She turned sideways so she could see her belly profile. "Pregnancy doesn't look so bad either." She felt like she was in the honeymoon phase of being pregnant. She felt great, didn't have any more morning sickness, but didn't have the symptoms of a late-term trimester either.
She poured a little more bubble bath in the tub before she sank into the warm depths of the water. Not too hot, but not cold either, she felt all the tension leave her back as she floated. She turned on the jets and sat in one of the seats with a strong jet of water aimed right at her lower back. She sighed in pleasure and closed her eyes as the sweet scent of the bubbles tickled her nose as her muscles were massaged.
Life was good.
When the water finally started to cool, she reluctantly got out and stepped into the nearby shower to rinse off. She donned Luke's robe and padded back to the bedroom. Her entire body felt rejuvenated.
As she stood next to the dresser pulling some clothes out, she stopped and listened. A strange sound echoed deep in her ears, and she strained to hear it again.
"Mommmmmmyyyyyy....."
She frowned. Was there really a kid crying for her mom? She couldn't be certain that was the word being cried, but it was the closest she could come up with.
Another long groan filled her ears. Someone was definitely in trouble.
After dressing in a hurry, Sarah stepped outside Luke's chambers into the hallway. Whoever it was sounded like she was in pain, and it was definitely a female voice. She looked both ways down the corridor.
As she heard it again, she followed the sound down the hallway. She glanced around as she walked.Strange. There are no guards at all.
She shrugged. They were probably with Luke at his court session.
When she came to a flight of stairs, she hesitated.How far am I going to follow the sound?
A minute later, she heard it again as she stood there. The child sounded more desperate. Sarah hurried down the stairs, careful to hold onto the railing.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the sound led her down a short corridor to another staircase. The sounds were growing louder, and she wondered if someone's child had gotten lost in the castle. She hurried down the stairs, aware that the air was growing cooler, and it was much darker.
The next hallway she came to was long and bare lightbulbs hung from the ceiling. Sarah stopped with her hand on the rail. "I need to get help before I get lost."
Her words echoed up the corridor that resembled more of a tunnel. Just then, a loud cry urged her forward. Wherever the kid was, she was close.No turning back now.
The air was moist and heavy when she reached the end of the walkway. It opened up into a huge room that reminded her of a root cellar back at the ranch. It was dark, and she searched around for a light switch.
"Let me get that for you."
The female voice bounced around the room in the darkness until it was flooded with light. Sarah's heart dropped when her eyes finally adjusted, and she saw Kayleigh standing off to the side. It only took her an instant to figure out that she had just fallen into a trap.
She turned to retrace her steps, but a man stepped out behind her. "You're not going anywhere." He was dressed as one of Luke’s guards.
Sarah spun around to confront Kayleigh. "What do you want?"
"Oh, you know what I want. Exactly what you have."
"You can't have it, so give it up." Sarah wasn't scared, but she was concerned. This wasn't her first rodeo with unstable people, but she was also a long way from anyone who could help her.
"My father spent a long time sucking up to old Ardec to get him to agree to an arranged marriage. The man actually wanted to let his son decide for himself who he loved, and it took a lot of years to bring him around to our way of thinking."
"Don't you think maybe it would have been easier just to get Luke to fall in love with you?"
Kayleigh snorted. "Who has time for that? Love is such a fickle thing. I knew I wasn't his true mate, so it would have proven futile. I just never expected him to actually find his mate."
"And yet here I am." Sarah crossed her arms and rested them on her belly.
"I have to know. Did you get pregnant on purpose? Kudos if you did. It's a hell of a way to land a king."
"No, Kayleigh, I didn't." Sarah wasn't sure where the conversation was going. "Now, can you please tell me what the hell this is all about so I can go back before someone notices that I'm missing?"
"No worries about that. They're definitely going to know you're missing. But they'll never find you. This part of the castle hasn't been used in years. Even if Luke orders a search of the entire castle, the chances of anyone coming this far are nil. Especially when my friend over there puts the faux wall back in place. I swear, when it's up, I wouldn't even know this place was here."
