My head felt too light on my shoulders as I made my way to the door, clutching the pain in my abdomen. Moonlight touched the panels on the wooden exit, illuminating it for my eyes to find naturally. It slid open on its own when I reached it, and I was most relieved to discover a pair of worried eyes.
"Your Highness!"
I didn't recognize this individual, but the hopeful inflection in his voice upon finding me indicated that he'd come looking for me. My heart uncrumpled a little, fluttering around the edges. A quiet joy that someone, even if someone I did not know, cared about my well-being tingled low in my stomach. Giving a weary nod, I let the older man—a head shorter than me—slip a careful arm around my waist. He looked to be around his fortieth year. Much older than my twenty-three years.
"Your family's waiting for you, Your Highness. We must hurry and get you back," his deep and scratchy voice came.
My heart turned skittish in my chest. And I looked at the man aiding my steps. "My…family?"
My family is dead, I wanted to say, but was there a chance Hael had lied to me? I almost scoffed at that. Of course he'd lied to me. My dear family was alive! I could feel the painful knot in my chest loosen, hope tickling away the despair I'd felt moments ago. And my family had…sent people looking for me? Was it possible they loved me enough to have done so?
"Yes." The man smiled excitedly at me. "They're waiting for you in those carriages over there."
I pulled my eyes ahead to the two small and ordinary carriages in the distance. Guarding them was a band of men on tall horses, all armed, and none I recognized. They all nodded dutifully upon catching my gaze, some even lifting crooked smiles I didn't return. There was a throbbing unease in my stomach I couldn't ignore. I swallowed as nervousness buzzed at my nape.
"My family died," I ventured, just to see how the man would respond.
His innocent eyes met me, puzzled. "Nonsense, Your Highness. We have them with us! They were quick to evacuate the castle during the chaos."
His elation and the calm air surrounding him had my shoulders sinking with relief as we sauntered across the moonlight-coated courtyard together. This man was too innocent. He must've been telling the truth. My heart told me so.
The man struggled to take my weight, so I eased off him slightly. "How did you know where to find me?" I asked absently, trying to rhythm my steps in a way that didn't send a jolt of pain to my stomach. "How is everyone else?"
He looked at me with an overly eager smile, something strange curling around the edges of it. "Everyone is just fi—" A piece of metal exited the front of his stomach, the silver tip of it stealing the moon's light to throw in my eyes. The man's eyes fell open wider, offering the fear in them to me. He sputtered a spray of blood that came across my face and bottom lip.
My eyes opened largely, my heart falling to the floor in my stomach and spasming. When the man fell forward, I fell with him, using my body to brace his fall. I crashed onto the cobblestone pathway with a bone-cracking thud that knocked the air out of me. I curled my arm around my stomach, applying pressure that had me wheezing.
Harsh pants exited me, sweat beading on my face as I took in the man's limp body in my lap, his blood soaking my legs beneath the clothing. His dark hair ruffled somberly in the wind, revealing a brand on his nape, the number 17, a scarred slash through it. The hand I'd used to reach for him trembled as his blood seeped into my palm. Then, my eyes were filling, threatening to spill over from grief and fear. I flinched violently when I heard a collection of shouts from somewhere behind me. The armed men were abandoning their horses, preparing for a fight.
"Come. We need to leave," came a familiar low voice, quiet and soft like the wind.
I snapped my gaze to the sword dripping blood onto the stark-gray cobblestone, seeping into the crevices. Then my eyes tentatively lifted to the man who stared down at me. I shook my head slowly, fear immobilizing my limbs and keeping me frozen on the ground. It was much different facing a murderer after you'd seen him kill someone.
"W-why?" I murmured, my body trembling violently. The weight of the lifeless body in my lap had bile reaching my throat.
"We got to him first. He's ours, Hael!" shouted a voice from behind, drawing shivers along my skin.
Hael cocked his head, his expression impressively neutral, as though he didn't fear the group of armed men. He might've even looked curious. "Do you believe you can take him from me?" His voice had touched a low, menacing note that contradicted his calm countenance. And I knew the men must've caught it because the air went frigid in the distance behind me, the tension like a tightly strung bow in the wind, ready to snap.
I shuddered again as I watched Hael, whose gaze was fixed ahead, daring the men to approach. It seemed the group knew him and were evidently afraid, or at least wary of the murderer before me. That much I could understand. Hael was deadly and terrifying. But I didn't miss how the men had tried to claim me like I was an object to be sold on the market.
When the silence drew out for too long, someone from behind yielded to the pressure and acknowledged me instead. Shouting, "Your Highness! Run to the carriage! We'll protect you!" A parroting of encouraging calls began. Confrontation with Hael appeared to be the least desirable route to get to me. To obtain me.
Despite my circumstances, I gingerly pushed the man off me to place him carefully onto his back. I was on my feet next and turning to observe the armed men. Slowly, I made my way toward them, praying to God Hael would not stab me in the back. I didn't intend to leave with them. Instead, I would flee once I'd put enough distance between Hael and me and leave him and the group to battle it out while I scrambled away.
