Tari sighed in annoyance, she got lost, again. It was starting to be one of her hobbies, really. She sat under the tree, guessing that Jooni will find her in time, or so she hoped. She wasn't sure if he saw where she pointed at back then.
She leaned back against the rough tree bark and stretched her legs in front of her looking up at the clear sky.
Growl…
She looked down at her growling stomach. "I should've at least taken the bag from him." She complained. Taking a look around her, she noticed that this place didn't have a soul in it. The road extending out in front of her in both ways was empty, she wondered how she was able to point out this tree from so far away.
Minute after minute went by with nothing in view, with no Jooni to be precise. Her head jolts up when she heard footsteps coming at her to be disappointed when it wasn't Jooni.
She sighed crossing her arms and mumbling under her breath only to in interrupted by a crocky voice. "Hey! Young Lady," the unknown man said. "I've been calling you!"
She tsked at the man's attitude. "What can I help you with?" Tari asked.
"I could ask you the same thing, foreign lady," he smirked at her, the scar across his eye making her shrug in nauseation. "Are you alone?"
"No, I'm not. My friend will be here any minute now." She said.
"I don't think your friend will be able to find you here, not now, not ever."
Before she could say anything, she found herself surrounded by men from all directions. She rolled her eyes.
A man much weaker than the one talking to her stepped forward with a sly smirk on his face. "Oh boss, look at her! We are going to gain a lot from selling her to one of those royalties who adore foreign women!" he said giggling devilishly.
"You are right. Those eyes are going to get us easy money." The boss said biting down on his lip as he eyed Tari up and down.
"Excuse me! I'm right here!" Tari said waving her hand at them. "If you are mistaken, I can tell you that I'm not an object."
"I like your temper young lady," the boss said taking a step towards her, Tari was already on her feet ready to use her fist at any given moment.
"Sorry to break it out to you, but, if I were you, I would leave me alone." She said. "If you want to stay in one piece that is."
"Oh, I would very much want to see you fight with your kitten strength." Said the man who looked like he is the boss's pawn.
'Kitten strength?' she almost laughed out loud but decided against it since it was only going to make things hard for her.
"Get her."
Two men stepped forward from behind him looking at her with a courageous smirk on their sly faces. One man went to grab his hand, in one swift move it was the other way around, his wrist was in her grip twisted backward making the man groan in pain. "You can't just grab my hand!" she warned him kicking him off to meet the dirt.
"You whore!" the other man said aiming for her hair, she stepped aside and kicked him behind his legs making him join his friend on the ground.
"This Hanbok is really saving you from me," Tari said as she tried to adjust her clothing. "How can women move in this thing!"
"Looks like I underestimated you, little lady." The boss said sounding amused.
He gestured for more men behind him to step forward and one after another they fell to the ground meeting each other in the dirt.
"If you can please stop this nonsense!" Tari said in between pants. "Where the hell are you Jooni!" she mumbled.
For a moment the boss was looking at her in disbelief, something on the ground made him grin.
"You have a fighting spirit; I give you that. It's going to make me have even more money from selling you." The boss said.
"Enough about selling me, please!" Tari said in annoyance growing tired of this nonsense. "Now if you would…"
Thud.
She fell down.
"Good job," the boss smirked at the man that appeared from behind Nefertari with a rock in his hand.
"Take her."
~~~~
"Why did you allow her to go!" Azar yelled at Canaria making her flinch. "At least tell me!"
"She said that you are having a day off today!" she said in a low voice looking at the ground.
It has been hours now since Joon Wo came back to the palace to get back up to search for the princess. By the time he went to the place were Tari pointed at, she wasn't there. He waited and waited and went to search for her but she was nowhere to be seen. He even asked people around if they saw a foreign girl wearing a pink Hanbok but none saw her.
He covered his face with both his hands. "It's my fault is shouldn't have taken her with me." Joon Wo said taking a deep breath.
"Damn it!" Ashkan threw a hit in the air. "What were you thinking!" he turned to look at Joon Wo, anger clear in his voice.
"I already said that I didn't mean it!" Joon Wo stood up meeting Ashkan's glare with his.
"Would you please stop this! It isn't the time to see whose fault it is." Yu Jun said stepping between them and pushing them back from each other.
They all stood there not knowing what to do. The patrol teams are out searching for her but with no luck at all.
"What word do we have from the patrols?" Azar said trying to calm down his nerves.
Yu Jun shocked his head. "Nothing, no trace of her, and none have seen her."
"How is that possible when the streets are crowded with people?" Jin Wo puzzled.
"What if she isn't lost?" Azar said rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry to say it like this but, what if she wasn't just lost?"
Joon Wo's head shot up. "You can't mean someone abducted her!"
Azar nodded. "Think about it. A young beautiful foreign woman alone in the middle of nowhere." He said.
"Y-you have a point," Ashkan said. "Do you've any idea who could've done this? Like a slaving gang or something of that sort?"
"I've heard about a few of them but they are scattered all over the city," Yu Jun murmured.
"Give words to the patrols to investigate those gangs," Azar ordered the guard standing behind him, "use force if necessary." Black aura was emitting from him as he stood there with his fist clenched around the hilt of his sword.
"My Prince! My Prince!" a guard said in between his heavy pants as he ran towards them. "W-We heard a word from a peasant woman that she saw a girl with the same description being carried off by a man with a scar across his left eye, she said they were heading south"
"A man with a scare? Do you such a man?" Azar asked.
Yu Jun shook his head. "I don't but I know that there are only two gangs in the south of the city." He stated.
"Get me a horse!" Joon Wo ordered.
"They are dead meat…" he added
~~~~
"Boss! Boss!"
"What is it?" he answered in annoyance.
"Royal Soldiers are running around searching for a woman with her description," he said pointing at Tari who was tied in the corner of the dimly lit room.
"Looks like someone is famous," he smirked. "How much do you think your master would pay to get you back?"
Tari gave him the are-you-serious look with her mouth covered and hand bonded behind her. Apparently, they found her too noisy so they restrained her from taking. This lady has no sense of danger, wonder who she got it from?
-SIDE STORY-
"Achoo…"
"Are you alright Pharaoh?"
"I think someone is talking about me," Akhenaton said rubbing his itchy nose.
"Pharaoh…"
-END-
Tari tried to talk through the piece of cloth on her mouth but of course, no one paid her any heed.
'You are going to regret this. My Master…' she scoffed internally rolling her eyes.
"Why don't we have a taste than before selling you off?" the boss said with a smirk on his face making the scare on his eye uglier.
Tari glared at him with fire in her eyes.
"Let her talk," he ordered the man standing behind her and he did as he was told he took off the cloth from over her mouth.
She took a deep breath. "Ah, finally!" she said. "First you treat me like a sack of potatoes and now you are treating me as if am a dumpling! You are unbelievable!"
"Such humor," he said. "It will be more amusing to break you down."