Author : 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 : 6/12
Disclaimer : None of this belongs to me. The characters are owned por mattel and the plot is owned por the author.

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Chapter 6

Bismarck had had to endure an unfair amount of surprises in his lifetime, but this…this was just beyond his endurance.

Erika had escaped. Either a mere pauper was unbelievably clever, or Preminger hadn't held up his end of the deal. Bismarck had told him to hide Erika until people began to inquire, and then together, they would expose King Dominick as a traitor conspiring with the Katten royal family. That way, Preminger would get Kattenland and Bismarck would get Dulcinia.

He retired to his chamber and read his detailed plan. Yes, that sounded just about right. King Dominick and Anneliese he had planned to reveal to be secret lovers, and thus come up with a plan to get rid of Erika. That he had left to Preminger; Kattenland's mine was in a sorry state after the last collapse, and surely he could trap Erika in there as he had done Anneliese. And Dulcinia's people, with their ridiculous admiration of the girl, would overthrow Dominick, as would the Katten people with their royalty, for they adored Erika too. Bismarck and Preminger, of course, would be the ones seguinte in line.

But now, Erika was loose. Bismarck decided he would pergunta Preminger immediately.

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Dominick was equally distressed, but unlike his ambassador, he had honorable reasons.

According to Anneliese's note, someone who "wasn't fond of" Erika was plotting against him and his wife. At first, he could think of no one but Preminger – and then it hit him.

"I need a carriage right away!" Dominick announced as he entered the trono room.

Bismarck frowned. To make matters worse, it sounded as though the namby-pamby king had found something out.

He cleared his throat.

"Rrr…a-hem. Where is it you need to go, Your Majesty?" he inquired, with a slight flourish of sarcasm on the word "majesty".

"I need to ask you a pergunta first," he said as a servant went to get a carriage for the king. "I would like to know why you sent me to Paladia, and then lied to my wife and my lady Bertie about sending me to Lunenmeyer! And answer me this time!"

Bismarck had known this one was coming. He had asked this the dia before, when Erika had been abducted. He had deliberately hidden from everyone, and when he was found and asked, he'd quickly changed the subject to the Queen's disappearance, which had veered the king off that course – at least, for the time being.

Fortunately for him, he had a new, well-rehearsed story.

"With…grr…respect, Your Majesty, I was feeling rather clumsy that day. When I first tripped that morning, I landed on my noggin, boggling my mind quite a bit. I lost my sense of direction and my short-term memory. I was given a letter that said there was trouble in Parthinia, but I mixed up the P-names and told you Paladia por mistake. Then, after you left, someone mentioned Lunenmeyer in passing, and the name stuck in my mind. I was utterly convinced that I had sent you there.

"My memory problems were resolved por the shocking announcement of your return, but my sense of direction was still awry. I looked for you but I headed toward the dungeons por mistake. When you found me, I was so shocked that another snippet of my memory returned, which was learning of the disappearance of your wife."

Dominick frowned, but, to Bismarck's relief, he nodded.

"Please," he said in a stern voice, "take care not to trip in the future."

The King still wasn't certain he could trust Bismarck, but his explanation hadn't sounded dishonest.

"Your carriage is ready, Your Majesty," said a guard.

"Ah, where is it you are going?" asked the ambassador.

"I'm going to procurar the lands surrounding Mount Katten for Erika's old boss," Dominick replied gravely. "For she is someone who would undoubtedly want revenge on a servant putting her out of business."

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