But then Hael's hand was curling around my stomach and pressing me firmly to his body. Securing me in place. He wasn't holding me tightly, and if I wasn't injured, I would have taken my chances against him and his sword to get away.
"Please…" I muttered instead. "Just let me go."
Hael's breath was cold, passing through the nest of my hair and brushing my neck. It was calm despite the circumstances. Perhaps there was nothing that could arouse goosebumps on a murderer. "Look at their swords. Do you recognize them?" Hael whispered, just behind my ear. I shivered from the chill of it.
Then, I squinted my eyes helplessly at the swords the men held loosely in their grips. The messy details on the handles indicated they weren't government-issued. And in this kingdom, all swords needed to be registered with the snake insignia representing our government, engraved into either the sheath or sword handle. Some swords had the insignia branded onto the blade itself. The men's swords were sloppy, the metal of their rusted blades chipped, and the sheathes cracking. It was as though they hadn't obtained the expenses to make a good sword or buy a proper one. My eyes widened. The swords looked like they belonged to—
"Rogues," Hael murmured, reading my mind. He took a step back, pulling me along with him. "If they don't kill you, they will auction you off."
I swallowed carefully, turned my head a few inches, and our noses almost touched. "You're saying I'd be better off with you then."
Hael's arm around my stomach tightened, but not enough to disturb my wound. He turned his head too. This time, our noses did touch, and it was the only touch of his that burned. "I'd keep you safe."
"You just killed someone in front of me," I protested grimly. "My body might be safe with you, but what of my mind? I will go insane from all the death that follows you. Death you cause."
Jaw tightening, Hael released me. He jerked his head at the armed men who, strangely, had yet to make any moves to retrieve me. "Choose."
I found myself scoffing again at that, but my eyes did slip to the men waiting for me. Rogues. Individuals that weren't registered to any kingdom, their founders those who'd been exiled for heinous crimes. And because they had not a kingdom to shelter and provide for them, they were known for their ways of robbery and underground market selling. Rogues were willing to perform any crime accessible to get by. I'd been taught they were dangerous by default, and what this group desired to do with me could have been no good.
But it wasn't like I'd intended to leave with them anyway, not after their blatant claim of ownership over me.
The men were approaching now, no longer content with waiting for me to crawl over to them. I stepped back, found Hael's hand low on my back, and felt oddly, strangely, that I should take my chances with the one who'd killed my family rather than attempt to flee when the men could potentially—most definitely—catch up to me.
I hated Hael, and I had never hated anyone in my life. Even the people who'd treated me poorly I'd been soft for. But Hael, I utterly loathed. Maybe the man he'd just killed hadn't been a good person. However, that older man hadn't done anything to harm me, which declared him innocent in this circumstance and Hael's execution of him unjust.
But at least…Hael hadn't tried to kill me. Yet. And I would pass that bridge when it came.
The men were running now, and I jumped at the sound of Hael's barked command.
Run!
He took my hand, which was slippery with blood, and dragged me through the courtyard past bubbling ponds and in between closely built homes that appeared not yet lived in. And as Hael strung me along, I briefly wondered whose untouched territory this was.
I heard the men retreat to get their horses, and then the sound of hooves slapping against stone grew behind us. The anxiety of being caught and the pain in my abdomen had my vision coming in and out in dizzying flashes. My body was going to give out any moment now. My legs were already tipping over.
"...I can't…a moment." My requests sounded more like incoherent moans in my ears, but Hael squeezed my hand, seeming to understand them.
"A little further. I've got a horse."
My legs quaked at the idea of having to sit on top of a rattling horse while in excruciating pain. I remained just conscious enough to register that we'd only managed to make it this far unscathed because the men had needed to slip their large horses between tightly knitted homes and around all the surrounding ponds, effectively slowing themselves down. But their shouts and pursuit persisted as Hael managed to bring me to a grove of trees, where a chestnut horse stood idly.
Hael pulled me close, a hand on my lower back, too familiar, like it'd been pressed against me plenty of times before. "Up. Or do I have to lift you?"
Was I hallucinating? Or was that a smirk on my captor's lips? It provoked my stubbornness. I didn't need another man to carry me. So, much too slowly, I feebly lifted myself onto the horse, failing to ask why I was settled in front when I was in no condition to lead.
Quickly, Hael climbed on behind me, pressing his body firmly against mine and reaching around my waist to grab the reins. Having read my mind again, he said, "I need to keep an eye on you. I can't have you slipping off."
"I don't need you to look out for me," I fired, but it was weak.
Hael's body felt strange, molded against mine, somehow fitting comfortably on the small back of this horse. I resisted the urge to lean back into him even though my body was too exhausted to stay upright and I desperately needed to rest against something. My eyes fluttered closed.
"Hold onto the saddle, dove," Hael's voice came quietly, much too close to my ear.
However, I didn't think I comprehended what he'd called me with how terribly my head spun. But I knew he tugged on the horse's reins, and we were off.