Chapter 24

James was the first one to break out of his trance and approach her. He knelt down on the ground next to her and reached out to take the fabric from around her mouth. His eyes didn't leave hers as he did so.

The fabric was tightly tied together, but after a moment of trying, James was able to pull it off. There were red marks on Elle's face where it was clearly too tight. But that didn't make her look any less beautiful.

James then moved to her hands. He untied the rope, and let it fall to the ground. He turned her hands over, and ran his fingers softly over the blisters that had formed on her wrists. It hurt James so much to see her in pain. And to think that he had caused all of this. It was almost too much for James to take.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, too quiet for the other men who were watching from behind to hear.

Elle looked confused. "For what? You helped rescue me."

James didn't know how to reply. How did she not understand that it was his fault?

James was saved from the difficulty of replying to her by a throat being cleared behind them.

He stood up, and held out his hand for Elle to take. Her hand was cold. James pulled her up and they both turned to Oscar and Andrew. James reluctantly let her hand go.

The two men were staring at her, and Elle was internally squirming.

"It's her! It is really her!" the man whom Elle didn't recognise said.

He walked up to Elle and pulled her into a hug.

At first she wasn't sure what to do. A man she didn't know was hugging her. She looked over to James, who gave her a subtle nod. Slowly, Elle relaxed into the embrace.

When he pulled away he held her at arm's length.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" he said.

"I don't understand." She said, quietly. She had no idea what was going on.

The man immediately stepped back, dropping his arms.

"I'm sorry." He said, disappointment filling his eyes.

Elle turned towards Oscar. "Mr Pavey?" she asked. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Elle," James began. "You know when Osc- Mr Pavey came to Grea? When he came to plan the party? Well that wasn't why he was here. He actually came to look for something. Well, someone actually."

James seemed unsure, and this brought a feeling of unease to Elle.

Andrew continued the story. "Nine years ago my little sister, Princess Elizabeth, disappeared. We've been looking for her for years. So we finally started a big search in every village. We were determined to find her."

"But we never did." Oscar said. "She hid right under our noses the entire time. She was the only girl that wasn't seen by me, and her assessment wasn't very thorough. She managed to avoid us completely. But we have found her now."

Elle was unsure what to say. Why were they telling her this?

"What has this got to do with me?" Elle asked.

"Because you are the lost Princess." Andrew said, a soft look on his features.

The emotions running though Elle were difficult to understand. She was the princess? She had been missing for nine years? And she had a family who missed her? It was all so much to take in.

But it made sense. Everything Rose had told her was true.

Slowly, she looked at each of them in turn. From the looks on their faces they weren't lying. Her eyes finally landed back on Andrew.

"So that means that you are my brother?" she asked, her voice slow and shaky.

He nodded his head. "That's exactly what it means, Elizabeth."

This time it was Elle that pulled her brother into a hug. He held her tight and let her cry in his arms.

Andrew didn't care that he would have tear stains on his shirt. No one would notice with all the blood that was already on it anyway. He finally had his little sister back and he was never going to let anyone take her away from him again.

He knew his family would be so pleased. No doubt they would be worrying about him, especially since he should have arrived home already. But he could just imagine their happy faces when the king and queen see their daughter.

It was several minutes later when Elle finally pulled away. Andrew missed the warmth that she had brought to his heart, but he knew that it had to end. They would have time later to catch up with each other.

Elle smiled up at him.

"So what happens next?" she asked.

"It's time to take you home." Andrew said this with so much joy that all of them were smiling.

They all began to walk out of the building. James waited for her and have her such a bright smile that it made Elle's heart melt a tiny bit.

You'll have to forget it, Elle told herself. He already belonged to Delilah. Giving herself false hope would be useless.

But a small voice in Elle's head told her that if James had no feelings for her, he wouldn't have come to help find her. But he probably was made to come. He was the only one who actually knew anything about Elle.

It was all over. Elle was finally free, and she was going home to a family who loved her.

She had fallen behind the group, and Andrew called back to her from outside of the building. "Elizabeth, come on!"

Elle didn't think that she would ever become used to being called that.

She quickly caught up to them, but once again stopped when she saw the mess outside. It was dark, but the moon was bright enough to see many bodies lying on the floor.

A guard approached, and when he reached them he bowed at Andrew and Elle. He had already been told about the princess, as he had been a large part of the search.

To say that Elle was shocked would be an understatement. Her eyes widened and she looked to the floor. It just felt too unusual to have someone bow down to her.

Oscar grinned at her. "You better get used to that, princess!"

Andrew looked at the man. "Can you get everything sorted out for us? Take any of the men who are still alive to the castle, and lock them up."

"Of course, sir." He replied.

"We also need somewhere to stay overnight." He said, glancing at Elizabeth. She was clearly too weak to ride on tonight.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." The guard replied.

A few minutes later, two boy's approached. It was Matthew and Noah, the boys who had helped them find Elle. The guard seemed to be in deep conversation with them.

"These boys said that you can stay with them. It won't be comfortable, but it will be much safer than anywhere else."

"Thank you." Andrew said, sending a quick grin to the small boys.

They followed the boys to their home. When they arrived, beds were quickly made up on the floor for the four guests. Their mother had been slightly shocked at first, but after having the entire situation explained to her she was okay. She was only too happy to be hosting a prince and a princess.

It was a tight squeeze, but Elle was just glad to be in the company of people who didn't want to hurt her.





A/N- I decided to update early as I just couldn't wait! (I think this extra update deserves a vote...!)



It might seem like we are near the end, but that is not the case! I still have lots of plans for the rest of the story :) She still needs to meet her family, and perhaps there may be a celebratory ball... ;)

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Xx