"I want you to tell me where you hid my daughter, Cordula." Kino yelled while shaking her by the shoulders.

"You can kill me Kino, I will never tell you." Cordula cried. She did not want to show her fear, more for herself than for Kino. She believes fear is a beast that feeds on attention.

"Death is to gracious for you my dear. What I have in mind for you is much better than death." Kino spit at Cordula.

"Do what you have to Kino. Nothing can be worse than you taking me away from my family. I would welcome death." Cordula said tiredly. "Please leave me so I can rest now."

"There will be no rest for you until I have my child." Kino yelled again.

"Please Kino, I am tired. I need to rest. The labour exhausted me." Cordula said weakly.

"I will throw you in the dungeon if you don't tell me where you hid my baby." He threatened her. "Tell me!" He yelled while he was jerking her head around by her hair.

Cordula's screams didn't stop Kino from hurting her. By now she was sobbing uncontrollably. "Please stop Kino!" She cried.

"I will not let you see Marilla if you don't tell me." Kino said while squeezing his fingers around Cordula's throat "You will never see her again."

Weakly Cordula tried to pry his fingers from her throat. "Please ... stop..." She could barly whisper.

"Guards!!!" King Kino beckoned the guards into the room. "Throw her in the dungeon." The guards gave King Kino a bewildered look. "Now!!" He shouted.

"Please Sire, she needs to nurture the baby." The midwife pleaded with the King.

"Throw her in the dungeon now, before I have your heads." The King shouted furiously. One of the guards picked her up and carried her out of the room because she was to weak to go by herself. Cordula cried weakly while the guard carried her out.

"Throwing her in the dungeon will not help you get the baby back, Kino. It looks like she made up her mind in not telling you where the baby is. You will have to convince her more subtly." Arya said softly.

"I will force it out of her mother. I will do whatever it takes. I want that child." He said with anger that made his brown eyes look almost red. "Why weren't I informed when she went into labour."

"Nobody knew. Not even the midwife." His mother said.

"How is that possible?"

"It's clear that she had this all planned very carefully, my dear."

"There must be a traitor in my castle. That's the only explanation. None of my people will betray me like that. They know what I will do to them if they betray me." He shouted. "Could it be the midwife? "

"Never. Hayame helped me when you were born. She has worked for our family her whole life. She will never betray us like this. It must be someone from her father's kingdom."

"But how is something like this even possible. How could they have taken the baby out without anyone seeing them? It's impossible!!"

"What about Marilla. She will need her mother. You have to keep her healthy until you find her sister."

"I will let the midwife take her to the dungeon for feedings." He said thoughtful. "She will be locked up in that dungeon until she dies."

*****

Why is Cordula hiding one of the mermaid babies? Why do you think she had the need to do it?

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me your thoughts.

Please vote for the chapter before going to the next. Thank you, much appreciated;-)