Chapter 50

MILA

After we returned to Fresia, I spent all my time at the restaurant, desperate to put together the finishing touches before opening night in two weeks. I was definitely feeling the pressure–I had opened the reservation system, and reservations for the first month had filled up in less than a day.

I guess it paid to be the prince’s fiancé.

Once the tables and chairs arrived, the restaurant was perfect. Our trip to Carnea had been successful in more ways than one. I had finally finished the menu and the interior design, now all I needed was staff.

Isla put me in touch with a few of her friends, and with my savings now returned to me, I was able to make some pretty generous offers to three waiters and two junior chefs. They were delighted to start working at the restaurant, and I was delighted to bring them on board.

I still had one more interview, this time for a sous chef, on a Saturday afternoon.

I had gone back and forth on the name of the restaurant a few times. I didn’t think I wanted my own name on it–that wasn’t really my style. I had thought about naming it after Felix for a bit, but that also felt a bit odd. I wanted something that felt personal, but also served as an homage to my new home country.

As I brainstormed, I thought about how lovely our time in Carnea had been, how much I had enjoyed watching the water lap the shore, how the blues of the water and sky had blended at the horizon line, one a perfect mirror of the other.

That was the sort of peace and tranquility I wanted to capture at my restaurant. That was Fresonia, and food, at its best.

After several deliberations, I decided on Sea and Sky. I ended up ordering a little water feature for the front of the restaurant. People could throw wishing coins into the fountain while they waited for a table.

Everything was perfect. I was drinking about a thousand cups of coffee a day while I rushed to get everything done and therefore was more jittery than ever, but that’s what I had Felix for: to calm me down.

I was arranging the chairs and wiping down the tables when the bell on the front door jingled, indicating that someone had entered. It must have been the applicant for the sous chef position.

I called out without looking up, “Be there in a second!”

I turned around and my jaw almost hit the floor. This was the last person on earth I could have imagined applying for a job at my restaurant.

But there she was. Fiona stood in the entrance of the restaurant, a sheepish look on her face.

“Uh, hi, Mila,” she said finally, breaking the awkward silence. “It’s been a while. I’m sure you’re surprised to see me.”

That was an understatement. I had been counting on never seeing her again.

“What are you doing here?!” I demanded to know.

“I’ve come to interview for the sous chef position.”

I couldn’t help it–I burst into laughter.

“What are you talking about?” I managed to say. “You want to apply for a job at my restaurant?”

“Samara fired me right after you left,” Fiona said. Her voice was quiet and small. “She said I was making the kitchen a hostile work environment. I’ve been looking for work ever since. And when I saw that you were hiring, I thought…”

“You thought I would hire you? After everything you did to me?”

“That was so long ago, and things change–” She caught sight of the ring on my finger. “Things really change.”

“I’m not going to hire you,” I informed her. “Absolutely not.”

“Please, Mila.” She was practically begging now, her eyes filling with tears. “Please. I’m desperate.”

There was something deeply satisfying about watching her beg for me to give her a job. But there was no way I could ever trust her in my kitchen. She had hurt me too much.

I leveled my gaze with hers. “Fiona, I will not, and will never, hire you. In fact, I never want to see you again. Consider yourself banned from here. Get out of my restaurant before I call the police.”

Fiona opened her mouth as if to say something else, but closed it before trudging out of the restaurant. I made a point to lock the door behind her and wave to the security guards across the street.

I texted Isla and asked her if she could point me in the direction of any other sous chefs. She texted back right away, telling me she would ask around.

I locked up Sea and Sky for the night before starting the walk home to the apartment. Felix and I both knew that eventually we would need to move into the castle, but right now, the apartment felt like the perfect escape: a place for just the two of us.

I put my headphones in while I walked. Now that I had security following me everywhere, I was not afraid to listen to music on my late night walks home.

We made it about two blocks before I heard a thwack and a grunt from behind me, louder than my headphones. I paused my music and turned around, horrified to see the unconscious bodies of my guards on the ground, their assailants nowhere to be seen.

I stumbled backwards and broke into a run. My phone fell out of my pocket and clattered to the ground. I didn’t stop to grab it. All I could think about was getting to the apartment as fast as possible.

I heard footsteps behind me. Whoever had attacked my guards was gaining on me.

I rounded the corner of the block the apartment was on, only for my foot to catch on a patch of uneven sidewalk. I tumbled to the ground, hard.

From behind me, I heard a low grumble of laughter. Several men wearing ski masks stepped out of the shadows, surrounding me.

I started to scream, but someone lunged for me and pressed a handkerchief over my mouth and nose. It smelled sickly sweet, unnatural, even.

The last thing I saw was the men forming a circle around me, hiding me from the street, and lowering a rope towards me.

Then everything went black.

I came to on the forest floor. Tall pine trees surrounded me, reaching up to the sky like proud columns. The ground around me was cold and slightly damp, as if it had recently snowed. The air felt thinner, as if I was at a higher elevation. I had never been here before, but somehow my surroundings looked familiar.

It hit me all at once: I was in the Dragon’s Teeth mountains.

My hands were tied behind my back, and I could see that my feet were chained to a tree stump. A quick glance around revealed a few men standing guard around the clearing.

My kidnappers.

I opened my mouth to scream, but my throat was so dry and scratchy that no words came out.

I was completely alone, and no one was coming to save me.