The River Maid (23 page)

Christian found holes for his hands and feet in the stonework and climbed up out of the water. He had lost his jacket and his boots, and his shirt would never be white again. He and Gaspard would have to change into dry clothes before they left the city; they would draw too much attention otherwise. He reached down and helped pull Gaspard out. His former tutor collapsed in a wet heap on the ground.

“Do not worry, mademoiselle,” Gaspard said in between breaths. “We will be together soon.”

Adrianna nodded.
“I’ll meet you outside the city.” She ducked back under into the river.

“
We have to be quick,” Christian said as he tried to wring some of the water from his clothes. “They will start searching the city soon. We need to be gone before then.”

He reached out a hand and helped pull Gaspard to his feet.

“We did it, my friend,” Gaspard said. “We actually did it.”

He sounded surprised. Christian couldn’t quite believe they had done it either. Their plan had worked. Laughing, they went to get the horses.

~~~~~

Adrianna watched them go. She was finally free from the tank, but she wasn
’t free yet. She still had to get out of the city. She moved her tail and tried not to cry out at the pain. Her tail was sore and bruised from where she had struck the glass. It was agony each time she moved it. She tried to use her arms to swim and to move her tail as little as possible, but it was a struggle to keep going. She hadn’t eaten in days and she was weak from lack of food. Her arms trembled with the effort, but she forced herself on. She wouldn’t let them take her again.

Soldiers were already out looking for her. She could see their torches and hear their shouts. The sight of them drove her on faster and faster. She wouldn’t let herself be taken again, not after Gaspard and the prince had risked themselves to save her. She knew that if she was caught now, she would never get another chance to escape. 

As she swam under a bridge, a huge net suddenly dropped in front her. She swam into it before she realised what it was. Panicking, she struggled to untangle herself from the thick holes. Her arms were bruised and grazed by the time she managed to get free. She swam back and looked up. The net stretched across the entire width of the river, blocking her escape.

She turned around and tried another direction, but at every bridge she came to soldiers were releasing giant nets. She was always too slow to make it through before the net fell, sealing her escape. She swam all the way down, following the rope, hoping she might be able to slip underneath, but heavy weights weighed the net down, pinning it to the bottom. Desperately, she felt along the net, trying to find a gap she could slip through, but there was none. The Emperor must have known the river was next to the palace and planned for her escape.

She swam back to the bridge where she had left the prince and Gaspard. Trembling with exhaustion and pain, she closed her eyes. She had been so close to escaping. But she was trapped. There was no way to get through. 

Chapter Twenty Six

Gaspard and Christian didn
’t slow their horses until they were out of the city. They had managed to leave without incident and there was no sign of pursuit. The boy Gaspard had paid to watch the horses had done his job and the guard at the city gates had let them pass without question. News of Adrianna’s escape had not yet spread. 

At the river, they dismounted. Christian crept close to the river
’s edge. “Adrianna,” he called softly, crouching down. They waited, but there was no answer.

“
Let’s give her some time,” Gaspard said. “She has to be careful of the soldiers.”

Christian nodded, trying not to show how uneasy he felt. Adrianna should have been ahead of them. They had wasted over an hour fetching the horses and changing their wet clothes. But he had no idea how fast she could swim and the time she had spent confined to the tank had likely taken its toll on her.

A light flared as Gaspard lit a lantern. Christian went to help him gather wood to build a small fire. It was little more than a few branches, but Christian hoped Adrianna would be able to see it. They had changed out of their court clothes into travelling clothes. They would have aroused too much suspicion leaving the city at night in their court finery, especially when it was soaking wet. He was worried they had somehow missed Adrianna and she had continued on without them. He didn’t want to think about the other possibility; that she was still trapped in the city.

Gaspard sank down, his back against a tree, and wrapped his cloak around himself.
“I am too old for adventures,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“
I can’t believe we did it.” Christian sank down across from him and held his cold hands out to the fire to get what meagre warmth he could. 

Gaspard chuckled.
“I wish I could be there when the Emperor finds out.”

Gaspard closed his eyes and was soon snoring softly. Christian couldn
’t sleep. He kept watch all night, afraid that if he slept, the fire would go out and Adrianna wouldn’t be able to see them.

Dawn came and Adrianna still hadn’t come. Christian sat on the bank with his knees drawn up, throwing stones into the river. Gaspard groaned as he sat up and stretched. He blinked and looked around.

“She hasn’t come then,” he said.

“
She didn’t make it,” Christian replied grimly. “They must have found her.”

Gaspard shook his head sadly.
“We were so close to getting her out.”

Christian didn’t reply. He blamed himself.
He should never have left her. He should have stayed and made sure she made it out of the city. He had failed her as he had failed so many others.

“
I’m going back for her,” Christian said, dropping the pebbles he still held in his hand and getting to his feet. He lifted the saddle onto his horse and tightened the girth. “If I haven’t returned in three days, you should go back to St Goarshausen and tell my mother what happened.”

Gaspard stood up and brushed the dirt and leaves from his breeches. “
I’m coming with you.”

Christian could see how exhausted Gaspard was. He struggled to stand and once he was up, he had to keep one hand on a tree for support. Jumping into the river last night and the swim afterwards had been too much for him.

“I will draw less attention on my own,” Christian said carefully, not wanting to offend him. “They’re looking for two men. It won’t do us any good if we’re both arrested.”

Gaspard didn
’t argue, which told Christian just how much pain he was in. He untied the reins from the tree and held the horse still while Christian mounted.

“
Be careful, my friend,” he said, passing Christian the reins.

“
I will find her and bring her back.”

“
I know you will.”

He guided his horse through the trees and onto the road that would take him back to Paris. He wasn
’t as confident as he had sounded. If Adrianna had been recaptured he would be able to find out quickly, but if she was still in the city somewhere in the river she would be almost impossible to find.

At the city gates, the guards waved him through, barely sparing him a glance. A long queue of traffic waiting to leave the city stretched down the street. Every carriage and cart was being stopped and searched, but they were looking for someone trying to leave the city, not enter it. 

He swung down from his horse so he could hear the gossip on the streets. He grabbed a small boy by the shoulder as he ran by. “What happened?” he asked in French. The boy tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he tightened his grip.

“
The creature was stolen away from the palace last night,” the boy eventually said.

“Do they know who took her?”

The boy shrugged. Realising he knew nothing more, Christian tossed him some coins. Relief washed over him. Adrianna couldn’t have been found or they wouldn’t still be looking for her.

As he approached the palace, he could see the reason for Adrianna being unable to escape. From every bridge around the Tuileries, massive nets hung down into the river, stretching across the river
’s entire width. Their sheer size left Christian in awe. Napoleon had been anticipating something like this happening.

Around the Tuileries, the river teemed with boats of every size, from fishing boats, to barges, to ships. Some were filled with soldiers, but there were ordinary people in row boats with poles and nets and even courtiers dressed in their silks and satins and he saw heads bobbing in the water. The whole of Paris seemed to be out on the river looking for the mermaid. He would have to wait until dark to look for her. It was too dangerous in the daylight; he couldn
’t risk being seen too close to the river. He just had to hope they didn’t find Adrianna before he could get to her.

