Wayward Favor || ONC 2024

Chapter 17: Trouble

We sit in one of the many fine rooms of the Drewmond estate. Magnus, Lennette, and I squeeze together on a rose-patterned couch, close to the fire. I am glad for the warmth, but the growing anger in this room makes me long for the cold rain. Even May wants out. She whines, pawing at the door as she presses her nose against the space along the bottom. 

My father's initial relief at my return is boiling over into anger as we're interrogated like the lawbreaking felons we are. Count Drewmond wants to know whose carriage dropped us off on the property. Magnus and Lennette keep their mouths shut, so I seal my lips with them. My throat grows dry, but no one brings us tea – Drewmond hospitality is lacking in that regard. 

Count Drewmond crouches in front of Lennette and she squirms between Magnus and I. "You're not in trouble Lennette, I just need you to tell me where you all went," he says gently, but there is an uncomfortable edge to his voice. A vein twitches at his temple. Either his head or temper is about to explode. "Who helped you leave the estate? They're not in trouble. I just need to know where everyone is and that they are safe." 

My father and Sir Bellizario stand with their arms crossed behind the count, unyielding and unforgiving. The search is still ongoing for the three missing people. I'm beginning to worry. I'm not surprised Daniel's missing, with the amount of stress he's been under the past week; he's probably blackout drunk in a broom closet. It's Celine I'm most concerned about. 

I'm prepared to confess to everything if it would get them off our backs, so we can all look for Celine together. Sir Bellizario begins pacing in front of the fireplace, his eyes poisonously on Magnus every time he makes a sharp, militaristic turn. He blames Magnus for Arabella's disappearance. 

"I'm not squealing," Lennette says, crossing her arms over her chest. "Even if you torture me. I'm no rat!" 

A laugh bursts from my father, he quickly attempts to disguise it as a cough. I wish I had Lennette's childlike confidence in the face of a family interrogation. Count Drewmond exhales through his nose. "Nobody is getting tortured, Lennette," he snaps, then rubs his hand across his forehead. "No one is in trouble...except for Magnus." 

Magnus throws his hands in the air. 

My father leans against the gilded armrest of the couch. His cold fingers brush against my shaking hand. "Estella, I know how unfair this all must seem to you. I promise, I'm not upset with you," Father lies, clearly very upset. "I'm glad you are safe, but I need to know where David and Celine are." 

"I know, and I'm just as worried, but we've told you, multiple times, that they did not go anywhere with us. Please, listen," I say, anger rising in my voice. Sir Bellizario stalks to the couch, slamming his hand down on the cushion beside my head. 

"If they did not go with you," he says, his southern Kyitzia accent punctuating his words. "Then where did they go?" 

"I. Don't. Know!" I snap, slapping my palms against my thighs with each word I spit out. 

"You're wearing David's jacket!" Father shouts, grabbing the collar and shaking it. "Think again before lying to us." 

"I am not lying!" I scream, my voice breaking like shattered glass. "You want to know what happened? I panicked! Do you have any idea how terrified I was of marrying a man I've never met?" Tears build in my voice. "You didn't even think to speak with me. You just locked me in that...that room so you could avoid having a conversation with me!" My eyes burn as all the pain and emotion overflow. "I was so scared. I almost died escaping out the window. If...if it hadn't been for Magnus...I...I..." 

Lennette reaches out and grabs my hand, giving my pinky finger a little squeeze. I firm my resolve, lifting my head. "I let Magnus into our home, and helped him get past May. We broke into your office, smashed your desk to pieces, and read your journals, looking for a logical reason for this marriage!" I shoot a glower at my father, then turn my bladed gaze upon Count Drewmond. Guilt crashes over their features. "And we found the reason, that's why we came back. It was raining, so I took David's jacket from the coatrack, and May came along with us. End of story. There was no one else involved, it was just me, Lennette, and Magnus." 

My father blinks, shocked by my word vomit. With a shrug, Magnus dips his hand into his jacket and pulls out my father's journal. "She's telling the truth, unlike some Truvows and Drewmonds who keep foul secrets from their family members." 

My father lunges for the journal, snatching it from Magnus's hand. "You broke into my home!" 

Magnus points to me. "Were you not listening to a word Estella said? She let me into your house and your office. Technically, I only broke into your desk. With a sledgehammer. Sorry about that. Bill me the price of a replacement." 

My father scowls, not too keen on Magnus's technicalities. "You and my daughter frolicked about, unaccompanied, all night long? Did neither of you consider how that might be viewed! If anyone witnessed you, the scandal would be insurmountable!" 

"They weren't unaccompanied," Lennette pips. "I was there the entire time! They never so much as held hands, I swear it upon my honor as a Drewmond." 

My father shakes his head. "That still doesn't explain where David or Celine went." 

"Or my daughter!" Sir Bellizario yells, holding a finger aloft as he paces, not daring to let anyone forget about his darling Arabella. "It is no coincidence six people all went missing from the fourth floor at the exact same time! You are all hiding things. I know it!" 

"Why would I lie?" I ask. "Besides, if David was involved in my escape, I wouldn't have been forced to craft a flimsy rope of bedsheets and skirts to climb from the fourth floor in the middle of a storm – he could've just unlocked the door for me. And why would this Arabella Bellizario come with us? I don't even know her! It is your logic that is not making any sense!" 

"Yeah," Lennette says, shrugging. "What if they never left the estate. Did anyone check? Maybe they're playing hide and seek in the library or something?" 

Sir Bellizario's hand falls from the air, like a marionette whose strings were just cut. Count Drewmond rubs at his beard. "We never did check inside, we assumed they all left together..." 

"Why don't we just let May find Celine?" I ask, gesturing to the wolfdog as she digs her way through the door. Her whining grows more desperate as she gnaws at the carpet runner and splinters the wood with her claws. 

CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 1172

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 24980