Coretta hefted her legs into the air, trying her utmost best to flee from the clutches of the madman. The terror of being his captive or worse, a pun to his irrationality was deeply ingrained in her mind.
"Retta, I will never hurt you. Stay still," He groaned out in his throat, a sign of his struggle to stabilize the stubborn woman.
"Where are you taking me to? Kushim!! Let me free," Coretta screamed.
Kushim had hurriedly and meticulously settled her to the back of his horse. For several seconds, Coretta stood there frozen with a flabbergasted expression, and her head clouded. Not until she felt a large body pressed on hers before she writhed to be released.
"Sergeant, are we heading directly for the camp or remigrating to the estate." One of Kushim's men asked, a man honored with a glorifying rank over his military attire. He looked at the sergeant with a serious expression as he waited for the next command.
"Dante, we are headed straight to the estate. Retta must be exhausted by the horror caused today, aren't you?" He breathed into her ears, causing a spark of electricity to cloud her body.
A gasp involuntarily evaded Coretta's lips when his heated breath skimmed through her neck. To make matters worse, he had one of his hands encircle her waist while the other tightly gripped the reins of the horse.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kushim. I am not going anywhere with you." She spat, her head tilted to the left. Has he got no shame at all? Ordering her around like some errand caster. She could not even fathom the stunned expression on the faces of his men. Had she raised a goat?
"But Sir, if we head back to the north, how do we escape the wrath of the commander? He'd skin us alive before dawn." The red-haired who had previously been a threat to the sergeant couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of accidentally colliding with their commander. Among the others, he was naïve and cowardly.
"Will you quit whimpering like a child, Callisto? You volunteered to be here." Dante warned, his eyes bloody cold.
Coretta frowned. So, he hadn't manipulated them instead it was their will?
The cool breeze whistled softly in the air and blew lightly through Coretta's hair. Kushim rested his eyes briefly on her scattered hair that was blocking his view. With a swift lean to her neck, he whispered huskily,
"Let's make your hair into a bun, shall we?"
"Don't you even dare? Take your hands off my hair." Coretta scolded. Still, the man paid no heed to her weak threat. He effortlessly detangled the pearl band around his wrist – a key into the entry of the land in the Northern region and skimmed his hand into her burgundy hair to tie them.
"You grew it out longer, Retta? I assumed your preferences changed over the years. Why? Is it because of brother?" Kushim hummed though his eyes were brimming with jealousy.
He remembered he told her back then to grow her hair because they were short, however, she refused, but after getting into a relationship with his brother, she made it long.
"Do tell me, did you gain anything in his arms? I told you he was not a good match for you. See how he cast you aside like nothing!"
"Kushim!!" Coretta called in vexation. Why was he provoking her?
She cleared her throat and batted her lashes with a frown deepened on her forehead. She warned coldly, "I will kill you if you utter any more words, I swear it."
Kushim chuckled darkly behind her ears, and that made her legs coil.
"I like this feisty side of you. It sparks a memory and reminds me of our childhood." He sounded impressed and happy.
Coretta's body froze. She suddenly placed her hand on her flat stomach, and there the pain, anger, and frustration all welled up inside her heart.
Her baby should have survived. He should have been with her. They robbed her of that happiness, of motherhood.
"Sir, our ship is over there," Dante announced. Coretta shifted her gaze to the wagon ship on top of the sea. Out of panic, she turned her head to face Kushim.
"Why is that there?"
"To migrate back to the North." came the simple austere response of Kushim as he jumped down from the horse and rested his hands around Coretta's waist to lift her down.
"The North! I am not moving to the North. My son, I have to look at his grave. I have things to accomplish here." She combusted; her hands balled into a fist.
Kushim gestured the men to be on their way as he passed his horse to Dante, who had disappeared from their position.
"You should forget everything relating to that family, even your dead child." Kushim thoughtlessly asserted. His mismatched eyes were as dead as withered leaves while he watched the woman clench and unclench her jaws.
Truth be told he didn't care about the child, and as selfish as he may be, he was happy the child was gone. There would be no obstacles in the way of his courtship.
Notwithstanding, Coretta's expressionless eyes glared at him. She batted his eyes away from him to the positioned men on top of the ship. She was not leaving this kingdom without seeing her child one last time.
Her ex-husband forbade her existence at the funeral, and this man too appeared to not care about her feelings at all. She scoffed.
They were unchangeable of the same blood.
"Whatever you say, you have no right to stop me. Even without your existence, I will be sure to succeed in checking up on my child. I will not wane my pride because of some stupid obsession. I will not abandon my child for another that gives me no respect. Do you hear me, Kushim?"
"Then I will do it my way."
How it happened, Coretta had no idea, but one moment, she was standing adamantly far away from the sea, and the next, she was inside the ship with ropes connected to her body.
"Let me out of here, Kushim!!"
"What are you doing? I want to see my child, please."
"Let me go!"