Four more days of travel went by before Jacob could finally open his eyes without every bit of light feeling like he was staring straight at the sun. He finally could actually look around the cart. Not that it was very interesting. Bags and boxes were tied to the sides with lots of rope to prevent them from sliding around too much. It was pretty much a normal wagon with a canvas cover, and yet he wanted to cry at finally seeing everything by the light of day. He could only make out shadows at nighttime.
He pushed himself up to his knees and tried to look through the small gaps in between the canvas and the wagon. The wagon hit a hole in the road and Jacob banged his nose on the box. He cursed and pushed his upper body away from the side. His hands and arms were still tied behind his back, he had rubbed the skin raw on his wrist trying to get his hands free during the last week and over a half. He had felt the familiar feel of magic a few days ago, followed by a lurch in his gut that felt like his stomach had been left behind and had to play catch up. It was an experience he had once before in his life and it made him curse the men and women who had stolen him. They either teleported or used a gate, which means Jacob had no clue where he was. He literally could be anywhere in the ten kingdoms.
Jacob sighed and contemplated what he could do. Obviously, he lacked the strength and flexibility to remove the ropes. What could he possibly do without hands? He had lived his whole life learning to use them and relying upon them and he felt helpless without them. Frustration, anger, sadness, homesickness, and tons of other emotions ran through him all at once. He closed his eyes and tried to reign in his feelings the way his father had taught him, unfortunately this was never his best subject. His fits of temper were well known in the palace. He was often grounded and other punishments for getting into fist fights over silly little things that had seemed important at the time. It was only after speaking with his father and seeing his disappointment that he could see the truth about such petty matters.
His father was not here, he could not get his advice. Jacob laughed at himself, if his father were here, then they would be headed home, not to gods only knew where. He had no choice but to figure this out on his own. The wagon began to slow down and stopped. The mage that kept placing a silence spell on him appeared.
" I am wondering little prince, do you know the rules of the wild woods? Just nod yes or no and I will explain them to you."
Jacob nodded and inwardly sighed in relief. At least he knew where they were headed to, which means he knows the general direction to go in order to get back home. The wild woods are north west of the capital city. All he would have to do is travel south east to get home. As for the rules, they were simple enough. You can't hunt, fish, or gather anything other than water within the forest. You also could not use magic without getting attacked by the creatures living within the forest.
The mage smiled and continued speaking, " Good, I will remove the spell I have on you. Feel free to scream, no one around here will come because of the woods which we will enter momentarily."
'What? We shouldn't be near the wild woods now. It's months away from the palace.' Jacob couldn't believe it until he remembered about teleporting and he cursed these people even more. He felt the silence spell leave and he could actually make noise now, but he didn't bother. He looked away from the mage with a scowl on his face.
The mage studied him for a few minutes before leaving. Then the wagon started to move again. Jacob shivered as he heard the noises of farm animals disappear into complete silence. The only noise was the wagon wheels turning and the horse hooves on the road. Even the people around him were silent. The whole trip to this point had them laughing and joking with one another. That's when Jacob knew that they had entered the wild woods.
The Palace
King Leo had a big headache. He had his spies gather information on all of the lords and ladies of the country. He was looking mostly for who stole from the dwarves, however he had found out that many of the people he had in charge were breaking laws left and right. Of course he didn't call them on it yet, it had only been four days after all. He wanted a full list of the crimes committed, with proof before he acted. The only good news was that some of the dwarven artifacts had been retrieved and returned to the dwarves. The fact that it was his people who found them and not the dwarves was probably the only reason the whole kingdom wasn't at war yet.
Unfortunately, the lords and ladies in the lands where the artifacts were found ended up dead, some had other dwarven artifacts embedded within their heads or backs. It would normally suggest the dwarves were at fault for the deaths, however each of those artifacts had been reported missing as well. Whoever was the head of these plots clearly wanted war one way or another, thus the reason for King Leo's headache. This fool was causing problems that could last centuries. Dwarves held grudges for a long time.