Contract Husband.

Escaping Barcelona.

Light shone through the window on Rosalind's face, she turned to the other part of the bed in a bid to hide her face from the light. Slowly she began to open her eyes, as she stared blankly into the wall, suddenly, she sat up, she began to look around her frantically.

"Oh no, did I just...?" she muttered as she grabbed the duvet and covered her nude body. Victor was still sleeping, his posture told her everything. Rosalind sighed, the memories of the previous night began to flood through her mind, it was a wild, crazy and mind blowing night, the passion was so intense. But everything bothered her as it fascinated her, she want it but she couldn't help it either. Suddenly, Victor began to turn, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Rosalind who was curled up at the corner of the began to smile.

"Seems you are awake already my lady" Victor whispered.

"Good morning my lord" Rosalind said as she stood up from the bed.

"How was your night?" Victor asked.

"It was good" Rosalind answered as she wore a robe. Victor smirked.

"Last night was wonderful, you were amazing" Victor said, Rosalind's heart skipped a beat, she froze at the spot, embarrassment rushing through her body.

"Oh thanks" she muttered as she walked out of the room hastily. Victor laughed, loud enough for Rosalind to hear, embarrassment rushed all over her once again. She made her way to the hallway, just as she was walking by, one of the maid's approached her hastily.

"My lady you need the to get ready" the maid said frantically.

"And why is that?" Rosalind asked.

"We got information from a reliable source, the Duke of Barcelona is plotting to get rid of Lord Victor at the Yatch party today, you two need to leave Barcelona immediately" the maid answered. Rosalind's heart sank immediately, she rushed back through the stairs to the room as fast as she could and swung the door open.

"We need to leave immediately" Rosalind said.

"Why?" Victor asked as he sat up on the bed.

"Sir Ernesto, he is planning something sinister, we shouldn't go to the Yatch party today" Rosalind said frantically. Victor looked at her for about a minute before he sprang up from the bed, and grabbed his night robe.

"Tell the maid to gather everyone, we need to be well prepared for this trip back" Victor said. But Rosalind held him back.

"I don't think we should announce our departure" Rosalind said.

"But you just talked about a plot to get rid of me, so why can't I make plans for our departure?" Victor asked in irritation.

"We don't know who to trust right now, no one should know the most important moves we make or actions we take, I suggest we pretend that we are going for this party but instead we head back to Madrid" Rosalind suggested.

"And how is that going to work?" Victor asked.

"Simple, we dress like we are up for an occasion and then we stylishly head back to Madrid, what do you think?" Rosalind asked with a smirk on her face.

"That's a good one, but what about our belongings?" Victor asked again.

"Well, we will leave them here for now, maybe we could send for them later" Rosalind smiled.

"I like the idea, okay we'll do exactly as you have said" Victor smirked as he walked off and left the room. Rosalind followed him afterwards, as she got to the stairs, she signaled to a maid who was passing by.

"Yes my lady?" The maid asked as she walked quickly towards Rosalind.

"I need to take a shower and get dressed, see to it immediately, I have a ball to attend" Rosalind ordered, the maid bowed and left Rosalind's presence. Rosalind smiled and moved back upstairs.

"Sir Ernesto, I just got words from the Hernandez mansion, Lord Victor is headed for the yatch party" a man reported. Sir Ernesto was in his study sipping a cup of tea when the news arrived.

"Are you serious, but he should be running out of Barcelona" Sir Ernesto said in utter suprise.

"Sir I don't know why but he seemed to have dismissed the claims as a rumour" the man spoke again.

"Alright, tell the men to abort the plan to ambush them on the travel routes, I guess we'll meet them at the party" Sir Ernesto giggled as he took another sip of tea.

The yatch party party was over and to Sir Ernesto's disappointment, there was no sign of Lord Victor anywhere, he was unsettled, he paced back and forth in the large hallway of his mansion,

"Where did that son of a gun go?" He wandered as he continuously paced back and forth. Soon the same man who delivered the news of Victor's attendance early that morning walked into the living room, hearing his footsteps, Sir Ernesto made haste to enter into the large living room.

"Oh Gustavo, what news do you bring?" Sir Ernesto asked anxiously.

"Sir, there seems to be no sign of them anywhere" Gustavo announced.

"I don't understand, I thought you said they were attending the party, what happened?" Sir Ernesto asked, confusion written everywhere on his face.

"They were indeed Sir, they didn't pack a single belonging and they were all dressed up like they were about to attend a party, but no one knows their whereabouts, not even the ones in charge of the mansion, they too are in a frenzy" Gustavo answered, just as Sir Ernesto was about to say another word his wife entered the living room.

"What's all the fuzz about?" Lady Rachel asked, curiosity written all over her face. At first Gustavo was quiet but when Sir Ernesto signaled to him, he began to talk.

"We can't find Lord Victor and his wife anywhere in Barcelona my lady" Gustavo answered. Lady Rachel's eyes widened in shock but after a while, her shocked expression turned to frustration.

"They left Barcelona, they fooled us" she sneered.

"What do you mean, how is that possible?" Sir Ernesto asked.

"They must have known it was a set up and decided to make us believe they were coming for the party, they trust the informat who relayed the message to them but I believe Lord Victor seeks his counsel elsewhere" Lady Rachel spat bitterly.

"And who could be this wise counsel?" Sir Ernesto asked furiously.

