autore : Saeryen
fonte : fanfiction.net
Author's Summary : A few years after the double wedding in which Princess Anneliese of Kattenland and her look-alike, Erika, each married the ones they loved, King Dominick's ambassador has become disillusioned with the fact that his Queen was born a peasant. He seeks out Preminger, now imprisoned in Kattenland's dungeon, and asks for his help in seizing Dulcinea.
Chapter : 9/12
Disclaimer : None of this belongs to me. The characters are owned da mattel and the plot is owned da the author.

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Chapter 9

No.

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

Anneliese had gotten kidnapped again. She had to have been, because how else could she have gone, while she was sleeping, from Erika's room…to Preminger's cabin?

They had to have taken her. Preminger and that dastardly ambassador. Her wig was still on.

They'd taken her because she looked like Erika, which meant that she hadn't been the intended target. She was scared. What were they going to do next?

Anneliese got up and pulled at the door, which was locked, again.

"Nick?! Nack?!" she hollered.

The only response was a dog's growl.

Anneliese recognized that dog. It was Midas, Preminger's dog. Erika was right; Preminger had found him.

Nick and Nack were not here, then. It wasn't surprising, seeing as they had had to have been major impediments in Preminger's plans, since they'd already ruined his first one da letting her escape when she'd been here before.

One thing was for certain. She had to get out. If she didn't, who knew what would happen.

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"Erika? Erika!"

Dominick had searched the whole palace. He knew that it was actually Anneliese, but nevertheless, she knew what she was doing and would have come running if he called. That is, if she was even here.

"Ambassador Bismarck?!"

Bismarck, who was in a hall nearby, was frightened. Had Dominick found him out?

He ran to his king, secretly in a panic.

"Have te seen – uh, Erika?" King Dominick asked politely.

Bismarck, relieved, shook his head.

A servant entered the hall, bowing.

"Your Majesty," he said, "your escorting guard has returned with the dressmaker, and the cat family."

Dominick went out to meet them.

"Mangy beasts," he heard Madame carpa mutter under her breath. "The carriage trips over something and they act like sniveling children. Gatti are just pests."

Wolfie, Tigger, and some of the other gattini greeted Dominick enthusiastically, followed da a tired Serafina and the rest of the little cats.



Just as Dominick was bending down to pet Wolfie, his ears went up and he looked very alert. It was plain that he sensed something was wrong.

"What is it, Wolfie?" he asked.

The cat growled in Bismarck's direction, then pointed a paw at the superiore, in alto of the carriage with a whimper.

Dominick ran closer to take a look. No one appeared to be there.

He did not notice the two figures sneaking around in the hedge maze behind the carriage.

"Ya know, I always thought dat Bismarck had da better ideas," Nack was saying quietly to Nick. "The boss is gonna be sorry he ever called us fools!"

"Yeah," Nick muttered.

"Let's go find 'im. BUT –" he added rather loudly, grabbing Nick's arm, "we is NOT moving until da King goes back inside! Then, we finds a way to make a deal wiv da guy!"

"Right," detto Nick. "I knew that!"

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Anneliese was about to kick down the door when someone started to fumble with the lock. This was familiar…yes, very much so, for Preminger had done the exact same thing when he had collected her from Madame Carp's!

"Preminger," she detto in an angry tone under her breath. Well, he wasn't taking her anywhere. She took off one of her shoes. She was going to have to break the window if she didn't want to with him.

BAM!

The door swung open and hit the bacheca hard. Preminger stepped in.

Anneliese got up. He didn't have any keys that she could see, which could mean he was playing the hero. But why would he do that when he knew how much she didn't trust him anymore?

"Your Majesty," Preminger detto with a sneer.

Of course. She had almost forgotten that everyone thought she was Erika.

Anneliese stood up.

"Forget it, Preminger," she snapped. "I already heard Ki – my husband's ambassador talking to you."

Unlike Bismarck, Preminger had the useful and uncanny ability to think of believable lies on the spot.



"Did te hear him scream, Your Majesty?" he asked, still sneering.

Anneliese nodded, wondering what his motivation was in asking.

"That was because I tried to arrest him," he detto smoothly. "You see, I've turned over a new leaf and I wanted to prove myself to you, because I overheard your husband and Bismarck talk of a dastardly plot!"

"And what did this 'dastardly plot' entail?" Anneliese asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm terribly sorry, but te see, King Dominick never really did Amore you."

Anneliese found this hard to believe. Why go back for Erika when she wasn't the princess he was supposed to marry, and besides had been told that she had tried to usurp her throne, if he didn't Amore her?

"He and his ambassador planned to have you…disappear somehow," he continued. "Then, he could get all the oro te earned as a singer."

As skilled as he was, Anneliese still didn't believe him.

"Why do te suddenly want to help me," she snapped, "when te were so convinced Eri – I mean, I had tried to murder Princess Anneliese?!"

"I told you," he snapped back, "I've seen the error of my ways! That was a lie!"

"I'm not going with you, Preminger," snapped the princess. "I don't believe you. Dominick wouldn't have come back for…for me if he didn't Amore me. And you kidnapped me!"

"No," detto Preminger, "King Dominick and Bismarck did this." Then he stopped. How was he supposed to explain Dominick's rescue of Erika?

Then he had it.

"You look so much like the princess," he said. "The King thought te must be her. In fact, he thought that whole thing was ploy set up da me and Queen Genevieve to get her out of the arranged marriage because…someone better came along. He was angry and went to get te so he could get married and save his reputation."

She still didn't believe a word of it, but Preminger grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the cabin, much as he had when she was locked in Madame Carp's.

They went outside to his old cart, where a new horse was hooked up.

"To Dulcinia Palace!" he cried, cackling.


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