Chapter 14

"Help"
•••••••

Earl left the courtroom in a neutral mood, he could not really explain his mood. He moved out to look for Nellie, he had not seen her all day, he hoped to find some solace from chatting with her or fighting. He found that he enjoyed her company, most times they argued over unnecessary things. Earl enjoyed pissing her most times, taunting her to get her reaction.

He knew just where to find out, she was probably with Ma'am Dodda, they had gotten close over the weeks. Apart from the fact that Nellie had saved Ma'am Dodda's life, Earl found it really surprising that they were both getting along.

Ma'am Dodda had never liked Ina, not like Ina liked Ma'am Dodda, in fact they quarrel quite often. Ina was manipulative, Earl had never admitted it but now he could say it. She had a way of getting to him with her tears, it still surprised him that she was able to do what she did.

Earl got to the hall leading to Astrid's Chambers, he thought about Lady Agatha, Astrid's mother. The woman had talked him into giving Astrid a chamber in the Castle, Earl had this feeling that she could not be trusted. He was not surprised when with Astrid's outburst and her rebellious behavior, he could tell Astrid hated Nellie for some reason but he just didn't know what. He was going to be extra careful with her, Ina had taught him a lesson.

Earl was about to knock on the door when he paused and he could hear the women discussing from inside the room, he could barely make out what they were discussing since Ma'am Dodda's voice was still very low. He spent two minutes contemplating whether he should enter or let them be, but no. He needed to speak with Nellie, he was about knocking when he heard;

"...they fought really hard and when they were finally separated, Earl was bleeding from the nose"

"How about Charlie, he didn't sustain any injuries?" Earl could tell it was Nellie's voice.

"He did, he had two broken ribs. You see the Alpha punched him really hard on one spot for too long" Ma'am Dodda chuckled.

"I can imagine, typical of him" Nellie's laugh was genuine, even her maid joined in the laugh.

"After his father settled the fight between them, the Alpha was to serve his punishment for starting the fight. His father ordered that he be given twelve strokes of the cane" Ma'am Dodda continued.

"Oh" Nellie gasped. "That's too much for a nine year old"

Was it? Earl could not count how many times he had had to face the rod as a child, he was always getting into fights with either his elder brother or a random boy and his father never failed to punish him.

"Well he didn't have to endure that," Ma'am Dodda smiled.

"Why? Did he faint?" The concern in Nellie's voice had Earl's heart beating, it warmed his heart to know that she cared, he waved the feeling aside and listened on.

"Charlie wouldn't let him, he begged the Alpha to forgive Earl and he did!"

"Wow, he has such a good heart" Earl scoffed, that was only after he had received two strokes of the painful rod.

"Yes he does, after that day till date the duo became inseparable"

"Wow, that's such a beautiful story of friendship. But I've never seen or heard about Charlie's wife"

"You see…" Ma'am Dodda's voice was cut when Earl opened the door and walked in. He looked from one woman to the next, after looking at Nellie twice his gaze rested on her again.

"That's enough gossip for one day, don't you think?" He asked.

"You are such a killjoy" Nellie scoffed

"Your Highness" Ariel bowed.

"Son" Ma'am Dodda called, she extended her hands invitingly, Earl went in on impulse, it was a habit he had gotten used to ever since he was a child. Ma'am Dodda ruffled his hair and gently ushered him to take a seat.

Nellie imagined Earl coming into her arms afterwards, she couldn't deny looked handsome in his Royal attire. He was handsome everyday, she had to admit. Piere was not half as handsome as Earl was, she could imagine ruffling his beautiful hair the same way Ma'am Dodda had done. She quickly shook the thought out of her head as soon as it came in.

"You should be resting now" Earl admonished.

"But I lie in this bed all day," Ma'am Dodda protested.

"It will aid your recovery, I want you well and out of this room in no time. You have been here long enough, don't you think?"

"I am fine now, I can do just fine on my own. I was hoping I could return to my chambers today"

Earl gave Nellie a questioning look, she seemed lost in her thoughts, he had to snap his fingers to get her back to reality.

"Oh… did you say something?" Nellie jumped.

"You seemed lost in thought," Earl said in concern.

"Oh it's nothing, I was just thinking… nevermind"
Honestly Nellie had nothing in mind except Earl and she was chiding herself for it, she didn't know why he occupied her mind so much. Probably because she had seen him a lot lately, no she hadn't, the last time she saw him had been at lunch yesterday.

"Ma'am Dodda says she can leave here now, is that so?" Earl asked, Nellie still looked lost in thought.

"Oh yes… she can, but she just have to be careful not to open the wound from inside"

"Fine, I'm sure she can manage, I'll make arrangements for her to leave tomorrow morning"

"For now you need to rest, so we will all leave you now" Earl stood up.

"But…" Ma'am Dodda began sending Nellie a pleading look.

"Go ahead" Nellie smiled "It's high time you took a nap, we will let you be"

Nellie went to the bed and tucked her in, she liked the covers to her neck and gently placed a soft kiss on Ma'am Dodda's forehead.

"Do sleep well"

Ma'am Dodda smiled.
••••••••••••••••••••

"How did the meeting go?" Nellie asked, they had been walking through the hall for some minutes and the silence was killing her, it was not her thing.

