The Understudy of an Alchemist

27. The Ransom

*Warning. This chapter deals with topics that some people may find upsetting. *

As the whole world slowly comes back into place, there are two things that I am aware of. One, a piece of smelly cloth was pressed against my face; and two, the cloth was so skin-tight to my face that it was covering my mouth and nose, meaning I was forced to breathe in these disgusting fumes.

It's a sack, there's a burlap sack over my face. My first priority is to figure out where on earth I was. Another thing that was occurring to me was that the material covering my eyes was of a different texture to the scratchy burlap, which convinced me that I was also blindfolded as well under the sack, which kind of defeated the entire purpose.

Any attempts to strain my arms or legs lead me to believe that I was bound by my ankles and wrists to a chair. Just great. And this day couldn't get any more funtabulous..

But why would someone want to kidnap me? Deciding that I wasn't too keen to find out, I start to jerk my body back-and-forth, in the hopes that the chair would fall. Yet as I go to do the second forwards motion, a hand grabs my shoulder and yanks me back, yelling "Ay! Stop that!" as they do so.

I go to speak, before realising that the burlap is muffling any noise that I may be making from my mouth. I position my face to allow a gap to form near my neck, allowing my words to be audible.

"Who are you? Why am I here?" A hand cuffs my shoulder, yet it's barely a tap. "Shhh!" Yet anger is already boiling in my body. "Are you asking a ransom for me? Because if you are, I don't have any parents to pay for it." "Just be quiet!" The voice, (I am certain it's a woman) sounds almost pleading. Not the best type of kidnapper.

Slumping back into the seat, I question sadly, "Why me?" "Shhh!" I repeat once more. "Why would you want to kidnap me?" I hear the woman sigh loudly. "PLEASE be quiet." She doesn't seem like the type to hurt me out of anger, so I continue softly.

"Please. You have nothing to gain from holding me hostage. There's possibly no-one left on Earth who cares whether I live or not." Well, except for Petunia, but if Ivy's life was on the line, she'd easily choose her over me.

Now the woman seems annoyed. "Look. I don't know who the heck you are, you could be the Queen of England for all I know." "Um, aren't I too young?" "Whatever. Only the boss knows who you are and according to him, you're apparently a crucial bargaining chip. The boss will be here soon, and I'm not too keen to see you being punished by him for not being quiet."

At this, I fall silent. Not out of fear of 'the boss', but I was simply trying to figure out who I was a 'valuable bargaining chip' to.

Maybe Petunia? But if Ivy's life was on the line, she'd easily choose her over me; so I don't think I'd be considered to be valuable enough compared to her. There was a possibility that maybe they were trying to seek money from the King and was using me to obtain it. Yet, knowing how eager the king was to blame me for Queen Arianna's kidnapping; he'd probably let me die.

The minutes begin to tick by; my anxiety begins to spread through my body like a deadly poison, and the only thing that I can do to combat this is to simply knock my heels together repetitively. Despite being unable to see the woman behind me, I can easily tell that she's anxious too. There seems to be a tension in the air. I'm assuming the woman perhaps worrying about "the boss"'s reaction to this entire situation, and for me, the realisation of what is really happening setting in.

Suddenly, without warning, the woman rests her hand on my shoulder. "Hush now, the boss is coming." I strain my ears, before frowning. "I can't hear any-" "I can see them through the window." She retorts. "Now be quiet, before I get punished too."