~~~~~

It was night again before Adrianna finally came back up to the surface. She had spent the whole day hiding. It seemed as if every person in Paris had been out on the river looking for her. She had stayed underwater, dodging the poles as they were thrust down and pressing against the side as nets were dragged by. The river was wide; they should never be able to find her, but twice they had come close to catching her. She hadn’t slept the previous night, too afraid of what the day would bring and she hadn’t eaten in days. She barely had the strength to cling to the bridge support. At some point she wouldn’t be quick enough and then she would be caught or hunger and thirst would force her to reveal herself. She had tried to find another way out of the city, but in every direction she found a net blocking her escape.

Hungry and tired and still in pain from where she had struck the glass with her tail, she huddled beneath the bridge. She felt so alone. She could hear shouts and strange noises. Even before she
’d become a mermaid, she had spent her whole life in a tiny town. Paris was huge in comparison. She didn’t speak French and she didn’t understand what anyone said. She stayed close to the bridge where Gaspard and the prince had left her. She would wait until morning and then she would try again to find another way out of the city.

She tensed as she heard the sound of booted feet scraping on stone. Someone was climbing down to her. She moved further back into the shadows, preparing to dive under.

“Adrianna,” came a whisper. She froze. Had she really heard it or had she imagined it? “Adrianna,” a voice came again.

“
Here,” she said as she recognised the voice. The prince’s dark head appeared above her. She could just make him out in the dark. “I’m sorry,” she said, swimming up to him. “I tried to get out, but they put nets down to stop me.” She suddenly realised he was alone. “Where is Monsieur Gaspard? Did they arrest him?”