"What? How did you know that" Earl was surprised, he had told Charlie not to inform her.

"You were not planning to tell me right? Nellie said.

"It's nothing you should know," Earl simply replied.

"It was about me, right?"

"What makes you think so?"

"I just know"

Earl did not reply, he just kept walking. Nellie could tell something was bothering him but she was not going to ask, he rarely spoke to her about pressing issues but sometimes he came to her when he was not busy.

Nellie guessed it was just to relieve stress and make sure she was not thinking of escaping or leaving him. She knew he did not completely trust her and it hurt, she wanted him to talk, to tell her things that bothered him or about the pack.

But she reminded herself she was nothing to him, just a captive he kept, he probably hasn't figured what to do with her yet Nellie really hoped her healing Ma'am Dodda had given him a new perspective of her and a reason to let her stay or trust her.

"Do you ride?" Earl suddenly asked.

"Yes," Nellie replied simply. Earl could tell she was hurt by his reply, he hadn't meant to be so rude.

"Ride with me" He hoped he had said it in a better way, he cussed himself silently.

Nellie paused and stared at him for a while, she seemed to be thinking. She looked up and continued walking, ahead of him.

"Will you?" Earl asked again.

"Are you asking or telling me?"

"What is the difference?"

"Where I am come from I don't take orders, I give orders and from every angle you look at it, you just commanded me"

"You are in my pack now, this is not where you come from"

"Thanks for reminding me, I am tired and I will appreciate a little sleep"

With that, Nellie turned and made her way to her room, she was not going to give Earl the satisfaction of seeing her hurt. She was going to cry in silence if she must.

Earl stared after her, he contemplated going after her. He decided against it, he did not want to attach too much meaning to her presence, he couldn't deny he enjoyed her company but he had something bigger to handle and letting Nellie control his emotions was the last thing on that list, he was going to give her time, he decided. He thought about the number of girls who would have jumped at the idea of going out with him for a fun ride, Astrid for example.

Earl made his way back to his chambers, he decided he was going to have a cold bath and go riding alone. He thought about asking Charlie. He was going to come with him either way.

"You are here" It was Charlie, he appeared to have waited for a long time.

"Yes I am," Earl said dismissively.

"I can see that Charlie scoffed. "Where have you been?"

Earl looked up at Charlie with a cocked eyebrow.
"Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there is a problem"

"What is that?" Earl asked, alarmed.

"You look so worried and tired"

Earl was already impatient, he gave Charlie a hard glare telling him to be serious, Charlie only cocked an eyebrow in a feigned attempt to look innocent.

"I am in no mood for your dry jokes, do we have a problem?" the impatience in his voice could not be mistaken.

"You are so grumpy," Charlie said, giving up. "We don't have a problem, I was only teasing"

Earl heaved a sigh of relief and went inside "I am going to take a little nap. I don't want to be disturbed, you should try testing too"

Charlie rolled his eyes and left Earl alone.

Earl soaked himself in the cold bath, he had advised the maids to prepare the maids to make the bath as cold as it could get, he wished he could just be happy without all these problems, but who was he kidding? His life was a big ball of mess and it was going to be for a long time.

Earl's thoughts drifted to Nellie, he remembered the look she had left with, hurt and pain. He had caused it, it hurt him to see her like that but he didn't even know why. He didn't want to think about it too much, it was probably because he had been too rude to her earlier.

If he had asked politely she would have followed him, he was sure of that, he recalled the look of happiness he had seen on her face when she spoke with Ma'am Dodda.

Earl sighed. He was going to apologize to her later, they would probably go for the ride by evening, for now he was going to rest and allow her rest.

His mind went to Tony, he wondered what he was doing, probably fucking Ina, he had seen Tony lust after a couple of times. Earl knew Tony had an insatiable lust for women, he just hoped he was using Ina to satisfy that at the moment. If anything, Earl was sure Ina was just a toy in the plot.

Tony probably just wanted to take something that will really hurt Earl and that is where Ina came into the picture, Earl shut his eyes tightly, an image if Ina and Tony making out played out in his head, he shut his eyes even tighter to flush out the image.

He went out of the bath, donned his clothes and decided he was going to go apologize to Ina, he couldn't stand her being mad at him for some reason. He quickly went out to her room.

He ran all the way there, something told him he had to hurry almost like there was danger lurking around he could feel his heart racing. Earl ran, his guards followed behind him in alarm.

He was panting by the time he got to Nellie's Room. He knocked. No response, he knocked again and waited, still no response.

Earl immediately kicked down the door and ran inside, his adrenaline was pumping hard, something told him Nellie was not in the room.
He was about calling out for her when he saw the note on the bed, he picked it up and read the single word

"Help"

Earl panicked, he considered the odds that she might have gone to Ma'am Dodda's, she did not look like one who could play a prank, he immediately informed the guards to start a search immediately, he ran all the way to Astrid's Chambers hoping and praying that she was there, he opened the door as soon as he got there.

"Nellie!" He called out.

"She is not here" Ma'am Dodda responded "What is wrong, you look worried?" She asked trying to sit up.

"I can't find Nellie"