body.

Her eyes widened in horror, and then to add to her discomfort, the smaller thug reached out and dragged his dirty finger across her cheek.

That’s when the horror completely overtook Victoria’s mind, and she started to scream and kick with her feet, pushing at the thug sitting beside her with her shoulder and elbow.

She didn’t have a plan. Only panic and horror were coursing through her veins.

It wasn’t William who had snatched her, she now realized. And as much as she hated the bastard, she’d give anything to be in his arms instead.

One of the thugs wrapped his arms around her shoulders to keep her calm. The other one grabbed her ankles, so she wouldn’t kick him anymore, but that only made her panic even more.

She was completely at their mercy.

Just then, the carriage slowed down, its abrupt deceleration throwing every passenger off balance. Both thugs let go of her, and they all skidded to the side. The whinnying of the horses and the intensifying sounds of horse hooves gave Victoria a bit of hope. Something was happening outside the carriage. Perhaps her uncle had caught up to them! Surely Porter had alerted everyone to what had happened, or more likely the servants had, the ones who’d attempted to save her.

As if prompted by her thoughts, the door of the carriage flew open, and strong arms reached inside, grabbing the hulking thug who had just sat across from Victoria and hauling him away. Victoria let out a squeak as the man was unceremoniously dragged out. The second man rushed after his companion, jumping out of the carriage with a cry.

The carriage continued to sway violently, tossing Victoria this way and that. Nausea threatened to overtake her, and she desperately longed for stable ground beneath her feet. She couldn’t see what was happening outside, but she could hear the sounds of chaos, hoofbeats thumping alongside the carriage, screams, and struggle. The grunts and yelps let her know that a fight was happening outside, and her instincts screamed at her that she needed to get out of this carriage and run.