For so long I heard nothing but the murmurs of my kidnappers. Now we were actually somewhere. Were we in a town? If so, wouldnapos;t the villagers wonder why there were three men, who had a girl bound, blinded by a sack over her head? I understood why when the sack was suddenly yanked off. I was in the kidnapperapos;s camp...the barbaric, outsider kingdom.
Thieves.
The rope that was tied around my wrist pulled forward, and I fell off the horse, flat on my stomach. I was angry. How dare they treat me this way...
I got up, started fighting back at first.
"Oh, ho The lass has some spirit in her" one of the men taunted, pulling the rope again, sending me on my side.
"Itapos;ll be fun once I break this one..." another one threatened.
"Do you see how light her skin is? Almost like porcelain. Iapos;ve havenapos;t see one oapos; them since we robbed that village lasapos; year. I think we need to dirty her up oapos; bit...eh, lads?"
The people of the camp stopped what they were doing, whispers of who I was buzzed through the air, and they all stopped to watch. I got up, confidence bloating like a dragonapos;s again, as I smirked at my attackers. The big one, I guessed he was the man that threatened me, came at me first. I jumped high into the air, kicking him square in the jaw. When I started going after the other two, I tripped over a piece of fabric which hung from my ruined dress. Damn it, this is why I always wear tunics. The two men struggled to sustain my attacks, and each of them had daggers, which tore my dress to shreds. Eventually I was wearing just my undergarments. Good...this made it easier to fight.
One of the men gave me a blow to the side of my head, which sent me to the ground again. My head pounded, and blood started dripping out of my nose. They took this moment to drag me by the rope that bound my wrists, as they hang me by a nearby withered tree. They lifted me high enough that my feet were well off of the ground. The big guy that I kicked first laughed at my struggle, coming closer, leering at me, and holding a hot iron poker.
"Clip that fabric away so sheapos;ll be more exposed," he sneered, while the men tore away the undershirt that I had been wearing. So they loved to torture...they were truly barbaric. He was inches away, when suddenly, an arrow pierced through his hand that held the poker, and the rope that had been tied to the branch was cut cleanly through by a throwing knife. I fell quite a ways, into the arms of one of the men. The big man screamed in pain, and I struggled to free myself, but the arms that held me were like iron.
"Next time, I wonapos;t miss your heart," came the voice from the man that held me.
"M-my liege...f-forgive us..." one of the other men whimpered. He didnapos;t bother to answer them. Instead, he carried me to his tent, while I struggled in vain.
The man set me down on what I could assume was his bed, but I quickly got up from there, searching for something to defend myself with. He didnapos;t try to stop me, but just watched me. Finally, I found an axe hanging from the wall of the ten, and I held it in both of my bound hands menacingly at him.
"Stay away," I hissed.
The man sighed, the fabric over his mouth expanded from his breath. "Does it look like I want to harm you?"
"I donapos;t know what you want, but whatever it is, you get nothing from me. Not the satisfactory of hurting me, because I will not cry out in pain Not the pleasure of rape, because I will fight with all of my strength"
I started to head for the exit of his tent, but he drew his sword with lightning quickness, as he blocked my attempt of escape.
"Let me go" I demanded.
"I am sorry, I cannot let you pass."
I lowered into a fighting stance. "You will release me..."
Unexpectedly, he started to chuckle, when I thought his first reaction was to seize me. "You sound like a noble woman from the way you speak. You must be used to talking down to other men." He laughed again. "But where will you go even if you escape? We are days away from the nearest village. If the cold of the desert night or the heat of the desert sun doesnapos;t kill you, the lack of water surely will. Besides..." he raised an eyebrow, "shouldnapos;t you dress first before you start venturing out?" His eyes raked over my half naked form, lingering on the part where my corset exposed the curve of my left breast.
"I think I am adequate enough to survive," I growled.
"But not to socialize," he chuckled again.
I bared my teeth with anger, and poised to strike, but his speed was unreal, as he sent my feet flying out from underneath me with the dull of his blade. I was on my back, and he was on top, pinning my legs and my arms. "Not the position I quite had in mind for restraining you, but it will have to do," he said, all humor in his voice had left.
"Barbaric scum" I spat.
His eyebrows knitted together furiously, and sparks from his emerald eyes pierced through my stare-down. "Watch your tongue Do not insult which you do not know of." His voice was powerful and commanding...it left me speechless.
We stayed in silence, breathing heavily as though we had been battling for hours. I groaned, leaning my face to the side, and relaxed in his grip. One of his hands slowly let go and he leaned forward to move both of the weapons out of my reach. "Iapos;m going to let you up, but you need to relax and not fight me. I do not wish you harm."
He got off, even helped me up, as he led me over to sit on his bed. He wrapped a blanket around my shoulders in the process. There was a platter of food that I had been eyeing for a while, and he seemed to notice. "You must be hungry after all of that traveling."
"Hmph. You call that traveling? I call it torture." Quickly, I snatched a piece of the loaf of bread, as if I would be punished if I were caught stealing. I started to nibble on it.
"I can assure you that those men will be dealt with. They were not even supposed to bring any hostages back. They were there for the sake of scouting."
"Scouting for what?" I asked.
He ignored me and got up to hand me a cup of water. "Drink."
I did. Gladly.
"So...who are you exactly?" he asked.
My back straightened with pride. "I am Allexandra Banning."
"The Elvin princess..?" he murmured. "What a catch...I was just expecting you to be some noble woman of Haven. Although...I shouldnapos;t be surprised...with the way you position yourself when you fight. All of it just screams apos;elfapos;." He looked at my face again, and then he took his finger, tucking my hair behind my ears. "Yet I am surprised that you are not full elf."
"My mother was only half elf. Her other half was human."
"What of your father?" he asked curiously.
"Half human and half..." I turned my eyes to him, a smirk forming on my face "...demon."
"Ahh..." he whispered, the enlightenment shining in his eyes."That explains the ferocity of when you fight. To be perfectly honest, Iapos;ve never seen a normal being jump that high in the air to kick someone before," he said, the admiration leaking through his voice.
"Itapos;s a habit. The little bit of demon in me takes over as a need to defend myself when being attacked. Even though itapos;s a dangerous move to give in to the monster inside me, Iapos;ve never let it completely take over. My will is stronger than that, and Iapos;ve always kept it in check." I looked fiercely at him. "But barbarians who attack for sport will pay."
He looked back at me with equal passionate ferocity. "Not all of us are barbarians. Most of us are warriors. Out of those warriors, some, like me, are honorable. And before you question it, yes, they do exist in this camp."
He got up, his back to me. He took off his cloak and mask and hung them up on the nail sticking out of the wooden post. "Get some sleep."
"Wait. You did not tell me your name."
He turned around, finally revealing me his handsome face. "I am the son of Salvaas Garudia, Devon, apos;princeapos; of the outcasts."
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