Автор : Saeryen
Источник : 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 : 7/12
Disclaimer : None of this belongs to me. The characters are owned by mattel and the plot is owned by the author.

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Chapter 7

If Preminger wanted to do something right, he would have to do it himself.

He'd already told Nick and Nack that he was making his Далее plan alone. Now that Erika had escaped and was back in the castle, he had two new problems. One, he needed a new plan, which was already forming in his mind, but the other one was what worried him more. He would need to think of a convincing story to tell Bismarck. If the ambassador suspected that Preminger had let Erika out himself, which indeed he had not done, then he would be exposed as a double-crosser quite quickly. He had to think of something, fast.

He already had a new plan. It would involve, once again, making it seem as though Dominick was plotting, except this time, it would involve a co-conspiracy between the King and his ambassador, thus getting the King overthrown and Bismarck locked up или exiled, and Erika landed as his queen. But how to convince Bismarck of his continued loyalty?

The King had left, so Preminger would have an easier time of it getting to Bismarck, as Dominick knew exactly what Preminger was. Unfortunately, so did most of Dominick's guards. He would have to sneak in, but do it in a way that didn't seem untrustworthy to Bismarck.

Then it hit him, much as his plan to kidnap Anneliese had in the Kattenland mines. Ah, those were the days…

It was so easy, as he was already in his old cabin, and Midas, ever faithful, had taken shelter there. The dog was not nearly as well groomed as he had been three years ago, but after Preminger's escape, he had tried to make both himself and his dog look as they had before that tragic day.

Preminger told Midas exactly what was to be done…

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A guard at the gates of Dominick's замок was quite suddenly brought out of his half-awake state by a loud bark.

"WOOF WOOF! GRRROOOOWWLLL!"

The guard nudged his companion, who made a "huh?" noise before being whacked hard on the shoulder. "Oh!" The секунда guard shook his head rapidly and was immediately alert.

"You lazy fool!" the first guard scolded.

"You're one to – " began the секунда guard, but the first one interrupted him with a loud "SHHH!"

"There is an animal right there!" the first guard said, pointing the dark shape of a poodle.

"GRRRRRRRR!" Midas bent down on his front knees and uttered his most menacing growls. The секунда guard flinched, but the first guard did not.

This was his cue. Midas jumped and bit the секунда guard's boot.

"AAAAAHH!" screamed the guard, clutching his foot. The first guard pointed his spear at the dog, who yelped – then caught himself. Preminger would not give him any doggie treats if he let a little thing like that stop him.

The conniving canine growled again and jumped once еще – this time sandwiching the shaft of the first guard's spear between his teeth. The guard, unwilling to relinquish his weapon, was pulled to the ground when Midas landed. The dog then wrenched the spear from the guard's hand and sprinted. Immediately the two, now very awake men began chasing him, the секунда guard firmly clutching his own spear.

Preminger leapt from behind the дерево where he had been hiding and chuckled. He then ran through the gate.

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Dominick was determined to find the plotting old dressmaker. He'd been traveling to Kattenland, since that had been her home, and then he saw what looked undeniably like footprints. Women's shoes. It struck him as odd – no one traveled without a horse. No one except someone who couldn't afford a horse and had been forced out of home.

He ordered the driver of his carriage to stop. He would follow these on foot.

Dominick lit his torch and looked closely at the trail. He followed these mysterious prints to a clearing in the forest where he had been traveling.

A very meager огонь was lit, and an old woman huddled Далее to it, clinging to a платье, бальное платье that had to have been very elegant once, and there were some old tattered bows.

It had to be Erika's former boss.

"Aha!" Dominick сказал(-а) loudly. Madame карп jumped and squeaked.

"W-who are you?" she asked in a very scared voice.

"I am Dominick, the king of this land! And I believe you've been planning revenge against my wife, Erika, since Ты were exposed as a cruel and heartless woman!"

Madame карп gasped. She never, ever thought she would hear Erika's name again. And since her life had gone to the Собаки now, she had wished she could find either of those seamstresses and apologize. Then maybe – just maybe – she could take the royal Kattenland business back from that despicable woman, Camille или whatever her name was, who, admittedly, was a wonderful knitter and might have come to work with her if she hadn't been so strict.

Wait – why was she having секунда thoughts on how to run her business? Was it because of this? It was not until Dominick shouted "Speak to me!" that she came back to reality.

"I…I…" she stammered.

"What did Ты do?!"

"N-nothing." She hastily got up and curtsied. "Your M-majesty."

"Did Ты try to have Erika kidnapped?!" His face was very close to hers, and his blue eyes were full of fury.

"N-no!" Madame карп sobbed. "I d-didn't! I may have been a bad boss but I had nothing to do with whatever that w-was!"

She shook her head, as some part of her scolded, Bad boss?! What had gotten into you, woman?! Have Ты gone soft?!

Dominick stepped away from her. It was unlikely she was behind this.

"Take her back to the замок in the carriage," he ordered his escorting guard. "She must be starving…I'll take one of the horses."

He detached a horse from the carriage and mounted it, ordering it to take him back to the castle.

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AH!" Bismarck yelled. "PREMINGER?!"

"Yes," Preminger sneered. "I have come to…explain some things to you. Ты see, I did not let the Queen escape."

Bismarck glared. How did Preminger know about that?

"Nick and Nack saw what happened, and reported it to me," he continued. "You see, a very – well, a dozen very strong guards wanted to ride the Лошади and broke down the door, where they discovered her. That's how she escaped."

"And why would Ты think I suspected you?" Bismarck asked with a suspicious tone.

"Nick and Nack are idiots!" Preminger retorted. "Half the time they forget you're even in the picture! They knew we had planned to Переместить her somewhere else, and I overheard them saying that I must have tried to do that myself, but she got away! I thought they would have told Ты when they remembered Ты were part of it, and that would sound very suspicious, would it not?"

"So you're still in on it?"

"Goodness me, how could I refuse?"


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