"I don't know either, I can't say, I wouldn't think it is Lady Rosalind, she loathes him" Lady Rachel answered still trying to figure out how everything played out.

"We can catch up with them right?" Sir Ernesto asked desperately.

"Of course not Ernesto, they should be at the outskirts of Madrid by now!" Lady Rachel yelled. Sir Ernesto couldn't contain his anger and disappointment, he stormed out of the living room while lady Rachel still stood there jerking in anger, but still trying to maintain her grace.

"Gustavo, I want you to do something for me" Lady Rachel said.

"What is it my lady?" Gustavo asked.

"I want you to do a background check on Lady Rosalind, from her family status, her education, her strengths, weaknesses and even her connections here in Barcelona, I need to be certain about something" Lady Rachel said.

"I will see to it my lady" Gustavo bowed.

"And tell Pete to make necessary preparations, it seems I should pay my in-laws a visit" Lady Rachel scoffed, "we leave at dawn" she continued. Gustavo bowed and walked out of the living room. Lady Rachel made her way out too in no time.

"Lord Victor and Lady Rosalind have arrived!" A man announced from the watchtower of the Hernandez household, immediately the gate swung open and the carriage drove into the large, spacious environment, Ma Griselda rushed out of the house accompanied by some maids of the household, she was surprised at the sudden return of her son and his wife. Victor came out of the carriage accompanied with Rosalind and they made their way to Ma Griselda.

"Good evening mama" Lord Victor said calmly. Rosalind bowed to Ma Griselda which she reciprocated with a nod.

"Why are you back at this time, you weren't supposed to return till the end of this week, it's just been two days" Ma Griselda asked.

"Let's go in first mother, the walls have ears" Victor said. Ma Griselda nodded in agreement and went into the house alongside Rosalind and the maids.

"Allow us" Ma Griselda ordered, the maids bowed and took their exits for the living room.

"What happened?" Ma Griselda asked.

"Sir Ernesto, he wishes to seize the thrown" Victor answered, his mother gasped in terror.

"Who told you such?" She asked in disbelief.

"We visited Sir Ernesto to say our greetings to him and his household, he requested for my audience which I granted him only for him to tell me of his desire" Victor stated.

"And what was your answer?" Ma Griselda asked once again.

"I rejected his offer, but mother, that's not all" Victor answered. "We heard this morning that he wanted to get rid of us, so we decided to flee, Rosalind brought up a better idea of escaping since she suspected fowl play" Victor continued.

"This is very bad, we need to do something about this, he could turn the king against you, against us, you know he's the king's cousin" Ma Griselda said, panic was in the tone of her voice, even though they never showed on her pale, hard face.

"I took care of that already Ma, I requested an immediate audience the queen dowager immediately we return from Barcelona" Rosalind spoke, Ma Griselda looked up at her, then at her son who nodded in affirmation.

"That was really swift, and a quite reasonable approach, that will do" Ma Griselda said, a slight smile appeared on her pale face. "Make sure you leave as early as possible for the palace, you'll be heavily guarded, and you should be at alert too" she continued, Rosalind bowed.

"I should retire for the night, I have a lot to take care of tomorrow" Rosalind announced.

"Very well then, I'll assign my personal maid to take care of everything you would need before you sleep, your maid is out of town to tend to her sick mother" Ma Griselda said.

"Oh thank you my lady, I'm honored" Rosalind said.

"It's alright, after all, you earned it" Ma Griselda said, Rosalind smiled and left Ma Griselda and Victor alone.

"She really is a smart woman, you were right son, she did come in handy" Ma Griselda said to her son.

"I told you mother, we wouldn't regret this, I am indeed intentional with my actions, you just need to trust me often" Victor laughed.

"Indeed you are going to be an outstanding patron of this household" Ma Griselda said as let out a warm smile.

"Thank you mother" Victor smiled in return.

"That would be all, thank you" Rosalind said. The maid bowed and left the room, leaving Rosalind alone with her own thoughts.

"Honestly I'm anxious" she said to herself as she stared at her reflection in the mirror set before. After a while she took a deep breath and stood up immediately and headed out of the room she ran through a couple of stairs before finally stopping in front of a room door, she knocked about twice before an answer came.

"And who is that?" The voice asked.

"It's Rosalind my lady, I want to see you for a bit" Rosalind answered, there was a little silence for a while, but eventually, the door swung open and Ma Griselda peeped through.

"Come in child" she said as she ushered Rosalind into her room and offered her a sit.

"What brings you here by this dead hour" Ma Griselda asked.

"You once said you were close to the king's mother" Rosalind said.

"Yes, so?" Ma Griselda asked once again.

"I'll like to know what she is like" Rosalind answered, "what she likes and dislikes, her character things like that" she continued.

"Sit down" Ma Griselda offered and the two women took a seat while facing each other.

"Queen Isidora is a wild spirit, a proud woman and a grand queen" Ma Griselda began. "She loves sports and enjoys indulging herself in books, especially books about science, but she quickly smells fear and can be very cunning, and oh, she loves Almond nuts, that's all I got to say to you" Ma Griselda continued, Rosalind smiled,

"That is more than enough my lady, thank you for your time" Rosalind stood up and bowed.

"You are welcome child, have a goodnight" Ma Griselda said.

"Goodnight my lady" Rosalind said as she left the room.