Chapter 37

"What are you looking at?" She demanded, but got no response from the two boys staring at her in surprise. She sighed. "I see you've gotten a new job as a fly catcher."
"What?" Finn asked.
"You're going to catch flies with your mouths open like that so you may as well shut them." And they did.  "Good boys."
"Miss, how can I help you?"
"I'm here to help you find your daughter." She said simply.
"You," The king hesitated, wanting to know, but fearing the answer. "you know where my daughter is?" he asked.
"I know where she's not." She said. "The duke doesn't have her, and he doesn't know where she is. When he captured me, thinking that I was Marianna, he thought that she was on her way back to you."
"Where was she?" Cayle asked.
"She was visiting her friend, a nice girl she met when she was incognito once." The king said.
"What is her name?" Finn asked.
"And where does her friend live?" Deanna added.
"In one of the travelers towns, she runs an inn with her family, Marianna stayed there once while passing through, and they hit it off."
But Deanna heard nothing past 'she runs an inn.' "Your Majesty, what is the girls name?" Though she suspected she already knew.
The King looked at her a moment with a confused expression. "Harriet, her name is Harriet."
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"My deepest sympathies." Nieson, the blacksmith said again as he paid for his meal. "I know how close you and your father were."
"Thank you," Harriet said.
"How are you holding up?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I suppose I'm still processing it all."
"If you need anything. you know where to find me." He said, a warm smile on his face.
"Thank you, Nieson." She said, returning the smile, which she promptly dropped once the door closed behind him.
She rolled her eyes. "Idiot."
She locked the doors and cleaned up the tables, dumping them in the kitchen for Marguerite to take care of, before heading downstairs to the basement.
She lit the lantern and carried it over to the storeroom where they kept their food and opened the door, smiling at the girl cowering in the corner.
Setting the lantern down on one of the shelves, Harriet walked over and took the gag from her mouth.
"Please, Harriet, let me go." The girl sobbed.
"Sorry, Marianna." Harriet said. "But your going to make me rich. I'd get some sleep if I were you, you're going on a trip soon."
The girl started crying again as Harriet stuffed the gag back in her mouth, grabbed a few things of food, setting it down on the table outside the storeroom, before going back in, picking up the lantern and, after a final wave at the captured princess, closed the door and locked it.