Bynarr fluttered his eyes open. Groggily, he studied his surroundings but the sharp pain on his neck snapped him awake from sleepiness. He wriggled his hands and winced - It was not the best action to do. Yet, he somehow understood his current situation.
Both his hands and feet were tied intricately with an abrasive rope. Not only that, his neck was tied as well. Every movement caused pain as the rope grazed the skin on his neck. The rope around his neck was wound against the trunk and high branch of an oak tree, and after being wound from the tree, it continued in loops around his hands and feet. The effect was that if he wrung his hands or his feet, the rope around his neck tightened.
The wisest decision at this point was to keep still.
Even if it was dark, he discerned that he was left outside by whoever he had encountered for help.
'Bandits!' He almost spat to the floor. The pain in his neck helped him remember that he could not even do that.
Then, he remembered he was on his way to seek help for his friend -- to save his unconscious friend's life.
"Red!" He murmured.
One more time, he struggled to set himself free, but for naught it only caused him to endure a sharp pang of pain against his already swollen and wounded skin on his neck.
The pain sent tremors all throughout his body. He gritted his teeth. 'Where's Red?! It's all my fault!'
'Red!'
His surroundings were all too quiet. Since he faced the wrong side, the tents that nested the princess' guards and maidens were not visible to him.
He did not even realize that a guard was on duty nearby looking after him.
Every single drop of a second into a deadly silence weighed on his head like boulders falling straight down on him.
In certain circumstances, ignorance could serve as a peaceful repose of a stressful mind and soul, but for him, he was dying to know where his unconscious friend was and what had happened to her?
All he could do was wait and pray that Red would be safe somewhere.
Meanwhile, inside one of the tents not too far from him, which he knew nothing about…
Red sat up in bed in the wee hours of the morning when her body clock automatically shook her out of slumber. Her sudden movement triggered Matilda who was sleeping on a bunk bed against the well to wake up as well.
"Princess, you're awake!" She rushed to her side with an anxious expression. "How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?"
She blinked at Matilda thinking, 'Why would I be hurt? What the heck happened?'
'I fainted again?'
What was alarming to her was the frequency of her losing consciousness. She was not the fainting type back in East Sechoia County.
'What happened this time?'
Her mind was as blank as a clean slate, and she could not quite point out what transpired last before she slept. Looking down, she realized nothing seemed off as she donned her nightgown like any other night.
"Laarni and I dressed you up and prepped you for bed. We did a simple sponge bath. " Matilda explained, catching drift on her actions. "Sir Karyk also requested to check on you if there are any signs of change in your physical state."
"Hmmm…" Absent-mindedly, she hummed in acknowledgment. She repeated for the second time, this time more alarmed. "Hmmm? What? Why?" Her cheeks blushed and heated for a good few seconds, but since the surroundings were dim, it was not quite obvious. "What happened? Why would my body change?"
"Are you hurt anywhere, Princess? We were quite worried about your welfare." Even if it's dark, the fear was quite evident in her voice.
She tried to recollect whatever transpired last night. She could remember that she and Bynarr were sparring by the brook, and she was actually enjoying it because she's winning every round so easily.
'What happened after that?' She tilted her head and turned her gaze on Matilda, "Why would I be hurt, Matilda?"
"Oh, Princess! I saw you with the male acquaintance you told us about. You were already unconscious and he was bending over you. I freaked out and shrieked, and I rushed back to the tents to call on the guards. I was so afraid that something bad had happened to you. Are you feeling alright? Is anything painful?" Her eyes scanned her body with a concerned look on her countenance. Even if the atmosphere was dimly lit since it was still nighttime, she could discern Matilda's genuine distress. "Maybe I shouldn't have run back to the tents. Maybe I should have rushed and thrown myself between you and that lad!"
'Bynarr?'
"I'm fine," Red said, in an attempt to ease Matilda's trepidation. Matilda did not seem to believe her. She raised her right hand in a solemn vow, "I promise, Matilda, I'm feeling alright. Now, can you please tell me what happened to my friend?" She asked, swinging her legs down to the ground standing up. "I could not believe that he'd do something so off and rotten. He… He seems like the good-boy type. He has patiently helped me in my training. He showed me nothing but kindness."
Matilda eyed her like she had heard the most absurd thing ever, but since she still respected her lady, she kept mum and answered her hanging question.
"He was detained." She said curtly, devoid of her own judgment.
!!!
"Detained?!" Red was quite alarmed. "How have you been treating my friend while I was unconsious?"
"Princess… The circumstance called for such treatment. Sir Karyk gave the command. The guards led by Sir Karyk met the lad carrying you – you were unconscious – when they went to look for you in the direction of the brook. When I saw him hovering over you I ran and called for their help. I actually tagged behind and hid myself behind a tree. I saw what happened with my own eyes."
Red kept quiet for a while. That was the least she could do to neutralize the loud drumming inside her chest.
Matilda read her silence in quite a different perspective. "Did I do wrong, Princess? Her fingers fiddled with each other in uneasiness. "Was my judgment wrong? I was just worried that you were in danger."
"I understand your concern, Matilda. I honestly appreciate your concern for me. You said I was unconscious? That's the piece I cannot understand. But… Bynarr has been a good friend, you know."
"Well, you have not known if for too long, Princess." Matilda rebutted with so much hesitation and care not to offend the princess.
"Where is he? I want to see him." She added. "I want to at least hear what he has to say. There are always two sides to a story. Not that I don't believe what you just told me… But maybe there's something he had to explain himself." She went into motion while she blabbered on.
Matilda tried to stop her. "But Princess. It's still dark outside. I suggest that we wait for sunrise."
Red's head whipped towards the tent's door – the only window towards the outside world. 'Matilda is right. It's still dark.'
'But I used to meet Sir Karyk before sunrise. Is today any different?'
As if reading her mind, Matilda informed her, "Sir Karyk wanted you to rest for today. He said to tell you when you wake up that you would not be training today. Please rest more, Princess."
"Please don't get yourself worked up." She added.
She sighed but agreed eventually. Red bobbed her head in a defeated acknowledgment. She sat on the bed again and as she had nothing to do, she scanned the inside of her tent. Being out of her tent most of the time, she had not had a good chance to closely inspect her temporary abode. She had only found the time now.
Her eyes lazily inspected the tables and chairs, the desktops and counters, baskets and containers. Out of a whim, she asked, "Matilda, where are my belongings from when you first met me? I brought with me some boxes."
Matilda spun around and docked by the side to her east. She pulled a cabinet and retrieved all of Red's belongings – from the clothes which she was wearing when she first landed Briar Glen Realm, all cleaned and washed, to the treasure boxes she was speaking about.
*Phew*
"I thought I lost these." She retrieved from Matilda her precious boxes which she housed her treasures. One of those boxes was the D&D box, the trinkets she and Andrew shared while growing up.
'No, it's not the right time to be thinking about this. Bynarr… I cannot reconcile with the idea that he actually had impure intentions towards me. I'm not an expert in reading people but at least I know how to, and Bynarr does not give off the vibe of a bad person. Am I wrong? He's my first friend in this realm.' A subtle flair of disappointment rushed through her being.
"Right now, they could be torturing him."
Red set aside her belongings and jolted to her feet. "I can't wait till sunrise. Where is he? Lead the way."
"But, Princess!"
"Matilda!" Her voice turned imposing. "I'm feeling alright. I am not in pain. But I'm worried about my friend. I don't believe that he's a bad person. Matilda, you were there, right? So you witnessed everything. I need to hear his side."