“
Gaspard is safe,” the prince replied. “He’s waiting for us outside the city. I came back to find you.”

“
You shouldn’t have come back.”

“
I couldn’t leave you here. We need somewhere to hide until I can find a way to get you out of the city. I know someone who might help us. I’ll be back.”

“
Wait,” she called, but he had already slipped away. She waited for what seemed like hours, too afraid to go under in case the prince came back and couldn’t find her, but she felt like she was going to be discovered at any moment. The first hint of dawn was creeping into the sky when she finally heard the clip clop of hooves. A carriage stopped on the bridge above her and she heard the prince’s voice softly calling her name.

He climbed down to her.
“We have to be quick.” He threw a rope into the water next to her. “Grab on.” She put her head and arms through the loop that had been made and slowly, he pulled her up out of the water. When she was close enough he reached down to her. “Take my hand.”

She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up the rest of the way. He wrapped her up in his cloak before lifting her and then he climbed into the carriage with her in his arms. The coachman lifted up the steps and shut the door. Christian held her cradled on his lap against his chest. The interior of the carriage was richly decorated, with lamps either side providing a soft glow and rich burgundy fabric covering the seats. The curtains were pulled giving them privacy and cocooning them from the outside world.

She realised the prince’s shirt was damp, the wet fabric plastered to his chest. “I’ve made you wet,” she said, a blush coming to her cheeks.

“
It doesn’t matter,” he replied, a brief smile touching his lips.

She still had her arms around his neck and her face was only inches away from his. She had never been this close to a boy before. But he wasn
’t just a boy; he was a prince. She was conscious of his arms around her, one under her tail and the other around her back. She was so close she could smell the soap he had used and see the dark shadow that dusted his jaw where he hadn’t shaved. His dark brown wavy hair was tousled and mused as if he had been running his fingers through it. He was so different from the cold and distant prince she had seen back in St Goarshausen. Realising she had been staring, she looked away before he noticed.

“
Where did you get the carriage?” she asked, hoping he didn’t notice the colour that flooded her cheeks.

“
It belongs to a friend of Gaspard’s. I went to see her. She’s going to hide us until I can find a way to get you out of the city.”

“
Does she know what I am?”

“
She saw you in the palace. She knows the truth about what happened to you. We can trust her.”

The carriage slowed. Christian shifted forward and lifted the corner of the curtain to look out.
“There are soldiers.” Her arms tightened around his neck. She could feel the tension in his shoulders. The carriage turned off into an alley and pulled to a stop. They waited in silence to see if the soldiers had followed them. Finally, she felt Christian relax. “They’ve passed us.”

Adrianna loosened her grip, although the prince hadn
’t complained about her holding him so tightly. Eventually, the carriage stopped and the coachman opened the door. They were outside a row of elegant townhouses. Christian lifted her easily in his arms and quickly carried her around the back of the end house and in through a side door. A lady waited for them inside with a candelabra. Her dark hair hung in a long braid down her back and she wore a rose pink wrap tied over her nightdress.

“
Did anyone see you?” she asked, quickly closing the door behind them.

“
There were soldiers out on the streets, but I don’t think we were followed,” Christian replied.

“
We will know soon enough if they did. I dismissed the servants. I had a bath prepared earlier this evening. The water should be cold by now.”

“
Thank you, Elise, for doing this,” Christian said.

She smiled at him fondly. “I told you I would help you if I could.
This way.”

They followed her through the dark house and up a grand staircase. On the landing, she opened a door and ushered them inside. Christian carried her into a bedroom. The room was enormous, bigger than her entire house at home, white floral wallpaper, pale blue silk curtains and a four poster bed. There was a huge clawed bath before the fireplace. Christian lowered her into the water and pulled the cloak away. It was much larger than the wooden tub Fournier had kept her in. The water came up to her chest and she could nearly fit her entire tail in. 

“How is it?” Elise asked.

“
It’s wonderful,” Adrianna said. “Thank you.”

She splashed her tail in the water. Elise came closer to look at it.
“It really is real.” She looked at Adrianna. “May I?” She was asking permission to touch her. No one had ever asked her before. Adrianna nodded hesitantly. Elise touched her fins gently with her fingertips. Smiling, she pulled her hand away and gave a little shake of her head. “I still can’t believe it’s real.” She turned to Christian. “Shall I have another room made up or will you sleep here?”